Finding Home (14 page)

She guided Hardy down a small path and
across the soft sand as Gyp trotted ahead of them chasing birds.
Nat’s eyes had spotted a cave that should be high enough to protect
them from the rising waters while providing protection from cold
winds or rain should it begin to fall. She dismounted Hardy and led
him up a narrow path until they reached the cave. She tied his
reins to a small branch growing out of a rock and went in search of
dry wood before the night brought in the darkness. Nat gathered
drift wood from the beach as Gyp chased the receding water and then
turned to rush back to Nat as the next wave beat against the shore.
The cave was not deep, but would provide the shelter Nat and her
companions needed.

Nat took the saddle from Hardy’s
shoulders and carried it inside the cave. She removed his bridle,
placing it on the branch where it was tied. Hardy would not wander
far from her in his search of grass and Nat knew a whistle would
bring him running to her.

Nat arranged her campsite and laid the
fire in a small pit just inside the lip of the cave. She placed her
food bag up off the floor of the cave and took a slice of jerky and
walked down to the water. She tore off a strip of the jerky and
tossed it to Gyp as they walked. Nat made her way down to the beach
and stopped short of the water as she reached down and touched the
Pacific Ocean for the first time as it rushed to her fingers. The
water was cold to Nat’s touch and when she lifted her fingers to
her lips she tasted the saltiness of the water. She moved beyond
the reach of the waves and sat with Gyp to watch as the sun retired
for the day, spreading its beautiful colors across the dark blue
water.

“
It is beautiful, isn’t it
Gyp?” Nat asked as she placed her hand on the dogs back.

Gyp barked lightly in agreement with
her master as they watched the sunset together.

Nat noticed a bubbling in the sand a
few feet away from her and stood to walk over to it. She used her
hand to scoop away the sand and found a clam nestled in the wet
sand, just as the woman said it would be. She picked up the small
shell and inspected it closely.

“
Can’t be a whole lot of
meat in there,” she said to Gyp. “It must take a lot of these to
make a decent soup,” she said.

Gyp saw another bubble form and she
used her paws to dig away the sand as Nat laughed at her and walked
over to pick up the shell Gyp had uncovered.

“
Yours is bigger,” Nat
laughed as she took the shell in her hand.

Nat walked back to retrieve the skin
the Indian woman had given her and dropped the two shells into it
and filled it partially with water. She and Gyp hunted clams until
the moon began to rise and then they walked back up to the cave.
Nat lit the campfire after tying the clam bag to a branch. Nat
doubted there were any bears in this area, but she would not risk
her food to any other predators in the area.

Nat took a bacon filled biscuit from
the bag and handed it to Gyp and then took another for herself.
Hardy had wandered back to the campsite and Nat placed a feedbag
over his head as they settled in for the evening. As the moon
glowed across the rippling water, the three companions shared their
first meal at the ocean.

Nat enjoyed the warmth of the small
fire. When the sun had set, the day’s warmth had quickly
disappeared and she was glad for the extra warmth. She leaned back
against a rock outcropping using her saddle as a pillow and gazed
up at the night sky. The night was cloudless and the stars were
spread across the sky like a shimmering blanket. Nat picked out the
constellations she recognized from her father’s teaching and
marveled how beautifully they lit up the night sky. She couldn’t
help but wonder if Marissa was watching the same beautiful sky back
at home.

Marissa had seen the night sky, but was
busy shuffling around completing her chores and did not take the
opportunity to sit down and enjoy it the way Nat was. She carried
the last of the split wood she would need for the night inside and
closed the door behind her, shutting out the night’s beauty as she
did.

Sitting around the fire staring up at
the sky made Nat think back to the many times she and her father
had shared while trapping in the deep woods. She remembered one
night as they camped while crossing over a wide prairie how they
had gazed up at the stars watching a shower of shooting stars until
their necks became sore from the awkward position.

“
I miss you, Father,” Nat
said as she tossed another piece of wood onto the fire. Often, she
would find herself thinking about her father and her hand would go
to the bear claw necklace she wore around her neck. She still felt
the pain of his loss and wondered if the pain would ever dissipate
completely.

The sound of the waves as they crashed
upon the shore began to lull Nat to sleep and when she felt herself
begin to nod she picked up her saddle and walked inside the cave.
She unrolled her bedroll and fell asleep watching the shadows of
the fire flickering on the cave walls. Gyp curled up next to her
and was softly snoring as Nat drifted into dreams.

Hardy stood patiently at the opening of
the cave dozing as well. Deep into the early morning hours, Gyp was
awakened by his soft huffing sounds and she stood up and stretched
beside Nat. When she walked to the mouth of the cave, Gyp saw what
Hardy was concerned about and she trotted back inside to stick her
cold, wet nose to Nat’s chin to wake her.

At first, Nat just pushed Gyp away, but
the dog was persistent and returned to lick her master’s face until
Nat stirred from her sleep.

“
What has gotten into you
Gyp?” Nat asked as she petted her neck.

Gyp let out a soft “woof” and walked to
the mouth of the cave and gave a short bark when she turned and saw
Nat was not following her.

“
Okay, I get it, you want me
up, so just hold on a second,” Nat grumbled as she searched for her
boots.

Nat slipped into her boots and stood
stretching her body. It had been a while since she had slept on the
hard ground and she winced as her back felt stiff. “I am getting
spoiled sleeping in a soft bed every night,” Nat said
aloud.

When she walked to the mouth of the
cave, Nat stopped in her tracks when she looked to the sky. No
wonder Gyp had wanted her awake. Neither of them had ever seen
anything quite so incredible as the sky she was looking into. The
Northern Lights had filled the early morning skies with swirls of
brilliant green and Nat stood in awe at the most beautiful sight
she had ever seen.

“
Oh my word,” Nat said to
Gyp. “That is so beautiful.”

Nat placed fresh wood on the fire and
hung her coffee pot to make coffee as she and Gyp sat next to the
fire admiring the beauty of the morning sky. When the coffee was
ready, she poured herself a cup and sat with her arm around Gyp as
they watched the Northern Lights begin to fade as the sun began to
creep to the horizon. The brilliant greens were replaced by orange
and yellow rays as the sun rose to start the day.

Nat took the last two biscuits from the
food sack and she and Gyp had breakfast. Nat wanted to do some
exploring that morning, so after she and Gyp finished eating, she
took the rifle from her saddle and they started down the
beach.

Nat didn’t think she would need a rifle
for protection, but she took it just in case she ran into trouble.
There would be no bears still awake this late in the season, but
she would be prepared for other predators. She had no idea what
form of wild life would live in this environment, so Nat kept a
vigilant eye open as they walked down the shoreline.

Gyp ran ahead of her chasing the waves
as they rushed ashore, running away from the cold water as it
approached and chasing it as the water receded. Nat laughed at her
antics as they walked toward a small rock lined pool. The outgoing
tide had left a bounty of ocean life stranded in the shallow water.
“We are going to have a nice dinner,” Nat said to Gyp as she
surveyed the variety of fish and shrimp to choose from.

Nat found a long stick and using her
knife carved a point on one end to fashion a spear which she used
to impale a large fish, driving the point through its brain killing
it instantly. She stuck the other end into the soft sand and
removed her boots. She rolled her breeches legs up her calf and
waded in the shallow pool filled with cold water as Gyp sat on a
rock watching her. Nat corralled a large shrimp and snapped its
head off and then another until she had a half dozen to accompany
the fish. They would feast well tonight. She impaled the shrimp on
her spear and left it behind with her boots as she and Gyp walked
further down the beach.

Nat slipped the barrel of her rifle
down the back of her shirt as she and Gyp collected an armful of
drift wood to use in the campfire. They stopped to pick up the
spear with their dinner, and then walked back toward camp. Nat
dropped the firewood next to the pit and took the large fish from
her spear and carried it down to the water’s edge to clean it in
preparation for cooking, washing the blood from her hands and the
carcass in the cold salty water.

Gyp trotted along behind her as she
walked back up to the camp and fashioned a spit from the pieces of
driftwood she had collected laying a fire beneath it. Nat stoked
the coals with dry grass until the flames began to lick up against
the fresh wood. She then placed the fish on the spit and turned to
Gyp. “We are going to need more wood,” she said to the
dog.

They collected three armloads of wood
and placed it around the fire pit. Nat turned the fish on the spit
and then she and Gyp walked back to the water’s edge. They sat just
beyond the limit of the advancing water and listened to the
relaxing sound of the water’s rushing.

Gyp lay next to Nat, her head resting
on her master’s thigh as Nat’s hand stroked through her thick
winter coat. “This is beautiful isn’t it my friend,” she said to
her companion.

Gyp raised her head when she heard a
strange noise and she and Nat strained to see across the water. A
hundred yards beyond the shore, they watched as a large beast rose
to the surface and blew water from its body. As they watched,
several more of the strange creatures surfaced, expelling air and
water from their bodies. Nat was amazed by the sheer size of the
creatures as they surfaced and dove again beneath the water
remaining underwater for several minutes after each
breath.

They watched until the creatures
disappeared from their sight and Nat stood stretching her stiff
muscles. “Let’s go check on dinner,” she said to Gyp who jumped to
her feet and trotted alongside her master.

The smell of the roasting fish met them
halfway to the cave and Nat knelt to coat the fish with seasonings
as she turned it on the spit. Curiosity seized Nat as she stood and
looked into the shadows of the cave. She picked a burning limb from
the fire and walked deeper into the cave. It was deeper than she
had originally assumed and as she walked deeper she began to see
strange drawings on the cave walls. She brought the fire closer and
saw images of the creature she had seen earlier painted into the
rock of the cave walls. She continued on her search and made a turn
into a broad opening.

The last visitor had left a small stack
of wood in the fire pit and Nat used her flame to ignite the dry
wood. As she had expected, hunters had used the cave as refuge as
evidenced by the large pile of bones illuminated by the fire. Large
rib bones, over six feet long were propped against the wall. “These
must be from the creatures we saw today,” she said to Gyp who was
eyeing the bones curiously. “The hunters must have slain one of the
creatures and brought the carcass here for harvesting,” Nat said.
She looked at the huge jawbones of the creature and marveled at the
flat almost human teeth that graced its ridges. She picked up a
tooth that had fallen free from the bone and ran her fingers over
its edges. “Not jagged and sharp as you would expect of such a
large predator,” she said as she examined it closely. She tucked
the tooth into her shirt and moved to explore the rest of the
cave.

The walls were covered with artwork of
strange and wondrous creatures, unlike Nat had ever seen in the
deep woods. Large fishes and tusked creatures filled the walls as
Nat walked around the cave, studying each carefully. “Amazing,” she
said as she made the circuit around the cave.

She watched as the flames from the fire
danced upon the walls bringing the creatures shimmering to life.
“We shall move in here tonight,” she told Gyp as they walked back
toward the mouth of the cave. The fish was cooking well and Nat
peeled the hard shells from the shrimp’s bodies and placed them on
a skewer which she held above the flames, until the pink flesh
roasted to a bright red. Satisfied that the strange meat was done,
Nat removed them from the skewer and placed them on her plate to
allow them to cool before she and Gyp would feast on
them.