Stan Morris - Surviving the Fog

“She doesn’t,” Mike responded. “She only knows the general direction. We know it’s to the northeast and about two weeks away, and we know where she was found. Would you like to go take a look?”

“Can’t hurt to look,” Jacob answered, and he left that day.

Meanwhile, Mike called for Tyler and Gabby.

“You two are breaking up,” he announced.

“We are?” Tyler said.

“Yes, for April at least, and I’m sending you to Davis Brown Farm for a month. If you and Gabby want to get back together after that, it’s up to you,” Mike said.

Gabby sighed. “It was fun while it lasted,” she said to Tyler with a grin.

Some of the kids asked Mike if the solar panels could be moved back onto the dining hall roof, so that the showers could be made to work. Mike was enthusiastic about the idea, so he consulted Hector.

“I can do that this year,” Hector informed him. “But once Kathy and I get the roof fixed and the shingles installed, we’ll have to permanently set the solar panels in place.”

Jean was tired of teaching her students to find edible plants. She would have like to have gone with Jacob, but her knee was hurting her. She wanted a break, and she felt like getting away into the forest by herself. A few days after Jacob left, when her knee was feeling much better, she told Howard that she was leaving, and that she would be back in a day or so.

“You’re going by yourself?” he asked.

“Yeah, just for a day or so,” she repeated, as she picked up her gear. She gave him a wink. “You’ll survive.”

“No,” Howard said. She looked at him. He seemed tense.

“No, you won’t survive?” she asked.

“No, you can’t go. Not by yourself,” he said.

“What?” she asked. She did not understand what he was saying.

“I said, no, you can’t go overnight into the forest. Not by yourself,” he replied firmly.

Jean stared at him, and then she sat her gear down. She crossed her arms. She was not smiling now.

“Look, Howard, I care about you. I don’t know, maybe I even love you. But, I go wherever I want, whenever I want. You need to understand that,” she said.

“You said that you would obey me,” he replied.

“What?”

“You said that I could have one time when you would obey me. Whenever I wanted. Well, I want it now. I’m saying that you can’t go deep into the forest overnight by yourself. You said you would obey me one time. This is that time. Obey me.”

Jean frowned. Did I really say that ? She tried to remember. She had a sinking feeling he was right.

“I wasn’t feeling well then,” she temporized.

“You said that your word is good. Is it?” he asked.

That made her mad. “You’re damn right, my word is good,” she snapped. “So I can’t go into the forest by myself, huh? So what, you are going with me?”

“I can’t leave right now,” he replied apologetically.

“I can’t believe this,” she said, grinding her teeth. “A fifteen year old boy can go alone into the wilderness, but a twenty four year old United States Forest Ranger can’t?”

Howard winced, but he only replied, “Sorry.”

Jean was furious. “Shit!” she yelled.

She kicked her gear and stormed out of the room. He listened as she slammed the door of the Lodge, and then Howard went to speak to Mike. Later, Mike asked Jean in for a talk. He was living in Chief’s Headquarters, again.

“I screwed up by sending Jacob out alone,” he said bluntly. “Howard is right. We can’t afford to lose either you or Jacob. When he gets back, I’m going to ask him to hunt and scout with you. I don’t mean that you always have to stay together in the forest. But, you do need to stay close enough to find one another and to help each other if something goes wrong.”

Jean gave him a curt nod. “Alright, if Jacob agrees, I can live with that.”

Howard had fled to the relative safety of the dining hall. As sunset approached, he gathered his courage and went back to the Lodge. He pulled the canvas curtain back and cautiously looked in. Jean was lying on the bed, and she looked over at him as he appeared. She did not smile.

“All right, you had a good idea. I’m still pissed at you,” she said.

“Can I come in?” he asked hopefully.

She debated with herself. “Come,” she replied.

Cautiously he entered the room. “Mike said that we could have his room, if we want,” he told her.

Interested, Jean asked, “Really? That would be nice. I’d like us to have our own room. I bet Desi and John would like it, too.”

“I can move our beds now, if you like,” Howard offered.

Jean got up. “Why not?” she said. They moved their stuff into Mike’s old room. Afterwards, Jean was noticeably more cheerful.

Later that night, Jean purred and said, “Oh, Baby, that was nice. I like what you do to me.”

“So, you’re not mad at me anymore?” Howard asked, as he rolled over and lay on his back.

“No. Hell, I’m the one who gave you a one-time obedience card,” she mumbled, as sleep began to claim her. “Can’t blame you for playing it.” She yawned, closed her eyes and snuggled up to him.

After a moment of silence, she faintly heard him ask, “Can I have another obedience card?”

“Sure,” she mumbled as she drifted off.

Jean woke the next morning. She felt great, but something was nagging at her. In her mind, she replayed her last conversation with Howard. Her eyes widened. Abruptly she turned to him, but he had already risen and was gone.

“Howard!” She yelled her outrage.

Outside the Lodge, Howard heard her yell. Smiling, he continued down to the dining hall. He hoped that Jacob was going to be okay with his plan.

Jacob was moving across a ridge of land that lay between two mountains. He expected to walk for another week, before he found the mountain retreat. The light snow last night had turned into a light drizzle this morning. There were only a few trees here, but the brush was heavy on this ridge. At times, Jacob was forced to backtrack and take another path. Jacob thought that he recognized currents, gooseberry, and plum shrubs from what he had learned in Jean’s class. The shrubs were sending out new leaves. There were only a few stunted juniper trees among the shrubs.

Ahead, Jacob noticed another thicket. As he passed, his senses suddenly heightened, and he became fully alert. There was something in the thicket. What is it? Jacob stopped and made a point of drinking from his canteen. Turning slightly, he could see from the corner of his eye a hint of cloth in the bush. Not an animal then . It’s a person trying to hide .

Deciding, he turned suddenly and strode towards the thicket. His body language made it quite clear what he was about. As he drew near, a person sprang out of the brush holding a short thick club of wood. It was a young woman, not that much older than Jacob.

“Get back!” she cried. “Get back.” She shook her club at him.

Her eyes were wild, and there was almost a palpable smell of fear emanating from her. She was panting, panicked, barely able to contain herself. Jacob thought that, at any moment, she might turn and run blindly away from him. Her long brown hair was dirty, and her face was streaked with grime. She appeared to be wearing two pairs of pants under a skirt, and her upper body was layered in several garments. Her worn out tennis shoes had holes in the toes. She was carrying some blankets in a large purple bag slung over her shoulder.

“Get back!” she repeated.

Jacob stopped. They stood there facing each other. Then Jacob sat down on the ground and crossed his legs, as the woman regarded him warily. She stepped back, but Jacob remained motionless. She took another step back. Jacob did not move. She turned around, and she began walking away from him. She was going in the direction that he had come from.