Saving Grace

Chapter 17

Joe circled the horse around the patch of trees, trying to remember where the cabin sat.

"Mr. Joe? Is everything okay?" Sarah shivered beneath the blanket.

He wrapped an arm around her, trying to draw her closer and shield her from the crisp wind. "Yeah, sweetie. Everything's fine. Just trying to see where to put the cabin."

"I like that spot." She pointed to an area surrounded by young pine trees.

Joe hugged her. "Me too, sweetie. I think that spot is perfect. How about we et up camp here? It's protected and it'll give us enough room to work."

Joe was helping Sarah from the horse when Levi pulled up with the wagon. "This looks like a good spot."

Joe nodded. "Sarah's partial to that little spot there for the cabin."

Levi glanced at the spot and shook his head. "Don't we want a bit more shade?"

Joe shrugged. "Those trees'll grow. Besides, the aspens and cottonwoods are a bit more prone to cracking and falling during a big storm." Joe looked up at the sky, trying to gage the time. "Let's get camp set up and see if we can find something around here to eat."

Levi pulled the wagon close to the camp site and unhitched the team. "We'll need some sort of corral to keep the animals in."

"Yep. We'll work on that next. Let's get things set up as best we can. We also need to see if we can get Grace's wounds cleaned up."

Sarah gathered sticks and branches from the small clearing for a fire, then went to the nearby creek for a bucket of water. Joe glanced up as she came running back, her eyes wide. He dropped the pans and rushed toward her. "What's wrong?"

"Th-there's a fish! A big one!"

Joe grinned. "Show me."

Levi joined them as they made their way to the creek. Joe pointed at a grouping of rocks a few yards away. "There's a spring right through there."

"How'd you know that?" Levi asked.

"I grew up here."

Sarah yanked on his hand. "Mr. Joe. It's in there!"

Joe looked into the shallow water. His eyes widened as he saw the fish, several of them, had all but beached themselves. He glanced over at Levi. "Wanna fish?"

Levi closed his open mouth. "Yeah."

A grin split Joe's face. "Sarah, you grab a stick and smack the fish in the head. Levi and I'll throw them on the bank."

She nodded her head.

Joe swallowed as his mouth salivated at the thought of fried fish for dinner. He jumped into the creek and started moving toward the fish. With quick, scooping motions he launched the fish, one after another onto the bank. Levi worked right beside him, his pace feverish. Sarah shrieked each time she struck a fish.

Joe looked up at the bank and grinned as Sarah held up two fish and plopped them into the bucket. "How many do we have?"

"Um... eight, no, nine."

Joe nodded. "A couple more and we'll call it a night."

"Why? Don't we need the food?" Levi asked, almost breathless.

"Yeah, but we also don't have a smokehouse set up. We'll need to take care of these tonight, plus set up camp, plus take care of Grace."

Levi's face fell.

"I know you want to take care of your family and you're doing a great job. But the number one rule is don't take more than you can manage. If we get everything set up, we can come back and get more."

Levi brightened at the compliment. "I'll bet I can get the last few fish faster than you."

Joe raised his eyebrows. "Oh yeah? I'm game." Even as he spoke, a fish flew past his face. Levi laughed as he launched another into the air. Joe lost his footing and landed in the cold water. He gasped for breath as Levi grabbed another fish.

Levi's laughter echoed through the willows and was joined by Sarah's. Joe grinned at the children. He had only seen their serious side. The change in them was amazing. Levi's eyes sparkled as he helped Joe to his feet.

"Rematch later?"

Joe chuckled. "We'll see. Let's get these fish cleaned and a fire going so we can eat. I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

Between the three of them, they had the fish ready for the fire in minutes. Levi ran ahead to start a fire as Joe helped Sarah tote the bucket full of fish. Her hungry eyes followed the bucket as Joe knelt by the small fire. His mouth watered as the sizzling smell enticed him. Sarah crouched next to him, holding her plate in anticipation. Joe almost laughed at her expression.

He scooped a fish onto each of the children's plates before cooking his own fish.

"Mr. Joe? Aren't you hungry?"

He tugged on her curls. "Mine is cooking. I can wait another few minutes."

She slurped her fingers. "What's Grace gonna eat?"

"I'll make a stew of some sort." He shivered as he watched steam rise from his wet clothes.

"Mr. Joe. You're cold."

Joe grinned. "Yeah. I'll be all right. This fire is warming me right up.

Levi licked the last of the fish from his plate. "I'll go get some water for that stew."

"Have you seen wild onions before?"

Levi nodded.

"There should be some along the creek, a few yards upstream from where we were fishing. Those'll give the stew a bit more flavor."

Levi nodded.

"I'll be cutting the rest of these into strips to dry over the fire. I'm sure some will be close to done by the time you get back."

Levi waved his hand over his head as he disappeared into the willows.

Joe hung strips of meat over the fire as Levi returned with a pot of water. He plunked several chunks into the water and moved the pan over the fire. He quickly sliced the onions against his thumb and dropped them into the stew, giving it a quick stir with his knife.

"There's a ton of those," Levi commented.

Joe nodded. "We'll probably pick a bunch when we get the cabin built so we can eat them during the winter."

Levi crouched beside him. "What's the plan?"

Joe popped a piece of fish into his mouth and chewed for a minute before answering. "I figure, we need to set up camp and get Grace as comfortable as possible. We'll go out and knock down some trees tomorrow and haul 'em back here." Joe took another bite. "If we both work together, we can get most of the logs down. I can pace them off and cut them to length. We'll haul them together and you can plane off the bark here. That way the girls aren't left alone for very long."

"How big are we building?"

Joe shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe twelve by twelve?"

"Shouldn't we build a corral first?"

"Corrals are easy. We need a house. We won't survive long here if we don't have one. I don't figure we have too much time left before the snow hits. Once we build the house, I'd like to take the wagon back and salvage what we can, while we can."

"We won't survive long if we're constantly looking for animals either."

"I agree. We can cut some poles for the corral while we're cutting for the house. It won't take much to actually put it together. We'll eventually need a barn or a shed. It gets extremely cold for weeks at a time here."

"Shelter, food, fuel," Levi shook his head. "We'll never be ready."

Joe clapped him on the back. "We'll get it. One thing at a time. Let's get this wagon unloaded and see to your sister."