An Adventure in the Wilderness

By Ellison Rose

           

“Andi! Wake up!” An exasperated voice said, along with a hard shove in my back. Where in half the universe am I? I thought.

            “Andrea Carter!” another shove brought me back to the voice calling me, “It’s almost breakfast time!” The voice sighed her impatience. The it kicked in.

I was in Tacoma, Washington at Jennifer Grant’s and today we, along with two of Jenny’s brothers, were going on a boating trip down the Puyallup River. Jenny had been waiting for this day for weeks. I immediately shot up.

            “How could I forget about our adventure we are going to have today! I totally forgot all about this!” I exclaimed.

            “I know,” Jenny said in an excited voice, “I couldn’t believe Eli and David agreed to let us come with ‘em. It’s like a dream coming’ true!”

I jumped out of bed. I shivered. It may be summer, but it is a bit chilly up here in the wilderness. I hastily found a pair of Mitch’s old overalls. I also found a plaid shirt. I didn’t bother to brush my hair, ‘cause I braided it the night before.

            “Let’s go eat.” Declared Jenny, “Ma should be done cooking it ‘bout now.”

I followed Jenny into the kitchen.

            “Good morning.” Mrs. Grant greeted us with those cheerful words and a happy smile.

            “Good morning.” Me and Jenny replied together. We could smell the delicious scent of sizzling bacon. I longed to snitch a piece, but against my better judgement, I didn’t.

            “Jenny, would you an’ Andi please feed these scraps to the chicken?” asked Mrs. Grant. Jenny nodded and accepted the bowl her mom gave her. I followed her outside.

There, I was greeted by the Grant’s German Shepherd, Feather. After a slimy kiss and several licks, I caught up with Jenny. She handed the scraps to her younger brother, Gideon, and took the bucket of feed he gave her. The feed was deposited in a little building.

When we entered the house again, breakfast was done. Jenny called her father and brothers in. Mr. Grant blessed the meal. We then ate a delicious meal of bacon, hard boiled eggs, and toast heaping with butter.

*****

            Eli did the last bit of his chores, while Jenny and I made sandwiches and filled canteens with water. Ten minutes later, both Eli and David finished their chores. Mr. Grant followed and told Eli to watch David, and David to watch us girls. He then prayed we would have a safe two-day trip.

We’d boat down the river, then when we reached our destination, Eli would sign the contract to cut down trees on a certain plot of land. We’d spend the night, and then return on horseback to the Grants’ house.

We took the narrow trail to the river and Eli explained how I should climb in the boat without tipping it. After I climbed in the boat, David handed me a paddle. I could feel the cool breeze in my face. The perfect summer day. Eli commanded us to start paddling and before long we were at a decent pace.

            “This isn’t bad.” I commented.

            David smiled at me, “It ain’t bad now, but wait ‘till we do this for a few hours. Your arms will hurt and you’ll wonder why you came on this trip in the first place.”

I just ignored him. Right now, I was having so much fun. The river was quiet and we learned to paddle and share stories at the same time. We also would sometimes just paddle and listen to the sounds of nature. Sometimes I’d see fish or turtles. In some places, I could hear bullfrogs.

About an hour and fifteen minutes later, I realized David was right. My arms were aching. I decided I wouldn’t complain. I persevered for another twenty minutes. Before long, Jenny was the one who was begging for a break.

            “Can we please have a break?” Jenny begged.

            “Hmm.” Thought Eli.

            “Please.” Jenny begged again. David gave her a sympathetic look.

            “I’ll second the motion.” I told Eli.

            “I guess we can take a small break, but let’s wait ‘till we get another mile up. I think there is some decent flat lands somewhere near here.

            We anchored the boat and Jenny and I immediately took off our boots and socks and started wading in the shallow water. The cool water felt so refreshing! Jenny splashed water on me and I did the same to her.

A while later we quit and chased each other on the dirt near the river bed. I had so much energy. We played tag, but I quickly realized I was a much faster runner than Jenny, so we quit playing. We had just climbed up some big rocks when we heard Eli scream “help” several times. David sprinted off to the direction of the voice. We also heard a gunshot.

Minutes passed by, though it seemed like hours. When he didn’t come back soon, Jenny and I began to worry.

            “I wonder what’s wrong.” Jenny said in a worried voice.

            “I don’t know.” I replied, “But I hope David will be back soon. I don’t like it here without him here.” Jenny nodded her head in agreement.

            “Jenny! Andi! Where are you?” We ran to David’s voice.

            “What happened?” questioned Jenny.

            “Well,” thought David, “I’ll just make this short and simple. Eli was attacked by a bear.”

            “What!?” We both exclaimed at the same time, as David was leading us to Eli.

            David explained to us that Eli had went into the woods to explore a bit, for he didn’t know the area too well. Instead, before he could think about it, a bear attacked him. A bear, I thought. I shivered. The thought of a bear scared me. At the same time, I also thought of Joshua 1:9, Be strong and courageous, for the Lord is with you always.

            Eli was bad off. I could try to describe it, but words can't really describe. He had a gash in his head, probably a broken leg, and probably several teeth marks, scrapes, and bruises. I knew I wouldn’t, or couldn’t help him. A few feet off, was a dead bear. I figured David had killed him.

            “I think a few miles down the river there is a cabin.” David said thoughtfully, “If we can bandage him and set his leg, I think be could boat down a bit.”

            “I agree.” Jenny added in a laconic manner.

David found an old flour sack and cut it into strips with his knife. Jenny an’ I found a sturdy stick a bit shorter than Eli ’s leg. We set his leg as gently as we could, then used the remaining cloth to bandage his open wounds. David took his legs, and Jenny and I both took an arm. It was a tedious job, but we managed to carry him out of the woods and set him in the boat. David handed us our paddles and we paddled down the river.

            The cabin David told us was more like a shack. The porch was dilatated, and a few sheep and chickens roamed the yard. It looked similar to the Hollister’s shack.

            “You two stay here ‘till I find out if this is a safe place and if anyone can help Eli.” David jumped out of the boat and handed Jenny the rifle. He put the Colt .22 on his holster and advanced toward the house. He raised his hand to the door and knocked.

A young man, not much older than David, opened the door. A woman, who looked like the young man’s mother, also stepped out. I could hear a word they said every now and then, but nothin’ more than that. Finally, the lady and David paced over and she took a look at David.

            “I can fix him up.” Spoke the lady. The young man was motioned over and between him and David, they hauled Eli into the shack.

Inside the lady introduced herself as Mrs. George. She told us her husband had died several years earlier, and that she had five children.

            “Mason, my oldest isn’t here.” Explained Mrs. George, “Carson is over there, Brighton is my 13-year-old in the other room, Breanne in next, and my youngest is Micah.” David then introduced himself and then I introduced myself. David explained that I was visiting from California. I watched Mrs. George douse whisky on Eli ’s leg before bandaging it up. She made known that Eli should not be boating for several days.

            We spent the night at the George house. David knew boating up the river would take longer, so he didn’t leave for the Grant place ‘till morning. He had decided the today that he would go back home and try to bring some help down, so Eli could get out of here.

*****

            The next day after breakfast, David set off. He trusted that Mrs. George would take good care of Eli and the girls. Brighton, I found out was really shy ‘till I got to know her. She was curious about California and my ranch life. She was also curious about Jenny’s logging camp, for she never heard of a logging camp. I also found out she didn’t have to go to school.

I wished I didn’t have to go to school, but I remembered Mother’s rule. We were in deep conversation when Breanne started screaming.

            “Help! Help! Micah fell into the river!” We all ran to where Breanne had seen Micah slip into the river. We also seen Micah get ripped away with the current.

            “I can’t swim!” cried Brighton.

            “I can swim.” I shouted, “Go get help!” At my command, both Brighton and Jenny ran toward the house, while I ran into the river. The water was only a bit past my hips, but the strong current ripped me down the river. I was able to grab on to Micah’s shirt and I felt him grab my hand. After that, I don’t really remember what happened. I remember being on shore and seeing Mrs. George and Carson. The next thing I remember is being in the George cabin.

            I woke up a while later and found Mrs. George by my side. “You feeling better?” I nodded. Jenny and Brighton came in at once. They acted like I had just died and been revived.    

            “Is…. Micah…. Ok?” I mumbled.

            “Yes.” Brighton smiled, “If you wouldn’t have jumped into the current and saved him….” She left the rest unsaid, but I knew what she was going to say.

            “Carson and Mrs. George were shocked to here you were in the river. They screamed and wanted to know why on earth you’d jump into the river. We forgot to tell them Micah slipped into the river. They were quite shocked to see Micah into the water.” Retold Jenny.

            “It’s a good thing I have a big brother.” Commented Brighton, “Or else you may be still by the river flats with Ma screaming.” I laughed as they accounted everything that happened, and before long, I fell deep asleep.  

*****

            I awoke to the sound of mumbling voices. “David should be here soon.” One voice murmured.

            “Yes," The other voice agreed, “unless he ran into some trouble.”

            “I hope not.” Replied the other voice. Who is talking? I thought. I scrabbled out of bed to see what was going on. I snuck outside and stood by a tree listening to Jenny and Mrs. George. According to Jenny, David should be about four or five miles away.

            “Are you eavesdropping?” a new voice blurted out. I turned to see who was behind me. Thankfully, to my chagrin, it was only Brighton. Unfortunately, Mrs. George now knew I was listening in on their conversation.

            “Are you better?” asked Mrs. George.

            “Yes.” I replied.

            “This has been quite an adventure, hasn’t it?”

            “Yes, but when I return to California, I’ll have something to tell my family. My siblings will be interested to know what I did my two weeks in Washington.” Jenny smiled.

            “I agree everyone will be interested in hearing about your escapade. Now if only David would get here…”