Chapter 7
Brenda awoke and saw that it was already light outside. She looked toward the fire and could not see Ron. She unzipped the sleeping bag and crawled out of the shelter. She looked around and stood up and stretched. The cool morning air felt great on her skin. She looked at the woodpile and saw that only a few pieces were left. She realized that Ron had been up several times during the night and had put more wood on the fire.
"Good morning," Ron said as he walked out of the woods, "Nice body."
Brenda dove back into the shelter faster than she had last night and got in the sleeping bag. Ron came over to the shelter and brought a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt.
"Carl packed jeans and I think that you can wear Cal's shirt," he said, "Get dressed and I'll get breakfast on."
Ron went back to the fire and started preparing a MRE. Brenda got dressed in the clothes that Ron had given her. She did not put on her bra as he had suggested. When she crawled out of the shelter again she was still embarrassed that he had seen her almost totally naked. When she walked up to where Ron was he saw that her face was still red.
"I didn't see a thing, honest," he smiled, "Seriously Brenda, we have to be best friends if we expect to get out of this. I promise that I am not going to make any moves on you or try anything funny. We need each other a lot or we're not going to make it. Now take this beef stew that I made and eat as much as you can. We're not going to stop until almost dark tonight."
Brenda took her meal and started eating without answering him. He was studying the mountains in the distance while he ate. He did not want to alarm Brenda, but he knew that they had to get out of the woods fast. Winter came hard and fast in this part of the world. He knew that they were not equipped to survive a winter in these woods.
After they finished eating Brenda washed the dishes and Ron got the gear ready for the trip out of the woods. Ron had cut a few small trees and had made a small sled to drag the gear behind him. Brenda would still have to carry some of the gear on her back. They discussed what gear they were going to take and lashed it to the sled. Ron made sure the fire was out and they sat down and rested for a few minutes.
Ron pointed to a pair of boots on the ground, "Those are Carl's boots. Put them on and see how close they are to fitting you. If they are close I'll tear up a t shirt and pack the toe until they are comfortable."
With a few pieces of padding the boots fit her. Ron made her wear a pair of his heavy socks to fill in the sides of the boots. He cautioned her that the boots had to be perfect or she would pay for it later in the day.
They started out through the woods. Ron had found a magnetic compass that Cal had packed and took sightings constantly. He showed Brenda how to take sightings. He warned her to take a sighting and head for it, not to constantly stare at the compass.
Ron took the lead and set the pace. He had Brenda walk several paces behind him so that when he pushed a branch out of his way it did not come back and hit her in the face. Brenda had not realized how hard it was to make your way through the woods. They had no path to follow; they made their own path. Brenda kept looking around her and trying to see deeper into the woods.
"What are you looking for?" he asked.
"I'm checking for animals," she answered, "Aren't there bears and wolves in these woods?"
Ron started laughing, "Most animals are not curious about noise, they just wanted to get away from it. We're making so much noise that I think we're safe."
"I'm afraid of bears," Brenda said.
"Ron smiled and continued walking, "Bears are solitary animals. They don't even want to be around other bears except at mating time." He didn't tell her about what a hungry bear would do if food was scarce.
About 4 o'clock in the afternoon they came to a small stream. The stream had a small waterfall and the falls dropped into a pool that was shallow and calm. Brenda dropped her pack and sat down.
"Oh, what I wouldn't give for a bath right now," she said, "I know I'm beginning to get ripe. I can even smell my self."
"Be my guest," Ron said. "I'll turn my back."
Brenda looked at the pool longingly. She decided for and against a bath several times. For finally won.
"We don't have any towels so I'll have to come out of the water and dry in the sun," she said, "Will you turn your back?"
Ron turned to head for the woods, "I'll start making a shelter and fix another meal-ready to-eat while you get clean and while you're eating I'll get clean."
Brenda went down to the stream and took her clothes off. She sank into the water until the water reached her chin. She felt content to just soak for quite a while. She finally cleaned herself as well as she could without soap and a washcloth and climbed out of the pool and laid on a rock at the edge of the stream to dry off.
Ron busied himself with building the structure. While he was gathering the branches for the shelter he looked over at the stream and saw Brenda on the rock sunning herself dry. He could not help looking at her occasionally. He thought to himself that she had a perfect body and that some man would be lucky to have her as his wife. When the shelter was finished he started the MRE. Ron ate his meal and waited for Brenda to come back from the stream. He figured that they had covered about 6 miles today. He knew that the going was going to get rougher in the next few days as they approached the Mentasta Mountains.
"You're turn," she said as she came close to the fire.
"I've already eaten," Ron said as he walked toward the stream.
Brenda ate her meal and wished that it tasted as good as it smelled. MRE's are not fine cuisine. She got up and took the dishes down to the stream to wash them. Ron was still in the pool.
"Hey, I gave you a little privacy didn't I," he said as she squatted to wash the plates.
"I saw you sneaking a glance now and then," she replied with a smile.
Ron got out of the pool and walked past Brenda naked to dry himself off by the fire. When he was dry, he got dressed.
They sat around the fire until after it had gotten dark. Brenda was thinking of how her life had changed in the last few days. She was confused about the strange feelings that she was having. A few days ago she was at the top of her world. A great job offer that would have her set for life. Now she is stranded in a national park with a man she thought she knew but apparently she didn't. A man who was closer to Sam Howell than she would ever have suspected. She knew that their lives were in danger but she had confidence that they would survive.
Ron was watching her face for several minutes. He wondered what was going through her mind. He knew that she was worried about getting out of the woods. This whole experience was new to her. He was sure that she had never been thrown into a situation where she was this vulnerable before. Ron swore to himself that he would get them out of the woods and back to Seattle.
Brenda turned to Ron, "Why doesn't anyone know about you and Sam Howell? Why have you kept it a secret?"
Ron stared at the fire, "It was the only way I would work for Sam after I got of the service. I didn't want to get any favors just because of our relationship. I feel that Sam has done enough for me and that I owe him a lot more than he owes me. Several of the older employees do know about it but they know how I feel and they accept it."
Brenda turned back to look at the fire. She thought to herself that there is a lot more to this man, Ron Simpson, than anyone knew.
Ron stood up and looked down at her, "Come on and let's go turn in. We get to do this again tomorrow."
Ron threw some more wood on the fire while Brenda shed her clothes and crawled into her sleeping bag. Ron shed his clothes outside the shelter and crawled into his sleeping bag. They lay there silent for a long time before either spoke. Sleep was not easy coming even though both were exhausted.
"Ron, we're going to beat this," she said quietly, "I can feel it in my bones."
"I know we are," he replied, "Now try to get some sleep." Ron leaned over and kissed her on her forehead.
"That wasn't a pass, honest," he said with a smile.
"Damn," she said just as she fell a sleep.
Ron woke several times during the night to put more wood on the
fire. Each time he had to take her arm off of his chest to be able to
slide out of the shelter. Just before dawn, as he slid back into the
sleeping bag, she moved closer to him in her sleeping bag and put her
arm over his chest. She gave him a little squeeze in her sleep.