A Man With One Winchester, and Two Bullets

Chapter 13

I cleaned the man's wounds; how terrible they were. Once done my canteen proved empty and I must find a creek to refill it.

I threw the bear carcass out, hiding it skillfully in the brush. With all the skin from the deer I made a little sleeping-bag - if one would call it that - and wrapped him in it.

I set out to find water and after an hour of looking, I heard a small creek. I collected water then boiled it and put it into my canteen. From the raid I collected a small lighter of which I could produce sparks, and it was mighty helpful.

Once back I made tea. The tea was terribly sour, and there was no sweeteners in the ration. Though he drank the bitter liquid, the tea would help him.

After an hour or so, he became conscious "Aye, boy...."

"Aye, old man!" I said with a grin, "Did your amazing plan fail you?"

"You bet it did, you son of a gun. I got lost in them dang tunnels and came upon four men. They shot me up, but I got away. Then I came upon this and the bear bout' ate me!"

I gave a grin at his 'accent', then said, "Well, tomorrow I'll leave you with the rations, they'll last a week or so, I make sure to hide my tracks so you can stay here for a while."

"Well, I don't know what I'll do once I've healed. Heading back into the tunnels is sketchy, but may be the only way."

"I go to the edge of the forest," I said, then added "for there I shall escape."

"Aye, boy," he said, "there's a wall there, twenty feet high, you'll never pass it nor penetrate it."

"I am a man who has conquered many feats said to be impossible, no wall shall block my path!" I paused, then added, "I am a landless vagabond, changing his jobs and life as he goes, neither hundred feet nor thousand feet walls block my path! The path of a vagabond!"

"Well said, very well said." After a pause he added, "But was also foolishly said, for you will never pass this wall. There's watch-towers all around, and these men on guard don't carry the old guns you've been playing with, they all carry a AK-47 ready to kill any who tries escape."

"Too prove my strength, I shall pass it."

"Men always wish to prove their strength, even prove it to themselves, but sometimes they fail, and sometimes that fail kills them."

We stopped there, but I still intended to pass the wall. That twenty foot wall.

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When morning came we said our good-byes. I left him with all my rations, but I carried some deer and bear meat.

"Boy, I sure hope you don't try to pass that wall! You'll surely die you fool!"

I grinned then said, "You haven't been using your accent very much this visit, why bring it out now?"

He blushed, and look wide-eyed at me.

"Whatever old man, I leave! And my path takes me to a wall! The impenetrable wall of Flame Forest!"

With that I went out on my trail. Humming as I went. The day was sunny and beautiful, birds sang, the wind howled, and I whistled my favourite tune.

I walked long, and my leg burned. The battle with the bear had left me in much agony.

I would soon reach the wall. The wall of which is twenty feet high, said to be impossible to pass, yet I would pass it. I would pass it if I wished for freedom, if I wished to be away from the feeling of being a pet in cage. Yes, I would escape. But first, Nicholas must die.

I had no gun now, for ammunition had left me, but a bow and a knife can bring a man far.

I was now aiming for traveling fifteen-twenty miles a day, and I was succeeding in that goal.

At evening I stumbled upon a one man camp. A man sat there, looking into the sky, sipping tea.

"A nice day, is it not?" I asked, knife in hand.

"Yes, yes indeed. Please sit down and drink of this tea with me."

"You wish not fight me?" I said as I sat.

"My father said, 'If I can fight to live, then I shall fight! But, if fighting shall bring me death, let me sit and drink my tea!'"

"You father is a wise man."

He poured me tea and handed me it. "Yes, yes he is. He was an America who visited Russia and fell in love with a girl, they married and had me. My father die recently."

"Don't we hate death? Don't we despise when a loved one dies? Yet, we must realize, the sting of death touches all."

"Well put, let us drink to that!"

We sipped, and the tea was sweet and nice. "This tea is sweet, where did you get sweeteners?"

"I make it from sap. The sugar maples are good to be tapped now that it's late January. You just boil the sap to make syrup. I use the syrup to sweeten the tea."

"Will you teach me how to make get the sap?"

"Sure,", he said, "first, we must find a sugar maple."

We looked, and after a bit found one.

"The maple sugar has glossy twigs, reddish brown, with slender buds. The leaves are hairless above, and light green beneath. The bark is dark brown and deeply furrowed."

He bored a half inch hole two-three inches deep. He made it slanted up, allowing the sap to come down. It came out, but simply fell out on the tree. He shoved a knife into the spot where the sap fell, and it got on his knife. It fell over the side of his knife, and with a small bucket he carried collected the sap. Some sap fell back on the tree, though. "This isn't how you're suppose to do it," he said, "there's a much more complicated way that's tougher but works better, but I just do this."

He let the small amount of sap fall into the bucket, then once it stopped falling we walked back to the camp. He poured it into a pot and boiled it. It thickened and made a form of syrup. He it into a jar and handed it to me. "Keep it, May it bring luck!"

"I thank you, now my tea shall be sweet!"

"I also use a certain herb for my tea, but that remains my hidden secret!"

"Well, I thank you for your help," I said, "but I must leave. May we meet again! But, when we meet, let it not be a battle of guns."