Chapter 15

There was a fog on the ground in the morning. It was quite cool. When it was light enough I studied the topo map. We were much higher now and I took out the compass I had found in the cabin. The kidnapper, or Carl Honzer, would keep the hydro road well patrolled and try to keep us from getting to Vockner. The more sizable town of Malute could be reached with more difficulty and the man could not be in both places at once.

Though it was chilly I did what was necessary. I dumped my water and rinsed the container before getting new water from upstream. I had a cold breakfast set out before Corinne finally woke up.

When her eyes started to flutter I smiled and said in a small voice, "Good morning sleepyhead."

She looked around quickly probably hoping that yesterday was just a nightmare. She shivered and pulled the blanket to her. "Where am I?"

"This area has a lot of high hills. We're near the top of one. I don't have a car so we are going to have to walk until you can get back to your family."

"Where's Geraldine?"

"I saw Geraldine. She is going on ahead to mark a trail for us. I just look at the secret signs she left behind for us and follow. Tomorrow or the next day we should find her. Would you like to have some breakfast?"

"This isn't breakfast."

"Well you're right but I didn't have time to shop for cereal and I don't have a refrigerator to keep the milk from going bad. We just have to eat what we have."

I cut portions of food and put them in an aluminum fry pan. I looked around the rock and found a lot of low bush blueberries. Staying in sight I took a small pot and began picking. When the small pot was half full I brought it back. Corinne would need the fruit to soften her stool. I knew partially what she felt like because my sisters used the dildo on me.

The girl loved the berries and had a blue hand and face when they were done. She had some water next that hopefully tasted a bit better.

Wrapping the child in her blanket I talked again but used the trigger phrase that I had planted last night. The trance was deepened for fifteen minutes.

"Corinne, get up. We have to go to the bathroom."

The girl left the blanket behind which was good. We went twenty yards from camp and closer to the stream. She peed easily but I had to stress how the pain never reached her and she could do what she needed to do.

This turned out to be a long and painful process for she was not as deep in a trance as she needed to be. She did do it though and I saw fresh blood and the older coagulated variety. I took some nearby moss but this was painful too.

"Let's go to the stream."

The girl walked in pain and I figured that the discomfort had brought her out of the trance. With a hand and in the Arab fashion I cleaned the girl. She shivered from the cold but remained pliant.

We washed our own hands and I flicked some water at her and she smiled at me. When I opened my arms she came after a second. I was not strong but it was fun to hold this young life close to me.

Back in camp, I put back her old clothes and took off her 'jammies'. The rest of the pack was dumped and I sorted and packed it better. Though not a survivalists, I had camped and hiked. Heavy things went to the top but that was where I wanted some things I used often too.

The pack didn't have many places to attach cups or water bottles but then again I didn't have a plastic water bottle to put there. All in all, I figured I had about the best I could get.

I went back and buried any evidence of our being here. A walking stick or a simple spear would be good and possibly life saving but it would make marks on the ground that a foot would not.

With one last look at our campsite we walked back to the stream and climbed further. Corinne trustingly put her hand in mine. She may have done this to make sure I didn't leave or to help her keep up but I hoped it was more.

We left the stream and walked as if to go to Vockner but I went back to a more rocky area that would take us in the direction of Malute. I was not a great woodsman so I knew that I could be tracked by one that was. My worst fear was dogs because they didn't need to see our trail to find us.

In some of the less strenuous areas we talked. "Corinne, what is your favourite colour?"

"Pink."

"Will you sing twinkle twinkle again for me. I like the way you sing."

The talk went on and on with simple things that just allowed us to know that the other was here for them.

Corinne had difficulty walking and we made small breaks. If she couldn't walk I could not carry her and the pack we needed the pack to stay alive. We just didn't sit though. Blueberries were in season and we picked quite a few.

Mine went mostly into an aluminum pot but Corinne's went into one made of flesh. She enjoyed this and it made me happy too. Mosquitos were not bad on the exposed rock usually but I put some repellent on both of us. When it got hot, Corinne's dress came off and she walked naked. She thought this naughty but fun. The dress went back on later so she wouldn't get sunburned.

We had a longer break when the sun was at the highest. Corinne was put under again. This allowed her to deal with her pain better but I wanted her to get over some of her shyness. When she had to defecate, I wanted to know well before the event was imminent. When this happened, I wanted to put her under with a trigger phrase and then another to begin doing her job. When she was awake, I asked the same thing and hoped that one way or another it would work.

We ate what was going to go bad first. I spread the topo map out and had fun teaching Corinne about map reading. She loved the compass when I pointed out how to use it to show features on the map and in the real world. She now carried her share of the weight. The strap holding the compass was now around her neck.

I got the pack on with difficulty. My shoulders were in pain from the straps. Packs were just not made as well as what they would be. We walked just a few yards when I heard, "I got to go."

"That's fine sweetie." I had no kids of my own but I figured that all parents had to put up with this.

I took the pack back off and used the trigger phrase. Corinne was in my arms like a baby or like a lover. As my words went out to bring her deeper I thought of the child. I still had no hormones to make my mind follow dark paths. Love though was there but it was not the kind I would be ashamed of. She was a beautiful child with a sweet disposition.

The second trigger phrase worked and Corinne did what was necessary with a little less pain. It could be the trance or the fact that her body was trying to heal itself.

Moss was still out and the Arab style still in, at least until she got better. I had a smelly hand that I wiped on the moss then buried the evidence.

We walked downhill now as much as we walked up. Not every place allowed us to stay on bare rock. I stayed away from areas with the lines of elevation on the map were close together.

We came to streams that had to be forded but sometimes this was impossible. When we walked back to a good spot I took off my pack.

"Sweetie, I want to get across this water. I don't know how deep it is. I didn't bring a bathing suit. When people go swimming without clothes it's called skinny dipping." She looked at me with trusting eyes.

I wagged one finger at here and said, "I'm going to take my clothes off and you better not look."

I did what was necessary and Corinne peeked then closed her eyes when she saw that I saw her.

The water was only up to my chest and the stream bottom was covered in decaying matter. The pack went over then my clothes. Corinne did too, but she was also skinny dipping too. In the middle I washed both of us. The mosquitos were bad on the other side so we hurried to get dressed. The clothes I used as towels hung from the pack to dry.

On our travels I pointed out things that I knew. Some were plants and some were animals. Odd rock was pointed out and I would tell her the name if I knew it. Corinne repeated the words for all three classifications and we had tests when we came across the same thing again. She pointed out things she had been taught and wanted me to take her tests.

We were exhausted by the end of the day and I set up camp early. We had walked to a point on a small lake. A line of trees kept us from view of the surrounding area but still allowed the wind to keep the ever-present mosquitos away.

"Sweetie, I want to go fishing. Fish like to eat other fish or nice juicy bugs." I said the last as I licked my lips as if I thought they tasted good too. She made faces at me but we looked.

Bait was scarce; all I found were a few crayfish. I baited six lines and put them as far out as I could get them. The lines went around twigs before being tied to a springy branch.

Corinne sat in my lap as we rested. I told her of my family starting from when I was small. Other than my dad's death I skipped over the bad things. I talked of all my young friends who happened to be girls. My adult friends of both genders were listed. I used two sentences to talk of my laser but Corinne didn't see anything special about it.

Corinne talked now but the words and ideas were mixed up like a child of her age would do. Her parents were dead and her maternal grandfather was raising her. There was no grandmother so Geraldine watched over her all the time. They flew in planes and had large cars so I assumed that her grandfather was rich. She had no siblings and she wasn't around many children her own age.

Corinne's shoes were coming off because of the tape that had been soaked in water and sweat. She ran to get what I asked for from the pack and I cut some small portions of deer hide to take the place of the broken strap on her shoe. The stitching was not bad once I found a thimble.

With a short section of fishing string I tried to get some measurements. Corinne had to stand in her birthday suit as I transposed the measurements to the hide. Pants would be best but were too difficult to make. A skirt, though, might not be hard at all.

I was not able to cut it in one piece so I rotated the hide and started again. Corinne noticed a twig moving and I dropped what I was doing and worked to pull in my fish. The line was cutting my hands and Corinne ran for the hatchet so I could use the handle to wrap the line around.

The girl was very excited but as the fish came close to shore it made an impressive struggle with the rock to push against. It looked like a pike of four pounds when it shot into the air and left the bare hook for me.

Corinne looked heartbroken. I just picked her up with my hand under her bare butt. "Some we catch and some we don't." I loved carrying the girl but I was happy it didn't affect me sexually.

My naked little nymph was sent to get dry wood. We started a fire and the wind blew the smoke into the trees. Someone could smell it but they couldn't actually see it. I began a third time on the hide but this time I was able to use some of the burnt twigs to make dark lines.

Scissors would have been better but the knife worked well enough. It was almost all cut out when another twig moved. Corinne jumped up and down and barely contained herself. She knew she shouldn't even talk loud but her actions were loud enough.

I took off my shoes, socks and pants. This time I pulled in the fish from knee-deep water. The rocks were slippery and I fell once pulling on the line. My girl laughed at me with no pity for my plight. This was a pike too so I was not about to put my fingers into its mouth to hold it.

With the knife blade in my hand, I used the grip to strike the fish on the head. It quieted immediately and I put my fingers in its gill slit. I almost stumbled twice getting the short distance back to shore. My hands were full of fish and tools. About ten feet onto the land, I hit the fish again and began to cut it up.

Corinne squatted down as close as she could get to see what was happening. This fish was small. If we got more I was going to bake them by the coals but this one would get roasted. That was where the remains of our fish now cooked.

'Y' shaped sticks were put into the shallow soil and I had to resort to rocks as a hammer. Longer Y shaped sticks supported portions of fish and were put around the fire. They would be smoky but the rest would go over the coals.

I called Corinne 'Mommy' and she had to watch the food. She liked the term like most girls of every age.

I found another crayfish and again rebaited the hook before washing up. The hide was finally cut and I sat by the fire to watch the fish and make some long strips of leather from the remains of the hide.

We ate the burnt smoky fish as if from the finest restaurant.

Corinne had to be fitted and came many times as I put the skirt to her for measurements. Holes were made with the knife. I wanted the skirt to look nice so I made the holes only an inch apart. Any puckers would be small.

We ate more fish and eventually the portion in the coals too. The skin was pealed off and the hot flesh eaten delicately. Pike had a great number of small sharp bones.

The skirt was finally finished and I wrapped it around Corinne's waist and tied the thongs. It was good that I had made certain provisions for her belly stuck out quite a bit.

She liked the garment a great deal. She danced around and tried to get the heavy material to fly out. She came to me then and kissed my cheek and said "Thank you Daddy," then she looked worried.

"You are welcome Corinne. I love you like a daughter anyways. Do you want to be my daughter for a while?"

Her face brightened with a smile and she nodded her head vigorously.

A few years ago but in my previous life, I read a few volumes of a British publication called Osprey. There were a great many books on different aspects of war craft. One of the books dealing with the Romans showed a cut out of a Roman Infantryman's footwear. We didn't have metal studs and tough leather but I could make some shoes with what we had.

Corinne supplied her foot and I used the burnt twigs again. It was getting dark now and the fire could be seen even if the smoke wouldn't be.

Corinne warned me and I put her under with her phrase. I deepened it for a while then she could go. The pain appeared to be less this time. I washed her on shore with water squeezed from the wine skin. She thought this funny and I made a game of it.

She watched me with interest when I peed and only watched me shit once to know what it was like. I didn't find much interest in this and neither did she. I had her lie down on the blanket. She hugged her knees as I inspected her anus. There was still some bleeding when her stool opened the wounds one more time.

The ground was just as uncomfortable as the last camp but pulling Corinne close was therapeutic for both of us.

The morning was cold and foggy again but I was happy to see that we had two fish. The other hooks were bare. I cleaned both fish and put the offal in the water at the shore to feed the crayfish.

The wind was still favourable and I started a fire. The dew dampened wood took longer to start. I went back to cutting my girl's new shoes. They required many more thongs which I produced. These shoes I figured would be better than moccasins just because of the way they were secured to the foot and the fact that they were easier to make. The short thongs would go to the footwear but the longer ones I saved.

The thongs were woven into a ribbon but it was difficult to get it to stay flat and not curl. I tried a lot of patterns until one worked.

Corinne got up eventually and hugged me. With a sly look she said, "Hello Daddy."

"Good morning daughter. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes Daddy."

I opened my arms and she came to me. I kissed her nose and cuddled with her. The key word was said and I deepened it. She would have to go soon and this way we could hold each other.

The blueberries had their effect, which I was happy to see. Wash-up was a bit more difficult though.

Corinne tended the fire while I tidied up in preparation for leaving. I fit the boots over her shoes and tightened the thongs. The shoe was more closed and would protect her better along with making her footprint less distinct.

The fish went into the coals but the fire was kept burning for additional heat. The woven strips of deer hide went around Corinne's forehead to keep her hair out of her eyes. My Pocahontas looked very beautiful and I told her so. She blushed, but like any other woman, took the compliment as her due.

When the fish was done I noticed that the smoke was going straight up. The fire was drowned and we ate quickly but I tried not to show worry. With everything packaged, I tidied camp and even buried the remains of the fire under some rocks.

Instead of continuing on our old course I changed and took advantage of all the rock I could find. Corinne was pushed hard too but didn't complain much. The course was changed again after we backtracked. This was done two more times before we were too exhausted to continue.

I was less nervous now and told the story of Pocahontas as seen from a storywriter's point of view. The truth was not as glamorous but it was exciting.

We picked and ate more blueberries. Some of the slopes, with a good crop, had to be avoided because we would be too exposed. Mosquitos were feasting on us but I resisted applying more repellent. In an hour we were in a small lake and having our bath. Bar soap had been scrounged but I was careful that it didn't get lost when it sank.

We had old and new red marks from feeding the bugs. Pocahontas looked beautiful and I wondered again if I was turning into a pervert or just a person that could admire beauty. I loved the statue 'David' but guys didn't turn me on. We stayed until we dried and put our clothes back on.

Checking the topo map I found that we had to go east to avoid a large hill that was at least five miles long. I chose the direction as if I were in the kidnapper's shoes. Some things would be easy enough for him and some difficult choices would keep us safe. He wasn't safe though. Canada and Ontario had the death penalty at this time and he would hang if I had my way.

We were not making many miles in a day. I was still hurt from the lightning and my scars didn't stretch as much as regular skin. Corinne had asked about them. She didn't find me ugly. I guess it was that being a father had more leeway.

Our path bypassed lakes but I found we were in swamps some of the time. They were smaller on the map but we had a great deal of rain recently. The clouds were getting grey again and I knew we would be getting more.

Rain started an hour later just as we were getting out of a wet area. I stripped my Pocahontas of all but her shoes. The rain washed her as she danced in it. I had the plastic tarp over me, which made her laugh.

In a suitable spot we stopped and made camp. I had foreseen some rain so brought two sheets of plastic. I sat on the blanket with the plastic supported by my head. My naked girl sat in my lap and we talked of everything that she wanted to talk about.

We ate some of our fish, berries and some cheese that was going mouldy. During a lull, we got undressed or rather I did and we went out to do our business and hurry back into the shelter. I deepened Corinne's trance and we slept that way until the morning.

The next day looked bad so we stayed put. We talked about many things. She thought my directing the world some day was a good idea. Through some of the things she said, I thought that Corinne's grandfather was a lawyer as well as a businessman. Her parents appeared to have died about a year ago but I wasn't sure. She was still too young to remember much.

We both went through Geraldine's wallet. There was no photo ID and I didn't want to remember her as I saw her the one and only time. She had pictures of her parents and her as a child. There was a lot you could learn about a person by just what was before us. There were a few business cards but one had some extra writing. It mentioned an emergency number to call. The card mentioned a large legal firm. The name was not Jessup but I figured that the name was her maternal grandfather.

I looked at the photos taken from the album. The girls were older than Corinne but I was sure that she would have shared their fate.

The rain stopped later in the afternoon. A good breeze came up and I decided to get some distance in as well as some exercise. We probably made five miles before we made camp. Less time had been spent on breaks but we did pick some fruit. I made sure Corinne ate all of it.

The next day looked to be great. The sun came out and burnt off the fog quicker than usual. We had finished much of the supplies taken from the cabin but there was still fish and berries. Other plants could be eaten and I had my eye out for cattails that were not in a swamp.

We found civilisation of a sort in decayed docks and a very old cabin. In the back of the cabin were old trucks, now no more than rusting hulks from when this area had been logged. It was so long ago that trees grew all around the wreckage. On the decayed back of one large truck I found a mortar boat used for mixing mortar or cement by hand.

Corinne was interested in the truck and I being 'a father', did what was necessary. She climbed in the cab once the door was forced open. Rodents had eaten the upholstery and the girl couldn't see outside the window because of her size.

I climbed on top of the cab and was surprised at the strength vehicles were made at one time.

The lake we were beside was perhaps twelve miles long when gauged on the map. It was also close to five miles wide. A falls fed it and rapids emptied it into another. Both places were very close to each other and the lake was just the low area that collected the water. We were almost directly opposite the two accesses.

There were some trees by the water and I figured this area would be as good as spot as any to set up housekeeping. I could fish in safety and we could build a fire further back where the onshore breeze would carry the smoke horizontally.

We went searching for bait and had the lines set before it got full dark. The light from the small fire was well hid by the mortar boat on one side and the truck on the other. At the moment it was more for comfort and to keep the mosquitos away.

At full dark Corinne tended the fire while I went to check the lines but nothing had bit yet. On the way back to camp I stopped to move a burr from my pants and heard the faint baying of dogs. My heart beat very quickly. The noise came from where we had come from and the distance couldn't be for more than a few miles away.

I looked all over foolishly in the dark then tried to remember what features could take us to safety. The area was basically flat except where the lake cut into the hills on both sides. I was already back at camp when the idea came to me. The mortar boat was a boat.

The metal was heavy and had a functional handle at each end. Taking a shirt, I looped it through the one handle.

"Corinne, we're leaving now. I know you want to rest. Fold up the plastic and the blanket and put them into the pack. Pick up everything else of ours. Let the fire burn so I can come back. I'm going to the water." My voice was not excited though I was inside.

The boat had a flat bottom covered in many years of rust. It was difficult to move but I pulled frantically. I got it in the water as I heard the dogs calling from much closer. I ran as fast as I dared to get Corinne and found her done.

"That was a good job. You did everything perfect."

I picked up some of the boards that used to form part of the shack and we hurried to the boat. We had been using them as firewood. We just pushed away from the water when the dogs rushed us. From their voices I think some of them were hounds.

In a voice that surprised me, I said, "Look Sweetie, we found some dogs. Too bad we can't take them with us." Corinne was afraid though because of how they came at us from the dark, baying as they found their prey. The boards became paddles but the boat was too wide to treat like a canoe and had no oarlocks for a rowboat.

We were on the water a half hour before I heard men's voices. They cursed the dogs to shut them up. Their flashlights were not powerful enough to find us. I saw a bright flash and a loud noise. They were shooting at us. The light of the flashes showed that there were three people and not one. I paddled furiously as I kept Corinne as low as possible.

These had to be part of the kidnap plan for nobody would be hunting like this at night and shooting at just a shape in the water. They must know that their dogs were tracking Humans.

When we got further into the lake the light from their guns could not illuminate us. I looked at the stars and began to think of the next plan. We were safe here and maybe even safe in the middle of the lake but we could not stay there.

The men would patrol both sides of the lake to find which way we went and then be right after us again.

"Was one of those men the one that hurt me?"

I could not lie to her. "I think it was Sweetie. He can't get us here and I have a trick to play on them." I used the knife to whittle a board into a paddle with a narrower shaft. The time taken would be repaid in saved hands and more efficiency. I paddled to the left toward the far side of the falls from the rapids. In an hour we made land.

Corinne wanted to get out and I said, "Stay here a moment. I want to let the dogs know that I was here." I scrambled up the steep sides of the hill but about fifty feet from the shore. With one hand on a rock I pissed on the wall in front of me then climbed down. Once back in the boat, I paddled further into the lake.

The dogs had been led by hand now and they ran around to find a scent. Back in the centre of the lake I heard the loud baying of the dogs and a single gunshot.

Corinne was cringing in the bottom of the boat. "Corinne, that's good. Now the men knew we were over there. The gunshot told the others that they think they found us. They will take all the dogs now and look for a way to climb the hill and it's going to be hard. We're safe and now I know that there are three people."

"They are going to hurt me."

"A daddy protects his girl, Corinne."

My plan hinged on a few things. The end of the lake with the falls was easier to get to than the part with the rapids. This end had very high hills that at one time had been split by an earthquake. If the rapids were navigable then we could make very good time but it would be back the way we had come. We had to move faster than the men. They may think of this route eventually but going after us would be difficult. They could backtrack and cut us off if they knew my plan.

I brought out the plastic and laid the blanket on it. "Get some rest Sweetie. We just have to just wait."

She tried to sleep but was too worried. Two words were enough to put her to sleep and I began to paddle.

I aimed for the rapids with nothing much more than luck to guide me.

The river went straight for a mile then turned directly away from the falls. I could hear the air move but no slapping of water. It was dangerous to go further in the dark and I tied us off with some strong braided fishing line.

I awoke at the grey dawn and went ashore with the hatchet. It took five minutes to find a tall enough tree to help me but small enough that I could handle it.

Corinne was still asleep so I woke her. "Sleepyhead, are you going to sleep all day?"

"Hi Daddy," she said with a smile.

"Let's go for your pee and poop and we can get going."

"K."

This went fairly quick and she bent over to get cleaned. I knew she like this and it wasn't all because it was a way to be close. She closed her eyes in enjoyment.

I pushed off using the pole when I could and stayed close to the shore. Corinne leaned over our yacht and ran her hand in the cool water.

Far ahead I could see rolling water. The summer was wet and the water should still be high. The bad point was that I didn't have any life vests. A spill here could kill us. To go slow could kill us too.

We went ahead in stages. This side of the river looked fairly clear even if it was shallower. If we had to pull out, I wanted a place to get out and climb onto land and not be pinned by a shear wall of rock.

By the time it was dark, I estimated that we had gone over twenty miles. The rapids were not as bad as the topo indicated. Another falls was ahead and though not high we could not navigate it. The boat was too heavy to portage up and through the rock so we went by ourselves. I came back and pushed our faithful boat into the water. If it made it through the turbulence then I could retrieve it and start again.

When I returned to Corinne, she was pointing to the base of the falls. The boat was lodged in the rocks and there was many times too much water coming over to wrestle it loose.