Chapter 7

“Well, Matti, that was a delicious meal. Thank you for preparing it for me. It marks a first for me. It’s the first time that I’ve ever eaten something that I caught myself.” Dawn laughed and added, “I haven’t even grown something simple, like herbs. It’s a unique feeling, knowing that I had a hand in it. Hopefully I’ll be able to do that more often in the future.”

Matti and Dawn had just finished their supper. Matti had prepared a simple meal of fried potatoes, pan fried pickerel fillets and sliced tomatoes. While he was doing the cooking, Dawn had set the table and prepared a pot of tea for after the meal.

Before that, he had shown her how he filleted the pickerel that they caught. She was quite amazed at the quick transformation from whole fish to edible fillets. When he was finished he had taken a covered 5 gallon pail from beneath the plywood topped stand at which he had been doing the filleting. He quickly scraped what remained of the fish into it, on top of the remains of the fish he had caught that morning. As he rinsed off the plywood tabletop in the final step of the cleanup, Dawn asked what he was going to do with the contents of the pail, and Matti just smiled and said he would show her after supper.

As they enjoyed their after meal cup of tea, Matti gave Dawn a reminder of the method he had used to prepare the fish, so that she could prepare the fillets that he set aside from her catch for her to have at home the next day.

When the dishes had been washed and everything was put away, Dawn asked, “Are you still going to show me what you do with the ... stuff that’s left over from the fish?”

“Sure, Dawn. We should have plenty of time. In the worst case, we’ll get back to Thunder Bay just after dark, if that’s not a problem for you.”

Once Dawn agreed that getting back a little later wasn’t a problem, Matti took her down to his boat. He had his binoculars around his neck, and didn’t let her know what he needed them for when she asked about it.

“Usually I take this bucket with me in the canoe, but for today we’ll use the same boat we’ve been using all day. I don’t think we have time to teach you how to safely paddle a canoe across the lake.” In just a couple of minutes they were on their way to a small point about halfway along the bay, opposite to where they had been fishing earlier in the afternoon.

“We’ve been dumping the non-edible parts of the fish over here for years and years.” When he finished saying that he pulled the boat up alongside a stretch of rocks forming the side of the point. As his boat bobbed gently against the rocks Matti reached over the side and dumped the offal in his bucket onto the rocky shore. After a quick rinse in the lake the bucket was fully clean. When that was done, Matti started the motor and moved the boat about 50 yards offshore before shutting it down.

Dawn was obviously unsure about what was happening, and was looking curiously at Matti. Finally she said, “What are you doing now? Why are we just sitting here?”

Matti just smiled and said, “Be patient, Dawn. Just be patient, and you’ll see. I doubt if we’ll have to wait much more than ten minutes.”

Although her curiosity hadn’t been satisfied, Dawn went along with Matti. It was actually a bit more than ten minutes, but the two of them passed the time in quiet conversation. Mostly they talked about their jobs, with most of the time spent by Matti explaining what McEwan Drilling did. He explained that they contracted out to mining exploration companies that wanted to get samples from deep within the rock on their properties, samples that could show them what the potential of their property was, or quite often it was to define the size or shape of the ore zone they were interested in. He explained how the cores his men and machinery extracted from the target area of the hole were examined, or split lengthwise into two pieces that could be tested, or were sampled by grinding, so that the geologists could determine mineral content for each foot of the core. They were so engrossed in this conversation that Matti almost missed the opportunity to show Dawn the reason he had brought her to this spot in the lake.

After a quick glance at the shore Matti stopped short with what he was saying to exclaim, “Look over at the point, Dawn! We have to be quiet now.” Two large black birds were about to land in a tree a few feet from where Matti had dumped his pail.

“What are those, crows?” Dawn had spoken quietly, taking heed of Matti’s instruction.

Matti answered back in a similar low voice, “No, they’re ravens. I don’t know how they know I just dumped that bucket, but they are always here quickly when I do. Maybe they can recognize the scent of the fish, or maybe they are conditioned to the sound of me banging the bucket on the rocks.” While he was speaking he was taking the binoculars from around his neck and offering them to Dawn. “Here, watch with these. If you’re lucky we’ll get a bit of a show.”

Dawn took the binoculars she was offered, and began watching the two ravens as they started a routine that was very familiar to Matti. The two large black birds slowly but surely moved closer to the remains of the fish that Matti had dumped on the rocks. While they were doing that three more ravens began to circle over the point, finally coming to rest in the trees nearby. Matti tapped Dawn on the shoulder to point out the new arrivals to her. The first two had now made their way to the remains that were on the rocks, and had begun tearing at them. In just a few seconds the three new arrivals joined the first two at the banquet, and a number of squabbles between the birds took place. Dawn was completely taken up watching the birds, so she didn’t notice another new arrival. Another light tap on her shoulder made Dawn put down the binoculars and look over at Matti. He didn’t say anything; he just pointed up. Just above treetop height a large bald eagle was circling, losing altitude quickly. It was obviously also interested in the fishy feast the ravens were enjoying.

In seconds it landed on the point, just a couple of feet from the squabbling ravens. Its presence didn’t go unnoticed, as the ravens quickly backed away from the much larger bald eagle. After just a few seconds of pulling at the remains, the eagle took off again with the majority of them secure in its talons. The moment it got airborne the ravens rushed back to resume their fight over what was left. Matti and Dawn watched intently for a couple more minutes before Dawn lowered the binoculars.

“Oh my God, Matti! That was amazing! I wouldn’t have believed you if you had told me this is what we would see. “Does this happen every time?”

Matti smiled and answered, “I don’t always hang around to watch, but I’ve never gone back to that point and found anything was left from the previous time I was there. What is garbage to us is a good meal for many of the birds, animals and insects.”

There was a look of wonderment on Dawn’s face. “I just want to thank you for bringing me here so I could see this. Words would never do justice to describing this scene. This entire day has been such an adventure for me. Thank you so much, Matti.”

Matti took the boat back to the dock where he unloaded his fishing gear before moving the boat into his boat house, where it would be locked away out of the weather. In another few minutes they were back in the camp, seated on a couple of chairs that looked out at the bay through the living room windows. Once again Dawn began thanking Matti for the invitation to spend some time at his camp.

“I enjoyed every minute of having you here, Dawn. You’ve been no burden to me, whatsoever. I’m glad I was able to introduce you to the great outdoors. Now you’ve seen a few of the reasons I like to spend as much time as I can out here. Thankfully, my satellite phone lets me keep in touch with my business, and I can solve a lot of problems with it. It gives me a lot more time to do what I enjoy.”

“I can see why you would say that, Matti. You’ve certainly had your share of excitement out here in the last week. Between the plane crash, and Dog coming out here to threaten you, it must have been much more than your average week.”

Matti was looking a little confused as he asked, “What do you mean, Dog?”

Dawn was a bit flustered for a moment before saying, “That’s the nickname for Bert Fontaine. I guess you didn’t know that.”

“No, Dawn, it never came up in the conversation I had with him. Mind you, maybe it did and I forgot. I was pretty much fully concentrated on trying to figure out a way to stay alive. How did you find out about it?”