Chapter 9

When Ron woke up in the morning Brenda was lying in front of him and had her back to his chest. Ron's arm was over her and Brenda had pulled his hand over her breast and had her hand over his holding it in place. Ron tried to free his hand so that he could crawl out of the shelter. Brenda pulled his hand back to her breast. Ron lifted himself to look at her face. She was still asleep. Ron gently pulled his hand away from her and crawled out of the shelter.

Ron went to the stream and splashed some water on his face to wake himself up. He looked down the stream and saw a movement in the stream about 100 feet from where he was standing. Ron started toward the movement. The place that the movement came from was a relatively calm stretch about 30 long. Ron continued to look to see what had made the movement. A large trout stuck its head out from under a rock. The trout had apparently been trapped in the shallow pool by the fast moving current and the rocks above and below the shallow pool. The trout looked large.

Ron took his shirt off and approached the rock. The trout pulled his head back under the rock. Ron wet his shirt thoroughly and approached the rock intending to use the shirt as a trap. His first several tries at trapping the trout were unsuccessful. The trout would slip past the shirt and dart out to mid-stream. As soon as Ron got his shirt out of the water the trout would dart back under the rock. On the 4^th attempt Ron made sure that his shirt was covering the escape routes of the trout and started putting his hands under the rock to grab the trout. GOTCHA! Ron rose with the trout firmly in his grasp. He quickly walked to the stream bank and back to the camp with the trout wrapped in the shirt.

Ron filleted the trout and prepared to cook the fish for breakfast. After the fish was cooked he powered a part of an MRE and proceeded to make a passable gravy. The concoction smelled like something for heaven.

Brenda woke and crawled out of the shelter. She saw Ron at the fire preparing breakfast. She got dressed and walked over to him. Her nose was drawing her to the delicious smell of whatever Ron was cooking. She walked up behind Ron and was there for a minute before he knew that she was there.

"My God, what is the beautiful smell?" she asked.

Ron turned around, "I thought that you might like fresh trout for breakfast this morning."

Ron explained how he had caught the fish and how he had made a gravy out of an MRE. Brenda didn't believe that he had caught a fish with his hands and questioned him about it while they ate. Brenda felt that this was the best fish she had ever eaten and commended Ron on his cooking several times. Both of them ate their fill and there were no leftovers. After they had eaten, Brenda washed the dishes and Ron packed the gear for the day.

They started out and continued in the direction that they had been traveling. Ron had worked on Brenda's boots and she seemed to be having little trouble with them. As usual, Ron took the lead and the sled helped to clear a path for her. She still got smacked occasionally with a branch. The terrain was rocky and they seemed to be going to a higher elevation. Ron kept his eyes on the terrain. He did not want to have to climb over a mountain. He kept on the lookout for the easiest way through the woods. Brenda was doing better each day and she had learned a lot about living in the woods.

About mid-day, they came into a clearing by a stream and sat down to rest. Ron put down the sled poles and helped Brenda get the gear off of her back. They both were quiet and content to just relax and get their strength back. All of a sudden Ron sat upright.

"Brenda, do you smell smoke," he asked, "I thought that I smelled smoke once yesterday."

Brenda sniffed trying to smell the smoke that Ron thought that he smelled. She could not smell smoke. She shook her head no.

"I don't smell anything," she said, wishing that she had smelled smoke. She knew that it would mean they would be able to get help.

"I'm going to climb up higher and see if I can see smoke. There might be a cabin around here. Stay right here and don't move," Ron said. "I'll be back in an hour or so."

Brenda nodded her head and Ron started into the woods. The going was not too rough without the sled and he started the climb up the hill. The woods had thinned out a little and he made good time. As he got to the top of the hill he looked in all directions but could not see any smoke. He wondered if it was only his imagination or if he was only wishing he smelled smoke. As he stared out over the woods a small whiff of smoke cleared the tree and then he saw nothing. His heart jumped into his throat. Maybe they could get some help.