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Post by FOTH on Apr 6, 2014 16:06:53 GMT -6
2medicine woman, that does sound like some crazy weather you've been having. Snow tornadoes. Pretty strange. Has been extraordinarily windy here, too. Last week we had some rain mixed with snow, and it had been so windy beforehand that the precipitation left behind red dirt on everything, windows, cars, and even rocks. Sure looked strange. The sky was red during the storm, too, with blowing dust. Heard later that it blew in from Arizona. Go for the moose, Einar; go for the moose! Einar REALLY needs the energy some of that moose meat will provide...it could well mean the difference between surviving the night or NOT! Yes, but still not an easy decision... Thanks for reading!  _______________ The main problem, as Einar saw it, with approaching the moose that evening was the rapid descent of darkness. Sure, it would provide him some cover should anyone be watching by conventional means and not with infrared...but it would also prevent his thoroughly examining the area for the signs which might warn him of recent human presence. He might end up walking right into a trap, falling asleep with a belly full of moose and waking up in federal custody. Not a difficult decision for Einar, usually, given the odds. The need to remain undetected and therefore free far outweighed nearly every other consideration which might have been a factor in such a decision, but in this case he could tell that he would be in some serious trouble should he attempt to pass the night without first finding himself a bit of fuel. Lying down to sleep in his current state--wet with melted snow and rather beyond exhausted--was out of the question, and while a solution would usually have been found in traveling all night and thus keeping himself warm through exercise, this was less than practical under present circumstances, largely because of his need to tread carefully and watch for signs of recent human presence as he traveled up the canyon. Besides which--would have been loath to admit the fact, but knew it, nonetheless--he very likely lacked the energy to keep himself moving through the night, even should he decide to try. Already he could feel himself slowing down, beginning to stumble more frequently, misjudge his steps, and though he might have liked to attribute this entirely to the cold-induced numbness in his leg, he knew better, knew there would be no real improvement until he secured himself some energy. So. Moose. And he'd better hurry, too, if he wanted any chance of getting there ahead of full dark so he could have a look around. The place of the moose Einar remembered well, the two tall, snaggle-topped dead spruces which he had set in his mind as landmarks, and now, moving carefully but with the speed required by the situation through the timber at the base of the cliffs, he searched for them. Light failing and a damp cold descending on the canyon Einar restrained himself with some difficulty when at last he spotted the landmark-trees, some part of him wishing very strongly to rush ahead and lower a moose quarter so his feasting would be delayed no longer than necessary. Restrain himself he did, though, caution taking over and his approach slowing to a wary stalk as he closed the last two hundred yards. Too dim to get a really good look at the ground or the surrounding terrain—should have been enough to stop him, right there, to turn him around—Einar not liking the fact, knowing how easy it would be for him to overlook a hidden camera or sensor even in full daylight. But, with his decision made and with no solid reason to suspect the place had been discovered, he at last gave up his watching, and made for the two dead trees. Scalp tingling as if anticipating the sniper’s bullet that seemed fairly likely to come when he stepped out into the relatively open area before the trees which concealed the moose, Einar moved quickly, keeping himself low to the ground and thinking all the time that if anyone was watching, they were sure to be suspicious now if they had not been before, the way he was acting… Reached the place, crouching in the deeper shadows beneath the cache-tree, taking a moment to listen and hearing nothing, Einar rose, head briefly swimming with vertigo as his heart struggled to catch up after the rapid sprint of movement. All appeared—best as he could see in the uncertain light—to be as he and Liz had left it at the moose cache, meat hanging in its tree apparently undisturbed and the only tracks showing in the spring-rotted snow those of a coyote and his mate--creatures had circled and circled the tree, rearing up against its trunk and even lunging as if attempting to begin a climb--and several weasel-family creatures, these last difficult to definitively identify because of the melting that had occurred since their imprinting. Looked as though nothing, either animal or human, had managed to get at the meat, and Einar was somewhat reassured of this supposition when he found the knots holding the moose-cords to be exactly as he had tied them. No certainty in that. If they’d been here, they would of course have tied the knots back exactly as they’d found them, or the trap would never work. Don’t underestimate them. Underestimate your enemy, and you’re done for.Hands shook as he stood over the lowered moose quarter, all the old fears of poisoned food and traps baited with his own supplies returning so that he could barely bring himself to touch the stuff, but he gritted his teeth and did it anyway, acting hurriedly before the pressing notions of danger and doom could really begin to take hold. Must do it, he told himself. Took the risk of coming here and now you must do it, give yourself the energy to make it through the night, make it back home and hopefully to carry a lot of this stuff with you, too...if it turns out to be safe. Only one way to find out, and crouching like a wary animal beside the frozen moose quarter, prepared to eat. When finally Einar did eat, the meal hardly resembled feasting, frozen slivers of moose haunch carved off with his knife and swallowed whole to leave him shivering at their icy chill in his stomach, but he was grateful for the food, immensely, unspeakably grateful, a noticeable surge of energy going through his body as it began digesting the stuff, and he had more, shaving with the knife and gulping down the results until he feared to have any more lest he develop problems of another sort which would slow down the morning's travels. Rising, standing perfectly still for a long moment, listening and hearing nothing out of place, Einar hoisted the remainder of the quarter onto his shoulder and retreated some distance up the timbered slope in search of a place to pass the night. Einar's search did not take long, body weary nearly to the point of immobility with the effort of digesting all that newly-introduced food, and as soon as he'd found a place which seemed sufficiently distant from the moose cache to allow him to observe any activity that might take place around the hanging-tree but near enough to gather information about the same, he stopped for the night. The tree, a spruce, was not a particularly large one, but its boughs were low, dense and spreading, which was exactly what Einar needed both for shelter and concealment, and the deep bed of fallen needles below gave him some hope of protection from the still mostly frozen soil. Making one final check of the area, such as he could in the dim starlight that lay outside his dense shelter, he curled up under the tree to sleep, arms wrapped around his knees for warmth, still damp and shivering after his long descent through the snow and his frozen meal, but with a belly full of meat to digest and a dry place to spend the night, he knew he would make it. Unless…but he was asleep before the thought could complete itself. |
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Post by 2medicine woman on Apr 6, 2014 23:47:47 GMT -6
Awww. Now you left us hanging waiting for the lost thought of Einar. I'm glad he got something to eat as long as it doesn't come back and make trouble for him and the family.
Thank you for another great addition to a great story.
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Post by FOTH on Apr 9, 2014 10:53:01 GMT -6
Einar kept waking in the night, cold and with such an intense feeling of hunger that he wanted to gnaw on the moose quarter, scrape off bits of frozen meat with his teeth, and he probably would have done it, had he been able to rouse himself thoroughly enough to find the thing… At other times, half aware as he drew knees in closer to chest in an attempt to conserve warmth and did his best to ignore a series of vicious leg cramps that seemed determined to wrench him out of sleep every time he started drifting off, Einar knew he had messed up in choosing a spot to spend the night. He had not taken himself far enough from the canyon floor or into dense enough timber to be certain he was off the beaten path, both of humans who might be passing through and the hungry scavengers which would inevitably be attracted by the smell of the moose quarter he had failed to adequately secure before settling in for the night. Ought to get up and do something about it, tried a time or two, but something was wrong with his balance, darkened woods whirling crazily around him and the moose quarter beyond his ability to locate, let alone secure high in a tree. Not a good situation, and not really what he had expected, after feasting on moose. Not the result he had hoped to see. Well. Not much to do about it just then, and as for the discomfort, he always had been rather good at ignoring such things, pushing them aside and going on. Better do that now. Perhaps things would be better in the morning.
Daylight, Einar waking from an hour’s cold sleep, and he tried to get up but something was wrong, couldn’t seem to move his legs. Finally succeeded after much effort, but the world seemed to have become a very strange place overnight, drifting and distorting around him as he rose, stood, and then it bucked up and hit him in the side of the head, left him lying all stiff-legged and open-mouthed on the pine needles, fully aware of his surroundings but seemingly unable to interact with them in any way. Which turned out to be a very bad thing indeed, for what had begun upon waking as a vague sense of dread—he’d dismissed it at first as being associated with his sudden and rather unfortunate inability to move his body; big mistake—now materialized as the rapidly approaching sound of human footsteps, boots crunching through the remaining snow and frozen vegetation, breaking sticks as they made directly for his position, speaking quietly.
Certain that he had been seen Einar tried to get up, tried to reach for the pistol, which lay no more than a foot from where he had fallen, lightly concealed beneath a layer of pine needles and when that failed tried to go for his knife, but nothing happened. Body just wouldn’t respond. The men had clearly seen him by that time, approaching with a casual air and a lack of caution which told Einar, even in his rather desperate state, that they couldn’t possibly be part of any organized search. One of them knelt beside him and pulled a radio from his vest pocket, spoke into it, the second setting aside a device Einar recognized as the sort of antenna and receiver people used to pick up pings from wildlife radio collars.
“Good thing we came along when we did. Looks like this fella’s not too far from freezing to death, doesn’t it?”
“Don’t know. Something’s not right with him, for sure. Hey man, can you hear me? You know where you are? What’s your name? Hey! Can you say something? Let us know you’re ok?
Einar just stared, body still gripped in the throes of the episode that had started all the trouble, and though he desperately wanted to make a move, change the course events while this was still possible, he seemed frozen in place. The men did not appear to find his lack of response too reassuring, crouching on either side of him, poking, prodding, speaking, attempting to get some sort of answer from him, taking his pulse and rifling through his pack as if in search of something. Not good.
The worst of the episode had passed then and Einar found himself regaining some control over his movements but his head seemed dreadfully heavy, confused, waves of nausea coming over him so that after a time he turned to the side, lost the meat that he’d so eagerly consumed the evening before. In the aftermath of this, feeling confused and dreadfully cold, he once again struggled to rise, and probably would have made it had not one of the men been physically holding him down, speaking quietly and trying to talk him into keeping still, resting. All Einar heard were the questions. Do you know where you are? What is your name? Questions, the man growing more insistent until he was barking them in his heavily accented, sing-song voice, interrogating, demanding answers.
It was then that Einar fought, limbs lent a berserk strength by the situation, threw off his would-be rescuers and made a dash for it, legs weak and wobbly and head still thick with confusion but long habit and more than a hint of the horror that tended to come over him at the thought that he might be captured combining to lend to his limbs a speed which soon left the men behind, Einar tearing up along the creek, through the swamp, through the jungle, running for his life…
Panting and trembling, mouth so dry that he could barely get it open again when he shut it for a moment, he stopped inside a tight little cluster of serviceberry shrubs and willow, crouching up to his ankles in partially frozen water as he grabbed up a handful of crusty ice and stuffed it into his mouth, struggling to get some portion down. Confused. Tried to slow down, make himself think, make some sense of it. Had been slipping there for a minute, slipping into the jungle, but here the smell of the willows was sharp and sweet and strong, and he knew where he was. In the canyon still, and the men who had found him were…he struggled to remember their apparel, the equipment they’d been carrying…they were probably bat scientists who had descended into the canyon searching for bats they had previously tagged, and they’d happened across him when he was having…one of those episodes he’d been having from time to time some months ago, before going down to Bud and Susan’s, and had probably just been trying to help when they’d held him down and questioned him.
Right. Help. He shuddered, rubbed his arms where they’d been holding him. Had they recognized him? And what had they said to the people on the other end of the radio? Had they even reached anyone? He couldn’t piece it together in his mind. Details just weren’t there, weren’t cooperating. For a moment he held his breath, tried to quiet the painfully irregular bounding and stuttering of his heart, and listen. Nothing. At least they weren’t close. He might have some time. Had little else, everything but his knife and the other things which had been secured to his person for the night left behind under the camp-tree, lost, including the moose quarter, the entire moose, for now he could not go back to that place… Must go somewhere, and quickly. Couldn’t lead them to Liz, must not do that, and he changed course, turning away from the head of the canyon, and freedom, and heading down.
Thinking of those two men he wanted to go hunting, would have done it, done what was necessary to protect Liz and Will and his own life, had he not realized the likely futility of such a move. They’d already contacted someone on that radio, doubtless told them about him and while he could take on two men or even a party that might make its way down from the canyon rim to assist them, he had no intention of sticking around to fight the entire strength of whatever agency would be brought in to investigate the unexplained disappearance of the two men who had discovered him. Which rendered an immediate hunting expedition futile, or even worse, considering the possibility that he had not been recognized, that if he could avoid further contact, the entire incident might end right there, his presence dismissed as that of some eccentric wanderer who need not be further troubled. Maybe. But only if he could accomplish a few things, first.
Needed to get the pistol, his pack, and if the men were indeed bat biologists and not federal agents chances seemed fair that they would have left these things, might never have discovered the pistol at all, and he might well be able to retrieve them if he went back. Might walk right into a trap, too, if they had waited for him there rather than following, but realizing the sort of information the enemy—the real enemy, the one with access to a lab and samples of his DNA— would be able to glean from that pack should it fall into their hands, the decision was quickly settled.
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Post by icefire on Apr 9, 2014 17:15:05 GMT -6
Aw, crud! Seems like Einar just can NOT get a decent break! Something needs to start going RIGHT for him and his family, for a change!
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Post by 2medicine woman on Apr 9, 2014 17:19:54 GMT -6
wow! Just when you get to thinking Einar is going to be someone's captive. He gathers his spirit and off he goes like a gazelle across the land. Well, maybe a stiff lumbering gazelle but he still takes off. Don't you dare get some old ankle or leg broken and leave me here to suffer with no Einar & family updates. I will track you all across the great divide and make you write by threat of a trout beating. LOL oh Lordy, that is so lame. ok, I'll tempt you with a great strawberry/rhubarb pie! taadaa! I'm a tricky old Lakota woman. Use tempting foods to get my way. I love this family you have created. I wish I could write but it is not to be. Thanks much for another super installment!  |
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grizz
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Post by grizz on Apr 10, 2014 10:49:19 GMT -6
Thank you for sharing this amazing saga FOTH
Or he actually wakes up and realizes that his encounter is a nightmare, Cause the bat scientists would have to get up well before first light to get to where Einar is, and they also have breakfast, his vision was "wonky", sounds like a dream state to me
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Post by FOTH on Apr 12, 2014 20:49:13 GMT -6
Sorry folks, no chapter tonight. Busy times. Hope to have one for tomorrow. Thanks for reading! |
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Post by FOTH on Apr 13, 2014 15:33:49 GMT -6
Aw, crud! Seems like Einar just can NOT get a decent break! Something needs to start going RIGHT for him and his family, for a change! Any day when one is alive and free is a good day! Just hope Einar can keep it that way... wow! Just when you get to thinking Einar is going to be someone's captive. He gathers his spirit and off he goes like a gazelle across the land. Well, maybe a stiff lumbering gazelle but he still takes off. Don't you dare get some old ankle or leg broken and leave me here to suffer with no Einar & family updates. I will track you all across the great divide and make you write by threat of a trout beating. LOL oh Lordy, that is so lame. ok, I'll tempt you with a great strawberry/rhubarb pie! taadaa! I'm a tricky old Lakota woman. Use tempting foods to get my way. I love this family you have created. I wish I could write but it is not to be. Thanks much for another super installment! Glad you are enjoying the story.  If I get a broken leg or ankle, I will probably manage to crawl back from wherever I got it, and write a chapter anyway. Wouldn't let a little thing like that get in the way. As for the other part, however....sorry to disappoint you, but I tend to be swayed neither by threat of beatings nor the temptation of good food. Have spend most of my life making sure it would be so, and it is so. (Though I will have to admit that strawberry/rhubarb pie does sound good...) Thank you for sharing this amazing saga FOTH Or he actually wakes up and realizes that his encounter is a nightmare, Cause the bat scientists would have to get up well before first light to get to where Einar is, and they also have breakfast, his vision was "wonky", sounds like a dream state to me Things were definitely strange for Einar when he woke. Guess we'll just have to wait and see... Thank you all for reading! ____________________________ Quiet in the canyon as Einar picked his way down through the willows, knife in hand and the walls soaring above him, seeming to hem him, making him feel trapped. Might well be trapped, if he didn’t work this just right. Might regardless, should reinforcements be on the way after whoever those men had contacted by radio. He must act quickly if he was to retrieve any portion of his gear ahead of those additional men. Wished his head was feeling a bit clearer, less bogged down in the remains of whatever unpleasantness had grabbed him upon waking, and his apparent inability to do make it so angered him some. The anger helped, brought a sharpening of senses and a quickening of his step, and he took full advantage of the moment, knowing it might not last. Low through the willows and up into the timber near the place where he’d slept, no sign of the men but he knew they had to be out there, perhaps lying in ambush at some natural chokepoint in the canyon or—which seemed more likely, given their actions in first encountering him—continuing with the work that had originally brought them to the canyon floor, and not giving him too much mind. He could hope for this, but must take nothing for granted, especially after he’d seen them make radio contact. Well. At least there were no helicopters. Yet. Right group of trees, plain to see now in the full daylight, and Einar slowed his pace, expecting the ambush but not seeing an obvious spot from which the men would be likely to make their move. He had chosen his sleeping spot well. If only he’d been awake when trouble had come. Before it had come. No one home, area clear, best as he could determine, and there was his pack exactly as he’d left it, moose haunch even appearing undisturbed save for his hacking and shaving of meat the previous evening, and when he probed carefully with a foot there was the pistol as well, hidden in the spruce needles beside his bed. A quick inspection told him they had never discovered it. A relief, and he took his leave of the place, slipping in to the timber and heading down the canyon. After several minutes of careful travel he stopped, puzzled at his lack of contact with the two men and not entirely trusting the situation. Seemed he should have run across them by then, or they across him, and the fact that neither of these had to his knowledge happened left him suspicious, expecting an ambush. Perhaps they had been following him the entire time. He stopped, crouching low behind a knot of wild rosebushes, and waited. Feet hurt. He wondered why, realizing only when he inspected his boots that they were soaked through with water from his escape that morning, when he’d run through the swampy willows. Boots were mostly frozen, and he knew if not for their good felt linings, his feet surely wouldn’t have been far behind. Might not be, anyhow, the way things were going. He needed to move, generate some speed to warm himself, but that was not an option just then. Had to find his pursuers, if indeed the men were pursuing, figure out their strategy and counter it. Not long to wait, on the first count. Heard them before they became visible, feet crunching through a remaining bank of snow seemingly without the slightest heed of the racket they were making, unaware, too, of the armed man watching them from behind the brambles. Their actions did not make a lot of sense to Einar. Just walking casually down along the creek—meant he’d unknowingly passed them in his own flight, which he found immensely unsettling—and stopping out in a little clearing not twenty yards from his own position. Entirely oblivious to their precarious situation the two men carried on an animated conversation in the clearing, one pointing and gesturing at the canyon wall where it rose orange and vertical above the nearer phalanxes of yellow-green hued spring willows and the dark timber just above them. Apparently unsatisfied with verbal descriptions the man’s companion pulled out a map and spread it on the driest portion of a nearby granite boulder. The men were near enough for Einar to pick up snatches of conversation, something about the limestone layer which extended some two hundred feet down from the canyon rim before giving way to granite, and how they needed to get up to there to explore a particularly interesting-looking cave entrance that had been spotted from up at the camp. Einar, struggling to catch all the details as the wind picked up, wondered if this cave might have been the one in which he and Liz had briefly taken refuge upon first dropping down into the canyon, driven by that storm and needing a wind-free place to pass the night. There had, as he remembered, been a fair amount of bat sign in the place, and this might have been observed from the other side. The wind really came up then, snatching away the scientists’ words and nearly taking their map, too, before they got it folded away, Einar able to make out no more of the conversation. Neither could he very well leave, sparse timber not providing enough concealment should he leave the cover of the brambles, so he waited, crouching, huddling against gusts which seemed to tear straight down the canyon, funneled and intensified by its high, sheer walls. Sun was up on the far canyon rim. Hours before it would reach the floor. Einar shivered, shifted his weight to allow the blood to return to his left foot and wished the men would move on, so he could do the same. Couldn’t feel the toes anymore. Wished he had something to eat. That would have helped. But he had nothing. Chewed experimentally at the shriveled remains of last year’s rose hip on one of the bushes behind which he had concealed himself. Had to stop with one, because the thing was so dry that it threatened to set him to coughing, which would have been a real problem, close as those men remained. Picked a handful and stashed them in his pocket for later. Needed to move, and not just because he was freezing. Barely noticed that anymore, to tell the truth. Which he knew was not good, but it was the truth. Needed to move because every minute he spent pinned down there was more time for the enemy, or the rest of the bat biologists, or whoever on earth they had contacted with that radio, to make their way down into the canyon and cut him off from escape. He couldn’t go up. Couldn’t risk leaving a trail that would ultimately lead them closer to Liz, couldn’t climb the walls where he was because they were far too exposed, no good chutes full of timber and tumbled rock to conceal his exit. Best plan appeared to involve getting out ahead of these men, below them, and making for the lower reaches of the canyon. From there he could hope to find a route up and out which would offer more cover, hide out near the rim for a couple of days to make sure he hadn’t been followed, and carefully work his way back home. If only the men would move. |
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Post by 2medicine woman on Apr 13, 2014 20:55:35 GMT -6
Another good post. Einar's decisions are always interesting. Never having been in his predicaments, I have no experience to fall back on to make judgement calls. I only wish he could move his precious family someplace safe and comfortable for a while. I wonder how Liz and the little guy are doing? As far as me being a dangerous author beater? not so much. It is difficult for me to kill insects and I try to avoid it. All creatures are my relations. I do make some wicked good pies though. Blueberry being my favorite of all. Spring is struggling to make an appearance in Minnesota and I am more than ready for it. Time for some green scenery. Thank you for the latest addition. *black bear cubs-robin eggs-lady slippers (state flower) |
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Post by suvalley on Apr 17, 2014 8:45:32 GMT -6
I've been following the Einar saga for quite some time, including this adventure. I've been checking every few days for new entries and impatiently waiting as they are eventually posted, to be rewarded with yet another short read.
I'm giving up. Einar the character is never allowed to get healthy, the conditions do not improve, he remains a mentally scrambled mess that lands him in hot water over and over, and the excruciatingly long journey of starvation is not entertaining to me.
I am so sorry, the story is so bleak I must close the covers.
Best of luck in your writing just the same.
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Post by FOTH on Apr 17, 2014 14:44:16 GMT -6
2medicine woman, thanks for the pictures of the critters and plants where you live.
suvalley: So. You would have liked chapters which were more frequent, less short and more entertaining? Understandable, I suppose. Sorry I could not oblige.
I am not giving up, however, and neither is Einar.
________________________
Watching the sun rise that morning, brush the distant timber and work its way down towards the shelter, Liz knew spring had arrived. Out checking the trapline with Will on her back, she walked easily on top of the hard-crusted snowbanks that lingered several feet deep in the shaded areas beneath the spruces, but elsewhere, in the more open areas, the rot and ruin were apparent, snowpack slowly sinking into the soil. That morning, for the first time since the cold had settled in so many months ago, the breeze that breathed up out of the canyon felt almost warm, carrying with it new and delightful smells of exposed soil and awakening plants. Will, too, noticed the change, winter child scenting spring for the first time, and Liz could feel him squirming on her back, craning his neck to better catch the breeze.
“What do you think about that, little guy? New stuff to explore out there? Things are starting to change, for sure. Won’t be too long now before you’re crawling on the grass and helping me dig spring beauty roots, will it?”
Will answered with a delighted squeal as he pushed with his toes and tried mightily to launch himself right out of Liz’s hood, not discouraged by his lack of immediate success, continuing to try. “Hold on there, for a minute. I know you want to get out and move, but you’re just not big enough yet to keep up with me on the trapline. You’ll have to keep growing for a year or two, first. Just be patient, let me finish this loop and then we’ll go back home where you can scurry around the shelter and use up some of that energy you’ve got so much of this morning!”
Nothing in the first five snares Liz checked, no sign of animal activity near them at all, save a few rabbit droppings in the brush, but at the sixth snare, her persistence was rewarded by a large rabbit that had tripped one of Einar’s spring triggers. The creature’s fur was not quite as nice as those she’d been used to seeing all winter—another sign that spring was near—but it appeared to have been eating well, and would provide them a good meal.
“Too bad your daddy’s not here to share it with us, though,” she lamented to Will. “I’ll make a nice stew and there really would be plenty for all of us, especially since you’re not eating it directly yet. You’re well on your way to that though, aren’t you? With your three teeth, and more soon to show up. Yep, getting big. You’ll be helping us set snares and prepare furs, before long now.”
Will responded with more gurgling and giggling as he tried once again to launch himself from Liz’s hood and go explore for himself the wide, fascinating world beyond. Soon. Soon enough, and then he’d doubtlessly be wandering like his father, with his father, she could only hope, if the man would only return from his latest adventure in one piece, and stay that way for a while. The lack of information bothered her, the waiting and the not knowing. At least there had not been further air activity. Had he been found and…she could hardly bring herself to say it. Captured. Had he been captured, well, she could only assume they would have brought in a helicopter to take him out of there, and no helicopter had appeared, so she could hope he was safe. From the people on the rim, at least. The way things looked to her, they were hardly the greatest threat to his safe return.
Einar had always been patient man, when patience was required. Had no problem spending the better part of three days immobile in a little dugout beneath a slab of granite or under a grass hummock waiting for the enemy to come into position, for the time to be right, but he was beginning to grow dreadfully short with those two bat scientists and their maps. Seemingly not content with their first look they’d got the things out again after a long, drawn-out pause for a snack and some coffee, which was prepared over a camp stove and with no particular haste, and now crouched there together not fifteen yards from him with maps spread out in a large rock slab, pointing, gesturing and apparently planning the activities of the coming day.
Einar hunched his shoulders against a stiff breeze that seemed to be following the creek—smelled of spring, he could not help but notice, of green, growing things, even if it didn’t feel very spring-like—clamped his jaw hard to prevent the intruders overhearing the rattling of his teeth, and waited. Might have chanced a careful exit from the area, had he not been so stiff and clumsy already from sitting immobile in the cold. As it was, he could not risk such a move. Would probably stumble over something and give himself away. Well. No problem with waiting, so long as the men would remain alone, and were not waiting for reinforcements from the rim. At least they did not seem preoccupied with the strange, wild-looking man they had surprised from his sleep. Weren’t even talking about him, though the older of the pair did pull his eyes away from the map to take the occasional wary glance at the surrounding woods from time to time, as if half sensing that he was being watched. Einar looked away, not wanting to strengthen that notion to the point that the man would get nervous and come looking for him.
Wind was gusting so hard now that he could no longer make out many of the words exchanged by the men, but it appeared they were still talking about bats, and about their need to get up on the opposite wall and inspect the small caves whose entrances showed plainly there, difficult to reach from either direction. In which case you really ought to get moving, hadn’t you? Never going to find any bats just camping out here along the creek all day. Almost as if having heard him—Einar crouched a bit lower, half expecting them to start looking his way—the men began folding and stowing maps, put the stove away and set out on a winding course that took them through the willows and towards the far canyon wall. Heading up, it appeared, to seek some of the caves near that rim. Good news for Einar, a possible reprieve, though he did not yet entirely trust it. Could still be men coming from the camp. And the departure of the scientists—though he did not at all get this sense—might be a ruse designed to lure him out of hiding so he could be taken. Must not move immediately, and he did not, waiting motionless while the crunching, swishing footsteps of the scientists grew more distant and the sun crept further down into the canyon. Still not reaching him. Still awfully cold.
Fifteen minutes later Einar had assured himself that no one was coming, that the biologists were, indeed, headed up the opposite wall—he could get the occasional glimpse of them fighting their way up through the oak brush towards a steep couloir, if he looked closely—and he could move on. Travel was slow, cautious, Einar warming slowly as he went, and it was with great relief that he met the sun when finally it peeked up over the rim and flooded into the cold, black recesses of the canyon. He wanted to stop, revel in its brilliance and warmth, but did not. Must make better time, leave behind anyone who might be searching for him and find a place where he could safely begin the return journey to Liz.
An hour later, he had made significant progress, and had as of yet seen no sign of pursuit. Down there the ground was warmer, more exposed, snow remaining only in icy, compacted banks and here and there on a shady slope, and as Einar walked, the smells of sun-warmed soil rose to meet him, combining deliciously with the impossibly sweet odor of cottonwood buds about to open and reveal the season’s new leaves. Spotting a small branch that had been blown down in the wind Einar stooped and picked it up, pressing one of the buds between his fingers and smearing the sticky orange resin that oozed from between its layers and beaded in amber-colored droplets on the outside. Balm of Gilead, a powerful antiseptic and healer which he had used so long ago to save several of his frostbitten toes, and had found immeasurably helpful a number of times since. He wanted to stop and collect as many of the buds as he could find, carry then back to Liz, but the pauses seemed an unwise use of time, under present circumstances. He settled for stripping the small branch of its bounty and stashing the buds in a pocket of his pack. Better than nothing.
Further downstream, moving with even more caution and keeping well inside the dense brush as he neared the canyon mouth, Einar came to a tiny meadow where the recently-receded snow had left in its wake a brilliant carpet of green, dotted here and there with the brilliant and delicate yellow of blooming avalanche lilies. Listening, neither seeing nor sensing danger, he dropped to his belly in the brush at the edge of the clearing and lying there ate the vibrant new grass like a winter-hungry rabbit or deer desperate for a taste of fresh greens, and no less grateful for them than one of these creatures would have been, grinning, wishing to jump up and do a delighted dance around the perimeter of the meadow, but restraining himself. Had to keep concealed, and had more distance to cover, too, before he could find the roundabout path that would eventually take him back to his family without risking their discovery.
Better be moving on, then. Had to get back to Liz, tell her that he had found spring, and that it was coming.
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Post by 2medicine woman on Apr 17, 2014 23:48:33 GMT -6
Good addition. Einar found spring and I am still looking. Maybe he'll get home in time for some rabbit stew.
These are still my favorite stories. I appreciate your dedication to keep posting. Many authors lose interest and stop posting. It is so frustrating. Thank you.
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Go for the moose, Einar; go for the moose! Einar REALLY needs the energy some of that moose meat will provide...it could well mean the difference between surviving the night or NOT!
