Hedge of Thorns: Expedition Prep

He takes over that task, as I get out my knife to smooth the edges of my joinery.

With the pieces slotted together, I assemble the drill for the next finicky step. “Here goes…” I hold my breath and crank the handle around, boring a hole through the assembly.

I sip my drink, set aside the mug, and drill the second cane. Two pegs whittled from the remainder of the sucker get hammered in, and the job is finished.

Tumble brings his tea to the table.

I lay the canes side by side. They appear to match. “Stand up, and try these.”

He takes them, and rests his weight on the handles. “They seem solid enough…” Tumble moves one cane forward, shifts his good leg, and experiments. In a few minutes, he’s worked out a three point rhythm, and seems steady.

The biscuit dough has rested, and I roll and cut the batch. I nestle the pan into the coals. While they bake, I’ll sharpen my knives and my arrowheads. The smooth strokes of the whetstone are soothing, and I plan.

“Tumble….”

“What?”

“In the morning I’m going out to see whether I can find more willow trees between here and Riffe Lake. There are only five more doses of bark for tea.”

“Oh.”

“If I harvest from the same tree twice in a year, or cut pieces too big, it will die.”

“I should have realized.”

“Town people wouldn’t think of that. If I can get more meat, I’ll do that too. I don’t know whether I’ll be able to get past the burn zone at all. It could take several days.” I lay aside the whetstone, take another sheet of paper from my pad, and let it fall against the arrow head.

I hand the two pieces across the table to Tumble. “Write me a couple of messages for your employer and your wife. While I’m gone, please eat as much from the garden as you want.”

He nods, and goes back to examining the thorns.

My pack stands open nearby, and I assemble the items I usually need, packing extra cord in case I need to lash a travois together. Fifteen arrows, including the headless one for launching the string to cache my food, three bowstrings, well-waxed and supple, canteens, new boot strings…I tick things off the mental list.

Tumble leaves his chair. “The biscuits…”

“Thank you.”

His movements at the fire are awkward, and he drops one cane to wield the poker, but the pan gets shifted, and he doesn’t lose his balance.

I’ll need to add the Sig Sauer and ammo magazines to the pack, but I’ll take care of that when he’s decided to rest. Nor will he have access to my cider while I’m away. If he’s a man of his word, the thorn project should keep him occupied.

Besides the pack, the hunting blind is useful for shelter, and a possible component of a travois to drag home game. Together, it’s a substantial load.

Hedge of Thorns: Expedition Prep is a segment of a serialized story that posts on Fridays.

Check the menu on this blog for other, previously posted serialized stories, here.