The Troop

by Gayne C Young

  “What are you doing?” I asked as he yanked a tooth with a pair of pliers from his multi-tool from the badger’s bashed skull.

  “Going to make a necklace out of his teeth,” Johnny laughed. “To celebrate my fierce badger killing skills.”

  “Dad that is so weird!” Jack chuckled. “Even for you.”

  “You won’t think so when I’m done,” Johnny replied. “You’ll be asking to borrow it. It’ll look that cool.”

  “I doubt it,” Jack laughed some more.

  Johnny pulled another tooth from the head and put it on the ground next to four other teeth he had pulled. “These are going to look so good! I might add some seeds to the necklace too. For some color.”

  “Again Dad, that’s really weird,” Jack exclaimed.

  “I think it’s pretty cool,” I offered. “You know I think I’m going to make a necklace to celebrate my deer and quail killing skills.”

  “Oh, I like where this is going!” Johnny guffawed.

  “Where is this going?” Dad laughed.

  “I don’t know,” I admitted. “Maybe I’ll yank a tooth from a deer skull or string together a few quail and dove skulls to make my own necklace.”

  “A quail skull necklace!” Liam barked. “That’s stupid.”

  “I think it sounds cool,” Carl disagreed. “Kind of wear it to celebrate our living off the land. We’re hunters you know.”

  “See Liam,” I chuckled. “I’m a trendsetter with a purpose.”

  “Hang on man,” Johnny joked. “I’m the trendsetter here. It was my idea.”

  “OK,” I said. “You were the trendsetter. I’ll give credit where credit is due.”

  “Necklace like that could be kind of cool,” Andrew smiled. “I want in.”

  “Me too,” Matt said.

  “Let’s go to the gut pile,” Carl suggested referring to where we skinned and cleaned all our game. We’ll grab some quail heads and dove heads and boil them out to clean them up real good and make some necklaces.”

  “For sure,” I exclaimed.

  All of us with the exception of Johnny and Dad went over to the gut pile and dug through all the pieces and parts of the animals we had cleaned there. We brought back three deer skulls and maybe a dozen quail heads and three or four dove heads. We put them in a pot of water and boiled them over the fire for almost a half hour. We pulled everything out then pulled some deer teeth loose from the boiled skulls then scraped and cleaned the quail and dove skulls and put them on cord and hung them around our necks. It took all afternoon but was a fun way to avoid the heat of the day. Even Liam got in on the action and made a necklace.

  Dad stood there looking at all of us are with our bronzed skin, sun-faded and scraggly hair and wearing the bones of our kills and joked, “I’m living with a bunch of tribal hunters.”

  54

  Johnny’s guess of three days was right on the money because that’s when we built the dam. We had a ton of bricks and cedar posts ready and we started just after breakfast.

  Matt, Jack, and Carl took turns driving the sharpened cedar posts into the creek bed and after they had six of them set, we all began the laborious job of stacking bricks before them. We started laying the bricks some three feet on either side of the creek until we had a semi-circle base that was maybe 10 feet long. We built the wall up from there. Luckily, the water in the creek didn’t run very fast or very deep so stacking the bricks wasn’t that big of an ordeal in terms of the water movement. By the time we ran out of bricks the dam was almost three feet tall.

  “Now what?” Jack asked after the last brick was set.

  “Now we stack as much rock and dirt behind it as we can,” Johnny instructed.

  We dumped the rocks we collected behind the dam and took turns with shovels to put his much dirt and gravel on top of these as we could. By the time we were finished we had a pretty good-looking dam.

  Well pretty good looking considering what we had to work with.

  Carl wadded into the creek before the dam and exclaimed, “The water’s above my ankle now. It was below my ankle when we started.”

  “It’ll will take a while to fill up all the way,” Dad said. “The creek didn’t have much of a flow to begin with.”

  “So, what’s going to happen to the creek below the dam?” I asked.

  “Most of it’ll dry up,” Johnny explained. “Until the water fills up enough to start going over the channel we built in the top middle of the dam.”

  “So, all the fish down river will die?” Luke asked suddenly concerned about minnows.

  “I don’t think so,” Dad offered. “There’s a few holes in the creek they can retreat into until the water starts flowing again.”

  “So, the two places where we cross the creek on the road going out toward the highway are going to dry up for maybe a day or two?” Liam pondered.

  “Guess we’ll find out tonight,” Dad theorized.

  “Huh?” I grunted.

  “Tonight’s more less a month since y’all made your run out to the highway to scavenge the truck,” Dad explained. “We’ll have a full moon tonight so Johnny and I thought we should all make a run out there to get some more of the corn and anything else we can find.”

  “Everybody?” Jack asked apparently referring to how he, Matt, Dad, and Johnny didn’t go last time.

  “I think so,” Dad said. “What do you think Matt? You up for a run the highway?”

  Matt mulled the idea over for a few moments then said, “A hike? Yes. A run? No.”

  “Yes, a hike and not a run,” Dad said.

  “I know,” Matt laughed. “I was just joking. Yeah that’d be fine. Let’s do it.”

  “OK then,” Johnny announced. “Then let’s head back up to camp n’ get some rest. We’ll head out maybe two hours before sundown.”

  “Get some sleep this afternoon if you can,” Dad suggested to all of us. “It’ll be a long night.”

  Dad had no idea how right he was.

  55

  We met in the living room about two hours before sundown. We all had our packs on and they were loaded with jerky, some survival supplies, and lots and lots of water. Liam, Andrew, and I joked about how we had to cinch our packs’ waist belts and shoulder straps tighter due to our one month of weight loss.

  “I hope my shorts don’t fall down,” Liam joked.

  “I hope you don’t climb over the gate when everybody tells you not to and then fall on your butt and get hurt again,” I joked.

  “Ha. Ha,” Liam scoffed.

  Dad had his AR-15 rifle and Johnny a .22 rifle and when Luke asked why they were taking them Dad said, “Just in case.”

  Johnny checked all our packs to make sure we all had what we needed and when he said that we did we headed out. We had just made it out from under the living room when Matt spoke up.

  “Hey guys,” he mumbled. “Let’s have a quick prayer.”

  “Sounds like a good idea,” Johnny replied. “Anytime you’re ready.”

  “Dear Lord,” Matt began. “Please look after all of us…all of us as we travel and help us to return safely. Amen.”

  We all said “amen” then hit the road for the long hike before us. Carl took the lead and we followed in sets of two or three with Dad and Johnny pulling up the rear. We hit the first creek crossing in what felt like about 45 minutes to find only a few muddy puddles instead of the half inch deep flowing water we had crossed their last time.

  “Are all the fish dead?” Luke asked.

  “I’m sure they’re fine Luke,” Dad offered. “Like I said before, they’re probably held up in some puddles.”

  “The water should be back to its normal flow in a day or two at most,” Johnny offered.

  We crossed the muddy creek bed and continued along the road. We hit the first gate soon thereafter and spun the combination and went through.

  “Anybody need a break?” Dad asked.

  We all said we were good and continued onward. Darkness came and with it s
lightly cooler temperatures. The stars and moon had yet to come out and it was hard to see anything but the road before us. We’d occasionally spot the odd rabbit or shadow of a rabbit cross the road before us. Carl said he saw two deer cross the road but no one else saw them so we all gave him a hard time and suggested that maybe he was either a liar or hallucinating.

  The stars and the moon finally came out and they shinned down on the desert and revealing a landscape of skeletal tree shadows and dark spots. We continued hiking forward not really talking much until we came to the next creek. It too was free from flowing water and we crossed its muddy bed and hiked onward toward the highway. We were almost to the gate when Johnny snapped at us to stop. We gathered around him in the dark and he whispered, “Dead stop. No talking.”

  “What?” Luke almost burst out.

  Johnny whispered louder and we could tell he was serious as well as angry. “No talking! None!”

  Johnny leaned into Dad and whispered something in his ear. They traded rifles with Johnny taking Dad’s AR. Dad motioned in the dark for us to follow him and we did as he led us back the way we came. Johnny dropped his backpack and made his way to the gate then over it.

  Dad whispered to all of us, “No talking. No noise at all and I’m serious.”

  “What is it?” Luke questioned again.

  “Hush!” Dad whispered with force. “No noise. Just wait a second.”

  Everybody’s mind went into overdrive wondering what was going on. Why did Johnny take Dad’s rifle and leave? Why did he drop his pack then go on ahead of us? Why were he and Dad so jumpy? I drank from my Camelback and looked to everyone to see that they were staring towards the highway as if willing Johnny to come back. I drank some more then shifted my stance and stared in the direction of the highway as well. The sky in that direction suddenly turned orange and I thought I heard heavy hand clapping. Johnny came running back from the darkness, grabbed his pack and ran toward us.

  “No time to explain,” he exclaimed a bit louder than a whisper. “We have to go. Now! No talking and keep together.”

  We all stood there in the darkness in shock at what was going on.

  What was going on?

  The sky above the highway was an orange yellow light and we all realized that there was some kind of fire and we turned around and followed Carl as he led us down the road at a furious clip.

  “Stay together,” Dad barked. “Carl, stay to the side of the road. In the shadows.”

  We all followed Carl as he did as instructed then shuttered at a sudden clap of thunder. We turned toward the highway to see an orange fireball engulf the sky.

  “Go!” Johnny sounded like a drill sergeant. “Don’t look back! Go!”

  We hiked forward trying not to run. My heart was racing in fear and unease and it took all I had not to look back or to question what was going on. There was another explosion and we all turned to see that this one sent flames high into the sky and shot what looked like comets or fireballs in every direction. We all stood there staring at the disaster in the distance. Johnny said, “The fire is going to jump into the brush. We’ve got to go. No running but let’s get going now!”

  We crossed the muddy creek and kept going along the side of the road. Luke tripped and fell, and Andrew almost tripped over him. Andrew leaned down and almost pulled Luke to his feet and we kept moving forward. Every time someone started to say something Dad or Johnny shut them down with a, “Keep moving!” or “No talking. Let’s go!” We didn’t stop for what seemed like forever and when we did, we all sucked at our Camelbacks and watched the orange flames in the distance. Johnny pulled his binoculars from his pack and stared in the direction of the fire.

  “Damn. It’s moving towards us.” Johnny dropped his binoculars back into his pack and shouldered it once more and said, “There’s almost no wind. That’s good.”

  “Let’s go guys,” Dad instructed. “We’ve got to keep well ahead of this. No running. No talking. Let’s go!”

  56

  I don’t know if it was the fire, the fear of the unknown thing, the event that Johnny witnessed, or Dad’s and Johnny’s constant insistence that we drive forward at all costs that kept us moving so quickly but we made it back to camp in record time. The only time we stopped was for Johnny and Dad to assess the fire and its movement. The flames had somehow jumped the first creek crossing as traveled from the highway and were continually heading in our direction. The whole hike back was under the smell of wood smoke and even with the flames burning a mile or so behind us we all thought for sure we could hear it and feel it.

  We crossed through the gate closest to camp and Johnny made sure that it was locked after we went through it. I thought this was weird considering there was a fire behind us, but I guess Johnny had a good reason for doing what he did. We crossed the creek bed and started for the last leg toward camp. At the top of the hill before camp Dad and Johnny stopped to watch the fire burn in the distance.

  “Maybe two miles back,” Johnny said dropping the binoculars from his face. “Still no wind thankfully.”

  “There’s less scrub up this way but if it jumps the second creek bed we’re going to be in some serious trouble,” Dad replied.

  “What do you think about the dam?” Johnny asked. “If the water is backed up enough, knocking it down may flood debris that might burn outta the creek bed.”

  “I don’t know,” Dad replied with the most unsure voice I’ve ever heard from him in my life. “How’d the fire jump the first crossing? Branches hanging over the draw or flammables in the draw?”

  “Probably both,” Johnny offered. “But we can always make another dam. Camp probably won’t burn because of where it is but everything in the valley and everything around us could.”

  “Then let’s do it,” Dad replied. “We’re going to have to knock it down.”

  “We’re going to knock it down?!” Carl said.

  “I think so,” Dad said. “Get us back to camp. Pronto.”

  Carl led us back to camp and we all dropped our packs at the living room and grabbed tools from the trailer and followed Dad and Johnny down to the dam. It was still dark and difficult to see but we saw the dark forms of deer leap from the water’s edge at our arrival. Carl walked into the water and declared that it was maybe two feet deep.

  “That’ll be good enough force,” Johnny proclaimed.

  “Guys, there’s no time to explain but we’re gonna have to knock down the dam,” Dad declared. “We need to flood the creek bed to keep the fire from coming into the valley.”

  “What do we do?” I asked.

  “Use whatever you can to start moving the earth from behind the dam,” Johnny ordered. “Taylor, Carl, Jack, and I will use shovels. The rest of you use your bare hands or any sticks you can find.”

  I wadded into the water next to Carl and dunked my body and came up and shook my hair and made my way to the back of the dam. Everyone but Luke followed my actions.

  All of us worked frantically to destroy what we finished only earlier that morning.

  That seemed so long ago.

  Those with shovels dug a center channel while the rest of us did what we could with our hands. Johnny and Dad then took an ax and hatchet respectfully to the cedar posts and once those fell they went to the center of the dam and started hammering at the bricks. They chipped away and chipped away until finally the center of the dam gave way to the force of the water behind it and fell over. Water rushed through the cut channel into the creek bed. I couldn’t believe the force of the water considering how shallow it was. The force built and took the entire center of the dam with it.

  We gathered our tools and made our way back up to camp and drained our Camelbacks of water then drank from the water jugs we always left full in the living room. The sun began its rise and it was then that we could see the smoke for the first time.

  The direction of the highway was a curtain of dark gray clouds of smoke and ash. Johnny grabbed his binoculars and Dad his and the
y led us out of camp and onto the rise on the road. We could see the plains and gullies better from there and were delighted to see that rather than one huge wall of flames the torrent had burnt down to just a few errant fires.

  “It’s dying out,” Johnny declared. “With no wind to push it, it’s got no drive.”

  “Good Lord though,” Dad exclaimed. “But how many acres did it take with it? How much was destroyed?”

  “Got to be in the hundreds upon hundreds of acres,” Johnny theorized. “Maybe more than a thousand.”

  “Looks like it’s not gonna make it much further,” I said.

  “I don’t think so,” Dad said. “It may not even reach the part of the creek we flooded.”

  “Then we destroyed our dam for nothing!” Liam complained.

  “Hey Liam,” I said.

  “I know. I know,” Liam barked. “Shut up. Ha. Ha. Very funny.”

  57

  Dad and Johnny had us go back to the camp to eat breakfast while they stayed on the hilltop to watch the fire.

  “Y’all go eat together then come back together,” Dad declared. “Bring me and Johnny some jerky, water, and folding chairs when you do.”

  “Anything else?” Liam moaned in sarcasm.

  “Yeah,” Johnny laughed. “Two soft tacos with chorizo, egg, n’ cheese. And lots and lots of ghost pepper sauce!”

  “Sorry sir,” Liam laughed. “We’re all out of those.”

  “Then jerky and water will do,” Johnny chuckled.

  “Take your time,” Dad said. “We’ll have a meeting when y’all get back.”

  Despite Dad telling us to take our time we all rushed back to the living room for breakfast. The toll of the day and night before was starting to show on all of us and I’m sure none of us could have slept if we tried. We were still full of adrenaline and the desire to know how the fire started and what Johnny saw before it did so. We drank our fill of water then filled Dad’s and Johnny’s Camelbacks with water. We grabbed some chairs and headed back up the hill. The sun was up but still hadn’t entered our valley, so it wasn’t that hot yet.