Courage (4 page)

CHAPTER SEVEN

“This is Search and Rescue HQ. We have just received a report of a plane that disappeared two days ago in that big electrical storm. ‘Firefox one' and ‘Firefox two,' the flight plan was filed as follows; 100-150 kilometers north of Williams Lake. According to the leasing company for the plane, the pilot who is also the father, is an experienced pilot and has flown in that area before. Their destination was filed at about 52 degrees north and 122 degrees west. If you check your mapping, it's somewhere between Prince George and Williams Lake. There are some grassy plateaus in that area that are suitable for landing the Cessna. Now, be mindful of the storm, they could have been blown off that course 100 kilometers east, or even west. Do a typical grid search at a 50 kilometers sweep and keep your speed slow. Report anything to H.Q. Out.”

“Acknowledged, ‘Firefox One' and ‘Two'. Out.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

“
Okay Alicia, let's find some worms and go down to the dam and see if we can catch our supper.”

“Grandpa, you know we never catch anything.”

“Today will be different,” I said.

“Sure Grandpa, whatever you say.”

They walked down to the dam, baited the hooks and cast their lines into the water.

“Keep an eye out for the floats!”

“I am, but nothing is happening.”

Alicia picked up a stone and tried to skip it across the water.

“You're scaring the fish away!”

“What fish, I don't see any?”

“Alicia your float just disappeared!”

Alicia gave a jerk on the rod and exclaimed, “‘I've got one!” as she reeled in a large four inch perch.

“If we get a few more of these and if they're a few inches bigger, we may have enough for supper.”

An hour went by and there were no more bites.

“So what do you think? Should we go back and work on the book?” I asked.

“I think that's a good idea. Maybe we should order in pizza for supper,” Alicia suggested.

They all had a great sleep. Being in the tent gave them the feeling of added protection. It was Lucas who stirred first and crawling out of the tent, he immediately searched for paw prints. He was disappointed in not finding any.

Next to waken was Jim, he felt refreshed from his much-needed sleep. He looked at his Timex and asked in amazement, “Lucas do you realize that we had ten hours of sleep?”

“So what do we do today dad?”

“We'll do another search for things we can use. Jill and I will go back to the crash site, you stay with mom and have the matches handy just in case a search plane is visible.”

“Are you going to the stream to fish again?”

“I think so, but we'll see.”

Mary and Jill woke up, both in great spirits. Mary was feeling even better than the day before. They opened a can of beans and Jim called it ‘breakfast tooters'. They all enjoyed a good laugh over that.

“That's funny Grandpa,” Alicia laughed.

“Jill, let's go scavenge the crash site again.”

“When should we expect you back?” Mary inquired.

“We should be back between 12 and one.”

“Good luck dad.”

Lucas decided to go for a stroll around the campsite and came across some type of berries. He picked a whole bunch but didn't eat any until his mom and dad gave their okay. When Jim and Jill got back, they were excited because they had found parts of the radio and Jim hoped that maybe he could get it working.

“Look, I got a bunch of berries, but I don't know if they are any good to eat.”

Both Jim and Mary looked at them and shrugged. Jim said, and Mary agreed that they had no idea what they were.

“I'll try a few and see what happens,” Jim suggested.

He took a hand-full and put them in his mouth, “Not much taste to them, but they're not bad.”

“I don't want you kids to have any until we see how your father reacts to them, he can be our guinea pig.”

Later on in the day Jim and Jill did go fishing and saw the injured animal drinking from the stream.

“Look dad, it's pretty skinny; if we catch some fish we should give him more than just one.”

“I agree, I'm pretty sure it's a wolf.”

Just then the injured wolf slowly walked into the bushes, dragging his left hind leg. He was growling but seemed more afraid of them, than they were of it.

“Dad is it a mommy or a daddy wolf”

“I don't know, I can't tell, but it looks like he injured his left hind leg.”

They had great luck, eight large fish in just one hour. As they were leaving, they saw the yellow eyes again in the bushes. Jim took three fish and left them just at the edge of the bush. They walked slowly away hoping to see the animal come out to take the fish, but it didn't, at least not while they were watching.

Things were pretty monotonous for the next two weeks. It was nearing the end of August and was getting noticeably cooler. They were fishing every day and always left plenty of fish for the injured wolf. It was more friendly, but still shy. As soon as the wolf spotted them coming to the stream it immediately went to the edge of the bush and waited for the fish.

“From now on when we go to the stream we have to wash and brush our teeth. Cleanliness is still important even out here in the wilderness,” Mary said firmly. “I might even try to wash some of our clothes in the stream and hang them to dry on the bushes, like the pioneer women used to do.”

Lucas and Jill just looked at each other and made a face before skipping away, laughing.

“Jim, do you know what day it is?” Mary asked.

“Sorry honey, but I don't know the exact date.”

“Well, it's August 20
^th
,” she confirmed.

“I see where you're going with this.”

“Remember what was in the backpack? Chocolate, graham wafer crackers and marshmallows?”

“So, what are you planning?” Jim Asked.

“After our fish supper tonight, we'll make s'mores around the fire and celebrate Jill's birthday.”

“You are a sneaky one, how could you keep that hoard of goodies all to yourself?”

They roasted the fish and had a great supper; the lack of salt didn't seem to bother them anymore.

“Lucas do you have your I-pod?”

“Sure mom.”

“Can you show me how it works?”

“Yeah, but why do you want to know?” Lucas asked.

“I'd just like to keep up with modern technology.”

Lucas briefly explained how to work the I-pod.

“Attention Robinson family! Tonight we are celebrating Jill's birthday, first we'll make s'mores and afterwards we'll watch a movie,” Mary announced.

The excitement in the camp was high, Jill shrieked with delight. Lucas whooped and said, “I have a movie on the I-pod which Jill will love. It's called ‘Lemony Snicket' and it's so awesome.”

They had a wonderful evening. Jill was ecstatic that her birthday was being celebrated and not forgotten.

“Jill we have a present for you, actually two presents, one is a chocolate bar and the other is an I.O.U. for a very expensive gift of your choice when we get back home,” Mary said.

“As long as it's no more than five dollars.” Lucas joked.

They sang ‘Happy Birthday' and at the end of the birthday song, Lucas added in a deep baritone, “And many more!”

It was a fun evening for everyone. They forgot all about their predicament and just enjoyed the moment.

“Alicia it's time for bed, I saw you yawning.”

“I'm tired tonight, can I help you with the typing tomorrow morning?”

“We'll do it right after breakfast.”

CHAPTER NINE

There were occasional rain showers, but they managed to keep reasonably dry in the tent and under the protection of the large spruce tree. After every fishing trip they left a few fish for the injured wolf.

Mary was getting much better and one day they decided that they could all go fishing.

“If we hear a plane we'll have to run like heck back here to light the signal fire,” Jim said.

“I can handle that dad,” Lucas piped up.

Deep down Jim was really worried, for two weeks they hadn't seen or heard any search planes and even the commercial flight was hit and miss.

They got to the stream and again were catching fish just as fast as they dropped their lines in the water. When they had 15 large trout, they decided it was time to head back. Again, as before, they left fish for the injured animal.

“Dad why are there so many fish here but when we go fishing at home we hardly ever catch any?” Lucas asked.

“I think it's because this is an ideal location for fish, and there are no fisherman here so the fish thrive.”

Jim was looking at paw prints without making it obvious. He recognized deer tracks, but next to those were large paw prints that he believed might be bear prints.

Jim walked behind Mary, checking her walk to see if her leg still bothered her. She appeared to be walking without any difficulty.

“Mary, you seem to be almost fully recovered. The last time I checked your leg, it looked good, obviously healing. Do you have any pain when you take a deep breath?”

“I feel fine. The leg sometimes bothers me, but I can live with that. Maybe you should have been a doctor, you did such a good job with me.”

As they were leaving the stream, the injured animal slunk out of the brush with its tail between its legs and took the fish.

“That's our gray wolf, it must have been injured by the pack or a bear,” Jim said.

“Grandpa is the wolf mean?” Alicia inquired.

“Wolves are very interesting. They are social animals that hunt and live as a pack. A single wolf may join a bunch of wild dogs, or if it's lonely it may even befriend humans at times.”

“I always thought they were just mean,” she said.

“They can be, but there are stories where a wolf pack will adopt a human baby and raise him as their own, like Mowgli in The Jungle Book. I don't know how true that is, but wolves are probably the smartest wild animals around.

When they hunt in packs, each has a chore; one will chase the animal they want to catch until it gets tired while others wait at the appointed spot to bring the animal down. Even their feeding is based on hierarchy; the most important in the pack will feed first and so on.”

“Most important?”

“Yes, the leader male is the most important in a pack, he's the ‘big daddy.'

CHAPTER TEN

“This is Search and Rescue HQ, report ‘Foxfire One' and ‘Two'.”

“This is ‘Foxfire One,' we have completed the grid search 50 kilometers from base line east and west. No sign of the plane or the survivors. Out”

“This is Search and Rescue HQ, extend the search to one hundred kilometers east and west of base line. Full detailed grid search, we have to find something.”

“Understood. ‘Foxfire One' and ‘Two' Out.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Another typical day, the berries that Lucas found were okay to eat, at least Jim hadn't had any ill effects from them, but they weren't very tasty. The fishing was going great, the wolf at times would follow them back to the tent, but then would run away although it was getting friendlier every day.

“Lucas, Jill do you know what day it is today?” Mary inquired.

“I don't know mom, is it someday special?” Jill asked.

“Well it's kind of special, it's September 6th.”

“I know, today would be our first day back at school.” Lucas replied.

Jill started to cry again, “I miss all my friends.”

“It's okay Jill, we're having lots more fun here than the kids back home are having,” Lucas reassured her.

“It looks like there's a storm brewing in the west,” Jim said, pointing at the dark clouds.

By two o'clock that afternoon, the storm was right above them. The lightning and thunder reminded Jim of the storm when they crashed, although this one wasn't as severe.

“Why don't we all go into the tent and tell ghost stories?” Lucas suggested.

“I don't like ghost stories, can we watch another movie?” Jill responded.

“I have one other movie on my I-pod, Madagascar: Escape 2. Your choice, Jill,” Lucas laughed.

“I think Madagascar: Escape 2 would be my choice, but I'll go with whatever the majority decides,” Jill said.

“Jill, think about it. How big is the screen on the I-pod? You and I are okay to watch it but even then we have to put our heads together to see the screen so I'm pretty sure that all four of us can't watch at the same time,” Lucas said.

The children watched the movie while Mary and Jim curled up for a rare afternoon nap.

About four in the afternoon, the sky cleared and everything smelled fresh and clean. They crawled out of the tent to see the sun shining brightly and a rainbow was visible off in the distance.

“It's absolutely beautiful here,” Mary remarked.

An entire month had passed; it was mid-September and Jim decided he should start planning for the approaching winter. He was finally able to tie the knife securely to a 6-foot pole with a torn t-shirt and then used it to reach berries that were high up and out of reach. He also figured that the ‘spear' could provide a good fighting weapon against wild animals if the need arose.

They hadn't heard any rescue planes or helicopters yet and were getting very discouraged. Mary had been drying berries, but to live on berries all winter would take tons, and there just weren't that many. Jim didn't know what would happen to fishing if the stream froze over.

“What are you doing dad?” Lucas asked.

“I remember seeing a documentary a while ago where kids in Africa were able to catch birds with a box and a stick. That would be a nice change from fish.”

“How does it work?”

“It can be a box of any shape or even a basket. This thing I'm trying to make, well I'm not sure what shape it's going to be when it's finished, I just hope it'll work. You know what you can do for me?”

“Just tell me what to do and I'll do it.”

“Get you sister and see if you can find long pliable, skinny sticks or twigs, maybe an eighth to a quarter inch thick, any length but at least a foot long.”

“Here you go again; dad we don't know inches, we only know centimeters.”

“Okay, I guess I'm from the old school. The sticks should be thinner than your little finger and about,” Jim spread his hands “this long or longer.”

“Come on Jill, we need to help dad. Whatever he's doing probably won't work but at least it keeps him busy. Can I have the knife?”

Lucas and Jill went off in search of twigs, Mary laughed and asked Jim, “Do you think it's going to work?”

“Don't know for sure, but it worked on TV.”

After a while the kids came back with an arm full of skinny sticks.

“Is this what you wanted dad?”

“They're perfect, thanks kids.”

Jim took some of the thicker, straight branches and slowly weaved the thin sticks around them. He repeated the process many times. After about two hours of hard work, he had what appeared to be a hat without a top or a basket without a bottom.

“Mary, kids, come here. So, what do you think?”

“That's nice, but what is it? If you have no top or bottom, wouldn't the birds just fly out?” Mary asked gently, not wanting to hurt Jim's feelings.

“I thought we could attach a t-shirt or something on top.”

“Why not just place cross pieces of sturdy branches from one side to the other and then weave more of the skinny branches into them?” Mary offered.

“I'm going to need more skinny sticks, kids!”

Jill and Lucas raced off again but were back shortly.

“Is that enough?” Jill asked.

“I think so, but we'll soon find out.”

Jim worked with renewed energy, and by late afternoon it was finished. The shape of the basket well, it was hard to describe; it was sort of oval at one end and kind of square on the other end with sides of about ten to fourteen inches or so. It was roughly two feet by one foot, an odd shape to be sure, but quite sturdy.

“So how does it work?” Mary asked.

“Here, let me show you!” Jim exclaimed excitedly.

He turned the basket upside down, lifted one end and carefully positioned a branch about 6 inches long to support the raised end, then scattered some berries on the ground underneath.

“When a bird goes in to eat the berries, it moves around and knocks the stick out like this. The basket then falls down, trapping the bird and voila, we have fowl for supper. You really should have a long string tied to the stick that holds the basket up, but we don't have anything like that.”

“Let's try it out dad!” Lucas shouted.

Jim set the trap up a short distance from camp and they all hid and very quietly waited. After about an hour, Lucas grew tired of waiting and said,

“Dad, maybe there aren't any birds here.”

So for their supper that night, it was fish again.

“Guess what Alicia?”

“I know, it's time for supper and bed”.

“You are one perceptive little girl, you must take after Grandma.”