Sioux and Rick

The Monsoon! Part 7

Episode VII:

The Monsoon.

Sunday, after morning captivity, Sioux and Rick both spent the day doing several days worth of chores. They both had to get them done so they could goon their camp out Monday.

While mowing the lawn, Sioux used the tractor to pull two pieces of ply-wood back to the clubhouse for the roof.

Monday dawned red and warm, Sioux wandered if the old weather analogy was true; 'red sky on morning, sailor take warning.' Did that mean it was going to rain later? He figured he would find out.

Sioux and Rick met up later in the morning than usual. They both took some extra time making sure they had the right stuff in their backpacks for the first camp out in the clubhouse!

They both made it there about the same time. They dumped the back packs in the clearing, wanting to get to work on the roof. They carefully stripped the tarp that served as the roof, they wanted to reuse it. Working together the boys pushed, pulled, and struggled the ply wood up top. Sioux volunteered to go up top and nail the wood in place, he wanted to use the hammer he had discovered a few days ago. It worked great! Then, while Sioux was still up top, they stretched the tarp across the top, for an extra layer of waterproof.

The boys stopped for a fire and lunch, before they starting getting to the real fun they had planned! They piled their packs and sleeping bags in the house. They had both brought bags of empty cans, and their slingshots. They wanted to make a shooting range. Then they could have challenges and contests!

They ran around the clearing, sticking cans on random branches and stumps. Then they had to figure out how to make it a contest. So they chose several 'firing' lines, they would take a turn until they missed, then the other would get a chance to better his opponent. They played at that for a while, soon realizing they were pretty evenly matched.

According to their stomachs, it was getting close to dinner time, and Dale hadn't showed up yet. He did say he may not make it, though. The two boys stoked the fire, and got a big dinner going, mac and cheese now, then hot-dogs on a stick later.

After dinner they wanted to get the clubhouse set up. Now that they were getting a few things inside they realized they were getting kinda cramped. They thought they might need to make some shelves, and places to hang things up. They got their sleeping arranged, and the stuff out of their packs they wanted. Rick had brought a stack of comic books, Sioux had brought his map book, and journal book to work on.

It was starting to get dark out, both of the boys were excited to sit by the fire and roast some hot-dogs! They gathered up a bunch of sticks and wood, really building up the fire. Each of them having a good camp knife now, they both took some slow pleasure in carving out their roasting sticks. After two hot-dogs each, the boys were feeling sleepy; then they heard it! A low roll form off in the distance, that seemed to head towards them, followed by another grumble.

Sioux sat up, quickly relating the red sky in morning thing. Rick said he had always known that to be true. The two picked up their little bit of stuff they had out, and ran to the safety of the clubhouse. Just as they pulled the door shut, and got flashlights turned on, they heard the first big, fat drops of rain on the roof of the house. They fumbled around until they found the lantern and got it turned on, they wanted to save their flashlights.

Soon the wind really picked up, and the rain was slamming on the sides of the little building.

Raising his voice to be heard, Sioux said "I guess we'll see how we did building this thing! Huh?"

Rick was looking at all of the seams and joints, "Well, we're looking good so far! Hopefully we'll make it all night!"

Sioux checked his watch, it was almost nine o'clock. He rummaged a walkie-talkie from his pack, he was suppose to call his dad. Sioux's dad was waiting on the other end already. "You boys doing okay out there so far?"

"No leaks so far," Sioux said proudly. "We are fed, warm, and dry! I think we'll be fine, See you tomorrow." his dad said goodnight.

The two boys hunkered down onto their sleeping bags. They took some time to get use to the noise of the storm. Soon the rhythm of the rain on the roof became calming. They turned on the radio, and each of them dug into their comics, or notebooks for a while. They both finally started getting tired, they both laid down to sleep.

Sometime later, the wind really picked up. Both boys were snapped awake! Something let out a huge CRACK! Neither boy could tell were the sound was from, close, far, a support broke under them. They didn't know. Both boys fumbled for their flashlights, until they got the lantern on again. Checking around the clubhouse, all seemed well. After sometime, the wind and the storm moved off, leaving everything quiet again. The boys finally went back to sleep.

The next morning dawned clear and warm, the woods smelled fresh and clean. The boys had stored some wood in the clubhouse to use for a breakfast fire. While Sioux got the fire going, Rick wandered around, trying to figure where the big crack had come from.

Rick came back just when Sioux got the fire going right. "I found the big branch that cracked, it's about a quarter mile back towards Dales place, and it's a big one." Sioux looked amazed.

Both of the boys learned just how well sounds carry in the woods at night. But, they also had the idea to check out their clubhouse area for any big, weak looking branches.

After breakfast, they checked over their clubhouse really well. They only found a couple of small leaks, nothing they couldn't handle easily. All of their gear was dry, at least.

 They had survived that adventure, now they had to plan the next one!