Pushed Back

by S A Ison

  “Let me try too.” He said and reached for some of the fronds. We sat waiting for our dinner, weaving or at least attempting to weave. I had tried crocheting long green grass. It did pretty good, but as the grass died, it became less pliable. Next time I gathered the grass, I would have to work on it more quickly. They would be good for tying bundles together.

  “Let’s try the ball mushroom. I’ll cut it into thick steaks and let’s see how it tastes.” Harper suggested.

  I watched as he cut a round disk of meaty mushroom. He stuck it on his gig and held it over the fire. As he did that, I chopped more chives and watercress. I took some of the plants and I placed them by the fire to dry out. The more I could dry, the more I would have on hand. I also placed many of the strawberries near there as well. I wanted them close to the fire, enough to dry them out, but not cook them. These I would put away for future use.

  “Once the palm dates get ripe, I will try to dry them out like the strawberries. Then we can try to make your pemmican.”

  “Sounds like a plan Stan. That soup smells really good. I almost feel guilty eating all this food.” He laughed.

  “I know, but up in the cave, we have a bunch of tubers, some dried fish and still quite a bit of snake steak. Maybe tomorrow, we can fish and make more dried fish. I want to get more chives and watercress as well as cattails.”

  “Yeah, I wanted to do some fishing too. I’m also hoping we get a chance to find small prey, though I’m not sure I’m good with this spear, it is too heavy and big.”

  “Do you remember the movie, Quigley Down Under? It was back in the 90s. Anyway, the Australian aborigines used smaller and thinner spears, almost like long arrows. They would put it in a shorter stick with a notch at the back, and they used that to launch the spear.”

  “Heck yeah, I saw that movie when I was a kid. I think I remember that. That’s a good idea. That might help me get some range. Maybe, if I was on higher ground, I could hit a small deer or something like that or one of those tapirs. I wouldn’t have to get too close.” He said smiling and held up the charred mushroom. He set it in the wooden plate and I sprinkled the chives and watercress over it. I waited for him to take a bite first.

  He chewed thoughtfully and I scrutinized his face. A slow smile spread across his face. I smiled in return and took my fork and forked a chunk off. It was good to chew something substantial, the taste was okay, the chives and watercress made it taste better. We ate some of the strawberries with it and the combination of tastes was wonderful.

  I checked the soup and then added another stone. I wanted it to boil down just a little more. I didn’t want it to taste too watery. The sky was turning pink with the coming evening, streaks of lavender stretched across the wide expanse. The first few bats of the night were already coming out. I wondered where they roosted, another cave close by perhaps. The cicadas had quieted down and the crickets were taking up the mantle, tuning their legs for the nightly concert.

  It had been a good day. Our fire wasn’t as big now, it was more for utility, than protection. It was to cook and dry our food, and not to keep predators away. Our presence was known I’m sure, by all the animals that inhabited the area. Our scent, be that urine, fire or body odor was here. We had marked this as our territory. We kept attuned to all that was around us, we felt safe, but we kept in mind that it was a dangerous world we inhabited. We didn’t let our guard down.

  I fished out the last stone and set it aside. “Go ahead and taste the soup. Be careful, it is going to be hot.” I cautioned. I nibbled on some of the watercress, mixing it with a few strawberries. The bulk of the strawberries would be dried, and we would get more tomorrow. We had to take advantage of this windfall.

  “Man, this is good. You gotta taste it.”

  He handed the bowl over, it was a bit awkward due to its size. There wasn’t a lot of water left so the soup was thick. I cautiously took a sip, oh, and he was right. It was wonderful. I looked at him and grinned.

  “You can cook woman.” He laughed.

  “You can hunt mister.” I laughed back. We passed the bowl back and forth and when the soup was gone, he took the bowl to the river to clean. He brought back water and we dropped stones into it to boil.

  “I feel so full I’m about to bust.” I groaned.

  “Me too, I’m almost miserable, but God that was good and it was good to eat it all. This is the first time I’ve actually felt full in quite a few days. It is a good sensation.”

  We spent the rest of the early evening taking the dried food back up into the back of the cave. Then we took the water and some of the rocks and went up into the cave. It was getting near dark and we didn’t want to be on the ground. We sat on the ledge of the cave, as was to become our custom during the mild seasons. As I wove my palm fronds, he hammered away at different rocks. The fire was between us, so there was plenty of light.

  He was singing under his breath and I smiled. I don’t believe he was even cognizant of it. I think it was an old tune, Bad Company. He was even striking the stones to the beat of it. I hope he didn’t bash his fingers.

  We hear the howling of wolves in the distance. Harper let go a long howl himself, and I did the same. We waited and we were answered back. We both laughed. He did it again, and a few moments later, he was answered once more, this time farther away. Then we heard the cry of a big cat. Neither of us even attempted that call.

  “Maybe if the wolves hear us, they know this is our territory and will stay away.” I suggested.

  “Maybe. I might start going around marking the area around the cave.”

  “That is a very good idea. Work your way outwards. I’d like a nice big boundary of testosterone.” I grinned. He sniggered.

  We sat in peaceful silence when it was getting too dark to work. We saw a small herd of horses running about a mile away, crossing the river. Their thundering hooves pounded out and reached us, then we heard the distant splashes. About two hundred yards away, we saw a large deer break from the forest across the river, it was running so fast. It was huge and it hit the water and kept going. Then we saw the biggest mountain lion I’ve ever seen. I’d seen several at the zoo, but this creature was massive. I kid you not, it was terrifyingly immense and it sored across the water after the deer.

  The deer had reached our side and in the fading light, we could see the massive cat pounce on the deer. The cat was larger than our modern-day tiger. The hair rose on my arm as I heard the scream of the deer and even from where we sat, we heard the explosive crunch of the neck and skull from the deer and then it was silent. We heard none of the night birds, nor the frogs and crickets. We sat frozen as we watched as the big cat easily dragged the deer back across the river and back to the other side. It disappeared into the forest beyond.

  Harper let out a long low breath, “Jesus, I’m glad that thing lives on the other side of the river. And I’m damn glad he has food for a while, so he doesn’t come looking.”

  “Me too, Christ. He lifted that deer like it was a toy. Could you see if it had those really long teeth?”

  “No, but I heard that bone crunching.”

  “Yeah, I wish I could unhear it.”

  “I think tomorrow, I will make the stair treads up between these two trees. I think I want to be able to get into this cave fast.”

  “That’s a damn fine idea Harper. And maybe take a piss over there as well, tomorrow.”

  SEVEN

  Our days were filled with activity. Believe it or not, we didn’t see the big cat for a very long time. We heard it from time to time, but it was very far away. This was good news for us. We figured we were kind of on the outer rim of its territory. The deer had just run into our area. I was personally glad, since I really didn’t want that big cat anywhere near us.

  It was taking me a while to adjust to this new world. The sights as well as the lack of mechanical sounds. It was quiet, no cars nor planes going overhead. No lights from Norfolk Naval Base, nor noise from the airport. In our time, there was
always some kind of noise or light. That was what had been so frightening that first night when we woke in the forest. It was so alien to us. It was as though our heads had been muffled with the lack of sound and light.

  I was adjusting, though not as quickly as Harper. He seemed to be a happy camper here. I mean that. I think his positiveness keeps me from sliding into darkness. It is very easy to get stuck in self-pity, and keeping busy was how I dealt with it. I spent my days gathering anything and everything I thought might be useful. I was now thinking well outside the box.

  As I had mentioned about the cattails, I’ll only say that they worked great, for which I am profoundly grateful and we’ll leave it at that. I continued to pick them and I also planted or rather scattered the seeds up and down our part of the river. I wanted them to grow near us. I had a lot of plans for the fluff, fronds and the roots.

  True to his word, Harper built stair steps in between the two massive hemlocks. He’d first carved out footholds from the base of the trunks, up to where they split. He had measured with his small measuring tape, the distance between the twin trees. He had then found thick pieces of wood. I watched as he cut notches into each tree and used a rock to hammer the wood into the notches, holding them firm. It took him two days, because he wanted the treads wide enough and for my height and stride up the stairs/ladder.

  Because the trees were so massive, he set the treads in a forward staggered rise. I was absolutely impressed. With just his knife, plyers and a rock, he’d made us a stable staircase to the cave mouth. He then notched the trees and set long branches from each tree into the cave mouth. The distance from the tree trunk to the cave mouth was a little over four feet. He found ten-foot limbs and notched the tree in about four inches deep and wedged the limbs into the notches. I held onto the branches as he hammered them snug with a large rock.

  This way when we come up the stairs, we could now step onto a narrow landing on either side of the treads. Each landing was about two feet wide. We had to be careful, since it was a twenty foot drop on either side, but it was stable. He brought large boulders up and set the heavy rocks at the end of the ten-foot limbs. This held the limbs in place so there was little chance of them shifting. All in all, I was absolutely impressed.

  “You are a fantastic carpenter.”

  “Thanks, I enjoyed doing it. It is like a puzzle, trying to figure out the best way to fit things together so they work.”

  “What’s nice is that even if the wood contracts and expands, they are well seated into the notches.”

  “That’s why I did it this way. The limbs and stair treads are dead wood, and depending on the moisture, shouldn’t shrink or expand too much. The tree will grow and at some point, I may have to readjust the notches, but not for a few years.”

  “It sure makes it easier bringing things up here, that is for sure.”

  We were becoming more acclimated to our environment. We were now drinking more and more river water. We did however, keep drinking water on hand when the mastodons visited the river upstream. I imagine them pooping in the river and it washing right past us. Our water bottles were precious to us, they were also one of the last links to our old lives. Every item we had was a link.

  “I think I’ve found the right stone finely.”

  “To make tools?” I asked.

  “Yeah, and also I’m going to try my hand at spear heads.”

  “How are you going to attach the stone to the spear?”

  “I was thinking about cutting thin strips from my belt. I can wet the leather until it is pliant, and then secure it to the spear, then let it dry and harden.”

  “I think you need your belt to keep your pants up.” We’d both been dropping weight, almost alarmingly. My jeans bagged and were in danger of falling off me. Though we ate well, our meat, mostly fish, was lean. We had started scaling the fish and eating the skin to get the fat we needed. Our bodies were being redesigned by nature. We no longer had the fats of the future. Our stomachs were shrinking and though we never felt hungry, our bodies were burning energy with all our activity.

  We worked from the time we woke, until the sun was setting. The days were growing longer and so we were working longer as well. I do have to say, my basket making was starting to show progress. I was now putting our food stores into the baskets in the back of the cave. It was cool in the back of the cave.

  “I’m going later to check my traps. And I can use the thin ropes you made with the palm fronds for my belt by the way. They are a lot stronger than the grass ropes. I did use the grass ropes on some of my snares, but I think I’ll put my money on the palm frond rope.”

  I laughed, I was a crocheting maniac, making different kinds of chained ropes, then braiding them. Some worked well, while others were only strong enough for light bundles.

  “I sure hope you can get a rabbit, I’m really wanting red meat. I like fish, but it would be nice for a change.”

  “Yeah, once I get better with the smaller spear and the thrower. I just wish I could find more spears.” He grumbled. He’d been practicing with the device he made. The one I’d mentioned earlier, from the movie about Australian aborigines. He needed a long thin but sturdy spear. Most branches were not straight.

  “How about you look for some new saplings. I’m sure you can find some good straight ones. You might have a shorter spear, but I think that would be the way to go.” I suggested.

  He gaped at me. Then a slow smile spread over his bearded face. His gray eyes crinkled. “Again, you state the obvious that I can’t see. I guess I get tunnel vision. That’s a great idea. I think while I’m checking the snares, I’ll look for the saplings.”

  I laughed and shook my head. “Would you like me to give you a shave before you head out? You’re getting a little scruffy.”

  He felt his face and nodded. I’d been giving him dry shaves with his knife, which he kept sharp. The first time I did it, I was nervous.

  “Don’t worry, just gently go against the beard, it doesn’t have to be a smooth clean shave. I just want the majority of the beard off.” He had said the first time.

  I had squatted before him, my hand shaking slightly. Just before I placed the edge of the knife on his cheek, he shrieked, and I screamed and fell back. He started laughing like a crazed loon, rocking back and forth.

  “Why in the hell did you do that?” I yelled at him, trying to stop my run-away heart.

  “I’m sorry, I had to do it. I couldn’t help it, you looked so damn scared.” He howled in laughter, falling over to his side.

  “You’re an asshole, you know that.” I said and kicked the hell out of his leg. He laughed even harder and I saw tears running down his face. I stood there for a long time and couldn’t help it, I started laughing too. It was funny. It took a bit of doing before he got himself under control.

  As I shaved him, he broke out in giggles from time to time.

  “That really was a shitty thing to do.” I grinned.

  “I know, but man, that was just too good to pass up.”

  Now, he sat before me, and patiently waited until I’d scraped most of his beard away.

  “You going to let this grow in the winter?” I asked.

  “Yeah, might as well. It will keep me warm. I just don’t like it now, cause it itches.” He smiled.

  “I hear ya.” I said, finishing up.

  He headed out a little while later and I took one of my baskets and a stick that Harper had shaped into a spade. It helped me dig tubers. He had also made me a gigging stick as well. I carried that across my back with one of the ropes I made. The rope was good enough to hold in place, but if I pulled too hard, it would snap. That was the grass rope. It did the job though.

  I was more comfortable going off by myself. I couldn’t have Harper with me every second, though it had taken weeks to get me to this point. It was subtle, and little by little, I was becoming a bit more comfortable in this place. As I walked, I checked the palm dates, they were coming along nicely. They were still
green but they had gotten large, the size of a small apple. I could see the telltale orange beginning to show on them. The sun was beating down and so I took off my shirt. My skin was turning slowly, to a nice bronze shade. I’d started keeping my shirt off for an hour here and there. I tended to burn, so I was gradually getting my tan on.

  With Harper out of the vicinity, I felt comfortable. My bra was back at the cave. It was freeing not to have the restricting garment around me. I’m not a prude, nor am I hyper modest. But, with our living arrangement as it was, it was about as close as it was with Ross and I. I knew at some point I would go topless, it was only a matter of time. Our clothing would wear out at some point and really, there was no need for it. It was only the two of us.

  I smacked at a bug and scratched. Thankfully, there weren’t too many mosquitoes. I think because there wasn’t much standing water in this area. The river rushed by at a fairly fast pace. There were small inlets that had the cattails and river plants. I had my shoes and socks in my backpack. I was barefooted. I was conditioning my feet for summer. Our shoes had to last us, and so I figured I might as well go shoeless.

  I wrapped my fingers around the green dates, hefting them slightly. They were heavy and there was a lot of them. I liked seeing the clusters, that meant food to me. I remembered the sweet and tart taste of the ones I eaten as a child. I hoped that these were close to it. It would also make a good treat during the winter, when no fresh fruit was available. We had actually come across a small grove of figs during one of our forays. I’m not a fig eater, but I knew it added variety to our diet. These figs seemed to be smaller. I was hoping they might grow a bit larger, like the dates. Time would tell.

  I walked almost an hour until I came to an area that had the type of plant that had edible tubers. I didn’t over harvest any areas, trying to look for new places to find what we needed. If I over harvested, there would be nothing later in the year or next year. I kept this upper most in my mind. I also found the orange daylilies that Harper told me about.