Feather

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Shraya had gone 2 days without seeing anyone. She knew that they could come at anytime and that she should still go on, at least for 1 more day. So, on she rode her horse along the stream, taking short brakes, just long enough to refill her container or eat a little bit from her pack. After another whole day of riding, she finally came to a stop for the night. "Feather, I don't think it would be smart to stop just yet." stated Shraya. "It doesn't look all that good of a place to stay." She looked around and there was just skimpy trees where they were. "We'll go tomorrow until we find a suitable place." So she took out her little blanket, tied up Feather and went to sleep.

In the morning she got up and packed her stuff again. She came up to Feather and untied her and let her graze. Shraya walked over to the stream and took a drink, let Feather drink and then filled her container, getting ready to leave.

The swelling in her foot had gone down a lot and she could walk properly again.

She got on Feather and started to ride along the stream. They walked on for about an hour when all of a sudden they came to a lake. It wasn't a very big lake but it looked like it was a good place to stay, for a few days anyways. On the other side of the small lake, she could see a huge pine had fallen over and pulled all the roots up with it, looking like an enormous hand stretching out of the earth . It had been like that for years, it looked like and now there was a cave type hole in the ground. She got off of Feather and lead her to where the hole was and tied her to a nearby poplar. She looked in the hole and decided it was big enough. She put her packs in the 'cave' and ambled over to the lakes' side. As soon as she looked into the water she could see fish and various different creatures. She hadn't brought any fishing gear, but she could probably make a fishing rod. All she would have to do is cut a pole, and make a hook. Then find a piece of meat and if the fish were hungry they would come already. She didn't need to fish right now though. She had enough food. What she needed to do now was make the hole in the ground liveable. She would only be hear a few days but she still wanted it to be nice. So, she walked briskly over to the hole and looked inside. She guessed it to be an oval shape of about 6 feet by 8 feet. Shraya didn't want to sleep on the ground, so the first thing she wanted to do was make a bed.

First she took her machete out of her back pack and went to the bushes to cut some small branches and collect leaves. She also took some tall grasses that grew close to the lake. Then she when to a big pine and cut off as many branches she could hold and brought them back to her camp. She laid down the sticks on the bottom, then put the leaves and grasses over top of them. Next she took the pine boughs and laid them so every stem was covered by the next one. Last she took some more grasses and laid them over top so the pine needles wouldn't poke her.

Shraya had brought a brush along for Feather, but she hadn't been able to use it yet. Now she decided it was time to brush her and maybe even wipe her down with a cloth. Feather had mud and hard sweat on her from walking and running the whole time for the past few days. She needed a good rest and to do some good grazing. Shraya lead her over close to the cool, small lake and let her have her fill of water. Shraya too took a long drink. Then Shraya grabbed the brush and her container and filled it with water. She bought it over to Feather and poured it over the clumps of mud of her back and in her mane. She took the brush and went over the mud, slowly brining it out.

After Shraya had cleaned Feather, she decided she would have a bath herself. She felt sticky and dirty and despite that the water was cold, it was refreshing at the same time. She got the dirt and mud for her hair and washed her clothes in the lake too. She had brought an extra pair of clothes so she could wash them in between.

It felt good to be clean again, but she couldn't waste her time any longer. She realized that being in the bush was one thing, but having to survive in it was another. She only realized now, how much food she ate in these few days. It would just be enough to get home if she would start now, but that she wasn't going to do. She decided that she would make a snare for rabbits, because in the soft dirt close by the lake were a lot of tracks. Her dad had taught her how to make them when she was about 10, but she still remembered the basics. After she made the loops and found a used trail, she tied the snare to a thin branch. She made several of these snares in different parts of the trail.

Shraya guessed it to be about four o'clock after she had finished with the snares. Hopefully by morning she would have something in at least one of the 4 she had set. But she was getting hungry now, and she figured she would try to make a fishing line. She went over to her pack and looked inside for anything she could make a hook from. She found her blanket and her machete and some other things like the steal cup inside. Suddenly, she remembered the mending kit she had brought. if she would bend a needle, she could probably fasten a string to it and make a hook from that. So, she dug around for a little while until she found it and took the thinnest needle she could find. She took her machete from the sheath, and banged on the needle until it had a 'U' shape. then she had to find a way to fasten a string to it without it slipping off too easily. First she took a small length of rope and un braided it until it was just a thin line. Then she threaded the needle with the piece of string. She tied a knot and held the string, examining it to make sure that it was tight. She stepped over to her pack and pulled out a small piece of jerky. she pushed it onto the hook and lowered it into the water. Suddenly a small pan fish came and started nibbling on the jerky. the water was so clear that she could see in hadn't bitten the hook yet. When the fish decided it like the jerky, it put the whole piece into its mouth and started to swim away. Shraya started to pull on the line and it was coming and coming, but the fish flipped and got away.

"Come on!" she said to herself angrily. "I almost had him!" But she didn't lose hope, so she put another piece of jerky on and lowered it into the water. Another fish came, but this time it was a bigger fish. It looked like a rainbow trout. It came to the hook and took the whole thing into its mouth, this time Shraya pulled it as soon as it had it, and it came to the surface, struggling with the hook. Shraya got on her hands and knees and grabbed the fish around the stomach. It wiggled and squirmed in her grasp, but she didn't let go. She took the fish to a large, flat rock, and held it by the tail. She took out her knife and stabbed it in the head. The fish gave a final fight, then laid still.

Shraya took the fish over to the cave like hole that Feather was nearby. "Look girl," Shraya said excitedly, "our first fish!" Feather came over and smelled the fish, backed up and snorted, trying to get the smell from her nostrils. Content, she went back to grazing the long, sweet grass close to the lake. Shraya still hadn't built a fire yet, which she would need to do before she could eat the fish. So, she took it and placed it just inside the shelter. Then, she walked over to the tree line and started picking little dry sticks. She pulled out some dry grass and leaves, then ambled back to her shelter. She picked dry boughs from the pine tree because they light easily and burn hot. she didn't want to waste any more matches than she already had. These had to last her for quite a while.

Once she got a fire going, she decided she wanted to explore the lake a bit better. She walked up to Feather and swung onto her back. She started East along the lake. She noticed that the lake was almost a perfect circle, about 400 yards across. Shraya walked Feather along the bank for about 200 yards, when she noticed some tracks in the wet soil. She jumped down and bent lower to the ground. There in the mud were hoof prints, but they weren't Feather's. First of all, Feather hadn't been to this part of the lake yet, and second of all, they were too big. They looked like they would have been from a stallion, or maybe from a tougher horse. they looked like they would be from one that lived in the bush.

They looked wild.