Chapter 33. The Hunt is On

They were eager to get going, but there was one thing they were all looking forward to do first. “Come on already, I’ve loaded the bows, checked the arrows, got the game bags, packed a lunch, got a cask of water, got some firewood, we’re all ready, let’s goooo.”, Minnie yelled down to Naomi. She and Will were on deck, dressed as warm as possible and Min was a bit impatient. The boat was loaded and floating gently by the steps. Will was passing the time throwing a line in, just to see how his luck was today. Nothing so far but you never know. Finally Naomi came up, carrying a another side bag, “All you packed was biscuits, I think we need a bit more than that.”. Minnie shrugged, she liked biscuits. Laughing to himself Will cast one more time, slowly reeling but again no bites. Maybe he’d have better luck with pigeons, or turkey, geese maybe, whatever lived here. Checking the Roses anchors one last time, off they went. Minnie was rowing, and the boat shot to the isle in minutes. She jumped out as they crunched into the shore and was scanning the beach for targets. Will stepped out a bit more leisurely followed by Naomi, carrying their bows. “Yay, maybe this time huh.”: Minnie squeaked. “Well there’s no trees to shoot at on the beach, let’s head in a little more.”, Naomi laughed.

This was one small islet, the curving harbour and beach were easily a quarter of the whole thing. The surrounding hills rose up about twenty feet then to a flat area behind that sloped into the lake beyond. Not much in vegetation, mostly some scrub bushes and a few spruce trees. There didn’t seem to be anywhere that game of any kind could hide. But Naomi told Minnie to be patient. “There’s some game, around Laketown, that when cornered tend to fly like mad, very far and very fast.”. She went on to tell them that these birds could fly long distances and had been found far from Laketown. “Look Min, there’s some tracks, fresh too.”, she pointed down, leading to the overhanging branches of a small fir, growing about fifty feet from the shore, were vague markings. If it was just Will he wouldn’t have noticed at all, just a wind pattern on the snow. He was not the best shot with a bow so he was leaving the hunting to Minnie and Naomi. He had made them laugh when he said he preferred hunting at a butchers shop. At first he had nearly said grocery store, but it had been late and that explanation could take a while. But he really meant it. He felt that unless you grew up in a hunting family or community it was very hard to just start. Unless you had to, like in an apocalypse or something. And that hadn’t happened…yet.

Standing back by the bluff that led down to the harbour, just watching. He brushed the snow off of a handy rock he gingerly lowered to sit on it. Brrr too cold, the cold seeped into him pretty quickly, so no sitting there. Kneeling in the thick snow was better, the thick leather patches on his knees and shins stopped the moisture penetrating. He brushed off the rock and set his bow down. Watching the other two stalking the tracks was all the hunting he needed right now and it seemed that something had been found. Naomi called to Minnie, “Be ready.”, and she threw a snowball at the base of the tree. With a snap of wings and hissing calls of alarm a flurry of grouse sprang into the air. Minnie’s arrow hit one and downed it, as did Naomi’s hurried shot. Two ten pound birds were their prizes. Minnie had tried after another but her shot just hit water after missing the bird by inches. She was not upset at missing but jumping up and down in excitement at hitting one. “Did you see that dad, got one, it was fast too but I was faster, ooh I wonder what it will taste like, chicken maybe, I like chicken nearly as much as ribs….”, she ran on. Naomi laughed “Good shot Minnie, I thought you’d miss that first one.”, they fist bumped. “Well done guys, looks like a fresh dinner for us tonight huh.”, Will said happily. After checking the rest of the trees for game and finding none it was time to go back to the Rose and get moving on. The entire hunt had only taken a couple of hours so there was lots of daylight left to travel in. As they headed to the beached dory, prizes in hand there was a slight rumble beneath their feet and the island seemed to shift a little bit.

When that happened Will finally remembered what had been nibbling at his brain. The odd waves, bouncing at anchor for no reason. There had probably been earthquakes happening for the past while and they just hadn’t noticed while being on the water. As they loaded up and rowed back Will was telling Minnie and Naomi why earthquakes under water were particularly dangerous, not for boats. “Boats are usually safe from the effects, there might be a big wave or two, nothing we couldn’t handle.”. They reached the Rose, clambering aboard and lifting and locking the dory in place. “The waves are very dangerous to the shore peoples. As the water is deeper the waves can be small, a few feet to us, but when it hits the beach it could be a hundred feet high.”. Will and Naomi pulled the anchors one by one, waiting on the last while Minnie had gone below and turned the boiler to high. “Have you seen a, what did you call it, the wave…have you seen one?”, Naomi asked. He shook his head, “Tsunami, and just the after effects on tv. It was horrible.”. Remembering the loss of life, property damage, the complete devastation. He never wanted to see that here. “Have you ever heard of this?”, he asked Naomi, hoping she said no. “Not at Laketown but some of the Newton kids were talking about a lake flood a couple of years ago. A big wave came close to the town and wiped out a couple of farms. Minnie had come back on deck and asked if everything was okay, they looked serious. “Talking about the wave still, might have been something like it in Newton a while ago.”, Will told her. “Let’s get out of here then.”, she shivered, “In case it’s happening.”. She headed into the wheelhouse and Will could feel the engine come to life. He and Naomi pulled the last anchor in and they pulled away from the safe harbour.

Gathered in the wheelhouse the location of this islet was marked. A good safe harbour was a rare thing and would definitely be used again. The crew decided to call it ‘Little Grouse Island’, and so it was marked. Naomi and Minnie went below to pluck the feathers and brine the birds for dinner. Will had the conn and after getting them on the reverse heading of the trip north, he tied the wheel and wrote his log. The Rose was making good time southward, nice black smoke pouring out of the stack. Reading through the logs the little drawings of Minnie had changed from fishing or swimming to building snowmen or throwing snowballs, sometimes shooting tiny trees with tinier arrows. Also there were a few of the tiny drawings that the tiny Minnie’s were just standing and shivering. Will thought she might be trying to tell him something. But however charming this was he still needed to get the days events down in the log. The end of the weekend and the hunt, no matter how quickly it had gone. It had been a success and that’s what counted most. And he was looking forward to tonight’s meal. If the grouse lived up to how Naomi described them.

After a couple of hours of writing Will was pleasantly interrupted by a thoroughly disgusted Minnie. He took in her bedraggled fur and overall rumpled appearance and asked “What’s the matter?”. She looked at him with wounded eyes. “Did you know how we had to get the feathers off the birds?” she asked. Will thought for a bit, “Dip them in boiling water and yank them out?”, he asked. She nodded, “But before that you gotta cut off the head, and feet, then cut it open and stick your hand in and bleargh.”. He made the mistake of laughing a bit and got glared at. “Sorry sweetie but that’s just gotta be done, like a fish.”. He added “Just think of the arrows you can make from the feathers huh.”. Sighing she sat in her pilot chair, and poured a mug of apple juice from the supply kept in here, “I know, but it’s still yucky.”. She went on “That was sure fun though, and did you see that shot I made? And Naomi’s gonna cook them for dinner, with crispy taters and some canned peas, which taste weird to me so she’s doing carrots too, but no cinnamon this time, it makes me yak a little bit, only on carrots yeah, it’s nice in pies though.”. Rambling on about her day, and how much fun she had was nice for Will to hear. Lately they seemed in a bit of a rut. It would be nice to get back to civilization, at least for a couple of weeks.

The day progressed as days do, getting darker toward the late afternoon. Will took a break from the helm, leaving it in Minnie’s capable hands. Going below he could smell something delectable cooking and realized it was getting close to dinner. Now to decide on going closer to the coast to look for a layover or coast on slowly through the night. A quick trip to his cabin, then checking in with Naomi. He found her in the galley, humming away while preparing their evening meal. “Hey, having fun?”, he asked. She jumped slightly, hadn’t noticed him before. Then laughed while turning back to the prepared birds, ready for roasting. “It was nice to get these, make me think of being little, watching and helping mom and Regina prepare them.”, she replied. “Well Minnie’s looking forward to these, more than anything lately. We’ll have to do this more, the hunting, not eating dinner.”, Will said. “Looking for an anchorage for the night, how long do you need?”, he continued. She looked around the galley, thinking for a minute, “Two hours, from now to on the table.”. Nodding, he reached and stole a raw carrot from the bowl, waved and headed back up.

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Back on deck it was getting dimmer as the light left slowly. This time of year was weird, it was bright all day, then slowly dimmed until night came down quickly. Looking to the east he could see the dim outline of the coast, hoping they could find a safe place to rest for the night. The weather was definitely changing, for the good though. While still cold the further south the boat steamed the better it got. Not as cold, lots of snow still, the barrels were mostly filled, ready to go below and boiled for fresh. Minnie saw him and let loose on the steam whistle, letting him know. Waving he continued walking the deck, just liking to check things. Just the normal waves today, nothing like the wild water to the north. The Rose easily handled them, tirelessly climbing and breaching down the other side. Climbing up to the wheelhouse he stopped at the top of the stairs. There was some ice build up on the door and he drew a happy face, he knew Minnie had never seen anything like it, and wanted to see what she thought.

Going inside she immediately asked “What the heck is that, and why do I like it?”. He laughed “It’s called a happy face, they’re everywhere in our old world, I just thought you’d like it.”. She leaned over and gave him a hug, “It’s cute, I love it. You know you’re gonna find it everywhere here now right?”. “Oh yeah, I know.”, he replied. As they chatted on they had changed course to head shoreward again. Looking for a spot for the night. They could travel on, not having to worry about traffic was very reassuring. But there was still other worries, errant logs, icebergs maybe this far north, sudden squalls, that debris field from a while ago. Will never did discover where it came from or where it went. Nope, anchoring by shore was the best for them right now. Far enough off to avoid rocks and shoals, but near enough to gain protection in case of any kind of aquatic vindictiveness. And this way the crew could have a nice relaxing dinner, without someone standing watch at the helm.

The shore came close in the dim light and they reduced speed as they travelled along the coast. The beach was pretty featureless, just snow and ice. The occasional pile of rocks, driftwood and dried float weed. Ahead something looked promising. A large, absolutely monolithic pile of glacial rocks had been tumbled at the shore heading out at least a hundred yards out to sea. They could anchor on the windward side and be protected for the night. That way if the anchors did let go they would just drift out to sea, not toward the shore. Sea…it was hard not to use that term in his log. It was out to lake, no that didn’t even sound right. Lakeward, again nope. It had to be out to sea, anything else was just not right.

“Hellooo, are you in there?”, blinking he found Minnie staring into his eyes, from about three inches away. “Oh hello sweety, I was just mulling things.” he said. She nodded “Oh I know the look, it’s okay, I got you.”. He pointed ahead “Bring us to about thirty yards of the big rock, on the other side though.”. She just looked at him, “Which big rock, the green one with a grey top, or the grey one with the green streaks, or the hundred other big ones?”. Hmmm, “When you put it like that, just take us to the other side and pick a spot, I trust you.”.

Coming up to the huge pile of rocks leading out to sea, they motored around the end, then back down the windward side. Minnie brought them to a stop and hopped out to help Will drop anchors. Both rattled down a long way, at least two hundred feet before hitting bottom. The chains angled out as the Rose drifted a few yards, pulling the chains until the anchors found good purchase far below. They cranked the windlass a few times to stress the chain and check the grip, they were holding strong. Minnie went back into the wheelhouse and shut everything down. Radiator to low, checked the wood stove was out. Gathered her belongings and packed them into her side bag. Standing on the bow with Will the sun was going down and the view of the huge rocks behind was spectacular. Ice had formed in long drifts down the side in places, long hanging icicles that had formed over the years. Continually forming and breaking when the weight was too much. In places the rock had been cracked by the pressure and had flaked and broken into piles disappearing into the water below. “Pretty cool dad, maybe I’ll sketch this tomorrow before we leave, then other people can look at it too.”, Minnie said. Will thought that was a great idea, “We could put a bunch of your pictures in a book, let people see our travels.”.

They continued talking about that idea on the way down below. Hanging up their coveralls, sliding boots onto the wooden drying rack, they put on the warm felt slippers and followed their noses to the galley. Minnie was telling Naomi about the idea of making a book of their travels. “We thought we could all work on it, you and dad could write the story, I could do some pictures.”. The young girl thought this was a great idea. “Bring out one a year, so the little ones can get to know us and everyone can see they’re part of a pretty big world, I love it.”, she said. Will had been helping out as they talked, setting the table in the mess this time. Salt and pepper, a jug of water and juice, pot of tea. Then Naomi brought out the two roasted birds, all golden skin and crispy. Not overly large but the two would easily feed the crew. Minnie brought in the taters in the hot cast iron skillet, then the carrots and peas. Will was carving and sorted out leg, breasts and thighs, until everyone’s plate was full. Before they dove in he raised his mug, “A toast to the hunters, thanks and this looks great.”. They clinked glasses and attacked. Between the good food and the good company the evening passed quickly. Dishes done, bones saved in the ice box for soup tomorrow, they retired to the lounge. As they played cards and relaxed Minnie was thinking about their travel book. “We need a name, like ‘Minnie’s Marvellous Memories’, or maybe ‘Naomi’s Recollections’, any ideas dad?”. At first Will was going to ask if they liked the name ‘Old Man’s Tale’, then realized that was a bit silly and no one would like that. So they kept working on it until nothing had been settled but it was late enough to go to sleep. Thanking Naomi for her wonderful meal one more time, Will and Minnie nearly fell into bed and she was asleep near instantly. He had just one thought…

Menu (All opened, new skill listed)

William Harris

Age 35 (stabilized)

Intelligence 37/50

Strength 50/50 Maximum level.

Vitality 47/50

Stamina 46/50

Affinities for gardening, cultivating, fishing, knitting, swimming, mariner ,

Captain of the heartboat Rose

Navigation 4

Mechanic 3

Mason 1

Outdoor Chef 2

Line Cook

Arborist 1

Labourer 1

Lumberjack

Hunter

Minnie

Best dog of all

Age 7, has been adjusted now. Menu will show age as 17 in next update.

Intelligence 20/25

Strength 23/25

Vitality 23/25

Stamina 23/25

Affinities for fishing, swimming, husbandry, mariner

First Mate of the heartboat Rose

Navigator 3

Artist

Piloting 3

Mechanic 3

Crab Catcher

Shrimper

Tinker

Joker

Arborist

Labourer 1

Lumberjack

The skill sailor has been changed to Able Seaman, also the title Watch Stander and Dayworker have been achieved.

Hunter 1

Naomi 0’Malley

Age 18

Intelligence 35/50

Strength 35/50

Vitality 36/50

Stamina 40/50

Affinities for cooking, fishing, gardening, swimming, mariner

Second Mate of the heartboat Rose

Management 3

Kitchen Artist

Cooking 4

Homemaker 3

Arborist 1

Labourer 1

Piloting

Lumberjack

The skill probationary sailor has been changed to Able Seaman, also the title Watch Stander and Dayworker have been achieved.

Hunter 1

Nice, he thought before dropping off, we’re all hunters now.