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Chapter 10: The Long Walk
On day fifty-seven, they dragged all the duffel bags and backpacks outside of the cavern entrance and completed the final preparation to leave. That morning they had taken a white crayon and drawn a large Hanson Logo on the wall. Each of them had signed it with Katie putting on the last touch with a scribble. They gave a last look over the cavern and filed out silently. Ike tied duffel bags and back packs on each of them for the trip. This time there was very little weight, because the bulk of the bundles was from bedding materials. This time, Ike would carry Katie in the backpack and they would let her walk when she could. Taylor needed to keep his hands free to be able to hunt any game they came across for food and to be on guard for predators. They were very much aware that wolves were not the only predators that existed in the mountains.
When they were all loaded and ready they looked back at the cliff.
The boys turned to begin their journey but Ike stopped them.
"Before we go, I want to say something." Ike cleared his throat and took a deep breath.
Zac leaned back against the cliff rock and waited for a lecture. Taylor looked impatient to begin.
Ike looked at his small band of family and smiled. "I just want you to know how incredible proud I am of you."
Zac sat up looking surprised. Taylor straightened and looked his brother straight in the eye.
Ike continued. "You guys, have come through under the most extreme circumstances. You haven’t complained, you haven’t whined. Well maybe a little, but you’ve done what needed to be done, even if you hated it. That’s why we’re still alive. I just wanted you guys to know how very proud I am of you."
"It goes both ways, big brother," Zac said in a rare moment of seriousness.
"Yeah, we’re real proud of you too," Taylor exclaimed.
"Mucho valiente hJ roe [very brave hero], Antonio echoed.
Ike nodded at their words, a simple acknowledgment of acceptance that meant the world to him.
"Okay, here we go." Ike proclaimed and they began the long walk.
The goal for the first day was simple. Reach the tree line. Reaching the tree line meant higher temperatures. The few trees that could survive above the snow line were small, scruffy and durable. The trees below the snow line were healthy and tall, providing shelter for animals and in their case humans.
By mid-day they had shed their coats although they were still walking in snow. The journey so far wasn’t difficult, considering it was downhill slope all the way. It was very late in the afternoon when they finally reached the tree line and kept walking. They only stopped to drink water and rest for a few minutes. Taylor shot a rabbit so they would have dinner. It was darker and cooler once they were under the cover of the trees. They gradually put their coats back on. At dusk Ike found a downed tree and declared it a fit place to spend the night. All the boys dropped to the ground and shed their packs with relief.
The first mission to be accomplished was a shelter. The younger boys scattered to accumulate wood that could be used for the fire and longer branches that could be used for a type of lean-to. Ike used the large hunting knife and hacked off pine branches to use to line the bottom of lean-to and to drape over the top of the branches that they criss-crossed to form a shelter. Over the pine branches he spread a blanket and sat Katie down on the blankets to keep her dry. Then he built a fire ring and started a fire.
Taylor came back without another rabbit. He found out very quickly that forest rabbits were faster than snow rabbits. There was a lot more ground hatch for them to dart into for cover. Finding game was going to be more difficult.
The first night in the forest was cold. They huddled together for body warmth, but they were still cold and uncomfortable. Both older boys were aware of every sound, every rustle of the leaves. By the time the dawn broke, even though they were tired they were glad to up and ready to move again. Ike checked everyone’s feet before they began the day. They still had their feet wrapped in plastic inside their boots. He wasn’t as concerned now about frostbite as he was about blisters. They rewrapped their feet and were very careful about creases while putting their boots back on.
They tried to eat dried rabbit jerky as they walked but it was pretty horrible. They were covering a lot of ground and leaving the snow behind. The trees were changing also, not so many pine trees and more trees that were just beginning to bud with spring growth. The undergrowth was a problem. They had to be careful of every step not to trip over branches and dead leaves.
At mid-morning, Taylor dropped his pack and suddenly ordered Ike and the rest of the party to take a rest and ran off between the trees. Obviously he had spotted some kind of game. Every few minutes Ike would yell out his name. Taylor didn’t respond back, but they had an understanding that he also would not go beyond the distance that his voice carried. Taylor returned a half hour later with good sized bird.
"What is it?" Zac ask.
"Pheasant, I think," Ike answered.
"Just like in the fancy restaurants? Pheasant under glass?" Zac questioned with a snooty ascent.
"Maybe a wilder cousin," Taylor suggested with a grin.
"Can we eat it now?" Zac ask hopefully.
"I think we need to keep going for a while," Ike said. "We need to find a stream, we’re running out of water, and this snow looks to nasty to melt and drink."
Zac didn’t question his brother he just looked at the bird longingly and picked up his pack, and Antonio followed his lead.
They walked for several more hours before Ike stopped them and listened. They could hear a slight roar in the distance. That roar indicated a very large stream or waterfall. More important it represented a body of water that they could follow. People built around towns close to water, they would follow the river or stream down and out of the mountains. It had to be a good plan. Without a compass it was the only plan they had conceived.
It was another hour before they came upon the stream bed. Twelve feet across, it was rapid water flowing over jagged rocks. They could still hear a roar in the distance, indicating a waterfall further upstream. They filled their water bottles and drank thirstily. Taylor and Zac jumped across the rocks peering down into the water.
"We got fish!" Zac declared.
"We also have freezing water." Taylor squawked dragging his hand in the rapids.
Ike kept walking so the boys hurried to catch up with him.
"Can we camp here," Zac ask.
"We have to get off the stream bed. We can camp up there." Ike said pointing to a spot thirty feet above the stream.
"Why can’t we camp right here?" Zac insisted.
"Animals use the stream, Zac." Ike answered. "I personally wouldn’t want to get between a bear and his breakfast."
Zac nodded and grinned. "Sounds good to me," he said running ahead and beginning to climb up creek bank.
They build another shelter for the night and cleaned and plucked the pheasant with anticipation. Ike split the bird into several parts for roasting and it smelled wonderful. It tasted similar to chicken and they enjoyed every morsel. From their higher elevation they had a clear view of the stream and as the evening sun set they watched several deer go down to the waterside to drink.
"Why don’t you kill ciervo [deer]?" Antonio whispered. "Mucho de carne [Lots of meat]
"To much," Taylor whispered back. "I wouldn’t want to kill something that big and not be able to eat it. It would spoil to quickly."
"Si," the boy answered quietly understanding. "We catch fish in morning?"
Taylor rolled his eyes upward. "Probably," he agreed reluctantly with a groan.
The other boys laughed at him and the deer hearing the strange noise the deer darted back into the thicket.
The second night in the forest was again cold, but more comfortable. They weren’t nearly as frightened by unexpected noises and they were very tired so they all slept soundly.
As the morning dawn broke all the boys were awake and quietly peering over the stream bank. They saw two small bears go into the stream and catch their breakfast and again the deer returned to the stream to drink. When the animals returned to the forest the boys began their morning. Taylor tried unsuccessfully to catch fish in the stream, but they were too quick and the rapid water to cold to try for long. They started off another day without breakfast, and by mid-morning were reduced to chewing the awful rabbit jerky again. Katie wouldn’t even try to eat it, she just spit it out and wiped her mouth.
With the noon sun beating down on their heads, they continued to walk parallel to the stream. They stripped off their coats and eventually shed their shirts to enjoy the heat of the sun. Late in the afternoon, Taylor shot a duck of some sort and at least they were assured of dinner.
This was the pattern of the next three days. Game was hard to hunt and fish very difficult to catch. Hunger became a reality for the first time since the crash. Taylor was becoming increasing distressed at his lack of success. A good sign, was that they were beginning to find evidence of human occupancy of the area. An occasional plastic bag, or empty soda can gave them hope that at least they were heading in the right direction.
On the fifth day, the forest seemed to suddenly become alive. They could hear birds singing, and they saw a hawk flying in the distance. They would occasionally see a vapor trail of a commercial aircraft so far up in the sky they it was unrecognizable. That was the closest they ever came to aircraft. After a long day of walking, the whole group was hungry, cranky and exhausted.
Suddenly Zac let out a shout and began running ahead and jumping over the rocks at a break neck speed. Antonio dropped his pack and followed and soon Taylor and Ike were running behind him. Zac had spotted a cabin built on the edge of the stream. It was a well built cabin of logs and planks and a window and it had a padlock on the door.
Ike quickly dispatched the lock by smashing a heavy rock on it several times until it broke through the lock hasp. The cabin was sparsely furnished with roughly hewed log furniture. It had a bunkbed and a table and drysink with a metal dish pan and a large metal pitcher and there was a small fireplace with a metal grate inside. Ike put Katie down and immediately went to the two cupboards. There was canned goods inside. Taylor was looking under the drysink and he also found canned goods.
Ike dispatched the two younger boys back to pick up their packs off the river bed and by the time they had returned he had found a tin plate and fork and a spoon which he sent Zac down to wash in the stream. Most of the canned goods were unlabeled, but they were to hungry to be particular. He opened one can to find sweet peaches. He opened another can to discover pork and beans. He opened a third can and discovered spinach. Even Zac didn’t turn up his nose at the greens. Normally, greens of any kind were not a favorite but it had been so long since they had eaten anything besides meat that they welcomed it. Ike poured the beans and greens out onto the plate and manners didn’t matter. He ate and fed Katie with the fork, Taylor took the spoon and the two younger boys used their fingers with relish even going so far as licking the plate when it was empty. Taylor handed over the spoon and they shared the peaches, passing the can around and finally drinking the juice. It was the best meal they had had in two months.
They searched the cabin, inside aand out. They found remains of some boxes in one cupboard, but the mice had already found them. They found a total of fourteen cans of canned goods. The only label that remained was for canned milk. It didn’t matter what was inside the cans they would eat it. At two cans per day and with a little luck with hunting they had enough supplies for another two weeks. They wouldn’t be well fed, but they also wouldn’t starve.
They also found three blue glass canning jars with latch tops. Taylor unsnapped the tops to find a little coffee, sugar and what looked like the remains of some flour.
They found a woodpile stacked high with wood at the rear of the cabin. Cut wood, but they didn’t find an ax. The boys carried in enough wood to get them through the night and Ike started a fire in the fireplace. It was difficult to get the draft started and cabin filled with smoke but finally it started working and they cleared the smoke out by opening the door.
Taylor found a blue enameled pan and filled it with water and put it on the grate. Then he picked up the metal dish pan.
"I’m going to go catch some fish, then I’m going to take a bath, with soap," he said for emphasis to Ike. "And, I don’t care if I do pollute the water. And, when I come back I’m going to make some coffee."
"Stay in the shallow water," Ike suggested. "You two go with him. I’m going to wash up Katie and change her clothes. Zac, Antonio, when you’re through with your bath, run back in here and get warm by the fire. Then you can watch her and I’ll take my turn."
With a yell and giggle, Zac and Antonio ran out the door. Fifteen minutes later the two almost naked boys ran back into the cabin. They were still soaking wet, and Ike gave each of them an old shirt to dry off on while he tried to warm up some clothing for them. He had both of them back into dry clothes in a matter of minutes and had them holding their heads close to the warmth of the fire to dry their hair.
With instructions to keep the fire going and keep an eye on Katie, Ike joined his brother down by the stream. Taylor was leaning precariously over a rock, his arms elbow deep into the water. He lurched suddenly and came up with a fish held in his hands and carefully carried it over to the shoreline and put it in the dish pan.
"I didn’t ever think I would want to eat fish again." Taylor said with a grimace.
"We’ll be okay for a while." Ike promised. "People don’t build cabins to far away from civilization. They are usually weekend or vacation retreats."
"We used to complain about hotels," Taylor said thoughtfully. "God, we were spoiled."
"I don’t think that we were spoiled, we just didn’t know better," Ike said. "We can now say we have lived life on both ends of the extremes."
Taylor laughed at the idea. "I’ll take the comfortable, easy, Four Star extreme, thank you." Then he yelled for Zac to come get the fish and take them to the cabin. His brother came running and dashed back to cabin just as quickly.
Ike and Taylor stripped off their clothes and taking a deep breath jumped into a freezing pool of still water behind the rock, where Tay had been fishing. The water was freezing but they didn’t care. They could only stay in the water a few minutes so they soaped up quickly and washed their hair. They squeezed as much water out of their hair as possible, grabbed their clothes and made a dash for the cabin. They burst through the door and it felt so good to be warm. They dried off and fixed a pan of coffee. It had a few coffee grounds in it, and tasted awful but it was sweet from sugar and they drank it anyway.
They rested at the cabin for two days, stayed warm, washed their clothes, and slept with the comfort of knowing they were surrounded by four walls. They ate fish and duck, and opened one can of the canned goods each day. Then it was time to move on. The boys hated to leave the security of the cabin behind but they needed to keep walking.
They left the cabin with heavy packs of canned goods and left behind a note and a phone number to contact for repayment. That night they made camp and each of them wished silently that they had remained at the cabin. It was an appalling night because a cold rain fell, dripping through their shelter and causing them to be cold and wet. In the middle of the night Ike and Taylor were awakened by a wild screech. Ike got up and added more wood on the fire.
"What was that?" Tay ask.
"Some kind of cat I think." Ike guessed and then tried to lie back down for some rest. But he was alert for the rest of the night.
Taylor caught a fish the next morning but had to surrender it quickly when a small bear came out of the woods. Without a second of hesitation he threw the fish at the bear and hightailed it out of the stream. Ike and Zac were laughing at him but he challenged them to go confront the bear if they wanted the fish so badly.
They walked all day again, and had to pull their coats back on. The sun disappeared behind a heavy cloud cover and the temperature began to drop. It was cold, damp and dreary, but they trudged forward without complaint. They would occasionaly hear a wild screech of a large cat. Several times Ike spotted a large tawny colored mountain lion up on the rocks well above them. It seemed to be following them. That night they made a shelter under an embankment carved out by of stream bed by high waters. Ike built a fire and kept it burning fairly high most of the night for warmth and safety.
By mid-morning of the next day, they were traveling in a tight group. Taylor and Ike had both spotted the mountain lion several times. They were sure they were being stalked, and they tried to keep the boys between them as they continued to walk. At mid-day even the younger boys were aware of the animal. It was making its presence known by creating long screeches and howls and by appearing quite often on the rocks above them.
Taylor was walking with the most deadly barbed-tipped arrow cocked on the bow string, the arrow he had only used once before. They stopped for lunch at an outcrop of rocks, and Ike built a small fire so they could warm up.
The younger boys were resting, leaning back against the rocks. Taylor leaned over towards Ike and spoke quietly so they wouldn’t overhear.
"Ike I don’t know if an arrow will kill an animal that big." he worried. "It must be six feet long!"
"Lets hope it gets tired of the game." Ike said.
"Get real," a scared Taylor sputtered. "That thing is getting closer and more aggressive."
At that second the cat let out a loud scream that brought them to their feet.
"Ike?" Zac and Antonio both questioned with fear in their voices.
"Stay where you are, and hold onto Katie." Ike commanded. He and Taylor were back to back turning together trying to spot the animal.
"There!" Zac shouted pointing to the rocks over their heads.
The animal was jumping down the rocks. It seemed to be directing its attention to the younger children. Ike pulled his knife and screamed at the animal. It jumped back on an upper ledge and then almost immediately made a leap to another lower ledge coming closer to the younger children. As the animal stretched out for the leap, Taylor let go of the arrow shaft. The arrow struck the animal below the ribcage. It made a screaming sound, flipped in mid air and flung itself out away from the ledge and then landed with a limp thud on a rock in the stream.
Taylor leaped from rock to rock to reach the animal.
"Tay, come back!" Ike commanded.
"I have to get my arrow!" his brother complained.
"Forget the stupid arrow." Ike exclaimed. "You killed a mountain lion!’
The boy grinned. "Yeah, I did, didn’t I? Weird!" He bent down to cut the arrow out and then yelled as the animal jerked and made a slashing movement with its paw. The boy was knocked off balance and both he and the mountain lion fell into the stream with a splash.
"Tay!" Ike yelled watching his brother fall into the rapid current of the stream.
His brother was carried quickly downstream and then he began to swim against the current and worked his way back to the bank. The mountain lion continued to float downstream.
Ike ran along the shoreline and pulled his soaking brother out of the stream and started stripping off his wet clothing. Blood was dripping off his left arm. The moutain lion’s claw had sliced through the coat sleeve of his coat and clawed his arm from two inches below the elbow to just above the top of his hand. Taylor looked down at his blood covered arm and fell over in a slump.
Zac and Antonio were running along the stream bed trying to catch up and carry the heavy load of Katie and the backpacks.
Ike dragged his brother over to a flat area and laid him down gently. "Zac, Antonio, get some wood fast, but stay in sight!" he ordered and the boys ran to comply. He built a fire and tended to his brother carefully.
When Taylor came to, he was wrapped up in blankets and his arm was loosely covered by a shirt. Ike had his clothes hanging on sticks stuck in the ground close to the fire.
He peered under the shirt.
"Its pretty bad." Ike said. "Its a long cut and deep in places."
"Did I faint?"
"Keeled over, dead away," Ike said with a grin. "Scared the crap out of me?"
"Didn’t do much for me either?" Taylor said with a grimace. "It hurts like the dickens."
Ike set up camp. They were going to stay there for the night. He fed the kids and kept an eye on his brother. Taylor wasn’t complaining, but Ike knew he was going to have a rough night. He kept the boys busy until dusk and set up two camp fires. He didn’t like the idea of camping directly on the stream bed, but they really didn’t have a choice. He would have to keep the fires burning enough to deter any noctural animals.
By morning Taylor was running a fever. But he dressed and insisted that he was well enough to continue walking. Ike bandaged his arm carefully and cut the sleeve of his coat up futher so it wouldn’t touch the bandage. He also fashioned a rough sling for his arm.
They walked much slower. Zac had to carry Katie part of the day, while Ike carried the bow and arrows. He didn’t have skill level of his brother but he had practiced enough to be able to use it if he had to. The younger boys were animated and talked of nothing but the ‘mountain lion attack’. Ike was just relieved that they were no longer being stalked. Taylor was just having a hard time moving forward. He was hearing a roar in his ears and felt strangely detached. Several miles downstream they found the dead mountain lion being pushed up against a rock by the current. At Taylor’s insistance Ike jumped from rock to rock and retrieved his arrow.