Alone...17

Started on: 11-3-2010 / Finished on: 11-25-10

Chapter 17

“Can....we....stop....now?” Billy was out of breath, and could barely ask his question.

“I think it’s safe to say we can take a breather.” Grant said between breaths.

We had come up on small winding dirt road and decided to take it. Grant knew it was not going anywhere, but we needed to rest after that run in we had. The faded sign for the road read: BIG PINE TRAIL: BOAT LAUNCH ACCESS TO PERCH LAKE. It sounded like a welcome sign to me, to some rest and relaxation. It was a little bit of a hike but it didn’t take us long to get there. The sun was up high and beating down on us, warming us up from the cooler air of the shady wooded roads we had been on. It was so beautiful by the lake; leafless trees and tall pines lined the opposite side of this small body of water, closing it in making it feel like more of a private resort, just for the three of us. There were no cabins or shacks in the area, so we decided to set up camp and stay here for the night. With where the sun was in the sky, Grant figured it must have been around 2 o’clock.

“Wow, how nice is this?” I said. “Let’s get our tent set up and build a fire pit”

“We really need to be careful with the campfire, honey. We don’t want to attract any unwanted attention.” Grant said.

“I know. It will be a small one. It’s going to get chilly when that sun starts to go down.” I said.

When the tent was set up, Billy and I went to find some stones to build our pit. We dug out the middle with a flat rock we had found, and made it deeper to contain the fire, stacked the stones around it and filled it with kindling. I took an old t-shirt and a knife, cut it into strips, and stuffed it around in the kindling, that way it’s a little easier to get it going. Grant was over by the tent setting up the sleeping bags and putting our gear inside; when he was done he had gone over to the edge of the lake to see if there were any frogs he could catch to make us something different for dinner. I’ve had frog legs before, my Grandpa made them once and awhile, we would watch him put them in the frying pan and they would pop and crackle in the grease. They were pretty good, tasted like chicken.

“Hey Billy, come on over here and help me catch some fat bull frogs, grab one of those plastic bags from your pack in the tent first.” Grant said. “Tonight we’re going to have a hot meal!”

Billy had no problem helping him catch frogs. I filled a jug with some lake water to rinse them off in, got the flattest stone I could find to use as a cutting board, then I went and got a few long twigs to roast them on, whittled the ends to a point to get them ready and started the fire. Billy was laughing trying to catch them; I was having fun watching them, they looked so silly chasing frogs around.

“Ooo, Dad, look! A huge one!” Billy said as he stuffed it into the bag. “He’s got some fat legs!” It’s weird with him; sometimes he’s a normal 10 year old boy running and playing, and other times, he as grown as an 18 year old man.

“Keep up the good work Billy” Grant said. “I’ve got 5 of them now and with yours we will have a good meal!”

They had caught a total of 8 frogs, and they were slippery buggers. Because I have had them before, and seen my grandpa clean them, they brought them over to me to clean them up and get them ready for dinner. I pulled each one out and stuck them with my knife, just below the neck and twisted a little to snap their spines, then I cut their legs off, rinsed them and skewered them on the sticks I had prepared. The fire was going good by the time I finished; I pushed the sticks into the ground and leaned them up against the rocks, hanging the legs just above the fire. I had to stay and watch them intently, I didn’t want them to burn, they cook rather fast, especially over an open flame. With in a matter of about 10 minutes we had succulent frog legs! I wish we had seasoning to give them better flavors, but ya have to work with what you got.

“Guys, dinner is ready!” I shouted. They were off somewhere down the shore a bit, Billy was poking a stick into the water, and Grant was observing him.

“Coming!” Billy shouted back. “Dad, guess what? Last ones a rotten egg!” And he took off running towards me.

“That was not a fair start there young man!” Grant said laughing as he took off running too. Of course he was the rotten egg; we all had a good laugh before we had dinner.

With the frog legs, some canned veggies and a handful of trail mix, we were stuffed. The three of us sat around the fire pit for a little while, watching the sun dip into the tree line and paint the sky with vibrant reds and pinks before the dark purples, blues and blacks took over the night sky. Grant and I were huddled together and Billy was sitting to my right. I could feel him starting to nod off, and told him to go to bed. He did so with out protest. We were all so tired, but Grant and I stayed up a little longer starring up at the sky in wonderment of the stars and how many there were. I felt so small compared to everything around us.

“Becky?” Grant softly said. “I love you with all my heart. You are my soul mate; I can feel it in every fiber of my body. I want to know if you would take me as your Husband.”

I sat there quietly for a few seconds, taking in what he had just said. I was breathless and started to tear up. “I would love nothing more than to be your Wife. I love you more than you could imagine.”

I felt his arm around me pull me closer to him and he hugged me tighter. I looked up at him and he gently kissed my tears away. I was so in love at that very moment, with God as our witness to our bond we pledged to be by one anothers side through thick and thin. Grant went into the tent, grabbed our sleeping bag and we made love under the stars, sealing our bond forever. We lay out in the open for a bit as the fire died down and decided it was time for some shut eye, Grant put the fire out with some sand from the shore of the lake, and headed into the tent for some well deserved rest.

I woke with a throbbing in my head, like a hammer pounding at the back of my skull. The sun was shedding its light on the tent, it couldn’t have been later than 8 in the morning. I scrambled over the boys to my pack where I had some aspirin in one of the side pouches, grabbed 4 of them and popped them in my mouth, they were bitter, but I crunched them up anyway and swallowed them with a little gulp of some bottled water, hopping they would take effect fast. Grant started to stir when I snuggled back into the sleeping bag.

“Everything ok honey?” He asked.

“Yea, I just have a pounding headache. I guess I breathed in a little too much campfire smoke yesterday.” I replied.

“You’ve been getting headaches a lot lately, haven’t you?” Grant said.

“Nothing I can’t handle sweetie.” I said, hoping he wouldn’t hear the pain in my voice.

With that said I woke up Billy, he did not want to get up. We packed our things, ate some jerky and trail mix and started on our way to the cabin. It wouldn’t be long till we were there, actually there I thought to myself. I couldn’t wait to start our new life together, as a family. It was slow going at first, our legs were a little stiff from all the running we did yesterday, but we soon found our bearings and picked up our pace.

“What a beautiful morning!” I said. “Crisp, cool fall air always made me want to have a nice warm cup of spiced tea with some honey to sweeten it.”

“I could go for a hot cup of coffee.” Grant replied. “Boy do I miss my coffee maker!”

“Ya know what I would love?” Billy said. “A hot, tall stack of pancakes. With butter and maple syrup all over it!”
“That does sound good!” I said.

As we ventured further North, the woods were getting thicker and animals were scattering as we made our way through on the little dirt road. Squirrels, elk, mule deer, and even rabbits, which I haven’t seen in quite some time now, I could make a great stew with rabbit! The trees were almost bare; some of the leaves were still clinging to their branches for dear life. The sun was overhead now and with the leaves pretty much gone, it shone through bright and lit our path with golden rays. I felt like we were traveling into heaven. We were walking faster now, I could tell we were close, Grant’s attitude was changing and he took lead, he was the reason for the quick walking. County HWY C took us right into the heart of Cornucopia. It was like stepping back in time. This was a very small town, it had a town hall and some landmarks, and it also had a post office. The town was deserted. I couldn’t understand why, and Grant had said that there may be people here, just not letting themselves be known. I agreed and we pressed on a little further down HWY C.

“Let’s head over to the general store to see if there is anything we can use for the night. I won’t be heading out to get our supplies till the morning.” Grant said. “It’s right off of Superior Street, right down from where the cabin is situated.”

“Sounds good to me, but let’s be careful, if you say people may still be holed up in this town, they may not take to well to strangers” I said. “Get your guns ready.”

We headed up Superior Street, and to the left of us stood the little General Store. It was painted white with a red overhang and weathered to bare wood in some spots, it kind of added to the charm of this rustic little town. Hanging empty flower pots swayed in the light cold breeze that was coming in off the lake from the North. You could really feel the bite of winter coming. There were little tables and chairs sitting out in front of the windows just waiting for guests to sit in them. There were a couple of abandoned cars in front of the store, they were empty, well of people anyway, one of them had all kinds of luggage and boxes piled up in the back seat.

“Someone didn’t make it outta here before the virus hit.” Billy said. He drew his gun and checked the other car. “This one’s empty.”

We took off our packs and left them sitting in front of the store in a little alcove. We all had our guns drawn as we entered the store. It stunk of rotten food from the deli, but it wasn’t unbearable. Billy and I grabbed paper bags to fill with some supplies. Grant scouted out the store, checking for Ghouls. I kind of expected to at least find one person in the store, but there was no one. We systemically went up and down each isle grabbing what we needed; we could always stop back here in a few days to replenish. I grabbed more aspirin, and first aid items, Billy and Grant were in the canned goods isle, I could hear them talking about what they wanted. This store was not picked over at all. It was fully stocked, like they were expecting us. I made my way over to the batteries, stocked up and grabbed a lantern and a couple more flashlights. There were all kinds of jams and jellies that were locally made; I grabbed a couple of them along with some crackers to spread it on. They also had powdered eggs, milk and pancake mix, just add water for an instant breakfast! Billy will love the pancake mix...I had to make sure to grab some syrup too.

“You guys just about done over there?” I asked.

“Yep! Just making our way to you Mom.” Billy said. “We got some good canned food.”

“I’ll have to see when we get to the cabin.” I replied.

“To the cabin...I love the way that sounds!” Grant said. “It seemed like it took us forever to get here.”

We left the store, grabbed our packs and finished our hike up Superior Street to then end of the road and then a little further up the dirt and gravel drive up to the cabin. We were on high alert, we had no idea what to expect, and we expected the worse. Guns drawn we cautiously approached the cabin, and did a search of the grounds around it, nothing out of the ordinary. It was an impressive building of huge logs and beautiful arched doorways. There was a huge bay window over looking Lake Superior and a quick glance inside showed us everything covered in sheets and undisturbed. In the back yard, there was a wood shed about 20 feet from the back door, it was fully stocked from years past; there was a huge garden to the right of it in full sun. It looked like there were some perennial veggies that have had it for the year, onions, garlic, and what looked like potatoes. Later I will have to dig around to see if there is anything I can salvage. We took off our packs, left them at the back door, and followed a gravel path that lead us a little further back on the property it took us to a pole barn which Grant had the key to, he opened it up revealing the ATV’s and an old rusty truck, there were a couple of bicycles and a couple of scooters. Billy was enamored with the scooters and couldn’t wait to ride one. We told him when we were settled in, we could show him how to ride.

“I forgot about that old truck,” Grant said. “I thought my Mom finally made my Dad get rid of that thing. Instead of taking one of the ATV’s to our truck, I can drive this thing out there.”

“You think it will make it out there?” I asked. “It’s pretty old.”

“Honey, did you forget I am a bit of a gear head?” He said. “I will make sure it’s in good running condition before I take it out. I won’t be leaving for a couple of days anyway, I want to make sure we are settled in and I have the generator up and running. Speaking of the generator, we should head in; check out the place while we have daylight left.”

We entered in through the back door, the house seemed like it hadn’t been touched in years. There was a little coating of dust over everything, and it smelled a little musty. Grant searched the basement and Billy and I searched the rest of the house. All was good. There was a master bedroom and two smaller rooms, Billy had already picked his room. I went around and opened the windows, just a crack to let out the stale air.

Grant had just come up when I was tinkering with the fire place. “Well, look like the generator is in good condition, I need to drain the old gas out of it though, it won’t start. My guess is that it’s a few years old, not sure why Dad didn’t drain it before he left the last time he was up here. He always did. Hey, Billy? You want to come and help me with it?”
“Yeah Dad, coming!” Billy replied.

“We will have to ride into town to siphon some gas outta the tanks at the gas station.” Grant said. “We’ll have to ride the ATV into town.”

“Awesome!” Billy said. He could hardly contain his excitement.

“Alright, just be careful, I’ll start to tidy things up around here, take your guns.” I replied.

When the guys left I started to get busy, I opened the huge side windows on the big bay that faced the lake, and uncovered all of the furniture. The dust was awful, and I could not stop sneezing. I took a handkerchief and tied it around my face to block the dust; it helped some, but not completely. The Great Room was filled with really nice tables and a huge couch. There was a big over stuffed recliner and some 1970’s lamps and art work. There were deer and elk heads mounted on the walls, and big beautiful trophy fish that looked like they were just caught. After I was done dusting and uncovering, I stared a fire to warm up the room, with the windows open, it cooled off fast. I took all of the sheets into the basement and looked around. There were stores of canned goods in the cellar area of the basement, it still looked edible. I made my way back upstairs when I heard the guys tearing into the driveway with the ATV, Billy was squealing with enjoyment. It made me giggle to hear him so happy. We would be happy here, I just knew it.

“We’re back Mom!” Billy said.

“I heard.” I replied. “It sounds like you two were having a bit of fun?”

“Oh yeah! Dad even let me drive it a little bit.” He said. “I’m gonna help him with the generator. He needs someone to hold the flashlight.”

“Ok, have fun!” I said.

In a half hour, the generator roared to life, and I flicked a light switch on...We had light!