The Trespassing Crew by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview
Download the book in PDF, ePub, Kindle for a complete version.
Chapter 13
It was beautiful, but not virgin land. They were in a forest of fifty to one hundred year old cottonwoods, about ninety feet tall. Their irregular, chaotic branching took on a special, wild meaning. It was apparent that someone had done some clearing recently as there were some tree stumps, but it was also going to be easy to walk there as the dead branches, normally lying on the ground on the other side, were completely cleared away in their “new” home.
Zelda: “This is a first for all of us. Efscot and I have never been on this side of the river before, either. This is Indian land.”
Apple: “Are Indians human?”
Zelda laughed and said; “Of course Indians are human. They have their own unique characteristics and some humans don’t treat them as if they are, but that’s a long, sad, irrelevant story now.”
Pablo: “But, the Indians own this land the same way humans own the land we left, right?”
Efscot: “Yes, they just treat it differently and leave it more naturally.”
Pablo: “Then why did they clear out a lot of the trees?”
Efscot: “That’s actually called thinning. In the case of a fire, they will be more able to control it.”
Apple winced, expressed worry and asked; “Are there fires out here?”
Efscot: “Usually, on the average of once a year. But, that’s true where we came from, too.”
Pablo: “What do we do if there’s a fire?”
Zelda: “Get as far away from it as possible. If you’re surrounded by fire, go into the river and hope that it’s not high and swiftly flowing. You might try stopping on one of the islands. Some of them are so new that they don’t have anything on them that burns.”
Pablo: “So it can be tricky?”
Efscot: “Yes. But, I can tell you’re a smart little boy and you’ll figure it out if necessary.”
Apple: “How about me? I’m not a smart little boy.”
Zelda: “You’re a smart little girl, which is even better.”
There seemed to be a low, general, disgruntled moan coming from the male members of the contingent and laughter from the females.
Zelda: “I’m only kidding. ...... A little bit. Let’s just enjoy this for a while.”
The sun was just starting to pop out from the top of the mountain, affording everyone a better view. Many different
kinds of birds began going about their daily chores, some singing. Though they didn’t articulate it, they all felt that this would be the auspicious beginning of something good. They lay down in the tall grass quietly with gentle smiles. They dozed in the warming morning sun. Within half an hour, all the wetness which blanketed them from the river, dried up. They fell asleep for a few hours as everyone was tired after spending the night traveling, rather than sleeping.
They started to rouse around noon and they realized that they were still in easy view of the humans on the opposite shore. Early morning dog walkers were seen.
Charlie: “Uh, oh. We better move somewhere else. We’ve been spotted.”
Efscot: “We’ll be moving eventually anyway. But don’t worry about the humans. They can’t come over here and they don’t talk to the few Indians who do live here. They’ll probably think we’re just wild animals, anyway.”
Vanessa was confused and asked; “Now we are wild animals, aren’t we?”
Zelda said; “You bet your life, baby.”
Pablo: “I’ve got a million questions to ask. But, I’m not going to. I’ll just have to accept that humans are weird.”
Zelda: “You are my little boy.”
Annabelle: “We’ll share him.”
Pablo and Apple could see that they had an abundance of good teachers and were therefore very fortunate.
Efscot: “Is everybody ready to get moving again?”
No particular answer came, but there was no disagreement.
Efscot: “We’re still pretty close to where the Indians live and we’d rather not be sighted by them. So let’s take a walk upriver and see where we can find a spot without any signs of human activity.”
Charlene: “When do we eat? I’m very hungry.”
Zelda: “As soon as we get to a more private spot with some apple trees. Apples, grass and hay are going to be our main meals from now on.”
They all started moving in the same marching order they had previously established. After only a few miles, they started to come to a completely untended area. There were large tree branches lying on the ground and the only paths were the tiny ones made by the coyotes. Some places had strings of mole hills, which prevented undergrowth and could be utilized for easy walking.
Zelda: “We’re in the right area now. Let’s find a spot with a good view of the river and the mountain.”
Efscot: “We won’t start working until tomorrow.”
Charlie’s eyes popped and in a high, screechy voice, he said; “Working?”
Efscot sternly replied; “Yes, working. We’ll have to build some kind of shelter.”
Hilda: “I thought only humans did that.”
Zelda: “It’s not only a human thing, though some humans seem to think so. We’ll all have to construct something like the barn we used to know so well. The horses can move and pile up a lot of these dead tree branches. They interlock pretty easily and the smaller animals can gather smaller sticks, small brush, grass and mud to fill in the open spaces.”
The others thought that that sounded like a good idea and even Charlie was anxious to start “working,” as long as it was tomorrow. In the meantime they just spent the day exploring all the new sites, eating apples and grass and staying reasonably close together, mindful of coyotes. When dark came they slept on the ground. At first, they heard only the meanderings of small animals, leaves rustling in the wind, birds chirping and the rush of the river. It was a trifle unsettling. However, they quickly acclimated to the “quiet” and felt at peace with the absence of abrasive chainsaws, mallets, meaningless conversation and dangerous machine powered vehicles.