Color Me Grey: Book One of the Alexis Stanton Chronicles

by J. C. Phelps

  I got back up and searched around for a longer, stronger branch. No luck. Plenty of little ones lying around though. I thought about this for a while and decided I would try to lash them together somehow. I looked on the ground for some type of weed, vine or grass that I could use. Nothing that would hold. Then I got a brainstorm. I started pulling the lines loose from the chute that had brought Mr. Black’s pack down safely. A little less than an hour later I had enough sticks tied together to reach the pack and about fifteen minutes later the bag dropped to the ground.

  Mr. Black came out of the woods and said, “Finally.” Then he picked up his backpack and started the walk back to the cabin.

  “How long were you out there?” I asked.

  He sidestepped the question and said, “You should have come asked me for help. I could have lifted you up instead of you destroying the chutes.” The other chute had been left in the tree. I had thought he would have been impressed with my innovation and was a bit disappointed in his reaction.

  When we reached the cabin he took his pack to his room and told me to unload the last of the duffel bags. I opened it and found dry goods such as, toilet paper, instant potatoes, instant milk, dried eggs. It all sounded so good. I could hardly wait to eat fake food. Mr. Black was still in his room unpacking when I finished, so I thought now would be a good time to unpack my bag too. By the time we finished with all the unpacking it was beginning to get dark.

  Mr. Black sat down with a book and said that I got to cook dinner. I did just that. I found some other canned goods that had been stored or brought in one of the other packs. All in all I think I did a good job with what I had. When dinner was ready we sat at the table and Mr. Black explained to me what he expected out of me this time at the cabin. He said, “No more playing around. This time we are going to get to work.”

  I thought he had been rough on me last time. I wondered what was in store for me now.

  “I want you proficient in all general survival techniques and some other things too,” he explained.

  We finished dinner and he headed for his room. Just before he shut the door he said, “You should get to bed as soon as the dishes are done. I’m going to have you up early.” Then the door to his room closed.

  I got right on the dishes and then went straight to bed. I didn’t go to sleep though. These men changed attitudes like they were socks. I finally fell asleep hoping Mr. Black would be in a better mood in the morning.

  “UP!” Mr. Black yelled in my face as he shook the bed.

  I jumped out of bed and was fully dressed. I had gotten up in the middle of the night and dressed. I wanted to make sure I was prepared for whatever he had in store for me.

  We started out with laps around the lake and exercises on the shore. I was prepared to go swimming at his command. But after the morning exercises he marched me back to the cabin. He had me take my chute off the tree limbs and fold it back into its pack. He demonstrated the technique first with his chute, and then he stood over me while I replicated his every move. I looked up to him and asked if I had done it right.

  He said, “We’ll find out soon enough.” He had me go out and chop some firewood and before long he came out and told me I could come back in. Mr. Black had fixed us sandwiches for lunch. We ate at the table and then he hustled me out the door. Both of us had our packs on our backs and we both carried a pack away from the cabin.

  We hiked away from the cabin at a brisk pace for several hours and finally came to rest at the top of a peak. We were at the top of a sheer cliff. I don’t know how high we were, but looking down made me dizzy. The view was sensational. The mountains in the foreground and trees were all staring up at us on this glorious peak. We stood for a moment taking it all in and he said in a quiet voice, “I love this place.” I didn’t know if he meant that particular peak or the mountains themselves. Which ever it was I was hard pressed not to agree with him.

  We stood enjoying the view for a moment that didn’t last long enough for me. Then Mr. Black retrieved the two packs that we carried up. One of them was the chute I had packed earlier. He attached them together and threw them off the cliff. We watched as they fell. My chute didn’t open.

  I was a bit discouraged and disgusted. I looked to Mr. Black.

  “Parachute packing is an art that you will learn.” We turned back to the barely visible packs just as they hit the ground.

  “Ready?” he asked a moment later with desire in his eyes. He didn’t even wait for a reply before he took off top speed toward the cliff. He plunged over the side and I ran to watch. Immediately he let go of the mini chute that would pull his ripcord.

  “Hell, yeah I’m ready,” I said to nobody and followed his lead. Watching the two packs fall to the ground so far below us could have made me think twice about jumping, but I didn’t let it. I made sure to push off from the cliff. I didn’t want to hit the side of it. As I fell, I took it all in. This was different than skydiving. Not totally different, but a different rush. We were much closer to the ground for one thing. I saw Mr. Black touch down at the bottom of the cliff and I tried to land close by.

  Actually, I didn’t do all that bad, compared to yesterday. And I had loved it. I wanted to go again. I collected my chute and started folding it back the way I was shown. Mr. Black came up to me and said, “Wait. Watch me again.” He folded up his chute and then stood over me and watched my every move.

  “You’ll get it, but I want to watch you re-pack every time for a while.” He said. His mood had lightened. I think the jump was just what he needed.

  “Are we headed back up?” I asked eagerly.

  “Not today. We have other things to do yet,” he replied looking up the face of the cliff.

  Each of us carried two packs as we jogged back to the cabin, which was actually not that far away. All this time a huge, gorgeous cliff was in our backyard and I didn’t even know about it. When we reached the cabin we dropped off the chutes and trooped back to the shore of the lake. Mr. Black proceeded to kick my butt in hand-to-hand combat maneuvers. This lasted into the evening and by the time we got back to the cabin I was famished and worn out. But it soon became apparent I was going to have to be the cook this time around. I guess it was only fair because the first time we were up here Mr. Black did the cooking.

  I looked through the cupboards and was able to come up with a different menu than last night. As I was cooking dinner, Mr. Black proceeded to take all of the chutes out of their packs and lay them out on the floor. I knew what was coming after dinner. I packed and re-packed the chutes until I could hardly keep my eyes open. Mr. Black must have picked up on it because he announced that it was time for bed when I finished packing the chutes one last time.

  We got an early start on our morning exercises and headed back up to the top of the peak. Once again we watched the two packs fall, but the chute opened this time, then we jumped. When we reached the bottom Mr. Black had me pack his chute and watched me pack my own once again. His attitude before a jump was one of seriousness, but after a jump he was almost like a little boy that had gotten exactly what he had asked for at Christmas time. We hiked to the top of the peak three times before it was getting too late to do it again.

  This behavior of morning exercises and then jumping into the late afternoon continued for several days. I managed to keep a bit of variety in our diets even though we were eating the same thing over and over.

  After we had gotten into a routine, Mr. Black changed it on me. I had gotten out of bed early and was making a quick breakfast for us when he came out of his room. He went straight to the living room and moved a rug away from the edge of the couch. Under it was a trap door leading to who knows what. He opened the door and disappeared into the open hole. I heard him rummaging through things and before long up came some ropes and other equipment. Then Mr. Black lifted himself back up into the living room, replaced the door and the rug and started to arrange and check the ropes.

  I announced breakfast was ready and set our plate
s on the table. He stopped what he was doing to join me. We ate in silence. I knew the equipment was for rock climbing and figured I must be good enough at BASE-jumping to move on. When we finished breakfast Mr. Black put on his chute and grabbed some of the gear still lying on the living room floor. I grabbed my chute and the rest of the gear and followed him out the door.

  Soon we were at the face of the cliff that we had been jumping off for close to a week now. He explained the fundamentals of rock climbing and I didn’t interrupt him. BASE jumping and skydiving had been fairly new to me, but rock climbing had been a passion of mine. I hadn’t been rock climbing for close to a year now but I hadn’t forgotten a single thing. He finished by asking if I understood everything and I nodded, ready to get to the top of the cliff and jump back down.

  Mr. Black and I both put on our harnesses and started up the side of the cliff. It was a challenge to find footholds and hand holds because the cliff was almost smooth. It had been climbed before because there were places to attach our ropes as we moved higher. We made good time for the size of the cliff. In less than two hours we reached the top. Because we had put on our chutes earlier that day I assumed we would be jumping again, but Mr. Black changed some of the rigging around and we repelled back down the cliff. We repeated this three more times and didn’t get to jump until the last climb. I guess it was more of a treat to go jumping now.

  We fell into a new routine of either hiking the mountain or climbing the cliff’s face and only jumped about once a day. I continued to cook for us, but had run out of menu options. I had put everything together with everything else at one time or another and I was getting tired of the same ol’ stuff. I had made bread from scratch and even a pie or two, but what I really missed was meat.

  Mr. Black and I had fell into the habit of talking when it was necessary but a few days after I had eaten about all I could eat of dried potatoes and canned meat I said, “Do you think you could go catch us a squirrel or something for tomorrow?”

  “I was wondering how long it would take you,” he replied.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “I’ve been suffering waiting for you to ask for fresh meat,” he answered.

  “Well, if you wanted it too, why didn’t you just go get us some?” I asked a bit peeved.

  “Because I’m not the one who’s going to get it,” he said. “Get your backpack ready for a week or so away. He went to his room and shut the door. I heard him talking in there and figured he must be using the satellite phone. His voice faded after about two minutes but he didn’t reappear. I did the nightly cleanup and headed to my room to pack for a week. I packed clean, dry clothes and made sure the knife he had given me was in my pack and a few other essentials. I would ask him in the morning what he thought I should bring with us.

  The next morning I didn’t get a chance to ask if I brought enough of the right stuff. He had me out of bed around 3:30 or 4:00 AM, I’m not exactly sure. It was still dark and remained dark for close to two hours after we headed out of the cabin.

  We hiked for most of the day. Never once did we stop to eat. Every once in a while I took my canteen of water and took a sip, but that was the only refreshment I got. Close to dusk we stopped and Mr. Black said, “This is one of the best times to hunt. What do you want to try for?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “What do you think I should try for?”

  “You’ve got to learn to make your own decisions,” was his reply.

  “Fine,” I said. “I just don’t know what kind of animals I would find out here.”

  “Lots of things. Deer, rabbit, elk, and maybe an occasional bear,” he said.

  “I don’t think I want to hunt bear right now,” I said. “Maybe a deer or rabbit I guess.”

  “With rabbits it’s best to set traps. With deer it’s best to shoot them. We don’t have any traps or any guns so this will be done by hand,” he said.

  “Can I make a trap?” I asked.

  He smiled and said, “It usually takes people a day or two of sitting out here before they ask that question. Yes, you can make a trap. I will get you started, but you’re going to make it yourself.”

  We gathered up enough twigs and natural twine that I could make two or three traps. At least that’s what Mr. Black said. Then we sat down and he began to tell me how to put it together. After he got me started he went in search of firewood. He wasn’t gone long and I hadn’t gotten anything to stay together so he said he would teach me to build a fire. It was just like I had joined the Boy Scouts.

  We got the fire started and I was wondering what we were going to do for dinner that night. Mr. Black pulled a few tid bits out of his pack but didn’t offer me any. I knew that meant I should have packed my own. Figures. I was going to starve unless I learned how to catch something. I worked on the trap for the rest of the evening before I laid out my bedroll and fell asleep.

  Mr. Black started on traps of his own the next morning while I was still trying to figure mine out. I took the opportunity to glance his direction once in a while to get pointers. I tried to be sneaky about it so he wouldn’t think I wasn’t doing it on my own. In between stolen glances I tried to put my trap together. Mr. Black had three traps of his own done before I had gotten anything to stay together. He went off to set his traps and I managed to get one put together.

  After it was together I went in search of a place to set it. I thought I might get lucky while I was trying to make the other two traps. I found a spot that looked good. I actually saw what looked like rabbit droppings nearby. Being pretty proud of myself I went back to camp to work on my other traps.

  “Where have you been?” Mr. Black asked when I got back.

  “I got a trap made so I thought I’d set it up,” I replied.

  “Good thinking. It might take you a while to make another,” he replied. “I’ll be back later.” Then he walked off into the trees.

  Mr. Black didn’t come back to camp until late in the evening. I had finished another trap right after dark and had begun on another one while I waited for him to return. I had also lit the fire.

  Mr. Black came to the fire’s side and began to skin a rabbit. My mouth watered as I watched him. I knew I wasn’t going to get any of it though. I continued to fashion my trap while the aroma of cooked rabbit hovered over my head. One thing I had never had to do was go without food for any length of time. This was going to be hard if I didn’t have anything in my trap in the morning.

  I did complete the other trap before I went to sleep that night. I was tempted to wait up until I thought Mr. Black was asleep and then go pick through his leftovers burning on the fire, but thought better of it.

  At the break of dawn I jumped up and gathered together my other two traps. I ran to check on the one I had set the day before. It was sitting there just like I had put it. I walked around and found a couple places to put the other two traps. Then I went in search of Mr. Black’s traps. Maybe if I found them, I could get some ideas on how he set them up and if there was a rabbit in one of them, maybe I could snatch it before he knew about it.

  I searched for a good part of the day and didn’t find anything. I was headed back toward camp when I spotted some raspberry bushes. I walked up to them and started to pick through them. I got into the bushes and almost stepped on one of Mr. Black’s traps. He had baited it with raspberries. Cheater, I thought.

  I picked a whole bunch of raspberries and ended up eating most of them but I did carry some back to my first trap. I thought this would probably be the best one because of the droppings I had noticed before. Then I headed back to camp.

  Mr. Black had already eaten. I could smell something had been cooked recently. I looked for him and found him not too far from camp burying something.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “I’m burying the food I didn’t eat and won’t eat,” he said.

  “Why?” I asked, thinking he was probably afraid that I might eat some of it.

  “You
don’t want unwelcome guests. I’ll be relocating tomorrow too,” he said.

  Well, at least he had a good reason.

  Mr. Black and I sat around for a little while and then he started to talk to me about hunting and staying down wind, that kind of thing. He told me what rabbits like to eat, what deer like to eat and what kinds of places they like to hang out at. He told me I should familiarize myself with my surroundings to see if there were the proper types of food available and even water. Later into the evening right before dark, he went to check his traps and I thought I might do the same.

  When I got to my first trap I noticed it was different. I walked up to it with my hopes high but the closer I got the lower my hopes became. When I reached the trap I noticed it was turned over and the raspberries were gone. I must not have set it up right. I didn’t understand it though because I had checked Mr. Black’s trap when I had finally found it and made sure my trap was set up exactly like his. Oh, well, I thought. I’ll just have to try again. I checked my other two traps before I went back to camp but I found nothing in them either.

  It was fully dark by the time I reached camp again. Mr. Black was sitting in front of the fire watching the flames dance.

  “So?” he said when I got back.

  “Nothing,” I replied.

  “Maybe you should try for something else,” he said.

  “Maybe,” I said.

  We both sat enjoying the light of the fire and the mood was good even though I was starving. Mr. Black and I talked about hunting and he told me all about how to track an animal through the forest. He explained all kinds of hunting strategies to me. After the talk of hunting and tracking subsided, I asked Mr. Black about himself and he started to tell me. I was shocked. I had thought a question about his personal self would have been blown off. He must have been in a talkative mood. We exchanged small bits of information throughout the evening. I found out he had been born and raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was thirty-two years old and had served in the Navy. He told me a few stories of his childhood and I didn’t have any to compare with them so I got brave and asked him, “What’s your real name?”