They had been doing good living on their own for about a month, but now that it was August they had to start preparing for winter. Kyla had already stored up a small collection of plants and herbs for teas, seasonings, and medicines. They had also been drying any extra fish they caught. Kyla wasn’t sure how much food they were going to need but she knew one or two fish here and there wasn’t going to cut it. To be safe she just assumed there would be no food available through winter except what they gathered. And what they really needed was meat and furs, and the only way they might be able to get it was to make snares. So that was how Kyla’s planned to start her day. 

She had read about ways to make cordage from plants and trees but she would work on that later, maybe over the winter if she could, right now she was just going to use some of her fishing line. She walked the woods looking for saplings that could be easily bent over but not easily broken at the same time she scanned the ground looking for any sign of a path critters might be using. When she found these two things together she bent over the sapling and placed a river rock on it that was barely heavy enough to hold it down. Then she tied one end of the line to the sapling and made a loop with the other end that she propped up on a twig. Her hope was that an animal coming along the path wouldn’t notice the string and would run through it and spring the trap.

While Kyla worked on setting snares Lily and Josiah were collecting mussels for dinner. They waded in the water walking up and down the creek near the bank feeling with their feet and hands for the shape of a clam shell. When they found one there were usually others in the same area and they collected them and put them into their pot. When the pot was full they collected a few more that they ate raw. Before heading back home they shelled and cleaned the mussels and put them back into the pot full of water.

As they walked home Lily gathered some wild onion and garlic and placed a couple of them in the pot. The rest she stored in a cool dry pit they’d dug in the back of their den. Lily put the pot near the fire so it could boil into a soup and thought of what else she could add. Some cattail root might be good, she thought. It had a buttery potato type flavor and was starchy, that would help make her soup creamy and more filling. She went back to the den for the cattail roots and added it to the pot as well. 

While waiting for dinner to cook they gathered as many pine cones as they could carry and brought them back to the fire where they busted them open with rocks. Kyla said they could survive for years on pine nuts alone if they had too, so they gathered them in all their spare time. The nuts were placed by the fire and dried then stored for winter, later they could be eaten the way they were or ground and made into mash, flour, or soup.

Kyla’s tummy rumbled after setting up her tenth snare and she started back to camp gathering pine cones and placing them in her shirt as she went. About halfway there she could smell something delicious that made her stomach rumble again and she hurriedly picked up her pace. When she got back Josiah was using a piece of bread to finish off his bowl of clam chowder. 

“That looks amazing, I’m starved!” Kyla said, as she walked into camp.

“Taste pretty great too,” Josiah said, smiling up at his mom.  “Did you get the snares set?” he asked, as she came to sit down.

“I did,” she said, reaching over to ruffle his hair.

The longer they were out here the more Josiah had opened up. He was a completely different seven year old than the one she’d first met. Lily handed Kyla a bowl of soup while rubbing her temple with the other hand. Lily on the other hand seemed to be getting more and more distant. 

“Another migraine?” Kyla asked, concerned.

“Yeah, I think I’m just gonna go lay down,” she said, already heading to their little dirt house.

“Okay,” Kyla responded sadly. 

“Has your mom always gotten headaches?” she asked, Josiah when Lily was out of ear shot.

“Ummm, I think so. As long as I can remember any way,” he responded.

“Did she at least eat?” she asked, putting a spoonful of soup into her mouth.

“She did earlier when we collected the mussels, but not any of them soup. Do you think the headaches are a big deal?” he asked, suddenly getting worried.

“No, but the not eating could be if she makes a habit of it. We’ll just have to make sure she eats,” she said smiling at him.

“Okay. I can do that,” he said, looking determined.

“We can,” Kyla said, squeezing his hand. “How about we go to bed now kiddo? If you’re in a similar mood as me it’s better we go to sleep and start over tomorrow.”

“Yeah, okay,” he said, throwing the stick he’d been drawing with in the fire.

The next morning Lily was feeling better, so after a small breakfast Kyla was going out to check the snares. She would now have to do this at least once a day if not more. Lily and Josiah were going to get started on a couple drying racks. If they were going to have any chance of their meat not spoiling during the winter months it had to be dried. First they had to find the materials they needed. They were looking for sticks of decent height with forks in them. They needed to have at least four but preferably six. At the same time they needed to be somewhat straight and a decent size to support some weight without breaking. These would be the supports that went in the ground. They also needed some that were straight and long with little to no limbs on them, or at least ones that could be easily broken off. These would be the pieces to go across for them to drape the meat over.

When they’d found the last few sticks they needed they returned to camp to start building it. Josiah used a mussel shell to start digging six holes around the fire, when he was done it would be like a box around the fire with one side open. While he was doing this Lily was at the river looking for big rocks to place around the bottom of the sticks for extra support. While Lily was doing this Kyla came back into camp with a rabbit hung over her shoulder. She dropped it beside the fire and started helping Lily carry the rocks back and forth. The river wasn’t far but it was down hill, which meant they were having to carry the heavy rocks back uphill. By the time they were done Josiah had already dug two holes and was working on a third. 

They all took a short break and enjoyed some tea and pine nuts as a small lunch before getting back to it. When they got up Kyla asked Lily to do the rabbit and she would help Josiah finish digging the holes because it wouldn’t be as strenuous. She was afraid too much strain would cause Lily to have another headache and the rocks had already been bad enough. Lily begrudgingly agreed. She didn’t want to take the slightly easier job but it did have to be done either way and it was something she needed to learn. She also knew if she did get another headache she wouldn’t be able to help at all. So Kyla explained to Lily how to clean the rabbit and flesh the hide to make it ready for tanning then they both went off to do their jobs.

After the holes were dug they placed one of the supports in each hole then filled it in with dirt and packed it in before stopping to take another break. Lily came back with a cleaned rabbit in one hand and the hide wrapped up in a bundle in the other. 

“Can you hold this while I go wash my hands and get the pot?” Lily asked, walking up to Kyla and holding out the rabbit and sitting the hide down near the fire.

“Yep, did you save the brains for tanning?” Kyla asked, as she looked up and chucked before taking the proffered rabbit. 

Lily nodded then scrunched up her eyebrows and asked, “What’s so funny?” looking slightly offended by Kyla’s continued snickering.

“Well.. ummm… there’s a little something smeared on your forehead and a little more splattered across your right cheek. But I wouldn’t worry about it in the slightest because it’s a great look for you, it’s just your color,” Kyla said bursting into laughter.

“Oh yeah?” Lily asked, grinning evilly as she took a step towards her.

Kyla stopped laughing and tried to get to her feet. Her big belly made it difficult though and she didn’t make it fast enough. Right as she stood up Lily pressed both of her bloody hands against both of Kyla’s cheeks leaving behind bloody hand prints.

“Now that’s your look,” Lily said giggling.

“Oh it totally is,” Josiah said, falling over with laughter at their antics.

The women looked at him then looked at each other and nodded. He was laughing so hard he had his eyes squeezed closed and didn't notice them both approach him with blood on their hands. When he opened his eyes and sat up they each smeared their hand across one of his cheeks. His mouth fell open in complete surprise.

“Well that’s just gross,” he said pursing his lips.

“So I guess we’ll all be going to wash up now.” Lily said with one last giggle before sauntering off down the hill.

After they cleaned their faces Josiah and Lily headed back up the hill to finish the drying rack and start cooking the rabbit for supper. Kyla stayed behind fishing until the enticing smell of rabbit stew pulled her to her feet. She made short work of cleaning her fish then she let her nose follow the smell home. When she got back the first thing she noticed was that Lily wasn’t outside, the second thing she noticed was that the drying rack was finished. The rocks had been placed around the bottom of the supports, the rest of the sticks had been cleaned of their bark, and laid horizontally with the end of each stick laying in one of the forks on the main support beam.

“Where’s your mom?” Kyla asked, who sat throwing twigs in the fire.

“She’s laying down already. I told her I’d wait up for you and watch the fire so nothing got your supper.”

“Did she eat?” Kyla asked, laying the fish across the drying rack.

“A bite or two,” he answered distractedly.

She noted how sad he looked and decided to distract him by playing a game with the little bit of sunlight they had left.

“Want to draw pictures in the dirt and take turns guessing what the other person drew?”

“Sure,” he said, perking up a little. 

“Okay, give me just a sec to dip me out a bowl of stew.”

They played their game until well after dark, when the sun went down the continued on by fire light. It seemed to help relax them both. When Kyla noticed Josiah’s third yawn she decided it was time for both of them to turn in.

“Okay little man, I think it’s time for bed.”

“Okay,” he said, standing up and dusting off his shorts.

Kyla added more wood to the fire and went to the den for her blanket.

“What are you doing?” Josiah asked when he saw her heading back to the fire.

“I have to make sure nothing steals the fish. I’m going to sleep out here and keep the fire going,” she said, shrugging.

“Oh, can I sleep out there too?”

“No, because we know the area better now I’m willing to take my chances with myself but not with you,” she said with a kind hearted smile.

“Okay,” he said understandingly, before closing up the den and going to lay with his mom.

He was such a good kid Kyla thought. God forbid she ever came across the man who’d hurt him and his mom, she’d probably kill him for it.

This book now has 136 readers I'm super excited about that, so I just want to say thank you to everyone.

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~TIA~