by Eric Vall
We loaded up and drove the short route back up the hill to the campus.
The girls were already back and sitting around the firepit. A large pot of water sat heating on top of a freshly started blaze.
Rolly and I parked the Jeep and then headed over to join them.
“How went the hunt for hoses?” Bailey asked.
“Well,” I said with a smirk as I took a seat. “It got pretty hairy there for a while but Rolly and I managed to fill the trailer with everything we needed. How were the woods?”
“We got two rabbits,” Tara said. She held up the two skinless bodies as proof.
“Yeah, but we found one of our traps trashed,” Anna said. “The wire looked to have been snapped, and the sticks were broken.”
“Yeah, it was gross,” the platinum blond added with a nod. “There was blood and fur everywhere.”
“Sounds like one of our meals was snagged by a predator,” I commented.
“Do you think it might be the mountain lion?” Paige asked.
“Could be,” I said. “Though there are plenty of things in the woods that would love to snack on a trapped rabbit.”
“Like a bear!” Bailey added.
“Well we put some of the bigger traps up while we were out,” Anna said. “If it’s a fox or something maybe we will catch it.”
“Oh hey, speaking of food,” Bailey said. “I found a thermometer and stuck it in our salt shack. It was about forty degrees in there when I put it in there. Is that good?”
“It’s a little warm, but it shouldn’t be a problem,” I said.
“Can we salt the rabbits and throw them in there?” Paige asked.
“Yeah, but I would leave one out for dinner,” I replied.
“Cool, I’ll get that done,” she said before she stood, took the rabbits from Tara, and headed for the shack.
“So when are we gonna run these hoses out to the stream?” Anna asked.
“As soon as Paige gets back,” I said. “If you want to grab some food now would be the time. This could take us a while.”
“I can get the pump put in place here,” Rolly said.
“After you do start hooking hoses to it,” I said. “We will start at the stream and meet you halfway.”
“Should one of us stay here with Rolly?” Tara asked.
“Not unless he wants the help,” I asked as I looked to the old man.
“Nah, many hands make light work, and you can use the extra bodies to help carry hoses,” he said.
“That’s a good point,” I said.
“Would it be worth it to load up the wheelbarrow and the stretcher?” Bailey asked.
“Probably,” Anna said. “I bet it would let us get more of the hoses out there with us.”
I smiled. They were getting better both coming up with their own solutions and taking the initiative on carrying them out. It was how things should be. I wanted us to support each other but work well on our own if need be.
“I’ll go grab the stretcher,” Tara said.
“Wait up, I’ll come help you load it up,” the blonde hippie called out as her friend started to leave.
“I guess that leaves the wheelbarrow to me,” Anna said with a grin.
“Looks like,” I replied. “Make sure you guys all grab some water before we go out there. It won’t be back breaking work but we still don’t want to get dehydrated.”
She nodded and headed off after the others.
“They almost don’t even need me anymore,” I said to Rolly.
“They certainly have grown a lot since your arrival,” he agreed. “Though I think they’ll need you for a while longer.”
“Good thing too, because I don’t plan on going anywhere, and I would hate for them to grow tired of me,” I said with a grin.
“Oh, I seriously doubt that’s going to happen,” he said with a chuckle. “Don’t know if you’ve noticed but they seem pretty fond of you.”
“I couldn’t tell,” I joked. “Maybe they should be a little more obvious about it.”
Paige rejoined us by the fire and took a seat. “Where did everyone go?”
“They’re gathering hoses to take with us to the stream,” I said.
“Oh, okay,” she said. “Should I go help them?”
“They probably have it handled,” I said. “They might even be about ready to go.”
“I actually had a thought about this whole thing,” Paige said. “Pumping water that far will probably put quite a bit of pressure on our hoses, and any breeches would make pulling the water this far impossible.”
“You think the hoses will break?” I asked.
“Not the hoses themselves, but I think any place we join two hoses together will be a possible weakness,” she explained. “I think if we bring some duct tape and wrap all our joints it will help maintain the lines integrity.”
“That’s a solid idea, I like it,” I said with a nod. “Go gather up some duct tape then.”
Paige grinned wide, jumped up, and headed off towards where all our gear was stashed.
“Well, I better get started with that pump,” Rolly said as he stood. “You have a specific place you want it?”
“Let’s get it setup at the edge of the treeline,” I said, pointing towards the area.
Rolly nodded and gave me a thumbs up before he headed off in the direction of his shed to retrieve the pump.
I stood, stretched, and pulled the water off the fire before heading off to find the girls.
By the time we reached the stream a heavy bank of clouds had rolled in and turned the whole sky grey. A light wind had started to blow through the trees, and it smelled like coming rain.
“I now totally regret not bringing a jacket,” Tara groaned as the wind pulled at her perfect platinum blond hair.
“It’s just more incentive to get this done quick,” Anna said. “Looks like we could be in for some serious weather.”
“Hey at least it’ll help feed the stream,” Paige said.
“She’s right, rain is a good thing for us,” I said. “It will be even better once we have a garden.
“Still doesn’t mean I want to be out in it,” Tara groaned.
All the while I knelt at the edge of the stream and used some rocks to keep the first hose in place and under the water. I wanted to set up a more permanent solution, but would need some materials and tools to do that.
“Can we start hooking hoses together?” Anna asked.
“Yeah, two of you do that while the other two reinforce the joints with duct tape,” I instructed.
“Easy,” Bailey said with a grin.
They got to work and, once I finished setting the end in place, I joined them. It was not a difficult job, but it was a tedious one. Every hose needed to be double checked for leaks or holes, and they had to be perfectly screwed together to ensure proper pressure could be maintained.
“Oh man, I just realized that it’s going to take a lot of pumping to fill this line,” Paige said as she duct taped a joint.
“Wait, I thought this was supposed to, like, make things easier,” Tara said.
“It will,” I said. “But before we have water on tap, we have to spend a while just working the pump until the line is full.”
“How long will that take?” Anna asked.
“I don’t know, but it will be a team effort,” I said.
“Man, what an exciting conclusion to an already riveting day,” Bailey said with a dry sarcasm.
“Hey, if you guys want to keep lugging water we can just stop here,” I offered.
“Oh no, we aren't leaving a job half done,” Paige said.
The temperature dropped, and thunder rumbled in the distance as the wind picked up and caused the surrounding trees to rustle loudly. Not long after, it started to rain.
“Ugh, now I really regret not bringing a jacket,” Tara complained.
“I might actually be with you on this one,” Anna said with a small shiver.
“Let’s pick up
the pace then,” I called out over the wind. “Just don’t get sloppy.”
The girls quieted down as the light rain started to come down harder, and another rumble of thunder filled the air.
The water continued to fall faster until it fell in steady sheets of hard rain.
Our pace slowed as the ground beneath us went from soft earth to slick mud, and we quickly found ourselves soaked to the bone despite the cover from the trees.
“This would be the perfect day to be stuck inside with a mug of tea and a good book,” Paige grumbled as she tried to connect two of the hoses. The colored rubber was slick in her shaking hands, and she fumbled as she tried to create a proper seal.
“Yeah, but isn’t that your preferred way to spend any day?” Anna asked as she wiped clean a joint and tried to keep it dry long enough for Tara to wrap some tape around it.
“There is something special about books on rainy days,” Paige explained.
“I get it,” Bailey said. “Days like these were my favorite to sit back and just veg out while listening to music.”
“So what sort of exercise did you do in the rain then, Anna?” Tara teased.
“Hey, I didn’t always exercise or practice athletics,” Anna replied.
“So then what did you do on rainy days?” Bailey asked.
“I liked to run laps in the gym,” Anna muttered reluctantly.
“What was that about not always exercising?” Tara asked.
“Hey, the gym was not usually as busy on days like these, and I liked to listen to the sound of the rain on the roof,” The redhead replied.
“You know you can hear the rain from other places too right?” Paige asked with a laugh.
“Hey, nothing wrong with getting in a little extra exercise,” I said.
The rain fell even harder, making conversation in anything less than a yell impossible due to the sound of the rain pelting the leaves. All the girls had started to shiver as the temperature dropped even farther, and the air was filled with a fine mist that limited visibility to around twenty feet.
I tried to connect two of the hoses but the wet rubber rolled and slipped from my hands. I grunted and grabbed the hose again. I held it firm while it tried to slip free and connected it to the next one.
“How much farther?” Anna yelled over the mounting storm.
I stood up, looked up the path, but couldn’t make out anything through the rainy haze
“Well?” Paige asked.
“I don’t know,” I replied. “I can’t see far enough ahead of us. Bailey, run ahead and scout it out.”
The blonde stood, her hair matted to her face, nodded, and moved ahead. Every step was a battle as she slipped and slid on the soupy mud beneath her. She stumbled and splashed to the ground a couple times before she disappeared into the mist.
“How’s it going back there?” I yelled to the others who were trying to seal up another joint.
“I think you could have chosen a better day to do this,” Anna replied with a grin.
“Yeah Tav, didn’t you check the weather reports this morning?” Paige teased.
“Hey, everything looked good when I woke up,” I said. “You can’t blame sudden changes in weather on me.”
“Well at least we don’t have any things to do after this whole thing do we?” Anna yelled.
“Not today,” I replied.
“That’s good, because I think it might rain today and I would rather be inside when it did.” Anna said sarcastically, then she grinned and moved on ahead as she unrolled a new hose.
“Yeah, would hate to get caught out in bad weather,” Paige said with a laugh.
“Ah come on,” I started, “a little rain never hurt anyone.”
Lightning ripped through the sky above us followed by a boom of thunder. The rain might have been harmless but lightning was nothing to mess with.
We might have to wait for the storm to roll over before we filled the line.
“Last hose!” Bailey shouted as she emerged from the haze ahead of us. “Rolly is heading this way, and we should have more than enough hose to connect.”
“Get these joints taped up and head back for the campus,” I ordered. “I’ll help Bailey and Rolly with our final joint.”
“I’ll get ready by the pump,” Anna said.
“No,” I said as I shook my head. “Just go change clothes and wait out the rain in the dorm building.”
“Don’t we need to get the water pulled up to the campus though?” the redhead asked.
“Not while there is lightning,” I said. “One of us working a metal pump connected to a long line of water would be the perfect place for lightning to strike. The pump isn’t even in the trees so there would be a much more direct path for the strike to follow to reach the ground. We have enough water to wait for a safer moment. No need to take the risk of getting fried.”
“Got it,” Tara said. “No playing human lightning rod.”
“Hey, if you get struck by lightning at least you would be smokin’ hot,” Paige joked.
The other girls groaned and shot her a hard stare.
“Well, on that note, I think I’m going to go help the others,” I chuckled as I shook my head.
“Look at that, your pun was so bad that you made Tav run away,” I heard Tara joke as I left them.
I jogged up the way to where our hippie, and our handyman were busy joining the line.
“This storm blew in outta nowhere,” Rolly shouted.
“At least you were able to grab a coat,” Bailey said.
“I was just closer to my stuff was all,” he said with a shrug. “Expected the rest of you to come grab something once it started to rain.”
“You can blame that one on me,” I said as I pulled out a roll of duct tape. “I wanted to get this done. It wasn’t a problem until we got more than just rain though.”
“Well these storms often roll out just as suddenly as they come on,” Rolly said as he finished tightening the hose ends. “That’ll do it.”
I wiped the rain from my eyes and wrapped the last joint in tape as Tara, Paige, and Anna joined us.
“We’re, like, all done back there,” Tara said.
All the girls stood around me shivering a little as their drenched hair clung to their faces.
“Nice job,” I said. “Now go get dry and warm yourselves up.”
Anna helped Bailey up, and they all started back. Rolly stayed with me, still kneeling in what was quickly becoming mud.
“You head back too,” I said. “I won’t be far behind you.”
The grey haired man didn’t argue. He just nodded, groaned as he got up, and followed after the women.
I finished the last wrap and did one last check of the line before I too, headed back to campus.
By the time I made it to the dorms the girls had already managed to strip off their wet clothes and change into something dry. All four of them were snuggled under blankets on a black couch in the common room with their hair up in towels.
“You ladies look cozy,” I said.
“You told us to get warm,” Anna said with a shrug.
“Yeah, get out of your wet clothes, and we might be able to find a place for you in here too,” Bailey said.
“Tempting offer,” I said as I walked over and peered out one of the buildings boarded windows. “Looks like I might have time to take you up on that.”
“Still raining huh?” Tara said. “I guess it’s back to cold dinner for us.”
I looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “Did you forget about our propane stove?”
“Can we cook meat on that though?” she asked.
“Of course,” I replied. “Though some soup might go over better on such a gloomy day.”
“Hmmm, warm soup sounds good,” Paige said.
“We have some crackers we can eat with soup too,” Anna added.
“Man, that makes me miss bread,” Bailey said.
Rolly stepped from the dorm room he had chosen as his
own and joined us in the common area. “What are we talking about?” He settled into a plush chair that sat next to a piano that had been pressed into the corner.
“Dinner,” Tara said. “Tav is making soup.”
“Oh?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t remember saying that.”
“I mean, you brought it up, so I thought you were, like volunteering,” she said.
“Soup sounds good,” Rolly said. “If you want, I can cook.”
“Nah, it’s okay,” I said. “I was just giving Tara a hard time.”
“It’s weird thinking we won’t be eating around a fire,” Anna said.
“Yeah, what will entertain us now?” Bailey joked.
“I guess we'll just have to listen to Tara play the piano,” I suggested.
“Hey, that’s a good idea!” the mousy brunette exclaimed.
“Okay but, like, I haven't really practiced in a while,” Tara sighed.
“That’s alright, we haven't heard music in a while,” Anna said. “Just no chopsticks please.”
“It's settled then,” I said. “Tonight we have dinner and a show. Just let me get changed, and I’ll see that we are all well fed.”
An hour later, we all sat together in the common area, each with a bowl of hot soup and a handful of crackers. A few candles provided enough light for us to see and eat by and a lantern sat atop the piano for when Tara was ready to play.
“Hey, nice job today,” I said. “I know it was cold and wet at the end there, but you got through it with minimal complaints.”
“Well not having to go on water runs was a powerful motivator,” Bailey said as she sipped at the soup.
“We will need to test the pump in the morning, but yeah it should free up some time,” I said.
“Man, I don’t think I would know what to do with free time,” Paige said.
“That’s okay, because you still won’t have any,” I added quickly. “I want whoever would normally be on water duty to practice their knife and fighting skills.”
“Oh sweet,” Anna remarked. “I have been dying to get in some more training.”
“I figured you might,” I said with a grin. “Also, if the weather clears up, Rolly and I are going to start work on a shooting range tomorrow. I think it’s about time you ladies learned how to shoot.”
