Chapter 6
Ron saw that Brenda needed a few minutes to herself and started going through the gear to see what they would need to take with them. He loaded both guns and put the Glock in his belt and pulled his shirt over it. He arranged the gear in piles and started tying some things together to make them easier to take with them. He found the hatchet and went a short way into the woods. He cut a branch about 1 inch around and about 5 feet long with a fork at one end. He came back to the edge of the woods and drove the fork into the ground. He took another straight stick about 2 inches around and 8 feet long and put it in the crotch of the fork that he had driven in the ground. He went back into the woods and started gathering small branches and started laying them on the 8-foot stick until he had an open tent shaped structure. After a lot of trips into the woods, carrying armfuls of leaves the structure began to take shape. After about an hour he paused to look at his handiwork. The leaves were about three feet thick over the branches and he knew that the make shift tent would keep in the heat and keep out a lot of rain.
Brenda started watching what he was doing and was amazed when the "tent" started to take shape. She thought to herself that maybe he did know something about living in the woods. She started to feel self-conscious leaving all of the work to him.
"Is there anything that I can do?" she asked.
Ron pointed at the woods, "Get some shoes on and start gathering a lot of firewood. We'll be warm and cozy tonight. The temperature will drop as soon as the Sun goes down. Only dead or dry wood, nothing green."
Brenda had kicked off her high heels before she climbed through the windshield. She went through her suitcase and got a pair of athletic shoes and put them on. She was apprehensive about going into the woods alone but she straightened her shoulders and walked into the woods. After several trips she had a pile of wood about 5 feet high. Ron had been chopping the sticks into firewood-sized pieces and had stacked the wood neatly. By the time she had finished, Ron had built a wall, about 18 inches high, with stones that he had picked up. The wall was about 6 feet in front of the "tent" opening and Ron was starting to stack a few limbs in front of the stones as if to build a fire. He had broken a lot of the twigs into small pieces and put dry leaves under the leaves to start the fire.
"Aren't you going to build another shelter?" she asked.
"Nope, this is plenty big enough for the two of us," he replied.
"Come on," she said, "I'm not going to sleep in that small thing with you."
Ron smiled, "Good then you can stay outside and keep the fire going."
Ron went into the woods and started carrying more dry leaves back to the shelter. He kept putting leaves on the floor of the shelter until he had about a foot of leaves on the floor. He got the two sleeping bags and unzipped them and arraigned them in the shelter. He started a small fire. Since neither of them had eaten since they left Seattle, he started preparing one of the MRE's. He picked out a pasta dish because it would be quick to fix. He had to use water from a gallon jug that he had packed because he was unsure of the lake water. In a short while he called Brenda over and divided the meal into two portions.
"You'll never be able to serve these in a restaurant but they aren't too bad," she said, after tasting her meal.
They ate the rest of the meal quickly and Brenda washed the dishes in the lake. Ron kept a small fire going and secured the gear. As he bent over Brenda saw the pistol in his belt.
"What's that for?" she asked as she pointed at his belt.
"We may have to do some hunting to survive," he answered, "Cal always carried this on hunting trips. I'm glad he did now."
Brenda came over to where Ron was working and sat down. Neither of them spoke for several minutes.
"Ron, just where are we?" she asked.
Ron went over to his flight bag and pulled out the maps that he used to plan the flight and sat next to her. He unfolded the map and pointed to a large patch of green on the map.
"This is the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, we are somewhere in this park," he said, "Those mountains in the distance are the Wrangell Mountains. If we continue north we should hit a ranger station or the Tetlin Indian Reservation. If we miss that, the town of Northway is about 50 miles north of the Wrangell National Park. We can't count on Forest Rangers because most of the park shuts down on Labor Day."
Brenda's face brightened, "We have a supply point in Wrangell, couldn't we make to Wrangell?"
Ron shook his head; "Wrangell, Alaska is about 280 to 300 miles from where we are."
Ron showed her where the town of Wrangell was on the map and where he thought they were. Brenda studied the map. Watching where the sun was going down she figured out that the Wrangell Mountains were to the south of them. She saw that the Mentasta Mountains were in front of them. Her heart sank. She looked at Ron with tears in her eyes.
"Ron, tell me the truth, are we going to make it?" she asked quietly, "I expected to see a search plane by now and I haven't even heard a plane."
"We're way off course, Ron said, "The search is probably centered up north of here."
Ron reached for her and put his arm around her shoulders. He held her for a few minutes before continuing.
"Brenda, work with me and have faith in yourself," he said, "I am going home. I'd like you to walk into the front office of Howell with me. The day that you give up is the day you'll die in these mountains."
A few hours ago, she wouldn't have let him touch her. She now felt at peace with his arm around her. She suddenly knew that they would make it. A lot had happened in the last few hours and her mind was working over time to digest the new information.
It had started to get dark and the air had a chill to it. Ron took his arm back and got up. He reached down for her hand and pulled her to her feet. He started to add wood to the fire and soon had a small fire. The wall of stone that he had built reflected the heat back to the shelter so only a small fire was needed.
"We're going to have to get an early start tomorrow," he said, "Why don't you go in the shelter first and I'll make sure that there is enough wood on the fire and then come in."
Brenda started for the shelter. She was still uneasy about sleeping so close to Ron. She started to get in the sleeping bag.
"Whoa Brenda," he said, "You'd better take off that suit or you'll be all sweaty in the morning."
She looked at him to see if he was about to try something or if he was making fun of her. She could see nothing in his eyes that would give her an indication that he was trying anything. She made a motion with her hand for him to turn around. And after he did she striped down to her bra and panties. She hurried into the shelter and got into the sleeping bag. The shelter was even smaller than she first thought.
Ron came over to the shelter and squatted in front.
"Brenda, I'm not trying to be funny or fresh so please listen to me," he said, "You had better unsnap your bra tonight or you'll be raw tomorrow. And I wouldn't wear a bra while we're working our way out of these woods. When you're all sweaty and moving like you don't usually move, the bra will rub you raw and it could easily get infected. We don't have anything to fight infection with us, so infection would be a major problem. I'll check Carl's bag to see if he has any jeans and flannel shirts packed. Carl was about your size."
After Ron had gone back to the fire she reached behind her and
unsnapped her bra. She slipped the straps off of her shoulders and
pulled the bra out of the sleeping bag and put it next to her head. Ron
came in shortly dressed in only his underwear. With some difficulty he
slipped into his sleeping bag and pulled the zipper shut. She felt and
heard him removing his underwear and watched him pull his underwear out
of the sleeping bag and put it above his head. Brenda waited for his
inevitable move on her. Brenda kept waiting until she heard his
breathing become regular, indicating that he was asleep. Within minutes
the heat put her to sleep.