The Lady of Waterleaf and Wire

The Journey

John clutched his wife's hand as they stepped into the woods together. "John, my love, don't be afraid. I'll be right here with you the whole time," she whispered.
"These people won't last a day. They've lived comfortably all their lives, Rose. They know nothing! Tell me, my dear, was I a fool to agree to their propositions?"

"That is to be seen, I suppose. Do not lose hope in them, perhaps they'll prove you wrong," Rose told him. "Without hope, we have nothing."

John nodded. Of course, Rose was right, as usual.

The journey began easy. Summer was in full bloom in the forest. Berries and fruits ripened on their vines. Thimbleberry and huckleberry kept the travelers' energy up between meals. Rose and John took the lead, each carrying a rifle. The other women scorned Rose and whispered behind her back. Mad, they called her. How could a woman shoot a gun like a man? The first day's hunt shut them up.

Rose and John returned to the party at sunhigh, carrying the meat of a buck between them. The woman swooned over John, praised his hunt. He took it with a smile for a few minutes before Rose revealed her shot had hit, not his. Their meal was silent that night.

They settled for the evening beneath a fallen tree. The temperature had only slightly dropped with the sunset and the air was still warm from the day. John and Rose took first watch.

"I've never taken an easier shot, John," Rose told her husband uneasily. "It was as if the buck wanted to be hit. He stood and watched my bullet tear his flesh. He hardly moved once it hit either."

"The plants, Rose." John remarked back, "I've never seen such abundance. Meadows of camas. Miles and miles of blueberries and nootka rose, though they aren't ripe yet. Huckleberry, thimbleberry, whitebark raspberry, all nearing peak season. I feel harder pressed to find something I can't eat than something I can."

"I've never seen anything like this," she agreed.

At midnight, they traded watches with two younger men and slept side by side until dawn. The morning brought equal luck to the past day. Berries made breakfast and two rabbits shot by John plus the leftover meat from the buck provided an evening meal. The days were warm and the nights were not frigid. The terrain was easy to traverse. The creeks stayed in their banks and the trees were sparse enough to pass but thick enough to shelter them from the sun. The woods provided their every need abundantly. Every step was lined with herbs and berry bushes, and the travelers found themselves never hungry. Woodland creatures seemed willing to sacrifice themselves to bullets whenever the party wished for a true meal.

They marched on for a week, scanning the woods for a place to claim their lands. By the eighth day, the cohesion of the group, even in the fair weather and easy travel was beginning to dissolve. Men began to argue, saying they could wait no longer, that they'd traveled across the country to find a place to live and didn't intend to wait another day. Johnathan, unwilling to listen to the infighting, agreed that three of the five men could split off from the group, if they so wished. Their wives were perhaps more grateful than the men to get away from the noisy party. Johnathan instructed the men to return to town, east from their location, if anything went wrong. The rest of the party, he explained, couldn't waste time on their rescues with fall approaching. After short consideration, the men agreed. They set up camp for the night, having lost six party members in the morning, three men and three women.

"Why tell them to return to town, John?" Rose asked over a meal of boiled leaves and fresh berries. "They aren't knowledgeable about the woods as you are. How many of them will face the same fate you once did?"

"They shouldn't have come all this way if they wanted to bicker," John stated bluntly.

"John! We've travelled a week with these men. Surely you don't wish them harm."