Finding Home (21 page)

Maggie opened a small sack and pulled
out pieces of soft buckskin and began sewing the pieces
together.

“
What are you making?”
Marissa asked.

“
I am making Nat some new
boots, but it is a secret,” she said.

“
I won’t say a word,”
Marissa promised.

Maggie showed her the leather and the
hard sole she was sewing the buckskin onto and Marissa watched her
as Maggie’s hands moved quickly. “Do you braid?” Maggie
asked.

“
Yes, I do,” Marissa
said.

“
Would you like to make the
boot strings for these?” Maggie asked.

“
I would like that, yes,”
Marissa said.

Maggie pulled six long strands of
buckskin from the sack. “Three to a string and make them as tight
as you can,” she said.

Marissa went to work braiding the long
strands under Maggie’s watchful eye. When she finished one, Maggie
inspected it and praised her good work. “That is perfect,” she
said.

Marissa reached for the other three
strands, when they heard a gunshot.

“
Nat has found something,”
Maggie said.

As she and Gyp walked through the woods
in search of hoof prints to track the buck, they heard a turkey
gobbling in the distance. Nat and Gyp followed the sound and as
they approached, Nat began mimicking the sound made by the large
bird. She crouched low, next to a tree and waited as the turkey
approached the sound of her call. Gyp sat patiently by her side as
they waited. Gyp was the first to see the large colorful bird as he
entered a clearing just ahead of them and her body shook with
excitement.

Nat lifted the rifle and with one clean
shot, she took the birds head off dropping it instantly. It wasn’t
the buck she hoped for, but there was still plenty of daylight left
to track him. She walked to the clearing and picked up the bird.
She would carry it back to Maggie, who could pluck it and prepare
it for roasting over the camp fire as she and Gyp crept back into
the woods.

Maggie smartly put her goods back into
the bag and after several minutes they heard Nat approach and saw
Gyp run from the woods ahead of her master.

Nat emerged from the woods carrying the
large bird and wearing a smile.

“
You got us a turkey,”
Maggie said as she stood and watched Nat approach.

“
I thought he would make a
good dinner and then some,” Nat said. “I will go back in search of
the buck, if you will prepare the bird for dinner,” she
said.

“
No problem at all,” Maggie
said. “Turkey feathers make for good warmth too,” she added as she
took the bird from Nat and headed for the river.

“
I will be back later,” she
said, with a smile to Marissa then she and Gyp walked into the
woods.

They walked the banks of the river for
nearly an hour before they came to an outcropping of rocks next to
the river. Nat had not seen any evidence of the large buck, so she
and Gyp climbed atop the pile of rocks. From this point, she could
see quite a distance and would be able to see any wildlife well
before their approach to the river to drink before the night
fell.

Nat settled in to a comfortable
position and waited. She watched as smaller animals, rabbits and a
red fox made their way cautiously to the river to drink before
disappearing into the dense forest. Gyp placed her head on Nat’s
thigh and was gently being stroked by her master when they heard a
larger animal moving toward the water.

Gyp’s ears perked to attention as they
watched a small buck move to the water, drink and then bound across
the river to disappear once more. She relaxed back against a rock
and they continued to wait. They watched more small critters come
to drink and Nat had just about given up on seeing the large buck
when Gyp lifted her head and looked off to the right.

Walking toward them in all his beauty
was the buck, his large rack making noise in the brush as he
approached. Nat watched as he cleared the brush and moved into the
open near the river. She raised her rifle and when the buck lifted
his head from drinking, she squeezed the trigger and a slug pierced
his heart dropping him to his knees.

Nat climbed down the rocks and walked
toward the river. She took a length of rope from her pack and tied
one end around the buck’s hind legs and tossed the other end over a
branch of a nearby tree. She hoisted the buck off the ground and
drew her knife. She made a deep incision across his jugular and his
warm blood started flowing onto the ground. Nat continued to cut
until she reached the spine on both sides of the buck’s neck and
then gripped his antlers and lifted his head until she heard the
spine snap and the head fell free from the body. She placed the
head next to the tree and then returned to cut a line down the
buck’s abdomen, eviscerating his lifeless body.

Nat walked to the water to rinse her
knife and slipped it back into the sheath in her boot. She picked
up the head and her rifle. “Let’s go back for Quincy,” she said to
Gyp.

They followed the river back to the
camp site and Maggie jumped to her feet when she heard them
approach. “Got him,” Nat said with a huge smile. “I need Quincy to
bring him back.”

Nat placed the buck’s head on the cart
and turned to see Marissa staring at it. “Are you okay,
sweetheart?” she asked.

“
Can you turn that around so
I don’t have to look at those eyes all night?” Marissa
said.

Nat grinned back at her. “Sure thing,
honey,” she said and turned the head away from Marissa’s
sight.

Maggie smile at Nat as she led Quincy
over to her. “Do you need some help?” she asked.

“
Sure, I can always use
help,” Nat said.

“
Let me turn the turkey and
I will be ready,” Maggie said.

“
Go ahead, I will tend to
the bird,” Marissa said.

“
We will be back soon,” Nat
said as she walked Quincy to the woods.

“
She has a difficult time
with the hunt, doesn’t she?” Maggie said as they walked.

“
If it deals with blood, she
tends to get a little squeamish,” Nat said.

“
That is not an easy thing
to deal with if you weren’t raised in the wild,” Maggie
said.

“
I noticed,” Nat said with a
grin.

“
She seems fine with the
meat, once it is cut, but a whole carcass she has difficulty with,”
Nat said.

“
Should we go ahead and skin
and quarter the buck then?” Maggie asked.

“
That would probably be a
good idea and we can hang the quarters away from camp until we get
ready to head home tomorrow,” Nat agreed.

They worked quickly when they reached
the buck to skin him and then cut him into four quarters and two
loin portions. They tied the meat onto Quincy’s back on top of the
skin and walked back to camp. They stopped a few yards from camp
and used the rope to hang the meat high up off the ground out of
reach of any predators that may catch the scent of fresh blood.
When they returned to camp, Maggie hung the skin over the edge of
the cart away from Marissa’s view.

“
Dinner is beginning to
smell very good,” Nat said as she sat beside Marissa.

“
We had a few potatoes left
too, that I thought we could fry to go with the turkey,” Marissa
said. “I have already cut them up and will fry them once the meat
is close to being done.”

Maggie was busy at the cart and Nat
walked over to see what she was doing. Maggie had harvested the
liver and heart from the buck and was salting them down to preserve
them. She then tucked them away in a small sack next to the
barrels.

Nat returned to the fire and was joined
a few minutes later when Maggie walked to the fire. “We have a
little butter left which should make the skin a nice golden brown,”
she said as she rubbed the butter across the bird’s cooking
skin.

Gyp sat next to Nat and licked her lips
in anticipation of the meal to come.

They turned the bird on the fire
frequently for the next hour. “Why don’t you cut off one of the
legs and let it cool for our girl,” Maggie said. “Then we can pull
the meat from the bone and put it in her bowl.”

Nat cut off a leg and laid it on a
plate to cool. She then walked over to the animals and slipped the
feed bags over their heads as Marissa began to fry the
potatoes.

The turkey roasted to a beautiful
golden brown and Nat used her to knife to cut thick slices of the
juicy meat for their meals.

After their meal they snuggled in for a
cool night’s rest without the protection of the cave walls. Nat
hugged Marissa close as she struggled to rest on the cold
ground.

The following morning, they drank
coffee while Nat and Maggie broke camp.

“
Are we ready to head for
home?” she asked.

“
I am ready to sleep in my
warm, comfortable bed,” Marissa said with a sheepish
grin.

Nat and Maggie shared a knowing smile.
“Tonight you will, my love,” Nat promised.

They had traveled about an hour when
Gyp emitted a low growl deep in her throat and all progress came to
a stop. Nat watched in disbelief as a small grizzly stepped from
the clearing fifty yards ahead of them.

“
Stay very still everyone,”
she warned. “He has caught the scent of the buck’s carcass and I
imagine he is extremely hungry after his winter sleep.” Nat took
her rifle from the sling slowly.

“
We cannot outrun him, so
the decision is his. He is thinking about food only at this point
and deciding if he is willing to confront three humans for an easy
meal. ”

Nat looked at Marissa and saw the
terror growing in her eyes. “Just relax, if he starts this way, I
will drop him in his tracks.”

Maggie held tight to Quincy’s lead as
the mule shifted nervously, sensing that he was carrying what the
bear wanted.

Nat watched the bear cautiously as she
thought back to her father’s death several months ago. This bear
was not as large as the one that had mauled Nathan, but he was
large enough to do plenty of damage if allowed.

“
Marissa, slowly pull back
on your reins to back Buck toward the cart,” Nat said as they bear
turned to face them fully.

Nat carefully dismounted and handed her
reins to Maggie. “Stay Gyp,” Nat said, and Gyp sat obediently
beside Maggie, her small body quivering with
anticipation.

Nat stepped away from Hardy and watched
as the bear slowly approached, swing his head from side to side as
he growled, hoping to scare them off. He began to gallop toward
them and when he had traveled twenty yards, he skidded to a stop
and stood up on his hind leads bellowing a furious call. Nat knew
that would be her best shot and raised her rifle, taking careful
aim and squeezing the trigger as a bullet entered the bear’s body
just above his heart. A good shot, but not enough to drop the bear.
He stumbled back down to his feet and continued his approach. Nat
stepped forward to advance on the bear and when he stood up erect
again she took another shot which struck him squarely in the
heart.

Nat slowly approached the bear and
knelt down beside him. Marissa watched in horror as the bear’s left
paw struck out and grazed the right side of Nat’s face, drawing
blood immediately. Nat jumped to her feet and aimed her rifle and
fired a shot directly into his brain.

Marissa jumped from the saddle and ran
to Nat. Nat had a three inch gash down her right temple. “I am
okay,” she said as Marissa’s face turned white at the sight of all
the blood.

Maggie submerged a handkerchief in the
salty water in one of the barrels and rushed to Nat’s side. She
pressed the wet cloth against the wound and when the salt hit open
flesh, Nat flinched in pain.

“
I know it stings, but it
will help the wound to heal,” Maggie said as she kept pressure on
the wound until the bleeding stopped. “You, go sit on the cart, and
Marissa and I will prepare the bear for travel and then we will
finish the ride home.”

Nat obediently followed Maggie’s
instruction and walked to sit on the edge of the cart, with Gyp
closely in tow.

“
You are going to have to
help me,” Maggie said to Marissa, who nodded her head in
response.