Chapter 4

I woke a couple of hours before sunrise. There was no clock and I was way back in the cave but I instinctively knew what time it was.

I washed my face and took a drink, then went up to the front of the cave. My meat looked good. A cup of coffee would be nice, but then, so would a fuck. You can't have everything.

I went down the hill. Most of the carcass was missing, just a few bones scattered around. I hadn't heard anything but it looked like wolves to me. I pissed, decided I wasn't ready to shit yet and went back up to the cave.

I was still seeing almost as well as I did in the light. I put on my Levi's jeans and shirt. I tossed the long john shirt onto the fire. It was a little ripe, even laying out in the fresh air for months. I put on my new lambskin boots, walked around the cave a bit in them, then got my lambskin. I folded it up and sat in it while I made a pig out of myself with the leg of lamb.

I wasn't really making a pig of myself. My body seemed to know exactly what it needed. It had used a lot of energy while I was asleep. First, it had healed itself and then it had bulked up. The extra strength I now had didn't come out of thin air. Today I was going to be pushing my body pretty hard. I had a pretty good idea where I was in relation to the end of the wilderness run and I would have taken a couple of days to make the trek if I was still doing it with Jimmy. I knew I was faster and had a lot more endurance than either of us had and figured I could make it in a day. Not that I was planning on anybody waiting for me. But all the start and end points had at least a payphone available. Mine was supposed to be a truckstop so I knew there would be a lot more than a payphone.

After I finished my meal for the day, I doused the fire, washed and drank out of my special pond for the last time and left the cave that had been home for a couple of months. I had my boot hanging from my neck, was wearing my sheepskin boots, had cut a hole in my big sheepskin to make a poncho out of it. I was carrying my sheep head. The thing was heavy and most of the weight was in the horns. Something told me to take it back in the cave and dip it in the pond so I did.

I turned a little north of west and took off. The sun had not made its appearance when I left and didn't show up for another hour. By that time I was well into the forest, traveling on knowingness. I knew the direction to the pickup point and obstacles or detours weren't going to affect that knowingness.

I wanted to eat up the miles and that's exactly what I did. I hit the mountain I'd been using as a landmark before the sun was all the way up and was around it and at the truckstop by 1:20.

My first stop was at the cashier's booth for the gas station. I told the attendant that I'd been camping for a couple of weeks and was going to wash up and get something to eat while I was waiting for my ride and that I didn't think the ram's head would be welcome in the restaurant. He laughed and told me he'd watch it for me. He was due to get off at 4:00 but would tell his relief about it when she took over if I hadn't gotten it yet.

I created quite a disturbance when I tried to call home. I asked a waitress if they had a payphone and she pointed to a sign in the back. I was on the way back there when I heard one of the other waitresses yell out, "Hey, isn't he that kid?"

At that point, all hell broke loose. I admitted I had been out of it for a while but I was perfectly fine and I just wanted to get home and my bed and a good home cooked meal. I told them I was looking forward to a good cup of coffee and a couple of waitresses fell over themselves trying to get me some. I finally convinced them to let me call home and then I'd be happy to tell them anything they wanted to know.

Alice was the one who recognized me and she made it her job to watch over me. She wouldn't let me call home collect, feeding quarters from her tips into the phone until the operator told me she had enough.

The phone rang a couple of times and then I heard a meek "Hello?"

"Hey, Sis. How ya' doin'?"

It was silent for a few seconds then she screamed, "VAL??? It that you? Are you alive?"

"Hey, hey, settle down. It's me. I'm fine. I just got here a little late but I'm waiting here at the truck stop for you guys to pick me up."

She was laughing and crying at the same time. She sniffed and said, "What happened to you? Are you OK? Why didn't you call?"

"Vick, it's OK. I'm fine. I can tell you all about it when I see you. Is Mom or Dad home?"

"I'm sorry. It's just that ... I ... MOM! IT'S VAL!!! Hold on, Val, she's coming."

I heard the receiver change hands, then Mom said,"Val? Is that you? Are you OK Honey?"

"I'm fine, Mom. I could use a ride home."

"Oh, God, Jimmy said ... we thought you were ... when we couldn't find you."

"Mom, you're going to be surprised how good I look. I've bulked up a bit and I'm a lot stronger."

"Oh, you. I don't care how skinny you are, just as long as you're all right."

"I'm fine, Mom."

"Oh, God, I can't believe it's you. Is there anything you need?"

"Well, yeah, there are a few things."

"Tell me, Honey."

"Well, they're giving me coffee but I might want something to eat before you can get here. I could also use a shower and a toothbrush and some toothpaste. And the clothes I'm wearing are a bit old. I lost everything, Mom. I don't have any money."

Alice grabbed me by the shoulder and said, "Don't worry about that, Sweetheart, you get whatever you need and we'll take care of it."

"I don't feel right about that, Alice. We Hendrix's like to pay our own way."

Mom heard me talking to Alice and said, "Give Alice the phone, Val."

I handed the phone over and the two of them talked for a good five minutes. Alice fed more quarters to the phone a couple of times. Alice spent a good part of their time convincing Mom that I wasn't half dead. It surprised me when she said she had to look a couple of times at the picture of me they had because I sure didn't look like a seventeen year old. She said she would have guessed 25, easy. She finally said goodbye after promising to stick around to say hello to my family when they got here and gave me back the phone.

"Hi."

"Hi, Val. It's all arranged. You get whatever you need and they'll keep track of it and put it on my credit card when we get there. Your dad went into town and he's not due back for another half hour but I'm going to call him when we hang up and try to get him here quicker. You're probably three and a half hours from here so we probably won't get there much before six. We'll plan on eating there and then driving home but don't you go starving yourself because you think you have to eat with us. Oh, Val, I'm so glad you're OK. We really thought you were..."

"Yeah, Mom. I know. I'm sorry I put you all through all that. Mom, I was wondering if I could ask a favor."

"Anything, Baby. What is it?"

"Uh, I'd like to see Bev. Do you think you could bring her with you when you come?"

She laughed. "Oh, is that all? Honey, she'd probably kill me if I didn't. We'll see you in a bit. And Val?"

"What, Mom?"

"You go easy on Alice. She's half in love with you. You don't want to go breaking her heart, now."

She hung up, so I did, too. A ton of quarters dropped into the coin box.

Alice sat me down in a booth and insisted on feeding me. We finally decided on a Spanish omelet with lots of cheese on it. She filled my coffee and told me how everyone had gone crazy when neither of us showed up by our due date. She saw my folks and my sisters when we were supposed to arrive and my mom and dad had each been up there many times. They'd sent a team in after Jimmy because his transponder was still working. He was stoned and started shooting at his rescuers and they had to pretend to leave, then track him until he fell asleep and they could overpower him.

At first he said I took off in the night, then that I told him I didn't want to hike with him and went off on my own. The closest to the truth he came was when he said I built a raft and the last he saw of me was when the raft broke up in the rapids and I was swept away. They'd had helicopters and search crews out looking for me for well over a month. My picture was all over the place in case I finally showed up somewhere.

"That reminds me," I told her. I think I was in sort of a coma or hibernation for a couple of months. I have no idea what date it is."

"Oh, Sweetie, it's April 9^th. Easter was just last Sunday. Today's Wednesday."

That made it three and a half months I'd been out of it, not the two or a little more I'd thought.

The omelet was great. It came with two slices of toast, cut into four pieces with butter on them. I had a couple of pieces with grape jelly on them and then pushed the plate into the middle of the table.

"What's wrong, Val? Do you want something else?"

"No, I'm fine. I'm actually full. I had a leg of lamb for dinner last night and another for breakfast. I may be ready for something more when my folks come to pick me up."

"Where did you get lamb?"

I lifted up my sheep skin. "Off this guy," I said.

"But, ... they told us you didn't have any weapons."