Chapter Fifteen
When they saw Karl and Ely out on the porch, Karl was looking completely dejected and Ely looked like a mother hen. Even David was frowning as he stood at their side and all of them were staring blankly out across the clearing.
"Excuse us." Keri said coming up to them, "But Linda brought up an interesting point or two. If we were living here, wouldn't we be still using the radios?"
Karl turned quickly, his face showing some annoyance. Then as he opened his mouth to speak you could see him change his mind. Instead of speaking, he paused and stared at first Keri, then Linda.
"Yeah," he said slowly, "I guess we would at that but if we were good little kids like the government wants, we'd only use them in an emergency."
"And a volcanic eruption isn't an emergency?" Linda asked.
"Since we're upwind and a couple of hundred miles away, no, not that much."
"Even knowing George's curiosity?" Linda smiled. "And yours too for that matter. And what about possible volcanoes on Vancouver Island?"
"Ouch." Karl said softly, "I just got hit by a left hook." At least he was smiling slightly.
"Dad?" David said looking up at him.
"Yes David?" Karl was instantly attentive.
"There aren't any volcanoes on Vancouver Island, none at all. I read it in a book that you have."
"What?" Karl said in surprise.
"Unh huh, it's in your bookcase. Want me to get it?"
Karl just stared at him a moment and then grinned. "Yes please, would you?"
David scampered off and was back in only a moment with a small pamphlet in his hand. "It's at the very back Dad, in the questions from kids."
Karl looked at the small government issue pamphlet about the geology of Vancouver Island and opened it to the back. There near the bottom of one of the last pages was the question: "Are there any extinct volcanoes on Vancouver Island?" and right below it was the answer: "There is no volcanic activity of any kind on Vancouver Island."
Karl grinned and bent down to hug David. "Thank you, Sunshine." He grinned. "That makes me feel a lot better."
David just grinned. "Should I show it to Grandpa?"
"I think I'd better do that." Karl said quietly.
"I think you should wait a while." Ely smiled. "Dad has been cock of the walk for so long he needs to realise that being a millionaire doesn't mean much right now."
"What?"
"What good is a million dollars if you can't use it?" She said quietly. "Right now there are probably no banks working and the stores will be empty of most goods, either by having them sold or by having them looted. If the power went out in most places like we expect it did then all the perishable goods are spoiled because there's no way to keep them cool. All the helicopters that are working are going to have been taken over by the government. There's no way Daddy could buy anything, and there's no way to get it here if he did buy it. His money is useless for now."
"Just what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that we are in heaven compared to most people and it's because of your sweat and skill that we are. My thought is that we ask Dad for his opinions but for now our opinions count for even more. Not just yours but the opinions of all of us. Dad can probably see a lot more of the theoretical side of things than we can, but damn it, it's our hands and backs that have to keep this place functioning." She sighed deeply. "We have to let him know that he has a vote, but it's no longer a veto, at least not for now."
"Oh wow." Keri said quietly. "On top of that, There is one other thing that Linda brought up. . . ."
"Yes, we're waiting for the other shoe to drop." Ely said impatiently as Keri paused.
Keri looked at Linda expectantly, so everyone looked at her as well.
"Well," she started to speak almost apologetically. "It's just that I don't think the 'Skolka' should be moored out in the middle of the bay. If the Navy sends over a plane or a helicopter she's going to show up like a sore thumb and they're going to add up all the odd things about their 'disappearing' submarine. We could lose her."
"True, I'd thought of that, but what about a tsunami?" Karl said quietly.
"I lived through one remember," She said quietly, "I disagree with George about any rock slide holding back that kind of force. The wave I saw would have just thrown it aside in half a second. My God man, look what it did to the town where I lived. It just blasted it out of the way and went on carrying the whole town with it, smashed to pieces. The only reason there was no major wave in the little bay here is because of the bottle neck of the gorge. The solid rock on the sides held back the water. Fuck the rock slide. It was just a hiccup to the wave."
"So you're saying that. . . ."
"I'm saying that the 'Skolka' should be tied up to the dock, underneath those big trees, and we should do it as soon as possible. Christ, we can use spring-line ties to the dock, come off the stern, past the bow going forward and vice versa. Then we can tie bow and stern on long-line to shore to keep her from riding onto the dock in a big wave. If you want, we can even set the anchor toward the cut and then back the boat into the dock. If we leave all the lines loose enough, we could ride out a ten or twelve-foot wave easily. And in my opinion there is no damn way we'll be hit by something that big, there just no way that amount of water can get in through the gorge. Mostly we want to hide her from the air if we can and we want to try to make her look like she's been there all along in case they do see her. "
"Karl, she's making sense." Ely grinned at his frown.
"I know, but, why didn't I think of all of this?"
"You didn't ride a tsunami and you didn't spend a year with your 'house' tied to a dock." Linda grinned. "I had to find out how to tie my boat so I could ride out winter storms. Hell, I had her tied down so well that I seldom moved her off of the dock in the winter. We were out at sea more on this rescue trip than I've ever been before."
"What, and you brought us through that storm like you did?" Ely said in astonishment.
"Unh huh." Linda blushed. "I knew I was in the best shape of any of you. Once Karl found me, I relaxed and slept solidly, but Karl was still worried, so he didn't. I knew Karl hadn't really slept well in a week or more and you guys didn't look much better. So with what little I knew, plus having had Karl show me the essentials and knowing that I could call on help if I needed it, I just did what I had to do. You don't know how much relief I felt when we dropped anchor at the old dynamite plant."
"Oh my God!" Ely leaned over and wrapped her in a tight hug.
Karl just stared at her for a moment. "But I thought . . . I mean, you just seemed to know . . ."
"Well, I did live on a boat so I did know some things." Linda grinned through tears. "I knew you assumed that I knew more than I did so I tried to ask intelligent questions and I made sure I remembered your answers. I knew damn well that you needed help and I was there so. . . ."
Then she giggled. "Look, I don't think nautically yet either. You say 'topside' and I have to translate that to mean 'upstairs' or 'out on deck'. I even have to remember that all the short words go on one side and the longer ones on the other."
"Pardon?" Ely pulled back and stared at her.
"Oh." Linda giggled again. "Left, port, and red go on the left side of the boat, right, starboard, and green go on the right side of the boat."
Karl moved over and he held out his arms. "I'm so sorry that I misjudged you." He said quietly as he hugged her. "I thought you were a lot more experienced. You caught on so fast. I'd never have put you under that kind of pressure if I'd known."
Linda leaned back and grinned at him. "You silly ass, I put myself under pressure by trying to be what you needed and it made me learn a lot. To be honest we all have to do that now, don't you see? We have to be ready for anything and we have to do things right, without mistakes. If we see a mistake we have to correct it, right away, just as soon as we notice it."
"You mean we should move the 'Skolka' tonight?" Keri asked.
"In case the weather breaks, yes." Karl said, making up his mind instantly. "We don't want her out in the middle of the bay tomorrow morning. We've got about an hour and a half to two hours of daylight left, maybe less with the cloud cover. Linda and Ely can come with me, if they will. I'll get you and David to stay here. Then you two could go over to the other house and get what extra bedding we need for tonight or whatever. Talk to Trudy about sleeping arrangements. The three of us should be back by about ten and I imagine we'll be bushed."
"Why will you guys be so tired?" Keri asked in surprise.
"Well, the 'Skolka' is pretty well mothballed. It would take almost two hours to bring her up to working steam pressure if we did it right, and I don't want to strain the boiler by heating it too fast. There's lots of power in her batteries to operate the fore and aft winches to bring in the anchors. Once she's ashore we can put her batteries on recharge but we'll have to move her to shore with the skiff and an outboard motor. That's going to mean that we're all likely to have to work like Trojans at one point or another, especially when we get to the dock."
"Could I come help Dad?" David piped up.
Karl looked from him and up to Ely, she gave an almost imperceptible nod of her head.
"Okay, you can come." Karl said quietly. "But this might be a bit dangerous so you have to obey any orders right away. No dawdling and no running around or playing either. You have to be a helper, not a hindrance. All right?"
"Yes Dad, I promise."
"Now," Karl looked at Ely and Linda. "When we get her to the dock, how do we make her look like she hasn't moved in weeks? Do we need anything special from here at the house to help us?"
"Huh, with it raining like this? About six hours on the side of the dock under that old cedar tree would drop a whole lot of dead cedar needles on deck. If we had a bit of a wind, give it two days and no one would know she'd ever moved." Ely offered.
"Well the thing is, it's calm." Karl grinned, "But if one of us were to climb into that tree and shake the branches a bit. What do you think?"
"Sure, I guess." Ely said quietly "I don't really like the idea of any of us climbing a tree in the dark. Couldn't we shake the whole tree from the ground somehow?"
"Maybe." Karl grinned. "Any suggestions, Linda?"
"Well, I'm not sure about the tree. Instead I was thinking that after my boat was tied up on the dock for very long she'd be covered with salt spray on the outside and all the nice polish would disappear off of everything, especially below decks. It just seemed that rust and corrosion would appear inside of a week or so. I was always polishing things."
"I take back every joke I ever said about dumb blondes." Karl grinned at her. "You are one smart cookie. David, in the storage shed, next to where the goats are, there's an old garden sprayer, you now, the pump kind? "
"The one you used to spray that soap stuff on your berry bushes to kill the aphids, Dad?" David asked.
"Unh huh, could you run and get that for me. We'll need it. Oh, and Ely, in the kitchen, bottom cupboard on the right, there's a gallon of vinegar. Could you fill one of those hand pump spray bottles under the sink with a mix of half vinegar and half water, please? Better make it two spray bottles full, okay? And Keri, could you get one of the walkie talkies for us and ask your dad to turn the other one onto standby?"
He and Linda were left along for a second.
"I don't understand." She said quietly.
"Hmm," Karl said quietly, his eyes returning to her and the frown of thought disappearing from his face.
"How are those sprayers and stuff going to make the boat look like it hasn't moved?" She asked.
"Oh." Karl grinned. "Down in the bilge I've got some small drums full of brine from the desalination unit. We're going to fill the garden sprayer with that and spray it all over above decks. Where the rain falls it will wash off just like it does regularly, but where it's sheilded from the rain it will coat everything with a thick coating of what looks like salt spray."
"I gotcha." She grinned. "And the vinegar and water?"
"Oh, when we ran the boat a lot of surfaces in the engines room were polished from wear. I always try to wipe them down with oil after I've used her but I always miss places. When I go to start up the next time there are always patches and streaks of rust and corrosion. The vinegar is such a mild acid that it will just hurry things along a bit. While we're moving her to shore, I'll get David to run around below decks and spray all the steel and brass lightly. In a day or two there will be a light coating of rust and corrosion on everything but it will be so light we can polish it off easily when we need to."
"Damn, I'm glad you're on my side but why were you frowning before?" Keri asked, having come back quickly.
"I was trying to think of a way to shake a tree without climbing it." He grinned at her. "Any ideas?"
He took the walkie talkie from her hand, slipping it into a pocket and gave her a hug in thanks.
"Well, if it was a small one, you could just bend it over and then let it go, but those trees are huge so I don't know how to do that to them."
"Hmm, now that we might be able to do. Linda, how would you like to ask Ely if she has any ideas about that on the way down to the dock."
Just then both David and Ely came rushing back, so with a quick wave to Keri, the other four set out for the bay. It was still raining lightly and they were in rain coats, even though it was cool by the time they got to the dock they were all perspiring. It didn't take Karl long to dig out an outboard motor from the mess in the shed and in no time they had it on the back of the skiff and had that in the water.
"Cross your fingers." Karl grinned at the others, "This engine is burning old gas and it hasn't run in weeks."
"Oh Karl!" Ely shook her head. "You know damn well that. . ." Whatever else she was going to say was drowned out by the sound of the little engine.
Karl just grinned at her and headed for the boat in the middle of the bay at a good clip. Ely was ready when they slowed to a stop at the stern of the 'Skolka' and she reached up to haul herself aboard using only the rope left hanging there for that purpose, then she flipped the boarding ladder down for the others to use. David was the next on deck, after handing her the bag that had been used to carry the spray bottles he was going to use below decks. Karl and Linda then used the skiff to head out to the mooring buoy. By the time they got there Ely had released both anchor chains slightly and the large mooring rope was slack enough that they could undo the clevis and with Linda working on hauling the rope into the skiff, they slowly ran back toward the 'Skolka'.
They could hear the electric winch as it hauled in the bow anchor and to Linda's relief, it wasn't long before Ely was hauling the rope toward her faster than they were moving. When Karl noticed that Ely was almost pulling them toward her, he sped up, then eased off and slid to a halt just below the bow while she got most of the heavy rope on deck.
"This rope is soggy Karl. What should I do with it? I don't imagine you want it in the rope locker."
"No, we'll take it ashore later. For now just leave it coiled on deck. What's left? I need about fifty feet to tow with."
"You're towing from the bow end?" She asked.
"Yeah, Just cleat the line off there. I'll be going backward with the skiff so I can get steerage. Linda, can you get aboard from here and throw the wheel of the 'Skolka' as far over to starboard as you can, then you and Ely can get the stern anchor up while I start to swing the bow. When you get the anchor up and come to the shore ropes, just let them drop. They'll sink and we can haul them in from onshore later. As soon as we're swung around, one of you will have to handle the steering. Remember, we're going into the onshore side of the dock, under the cedar and bow pointing in toward the scrub willow. Okay?"
"Gotcha Captain," Ely said as she was helping Linda aboard. "I'll have a pair of lines rigged bow and stern for mooring by the time we're in."
"Great." Karl answered, already tying his mooring line from the skiff to the larger line from the 'Skolka'. In only a moment, he was easing the bow of the larger vessel around.
By running the skiff in reverse and towing backward he was able to stay in control quite well. Inside of a half hour from the start of his tow he was undoing his tow line and swinging the skiff to the other side of the dock to quickly tie it up. He scrambled onto the dock and hurried back to take a lighter bow line from Ely as the big old wooden boat glided silently to her new place of moorage. Ely meanwhile, ran to the stern and tossed him a second rope. It would eventually be the stern-to-dock spring line, but for now it was going to be the braking line for several tons of wood and metal. Flipping the line over a heavy dock cleat, he began to slowly bring the boat to a halt, actually enjoying the feel of the rope and the sounds of the wooden hull rubbing against the old rubber tires he used as fenders on the dock.
At that moment he felt supremely happy. He decided there was just something about tying your own boat up to your own dock that made a seaman feel satisfied. There was no way to explain it, it just was a fact of life. You were home safe and so was your boat. As soon as he had both of the lines that he had on the dock tied off, Ely tossed him a third shorter line at the stern. He tied it temporarily as well, then undid the first line he had tied down and walked it forward to act as a spring line.
By then Linda was out of the wheelhouse and David was with her.
"I sprayed down everything inside that I could think of, Dad." David crowed, waving the two spray bottles like a cowboy waving six-guns. "I still have lots left though. Should I do anything on deck?"
"He even sprayed the door handles." Linda laughed.
"Sure, David, spray any metal that looks polished, especially the anchor winches." Karl grinned. "And Linda, if you'll get the boarding ladder hung over this side, I'll go get the big sprayer then I'll go below to get some brine in it and spread your salt spray on everything. Ely, we'll need a line from bow and stern strung to shore for mooring her away from the dock. Linda, should we spring those too?"
"I would." She smiled, happy to be asked. "Then when we tighten them up, she'll ride a few feet away from the dock. I don't suppose you have any sort of a boarding plank do you? Something that would hook over the . . . what do you call this raised edge?"
"It's a coaming, well actually that's the gunnel, but we won't worry about that." Karl grinned. "And we'll worry about a boarding plank later. For now, we'll leave the ladder down and have a rope tied off loosely to the dock. If the ropes are tied off right, we can spring the boat over to the dock against their tension to get aboard."
"Oh, I never thought of that." She said honestly as she hurried off to get the boarding ladder.
Half an hour later Karl had sprayed everything that he'd ever noticed develop a salt spray film and several things that he wasn't sure about. The others had tied the spring lines to shore then Linda used his rope to pull the 'Skolka' close to the dock for him to slip off the boat. Just then Ely and David came running out onto the dock from onshore, each carrying an armload of small twigs and branches from cedar trees.
"Wait, don't let her go out again." Ely called. "These branches are all dead and losing their needles. If we shake them around all over it will look like the tree dropped them. We can even leave the smaller branches on deck."
Karl had to laugh, but as he watched them Ely and David run around the deck, shaking the branches and dropping one every now and then, he saw that they were actually doing a pretty fair job of imitating what the wind and rain would do.
"Don't forget the top of the wheelhouse." He called as he walked toward shore.
"Where are you off to?" Ely called in return.
"I think I know how to shake the 'sugar tree'." He laughingly called back. "And before you get upset, I don't plan on doing any climbing. Can I borrow Linda though? I need another pair of hands."
"Sure, we can use the rope from the boat to pull the boat over just as well from the deck as from the dock." Ely called, sounding quite happy.
Linda ran after him and caught up to him as they entered the storage shed.
"We'll need a long rope, a weight, that old coat, an axe, and a 'come-along'." Karl said, either pointing to an object or picking it up.
The 'come-along' was something Linda had never seen before. It looked like a lever operated winch in a small frame with one hook attached to the frame and another to the end of the winch cable. What Karl didn't pick up to carry, Linda did. Then the two of them went along the shore line to stand near the base of the huge old cedar that overhung the 'Skolka'.
"You'd better stand well back." He grinned at her, taking the weight as well as the rope and moving forward.
She watched as he tied the weight to the end of the rope and then slung it as hard as he could at a huge branch about twenty feet above their heads. It took several tries but finally he got it to go over the branch and the weight pulled the rope down the other side as he let it slide through his hands. Going to the weight, and getting Linda to feed the coils to him, he pulled several more feet of rope over the branch, then asked her to stand back again. He threw the weight over another branch on the opposite side of the tree and lower down than the first one. Then he asked Linda to bring the old coat to him at the base of a second smaller tree. He wrapped the coat around the tree then tied the rope over it, holding the coat in place.
"What in hell are you up to?" Ely said as she and David came up to them.
"I'm going to try to shake the tree like Keri suggested." Karl grinned at her. "Now we need to string this line out to a nice solid tree with a fallen log in front of it."
Linda and Ely frowned but helped him string the rope out uphill to the base of a third tree. He tied one end to the tree, then tied two loops in the rope after stretching it out quite tight. The loops were about ten or twelve feet apart and he hooked the 'come-along' into the two loops so it was stretched between them.
"Now, I need one person at each end of the dock and one person halfway from the dock to me. You guys can keep me posted on what the tree is doing, okay?"
"I get it." Ely said quietly. "The log and the axe are the quick release huh?"
"Yeah, I'm going to tighten the rope with the 'come-along' and when I get it really tight, I'm going to chop it off with the axe. Being right here I'm perfectly safe from the whipping ends but I can't say the same for any of you. So I want you out there for safety and watching to warn me just in case something does go wrong, okay?"
"Okay, I guess but. . ." Ely started to protest.
"Look, this is high strength rope. It's going to let go hard and I haven't a clue where the end of it will finally land or what it's going to whip across as it lets go. I'll call out a warning when I'm ready to cut it, so you guys be ready if you have to duck, all right."
"And when it whips, what's it going to do to you?" Linda asked.
"I'm going to be standing in the middle. It's going to whip away from me in both directions." Karl smiled. "Don't worry, I'm being bloody careful. Now, out of here! All of you, I want to get this done and get back to the cabin before too late."
Ely decided that David should be at the far end of the dock, Linda at the near end, and she should be halfway between the dock and Karl. By the time they were all in position the top of the old cedar tree was actually quivering each time Karl pulled back on the handle of the 'come-along'. Linda could see that the tip of it actually was bent slightly toward shore when Karl finally called out that he was ready.
She watched the tip of the tree as the sound of the axe blow rang out. To her amazement, the old cedar whipped back and forth about six or eight feet at the top and a quiver seemed to run through the whole tree. Then a virtual snowstorm of old dead needles and small branches came cascading down onto the 'Skolka' and the dock.
"Oh Wow, oh Wow!" David shouted. "Oh boy, did that ever work."
Linda just stood there and watched as still more small branches and old needles rained down. Then she grinned at David as he came running up to her.
"Come on, let's go see Mom and Dad." He demanded, reaching for her hand.
"You go ahead, David. I'm going to go and see if I can get the rope back out of the tree. Let them know where I am, okay?"
"Sure." He ran off.
Ten minutes later she was joined by Ely, who got there just in time to help untangle one end from a bush so Linda could finish coiling the rope.
"Where's Karl?" Linda asked.
"He'd better be sitting down resting." Ely snapped, then she sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to chew your ear off. Every once in a while he forgets that his health isn't perfect. I never thought about it but pumping the handle on the stupid 'come-along' hit him in the lungs. You did know he was gassed by chlorine didn't you?"
"No, I don't think he ever told me that." Linda stopped what she was doing and stared at Ely.
"Oh yeah, before we even met him. He was working at a paper mill and he was in the wrong place when some damn fool opened a valve that he shouldn't have. Karl didn't get much of a dose or he wouldn't be alive, but it did damage his lungs. That's why he was on a disability pension when we met him. If he gets really stressed and tries to do much, it kicks up. Normally it only acts up for a few hours and a good sleep will put him to rights, but I don't think he should climb the hill tonight. He's arguing that we shouldn't stay on the boat."
"Well, if he can get rested up enough to make it up the hill, he is right. We shouldn't stay on the boat unless we absolutely have to." Linda said quietly.
"Yeah, I know, but I'd rather see him feeling a lot better than he was when I found him sitting there gasping for breath with a big grin on his face. The rest of us are going to have to take part of the physical load off of him for a while. I'll be damned if I want to see both of our men in fucking wheelchairs."
The two of them agreed on that, then finished wrapping the rope into a tight coil and picked up both the old coat and the weight Karl had used. With that as a load, they headed back to the shack where Karl and David were sitting. When they got there, Karl seemed to be breathing easier and his colour was good.
"Thank you, ladies." He smiled. "I'm feeling better now, I think that was just a short spell but I don't think I should carry a load up the hill tonight."
"Well! I bloody well guess not!" Ely said loudly. "What had you planned on doing? Were you going to act like a pack horse tonight on top of everything else?"
He grinned at her. "We have to get all this stuff that you folks brought up to the houses." He pointed at the things Ely's family had brought that were stacked in the shed. "If the military comes around, they'll see this stuff and it's as much of a give away as a clean and recently used steam boat would be."
"Oh fuck!" Ely said sharply. "Well tonight you aren't carrying anything. The rest of us can each take a small load and we can worry about the rest tomorrow. What else do we have to do to button up the 'Skolka'?"
"Other than flipping the skiff onto the end of the dock and tying it there, then bringing the outboard inside and putting it on the motor stand, nothing." Karl sighed. "I'll sit here and rest while you three do that if you want."
Linda hadn't entered the discussion until then. "Excuse me, but do you really feel up to climbing the hill tonight? I want an honest answer, no bullshit."
"I really would like to." Karl said quietly. "Anything we do on the 'Skolka' now is going to disturb what we've already done and we have to get those two spray bottles and the garden sprayer out of here. Look, they're empty, I can carry them and we can try the hill. I know damn well that if I make it up there without getting short of breath I can make it back to the cabin. So what I was going to suggest is that we finish up here, each of you picks a light load of stuff and we try the hill. If I can't make it up the hill, we can use the walkie talkie to let the folks at the cabin know we're spending the night and we can stay on the boat. Okay?"
Ely frowned, but nodded and she gestured with her head for the others to join her to take care of the skiff and the outboard while Karl waited behind. They were back in moments and everyone but Karl made up a small pack of sorts. They would only let him carry the empty garden sprayer and insisted that since it had a carrying strap that he sling it on his back for the walk. Ely saw a pair of her father's canes and handed one to Karl wordlessly. For once he knew better than to argue with her, he simply started to use it as they moved out of the old shack. They only paused long enough to lock the door, then they set off uphill at a slow pace.
At the wye in the paths at the top of the hill, they paused for a rest at the shed. Ely checked Karl's breathing and his pulse rate while Linda and David watched.
"I guess you're okay, you old fart." Ely finally smiled at him. "We were lucky this time but damn it, from now on, if you feel the start of one of these attacks, take a bloody break and ask for help, huh?"
"Yes boss." Karl smiled and hugged her. "Now if we'd just thought to bring a wheel barrow, you wouldn't have to carry those packs all the way back to the cabin."
"Yeah, and if we'd have thought more clearly in the first place, instead of going off half cocked like we did, the boat would have been tied up where it is and we'd be at home already." Ely threw back at him.
"Touche" Karl laughed softly. "I admit that was my fault. I have to say that earthquakes and tsunamis scare the hell out of me and I may get a bit rattled so that I don't think straight."
"Oh shit!" Linda barked, breaking into laughter. "The guy brings a flipping boat through a tsunami and doesn't even get fazed. He rescues all of the rest of us from our wrecked homes, then fights his way through a storm with half the fucking country chasing after us and now he says he gets rattled. Ely, you can listen to his bullshit if you want, I'm going to go see Keri and Trudy, I know they don't pretend to be supermen."
Ely just broke into laughter. "Wait a few moments would you? I'd rather you were with us just in case we have to help ol' 'Superman' here to get home. Now where did you hide the flashlight, David? By the time we get home it's going to be dead dark."
"You had it in your pack Mom." David told her.
"I did? Well, just a minute, it'll be down at the bottom."She paused for a moment as she searched. "Damn, I must have left it down at the shed."
Karl chuckled. "Look up on wall. There's a hook on the right-hand side of the entrance." He pointed in the dim light, hanging there was a small coal-oil lantern. "There should be a small can of coal-oil on the back of the top shelf, on the far right. As well there should be a funnel and a tiny can of waterproof matches."
"Do you plan ahead for everything?" Linda asked, almost sounding exasperated.
"No, if I did you wouldn't have had to point out that I was wrong and we wouldn't all be tired and grouchy." Karl laughed softly.
"Smart ass." Linda snorted.
In only a few moments they had the lantern fuelled and lit and were slowly walking along the trail toward the cabin. Since none of them was really heavily laden they were making good time and had just crossed the big bridge over the gap when Karl asked them to stop and be quiet for a moment. He turned slowly and everyone knew he was listening attentively but none of them could be sure why.
"Did anyone hear a voice calling?" He finally asked softly
"Not me." Ely shook her head
"Nope." Linda agreed.
"I thought I heard a pig or something squeal down in the gorge, Dad." David piped up.
"It sounded like a pig to you?" Karl questioned.
"Yeah, just after we got off the end of the bridge. It sort of cut off though, like maybe it suddenly realised it was in danger and shut up."
"Okay, I guess that's what it was. I thought it was someone calling."
"Maybe we should get home and find out if everyone is okay?" Ely offered.
"Yeah, I guess."
So they set off again. As they came out of the woods into the clearing they heard the sound of voices and almost instantly a porch light turned on. Someone had been sitting and watching for their light to appear. By the time they got closer they could see that George, Trudy, Mary-Beth and Keri were all waiting there.
"Well, we're glad you guys are back." George called, "Why the hell didn't you use the CB to let us know you were okay?"
"Dad, when we left I told Keri that we'd call if we needed help. Otherwise we'd be back when we got here."
"What the hell good are radios if we can't talk." George said grouchily and wheeled his chair inside in a huff.
"I think I'd better talk to him." Karl sighed. "You guys have still been listening to the radio, haven't you? Is there anything new going on?"
"Mary-Beth, you were with Daddy almost all day." Trudy said quietly as Karl and the others who had been down at the boat sat down for a moment.
"Mount St. Helens is still making a smoke plume, but right now there is a lot less than before, you can feel that in the ground. It must have been really bad before and they think the real damage will be from the floods and stuff again. I guess it's doing the same thing as last time, only maybe worse. Mt Rainier is venting a lot more than it was, but so far it's only smoke and gas. Garibaldi is quiet and so is Mt Baker which seems to surprise people. Oh and they think there might be flu in Spokane, but not in Seattle yet." Mary-Beth spoke so quietly everyone had to listen closely then she looked up at her Mom. "I'm still scared but I'm sure glad these guys are back."
Trudy slipped an arm around her shoulders and hugged her tight. "Honey, you have to remember that we're pretty darn safe here. We're very isolated."
"Yeah, I know Mom but when stuff just disappears like before, I sort of get queasy." Mary-Beth sighed, snuggling against her mom.
"What disappeared?" Karl asked quietly.
"My loaf of bread." Keri snorted loudly. "I thought you guys would be starved when you got back, so I put a pork roast in the oven and I made a loaf of bread. That was more to check if your yeast and flour were still okay than because we needed it. When it was baked, I set it on a cooling tray in the open window but when I went to check on it, it was gone."
"What? You mean someone stole it?" Ely asked
"Well, someone or something." Keri snapped. "It was right there." She pointed to the open kitchen window. "The bread was gone and there were fresh dog tracks on the porch, just wet tracks from the rain but dog tracks."
Karl's head snapped around to look at her. "Big ones? Like Bruno would make?"
"No, Karl, not as big as your brute's tracks. These looked like mid sized dog tracks and of course since they were just from wet feet, by now they're gone."
"Shit." Karl exploded. "First Bruno doesn't show up. Then a cow and calf show up that I can't explain. Now it looks like another damn dog on the island. Just what the hell is going on?"
"Oh, yeah, the cow and calf," Keri sighed. "They disappeared too, but maybe they just wandered off. Mary-Beth went out to see if they were okay and the gate to the pen you left them in was open and they were gone."
"Damn! Anything else strange happen while we were gone?" Karl asked.
"Well, there was a funny noise from over toward the gorge. It was like someone screamed or something, that was just a few minutes before you got back."
Karl just stared at her then slowly he stood up and taking the lantern, walked toward the pen where he had put the cow and calf. David went with him but the others, except for Ely, went inside. The others said they were hungry and were going to set out sandwiches and coffee. Ely stood on the porch and watched as Karl and David walked to the pen, then wandered around for a moment looking at the ground.
"Come inside Karl," She called after a few moments. "Keri has something ready for us to eat. We can check all of that tomorrow in the daylight."
"Yeah, be right there." Karl called. "You go ahead. We'll just be a minute."
Ely went inside to find everyone in the kitchen. She went to clean up and when she got back, Keri was carving the roast. Just then Karl and David came in. Ely was surprised to see Karl lock the door behind him then move to the kitchen window and close that.
"What the hell is going on?" She asked in surprise. "I don't think you've ever locked that door and we still need some fresh air in here."
"Dad thinks the cow and calf were lead away." David spoke up from beside her. "We didn't see any people tracks, 'cept ours, but the cow tracks went in a straight line and he says cattle wander if they're by themselves."
Everyone came to a sudden halt.
Trudy was the first to speak. "Karl? Are you sure? Is there someone else on the island with us?"
"I don't know." Karl said quietly, walking slowly to the back door and locking it as well. "It doesn't make sense if there are. But what's happened doesn't make sense either, not if there aren't."
"Well, can we eat for now and discuss it while we're eating. I don't know about you but I'm starved." Keri sighed.
"Yeah, be right with you. I'm going to wash. Come on David. You're as dirty as I am."
Trudy sent Mary-Beth to get her father from where he was listening to the radio and soon they were all sitting down together. Karl sat at the head of the table and George at the foot. Actually Keri and Trudy had pulled a small table to add it to the end of Karl's kitchen table and even then they had set the places for Mary-Beth and David at the counter so that they could use stools for seats. After he had sat down Karl sighed heavily.
"Okay." He said quietly. "First off. George, I'd like to apologise for losing my temper earlier. I really am sorry for flying off the handle like that. I realise that we've become so used to using radios to communicate that we do it almost automatically and that you reacted out of habit. It's just that until the Navy quits looking for that the boat that disappeared, we aren't really safe."
"I do understand." George said, his voice almost a whisper at first, but gradually getting louder as he spoke. "I admit that I didn't think about the consequences of my actions. I was trying to be useful at what I do best which is gathering information. I never considered the fact that my transmissions could be retraced to our location by triangulation. Had I considered that I would have realised how foolhardy I was being. However, I must point out that it would still be normal for both you and I to be trying to contact friends and acquaintances by shortwave if we possibly could. By not using the radios at all, are we not also drawing attention to ourselves, even if it is only in a negative manner?"
"Maybe we are George. I'm planning on contacting a lot of people as soon as we get this place restored to a semi normal condition. Once it looks like we've been here forever or at least that we never left, we can get away with doing all the things we would normally do."
"And that is why you have moved the boat back to the dock. Was that wise in view of the possibility of a tsunami if any other volcanoes erupt or we have another significant aftershock from the earthquake?"
"Well George as Linda pointed out, the gorge is one hell of a bottleneck. Even if a fifty-foot high tsunami hits the little bay at the end, by the time it gets funnelled through there and then spreads out in our bay, the water just can't come in fast enough to make a major wave. In fact, listening to her talk about it, I think another tsunami would actually do us a favour."
"Pardon me?" George stared at Karl like he was insane.
"Do the math, George. A high speed wave strikes a narrow restriction, then empties into a calm wide area. There's just no way that the volume can be great enough to cause a large wave." Linda smiled at him.
"That part I understand Linda," George interrupted, abruptly waving his hand in dismissal. "What I didn't understand was Karl's statement that it might do us a favour if we were struck by a tsunami. I'd like an explanation to that, if he can?"
"Sure George." Karl grinned. "That damn slide is a partial plug in the bottleneck. Right now as the tide goes back and forth, it's wearing at the plug but if a tsunami hit, the pressure on it would be a lot higher. Something might move and almost anything shifting would be better than what we have now. Just as long as it didn't cause another rock slide."
"I see." George said quietly. "Your reasoning makes sense."
"Well, in a way, I hope it doesn't happen for a while." Karl said quietly. "I'd like to see us get settled in a lot better than we are now and I'd like to get to the bottom of some of these mysteries that are . . ."
He paused, turning his head toward the door "Shhh" he hissed.
All of them listened and then heard a slithering sound. Karl and Ely were both on their feet instantly. Then they heard a scratching sound at the door. Karl moved faster than anyone could have expected but Ely beat him to the door, grabbing a butcher knife off of the counter on her way. She threw the door wide and stepped back, knife at the ready.
A huge black dog lay on the porch and looked up at her, whining softly.
"Bruno." Karl bellowed, shouldering Ely aside as he flipped on the porch light and knelt next to the dog. "Shit, he's hurt. Trudy, Ely, please? I think he's been shot."
The next few minutes were confusing. Somehow, they got the dog onto an old blanket that he had used as a bed before and he was carried into the living room then laid in his old spot near the fireplace. Trudy and Ely looked him over and found that it appeared he had been shot, not once, but twice.
His left front leg had been broken and the skin opened in one shallow wound and he'd been grazed in a second place across his hip. The wound on his hip was a real problem. He appeared to have licked it clean himself but there was a flap of skin and flesh that they had to try to reattach somehow. Trudy didn't have anything to use to put him to sleep and she didn't dare to try to stitch his wound closed unless he was unconscious. All they could really do was apply disinfectant and try to bind the flap of flesh down into place after trimming the course hair back from around the wound. The front leg was a different matter. It took almost an hour before they had the wound on that leg cleaned and the broken bone splinted. All that time he lay there quietly as Karl and David held him down and softly stroked his head while quietly taking to him.
Finally Trudy stood with a deep sigh.
"I wish human patients were that cooperative." She groaned softly as she stretched and twisted to get the kinks out of her back. "I used to think he was a mean son of a bitch, but damn it, he's a kitten. He hardly even whimpered, except when I probed the wound or when I straightened and reset the leg. You're a good dog Bruno."
She bent to pat his head and he licked her hand, his tail thumping softly.
"Will he be okay, Trudy-Mom?" David asked quietly.
"I don't know David." She said just as quietly. "All we can do is keep him quiet and still if we can. I don't really know that much about treating animals I'm afraid."
"I was raised on a farm. I know a little bit." Linda said quietly.
Since she had just been standing by and watching quietly, Trudy looked at her in surprise. "You didn't say anything, aren't you comfortable dealing with wounds or . . .?"
"You were doing a wonderful job." Linda smiled at her. "You and Ely worked together and knew what to do. There wasn't room for me too. I'd have just been in your way."
Then she looked down at the young boy who was still petting the dog. "David, if we can, we need to keep him fairly quiet. Give him water if he wants it and tomorrow we can try him on some broth but not too much solid food for a while. When he starts eating solid food, he'll be on the mend."
She'd hardly spoken when Mary-Beth was there with a pie plate filled with water and set it near Bruno's muzzle. He seemed to almost smile and obediently lapped once or twice, then seemed to sigh and lay his head down as if he were going to go to sleep.
Linda smiled. "That's what animals do when they're healing from a wound. They relax and sleep. He knows we are going to keep any danger away and he's with us, the people he considers as his pack so he can relax. He's thin and rangy but he's not starving, so I think he'll make it."
Karl was scowling as she turned to him. He looked at her first, then at Ely and Trudy.
"So, he was shot was he?" He demanded.
"I think it was an arrow or maybe a crude spear." Trudy said quietly. "The hip wound was torn like it was a glancing shot but it wasn't like a gunshot Neither was the front leg. It was more like a sharp stick had been jabbed in hard and then pulled out. A bullet would have still been in there, probably lodged against the bone."
"Okay Trudy, how old are those wounds?" He asked.
"Oh, not old. They're still bleeding a bit. I'd say less than a day, maybe only a couple of hours. He has a couple of other small wounds but they're days old and they're already healing."
Karl walked off, anger clear on his face. He almost marched as he went to his den and opened a closet taking out a short lever action rifle. Still not saying a word he went to the storeroom off the kitchen and came out in only a moment with a box of rifle shells. Sitting down at the kitchen table he calmly checked the rifle, then loaded the magazine and slipped it in the gun but didn't jack a shell into the chamber. Everyone was staring at him wide eyed when he looked up.
"I guess I may be jumping to conclusions but I think we've got a 'visitor' of some sort on the island." He said quietly. "And I don't think I'd call him a welcome guest either. This rifle is for our protection. One of us is going to stand guard at night while the rest sleep."
George had been quiet for a long time, but then he cleared his throat. "Could you explain your conclusion that we have an invader?" He asked.
"Sure, There are two houses on the island, we've been to both of them. The other house is locked up solid and it didn't look to me like anyone had tried to break in. This house was unlocked but no one seemed to have been in here either. I'd say Bruno wouldn't let whoever came around get into either place. He was protecting them and he was dangerous to whoever is here. That's why they finally shot him."
He paused and held up a hand to stop anyone from interrupting, then carried on speaking. "First, Bruno didn't come to greet either David or me, now that's strange. I think he was either stalking whoever is here or else he felt if he moved he'd give away where he was hiding because I think whoever is out there has a dog too. That dog stole Keri's loaf of bread when the guy came to get back his cow after I'd found it and brought it here. I think Bruno is tougher than the other dog, Trudy said he had some older wounds. To me that sounds like he and the other dog had already fought and maybe Bruno got chased off by the man before the fight was conclusive."
"I think the guy must have known about Bruno since he made himself a bow and arrows or a spear and tried to kill him. I think he saw me lead off the cow and calf and wanted them back. If they were his, I don't blame him, but I think when he snuck back here around dusk to steal them back his dog came with him and stole Keri's loaf of bread. Now to Bruno that was a crime. He protects this place. So when he had the chance, he attacked the other dog or maybe he attacked the man because he was leading off the cow after it was here, I don't know."
"I think that might be the noise that Keri heard, the sound she thought was a scream. When we'd just crossed the bridge over the gorge tonight I thought I heard a strange sound too. David thought it sounded like a pig squealing but I thought it sounded more human. Now to me, that all adds up and if it is right, we need to be on guard. Does anyone have any other ideas?"
Everyone was quiet for a few moments, then Linda asked quietly. "Karl, do you have a yard-light, other than the porch lights?"
"Well, I've got a flood light off of the gable on the old house." Then he smiled. "I think I understand. When it's as dark as this it would provide a lot of light, actually it would probably give some light out as far as the goat shed. There's another light off of the end of this house above the back door. With the two of them on and the porch lights off, a person could stand on the porch or on the deck upstairs and watch most of the clearing while being almost unseen themselves."
"The deck would be the best I think. It gives the advantage of height." George said quietly. "You could set up your patio umbrella to be out of the rain while seeing clearly even if the lights were on down here."
"The problem with that is the wind George. How do we keep the umbrella from blowing away." Karl stood and offered Ely the rifle. "If you want to stay on the porch with the lights out, I'll take a flashlight and go turn on the yardlight."
"No Karl, you tell me where the light switch is and I'll turn on the light." She interrupted.
"Both of you stay on the porch. I'll get the light at the old house." Keri said, grabbing the flashlight and heading out the door before any of them could react.
"Wait a second." Karl called and followed.
Ely meanwhile went to the back door and flipped on the outside light there, then came back and stepped out on the darkened front porch with Karl, carefully closing the door behind herself.
"Damn fool woman." Karl muttered, to her when she neared him. "She didn't give me a chance to get my night vision before she ran off."
"I realised that, that's why I hit the other light. I thought if anyone was out there it might scare him a bit." Ely whispered.
Both of them watched as Keri hurried to Karl's old house and in only a moment flipped on the light on the gable. Still using the flashlight, she came trotting back.
"That was a damn fool stunt." Karl berated her when she came up the steps.
"Yeah, well the longer we waited, the more chance there was that it wouldn't be a surprise if anyone was going to come and steal something or whatever." Keri tried to excuse herself.
"Next time, wait until everyone is ready, please." Karl said through gritted teeth, doing his best to hold in his temper. "Stepping outside from a brightly lit house, I couldn't see well enough to be able to tell friend from foe if you were attacked. I couldn't see well enough to be sure of protecting you if I had to."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't think of that." Keri apologised.
"Next time, think." Karl snapped. "And I'm sorry if I sound grouchy, but damn it, we may be in danger and I don't want anyone to get hurt through stupidity."
"Okay Karl." She said quite contritely. "How are we going to set up guard duty?"
"I really don't know, I was going to settle that before we turned on the lights. Now that they're on, someone should stay here with the rifle until we do."
"Okay, since I was an ass, give me the gun. I'll stay here until you talk to everyone else and arrange a schedule. I may not aim to kill if I have to shoot because I'm not sure I want to kill someone, but I'll damn sure scare the shit out of 'em." Keri said quietly.
"That sounds good to me. I'm not sure I want to kill anyone either." Karl smiled as he handed her the rifle. "It's lever action and still has to have a shot levered into the chamber, okay?"
"Fine." Keri said. "I'll see you in a few minutes. If it's going to take long I'll need a jacket, it's getting cool."
"I'll send Mary-Beth out with one." Ely said, as she and Karl stepped inside.
Karl looked around when he got inside and smiled wryly.
"Okay, he said quietly. "It's seven hours until sunrise and there are six of us, I'm including you, George. I know you suggested the sundeck upstairs but I think the front porch is better. It gives more freedom of movement and it's sheltered. So that's where we'll station ourselves for tonight and I'd like to see two people on shift at all times, alternating for two hours each. In other words, Keri takes an hour now with George, who takes two hours. After an hour Keri comes in and calls Ely. An hour later at the end of his shift, George calls Trudy. Ely's place is taken by Linda, and Trudy wakes me when her time is up. If it's not full light, Keri can join me for the last hour. I've seen Keri, Trudy and Ely shoot. George doesn't get much practice and I've never seen Linda shoot so for now, they're backups. I think what we have is some damn good shots on guard all the time and they have company to keep them awake and to help keep an eye on things. If anyone were to try to sneak around, I think it would be early in the morning anyway, around daybreak. Any comments?"
"And if we do see someone skulking around do we shoot to injure or what do we attempt to do?" George asked.
"I think that depends on what you're up against." Karl smiled sardonically. "If they're shooting at you, I imagine you'd shoot back to put them out of commission. If they were just sneaking around, I think what I'd do is scare the hell out of 'em. Keri and I already agreed that neither of us is sure we could kill someone but we both know that we each shoot well enough to make them damn leery of sticking around."
George didn't wait any further, he grabbed a coat and wheeled his chair out onto the porch, sending Keri inside almost immediately.
When Karl looked at her, she grinned and lifted a hand to silence him. "Dad said I should have a pee, get dressed warm, then bring him a coffee and a blanket for his knees. He also warned me that he and I are going to have a chat for an hour."
"Oh." Karl had to grin.
Trudy and Linda were cleaning up the last of the dishes and Ely was sitting on the floor beside David who was still quietly petting the old dog. Karl glanced around and decided he should try to listen to the news. He was surprised to find that even the channel which had broadcast news from Seattle previously seemed to be off the air. Thinking it strange, he stepped out on the porch to speak to George.
"George, that news station in Seattle, the one at the University, isn't it broadcasting anymore?" He asked.
"The bloody government only lets them broadcast for a half hour time period once every two hours now. They're trying to conserve what fuel they have for the generators I suppose." George said sharply. "As well, they make their last broadcast at ten, by now they're off the air until six in the morning."
"Ah, I see." Karl sighed. "Well, they sure weren't keeping that schedule before, I think they were broadcasting continuously."
"They were and it made sense. This doesn't, at least not to me. Everyone knows radio waves travel further at night."
"But most people also sleep at night George." Karl chuckled.
"Right now, I almost wish I had one of those damn dish things for the internet. We should have set one up, you know."
"I think with all the lines down and stuff, even that might have been screwed up."
"The internet is world wide. We could have gotten news from all over." George ignored him.
"Well, George, if wishes were horses then beggars would ride." Karl sighed. "Rather than worry about things, I think I'd better get some sleep."
"Yes, that would be a good idea." George sounded calmer. "I'll see you in the morning then."
"Night George."
Keri came out as Karl went inside and they wished each other a goodnight as they passed. Inside, everyone but Ely had already gone to bed. She and Karl climbed the stairs together then quickly got ready and slipped into bed themselves.
Neither of them felt much like sleeping but both of them knew they had to. After a quick cuddle, they bid each other goodnight and included Linda, who was laying on the hide-a-bed in the same room.
"Guys, if I came over there, could I get a hug?" She whispered.
"Of course." Karl laughed softly.
"Better still, bring your pillow. You can sleep beside me." Ely chuckled.
For some reason, having all three snuggled together made it easier to relax and soon all of them were breathing deeply.