Tohbi Ohoyo

The Escape Part 2

Sunny was the quietest and most gentle horse Constance owned, and would surely be missed. Kaitlyn was very thankful that Sunny was able to stay hidden behind the trees and brush.

The sun was only just coming up, and four times, Kaitlyn had to hault her horse, and duck low. The road was busy, and she knew that she would be spotted if she stayed close to the road.
She trailed off a few more yards at a time until she was surrounded by thick brush.

Kaitlyn stopped the horse, and looked around. She eased Sunny to the left, hoping the road was that way. She traveled for at least twenty minutes before realization had hit her, she was lost.

She peered up at the hot afternoon sun streaming through the tree tops. It was too hot for her to travel on for much more, and Sunny would need a break soon.

She listened to the wind blowing between the trees, and soon the sound of running water reached her ears. Kaitlyn sighed with relief. Her canteen was almost empty after drinking a majority of it. The soft lull of a river grew louder until Kaitlyn soon saw the cool water.

She dismounted a few yards from the creek and set her bag, along with Sunny's saddle, by a tall shade tree.
She refilled her canteen upstreem from where Sunny was refilling her belly.

Sitting underneath the shade of a large tree, she took out a dinner roll and a bit of salted pork. She ate her lunch quietly and watched Sunny forage for some wild grass.

It was quite peaceful by the stream. Butterflies floated through the warm April air, and squirrels seemed to be running around chasing each other. If it could just be like this forever, Kaitlyn would be happy.

Soon, the young woman opened her eyes, and stood up. She had dozed off without realizing it. She looked up for the sun, trying to determine how much the she had lost. She searched the sky, but the sun was hidden behind grey clouds.

Kaitlyn jumped up, she knew being stuck in the rain without shelter was not a good thing. She hurridly found two freshly fallen saplings and leaned them against a thick, chest high bush. She took her father's knife and made knotches in the saplings, and laid sticks across the two saplings, forming a makeshift roof. Soon, she had enough sticks laid across the saplings to place fresh green pine needles on the roof. She shoved Sunny's saddle into the lean-to hut and put her bag beside it.

She had a cover over her head. She then stripped a live sappling of its bark, and made long strips of flexible tree wood. She tied the two sapplings to the bush, and placed thick fallen branches on the sides and on the back of the roof. She repeated the process with the roof all the way down to the ground to form walls. She tied the branches to the bush and fallen sapplings. She had a hut that would last her through the storm.

John, Kaitlyn's father, was a huntsman before he fell ill. He put food on the table for her and Constance, and sold his extra catches to provide for the women.

John had taken Kaitlyn out to hunt rabbits, and a storm had taken them by surprise. John used this opportunity to pass down a survival skill to his six year old daughter. The way to survive is to take shelter, gather food, and learn to defend yourself.

Kaitlyn had not forgotten these rules. She would survive until she found civilization again. It was just a matter of time and luck.

Happy Late Birthday to me lol