Courage (6 page)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The next morning dawned cold and bright, the sun was up in the east and there were no clouds in the sky.

“I wish I had a camera,” Jim said in awe of the breathtaking scenery.

“Honey, I packed a camera and batteries! We should look for them, maybe the batteries could be used to power the radio!” Mary said.

“Let's get a few chunks of roasted meat and we'll have a picnic lunch at the crash site.”

Jill and Lucas were playing a little distance away from Mary and Jim so they felt they could speak candidly with each other.

“What do you think we should do?” Mary asked.

“It's a tough decision; we could probably survive the winter here. We may have to move our camp to the actual crash site and use the plane fuselage as shelter, but I think we can do it. One deer would give us food for three or four weeks and we have plenty of water and firewood. However, the deer might move down into the valley as winter approaches. As I said, I think we could do it.”

“What would happen if we started down to the valley?”

“That's the unknown. I have no idea where we are; we could be east or west of the Rockies or east or west of the coastal mountains. Which way should we go? Here, at least we have a home, well sort of.”

They arrived at the crash site, “Whatever you find, bring it here,” Jim pointed to a broken wing part. “Don't wonder too far.”

“Mary, you and Jill should be together and look in the immediate area of the site. Lucas you take this area,” he drew an imaginary radius with his hand, “and I'll go further out.”

Bits and pieces of the plane were scattered all over for about a quarter mile area. All sorts of things were found, none of any apparent use. “Dad, look here!” Lucas hollered. Jim ran to the spot where Lucas was standing, proudly indicating the entire windshield partially covered with dirt and leaves. Lucas wiped the debris from the windshield and buried beneath was the lost duffle bag. Jim ripped it open and found more clothing, Jiffy Pop popcorn, dried foods, a few chocolate bars, canned soups, the camera with extra batteries, flashlight and a journal.

“This is an awesome find, Lucas,” Jim said.

“Dad, can we have popcorn for dessert tonight? I need some salt.”

“That's up to your mom, she is the boss!”

“This may help us to signal,” Jim said as he showed a flash light to Lucas.

Mary and Jill got there a few minutes later, “Wow dad, can we have one of the chocolate bars, please?” implored Jill.

“Jill, you and Lucas can share whichever one you decide on. Note the operative word here is share!”

The cabin and fuselage were intact with the tail portion. The right wing had been sheared off while the left was badly crumpled. The door was missing and three of the seats were still inside.

Jim looked at what remained of the plane and said, “This could be our winter home. The only problem I see is that we can't have a fire inside the cabin, it would have to be outside.”

Jim checked the fuel and found the fuel tank to be empty.

“The fuel tank must have been punctured during the crash; it's empty. We have a lot of work ahead of us; everything will have to be moved from the camp to this location. We need to set up the windshield so it will reflect the sunlight and warn any plane that flies overhead. The cabin of the plane must be cleared of all debris as well as the remaining seats to allow room for all four of us to sleep in it. We'll fashion a door from the ripped wing over where the windshield was. We're looking good.”

Lucas and Jill were unconcerned as they happily savored the Mars bar.

“So are you saying that we should stay here rather than start down the mountain?” Mary asked.

“I really believe that's the best choice. Starting tomorrow, we'll bring the tent and everything else we can carry over here. It will take most of the day, but we can do it. The water will be farther away so we'll get water every other day using the two fenders, but that should be okay.”

“I was thinking all along that staying right here would be the best thing,” Mary agreed.

“Here, we should be okay, but if we start down, not knowing where we are, it could be a mistake. So we are in agreement then?”

“Jim can we melt snow and use it for water?”

“I didn't think of it, but sure, I don't see why not.”

“You know our parents must be really worried about us,” Mary said and her voice quivered with sadness.

“I know, but there's nothing we can do about that. If only we could get a signal for our cell phone, we could reassure them. ”

Mary checked out the camera, “It works, Jim; I'll take some pictures.”

She peered through the lens and saw with surprise just how the kids looked. They had lost a lot of weight; their clothes were in tatters and their hair was long and unkempt. Tear ran down her face as she turned her back to them and cried softly.

“I wish I had packed a pair of scissors.”

“I have a small one on my knife; what do you want it for?” asked Jim.

“When we get back to camp, I'm going to be the family barber.”

“Time to head back to the camp everyone. Mary, bring the camera, but everything else can stay here.”

“Mom, dad, look, the wolf's following us.”

“When we get back to the camp, we'll give him some food.”

Back at camp everything was just as they had left it. Nothing had been disturbed in the tent and there were no paw prints of any kind other than those of the wolf.

Arriving at the camp, Mary announced that ‘Mary's barber shop' was open for business and that Lucas would be her first customer. Using only the tiny scissors, it was tedious work, but she managed to do a fairly good job.

“Now Jim, it's your turn.”

“I like my hair and beard, I think it makes me look distinguished. Do you have to cut it all off?”

“I suppose you could keep it for a little while longer but you definitely need a trim, and after you're done, it's Jill's turn. No one volunteered to cut Mary's hair but Jill ran to the tent, returning with one of her elastic hair bands and carefully pulled her mother's hair into a short ponytail. Mary laughed and commented that she hadn't had a ponytail since she'd been a teenager.

It took nearly two hours to cut everyone's hair, but they all looked a little more civilized when the job was complete
.

“Tomorrow when we go down to the stream, we have to do a good wash, body, hair and all!” Mary strongly suggested, and they all knew not to argue with her.

After supper, which consisted of a little meat and some berries, Mary made popcorn over the campfire.

“Thanks mom, this is really a treat,” Lucas said and Jill agreed wholeheartedly.

The next morning arrived, with a clear blue sky and high up a plane was visible again.

“Look Lucas, it's the plane,” Jim said pointing to it.

“But you said it was too far up for them to see us.”

“And it probably is, but we can still try to signal them.”

“Dad, should we go to the stream to get water and maybe do some fishing before we move our campsite to the plane?”

“It's a good idea. Mom and Jill can do some packing up while you and I go the stream.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“Search and Rescue HQ. This is ‘Firefox One' and ‘Two' reporting. A full grid search has been completed as per the flight plan. It was extended to 100 kilometers east and west of the base line connecting Williams Lake and Prince George. No sign of any plane or survivors. Waiting for further instructions. Out.”

“This is Search and Rescue HQ. Acknowledged. ‘Firefox One' and ‘Two', return to your base and wait further instruction. Out.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Two mornings later there was a light dusting of snow on the ground, it made everything look clean and white.

“We are going down to the stream see if we can catch some fish and bring water back,” Jim said.

“Good luck,” Mary called after them.

Lucas and Jim headed down to the stream. When they got there Jim looked at the mud at the edge of the stream made soft by the snow and saw a lot of paw prints, some he could identify and some he couldn't.

“Lucas, let's see if we can catch some fish and head back to camp. There are bear and wolf tracks here and I think they were made this morning.”

“Dad, the wolf just showed up.”

“He's expecting some fish, I guess.”

They dug some worms and as before, they caught fish. In just minutes they had seven trout.

“Let's give the wolf three, there's a lot of protein in fish and that's probably why he's looking forward to the fish snacks. Don't forget the water Lucas!”

“I won't dad. The wolf is friendly, but he still keeps his distance.”

“I guess he's still not sure about us.”

They were walking back to camp when they heard growling and then they heard Mary screaming ‘Jim!'

“Let's run, I think there may be trouble!” Jim said.

They rushed back in time to see a wolf pack circling the camp and it appeared they were planning to attack.

Jim began to yell and holler from a distance. The pack raised their heads in his direction; one yelp and they went for Jim and Lucas. They were out in the open and presented an easy target.

“Lucas, you stay behind me, I'm going to throw them the fish, that should slow them down and then run, maybe we can get to your mom and Jill.”

A big black wolf, probably the leader, went directly for Jim, but paused when he smelled the fish. The pack was taken by surprise by the fish; they rushed to the food and started fighting over who would get the most. That gave Jim and Lucas time to run into the camp. Jim picked up the pole with the knife and waited to see what the wolf pack would do.

The pack wasn't satisfied with the few fish tossed their way so they turned and went straight for Jim who was protecting his family. One of the attacking wolves jumped on Jim knocking him to the ground while two others prepared to pounce on him. Jim lost the pole; he had nothing to protect himself with. Jill saw this and without fearing for herself, ran to her dad's side, picked up the pole and jabbed the nearest wolf with it. Mary and Lucas were stunned to see Jill fight off the attacking wolves. There was an angry growl from the rear and all of a sudden their gray wolf attacked the black leader.

There was great confusion as two of the attacking wolves threw themselves into the fray of the two fighting wolves. Jim began to yell and scream, grabbed the pole from Jill and went straight into the mêlée between the wolves, stabbing one of the attacking wolves with the pole. There was a painful yelp and the attacking wolves ran off into the bushes.

“Do you remember Alicia when I asked you if you knew the meaning of courage?”

“Now I understand what you meant. Even though Jill was the youngest, she found the courage to help her dad even though it would also put her in danger.”

“That's right, sometime people will find the courage needed to do something that they would not do ordinarily.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

It took a full day to move everything to the plane and set up camp. They made many trips, but finally it was done.

Now the wolf was a constant fixture at the new camp but they continued to be cautious whenever they left camp for whatever reason. Jim fashioned a pole for each of them, they were six to eight feet long and sharpened to a point. They had to carry it with them at all times. Jim and Jill would go to collect water and fish while Mary and Lucas would stay back and forage for berries and firewood. Lucas was made the keeper of the signal fire and he took his responsibility very seriously. He made a small ‘nest' of combustible material consisting of dry moss and grasses that he kept in the plane so it would remain dry. He reasoned that if he heard a plane, he would light the nest and run to the signal fire with it. It would be easier than attempting to start a fire with wet materials.

They set the twig trap every day with dried berries but had no luck catching anything. It was Jill's job to set the trap and one evening she placed red winterberries, which Jim had told her not to eat since they were poisonous, inside the trap as bait. In the morning Jill discovered she had caught a grouse.

“Jill you are our hero, this tastes just like chicken,” Jim said.

The next few days she caught more grouse, then nothing.

One morning in early October, deep snow appeared on the ground.

“I think winter is here. We need to be more careful from now on, the pack of wolves that attacked us may try it again. It's more difficult for them to find food and we're starting to look pretty good to them.”

“Dad, I've been watching that plane and it seems to me that it flies over us about 8 o'clock every morning. What if we light the signal fire and also put the windshield to reflect the sun and just maybe they'll see something.”

“We have nothing to lose. We'll watch it tomorrow, and angle the windshield accordingly. We won't start the fire tomorrow, but will light it the following day perhaps a half hour early so it will have a lot of smoke by the time the plane flies over.”