Chapter 14

Thursday: I walked down to the camp. Things were quiet and Nukka was coming out of the dining tent, so I asked her "Where is everybody?"

"They have gone hunting and fishing today. Some of the men went down river to meet the salmon and will be gone for three or four days. Art and Rob have gone to find where the caribou herds are located."

"Who is in camp?"

"Mainly us women. Of course, there are the troopers and radio operators too."

"Where is Tommy?"

"Oh yeah, Tommy and Pa are in the hanger using one of the radios."

I wished her a good morning and headed for the hanger. I needed to talk to Roy, to see if he could airlift in the cargo container which held my furniture. I found Tommy was talking to Sul about cabinets. It seems the builder who had closed down, had ordered custom cabinets for the houses he had been building. Tommy and Sul were trying to determine how to find out which cabinet maker it was, and see if they could pick up the cabinets cheaper than it would cost us to make them.

Finally, they used the satellite phone to contact the general foreman, who Sul had worked for. They were given the name Pete Fletcher as being the cabinet maker and that he had already completed over 75% of the requested cabinets, although none had been delivered. Tommy called Pete on the satellite phone, and once he identified us, asked to put the call on the speaker so all of us could hear.

Pete was desperate to get rid of the cabinets, which had all the room in his shop tied up, plus his money. This led to an interesting conversation. Sul gave him the measurements of the kitchen and bathroom for one cabin, and then told him we would need three sets in all. Pete was very interested and stated that he had enough cabinets already made, he could match them up and deliver and install them today.

Tommy, always the joker, started giving him the directions to Roy and Bob's airfield. When he was done, Pete said, "There are no cabins there."

"True, but after you get there, you need to load them on a chopper and bring them here."

There was dead silence on the phone, and then Pete asked, "Where is here?"

Tommy, was now laughing.

I spoke up and said, "We are at a mining camp and yes, we do want the cabinets. Would you be willing to come out for a couple days and install them?"

"I guess I could do that, but how would it work?"

Tommy started in with the same instructions again. This time, when he had Pete at the airfield, he told him to ask for Roy or Bob Ferguson and one of them would arrange to fly the cabinets and Pete to our camp."

Pete asked, "Could I bring my son along and do some fishing and hunting?"

"That would be fine with us." I replied.

We discussed price and came up with a deal where I would pay for the cost of the material required, plus 25%. We were both happy with this. I was getting cabinets that were better than what I would have made, and they were going to be professionally installed. Pete was happy, because he was able to unloaded a bunch of cabinets, he was going to either have to store or throw out; instead he had recovered his money, and was getting a small paid vacation too. I gave him the number to Ferguson Helicopter Service and asked him to wait an hour, while I let Roy or Bob know about the need to fly the cabinets to us.

The next call caught Roy in his office. I first asked if he had time to deliver my furniture and explained about the cargo container. Roy said no problem since the cargo containers already had places to attach cables. I then explained about the cabinets and Roy said that he would fly the furniture here, then take back the cargo container and load it with the cabinets. I told him that sounded like a great idea and gave him Pete's number so they could make arrangements. Roy said that my furniture would be delivered about three this afternoon before I said good-by.

I was intending to go to the dining tent to get some food, when I ran into Jenn. Jenn suggested we have coffee and I agreed as long as I got to eat too. When we arrived at the tent, Jenn staked out the table in the far corner and I went and fixed myself a peanut butter and jam sandwich and picked up two cups of coffee. Even before I was able to sit down, Jenn started, "I want to apologize for the way I was acting yesterday."

"You don't need to, but I think we need to discuss some things."

"Yes we need to talk. I would like to tell you a couple things first."

"Okay, ladies first."

"I have never dated a man before. I have always been somewhat of a tomboy growing up and never had a boyfriend. During college I had a single relationship with Lee."

"Who's Lee?

"Lynn Lee is a Chinese American. She prefers to be called Lee rather than Lynn. We went to the same college and for the last two years, lived together."

"Do you miss Lee?"

"I don't know. I know when I am with you, it is different than when I am with Lee. You and I haven't been physical yet, but I was looking forward to it when we started on our fishing trip."

"Well someday I would like to meet Lee. Right now, I don't know if I love you enough to marry you. I am still getting over a relationship which didn't work out. I have enjoyed our time together and want to spend more time with you. I cannot guarantee how things will turn out."

"You mean that you are not upset about yesterday or Lee?"

"No, I'm not. Tommy may be a little miffed, but I truly didn't know what was taking place. I guess I feel honored that you were trying to take care of me. As for Lee, well, that is your business and I thank you for telling me, because it will help me understand you and our relationship better."

Jenn was all smiles then asked, "Can we go fishing today."

"No, my furniture is coming about three this afternoon and tomorrow, I think the cabinets for the cabins will be flown in and we will need to around be while they are being installed."

"What are you going to do for dishes?"

"I ordered my stored household goods to be delivered from New Mexico. The Air Force is going to deliver them here to me. I bought a lot of cast iron pots and pans when I first arrived with Tommy so I should be okay."

"What type of furniture did you get?"

"I'm not telling, but I will need a strong woman to help me carry it up to the loft."

"Okay! I will help you. Now I think I need to go apologize to Tommy."

"Unless you want to be teased a lot, I would suggest you pretend it never happened. Tommy won't hold a grudge, but he will tease you unmercifully, if he is given half a chance."

We sat there and talked for until Mary and Nukka joined us. Mary wanted to know if it would be okay for some of the women and children to catch a ride out on the chopper this afternoon. I told them I would talk to Roy but I could not see a reason why not, and they could store their personal belongings in the cargo container on the way back.

Jenn brought me up to speed on the mining operation; they had run into a ledge that is about 4 to 6 inches higher. At the base of the ledge was a large crevasse that had a lot of gold settle into it over the years. In the past two days, over 15 ounces had been recovered. Some of the gold had been pea size pieces rather than granular. Operations had been suspended due to the need to empty the catch basin and repair part of the rocker. Parts were on order to be delivered later this week.

I talk to Roy on the radio and he said that he could take 8 people back with him and he did not have any problem taking their personal belonging in the cargo container either. He reminded me that the cargo needed to be strapped down so it would not shift during the flight. I had those who were leaving; bring their items to my cabin, where we would load them.

At shortly after three, Roy arrived and dropped the cargo container in front of my cabin. Everybody in camp was there to help unload the cargo container and stack the contents in the main room of the cabin. Tommy had apparently added some things to the cargo container that I was unaware of, because I did not remember having that many boxes.

After landing, Roy walked up to the cabin and supervised the loading of the cargo container, then he went through the procedure Sul and I would use to connect the cargo container up to the chopper. I was to talk Roy over the container and Sul would use a rod to capture the cable and make the connection to the cargo container.

Two hours after Roy arrived, he was on his way back and our camp was quieter, having lost several of its inhabitants. Jenn and Sul stayed behind to help me make sense out of what I had just received. The final destination for some things was easy to determine. We moved the dining table and chairs into the kitchen area and we set the futons up in the loft on the end away from the kitchen. Then we carried the bedroom furniture up to the loft, over the kitchen.