Chapter 10

I woke up with Bev still wrapped around me. I leaned over a bit and kissed her forehead. She tilted her head up for a real kiss.

"I've got to pee," I said after we broke the kiss.

Somehow during the night the bedclothes had become wrapped around us. We finally got loose and I took off for the bathroom, just making it.

I decided I might as well take care of everything so I brushed my teeth and started the shower. Bev shuffled in and plopped down on the toilet while I was waiting for the water to heat up.

"What's the plan today?" she asked as she wrapped toilet paper around her hand.

"I figured we should take a trip into town. I want to hit the sporting goods store to get some things on our list. We'll probably see some things we didn't think about. I don't know if we need to go anyplace else or not."

"I doubt they have toilet paper." She pushed me into the shower and continued, "I was thinking maybe you can attach some plywood to the dolly. We could cover the open parts in the back and make it wider plus make the bottom larger. If we could find some way to hang the canteens on it when we go to the river, that would make it easier to bring the full ones back."

"You know, we could make it big enough to put our ice chest on it, I said as I rubbed a soapy wash cloth over her. "We can fill it with stuff for the trip, then use it for water once we get there. It would give us a good, firm base to put my camp stove on, then we can pile more on top of it."

"Maybe we should get some of those file boxes they sell at the office stores. We could put pots in them and fill the pots with packets of food. And they'd stack neatly. A couple of bungi cords and they'd be sturdy as a rock."

We went out to the kitchen to find Mom and Dad. "You guys are up early," I said.

"You can't believe how much better I feel now that we're going to do something," Dad answered between sips of coffee.

"Get some coffee and sit down, you two. I'm going to make eggs, hash browns and biscuits and gravy."

We had a great breakfast. Dad ate more than I'd seen him eat in weeks. We threw some ideas around the table and Dad said he'd play with the dolly and see what he could come up with.

After breakfast, Bev and I went through our stock of heat and eat meals. We didn't have near enough, maybe food for a week and a half.

We went to the sporting goods store and they had a good assortment of freeze dried meals. He even gave us both a cup of some coffee to sample. I was surprised when he told me it was freeze dried. It wasn't the same as our fresh ground, but it would be good enough for this trip. Nothing to grind, no filters, make as much as you want with no waste. We also picked up three new propane canisters for my stove. I knew the original was full because the stove was a Christmas gift I never used.

We decided to go to WalMart and got toilet paper, file boxes and a cheap set of pots and pans that fit together, taking up hardly more space than the largest pot. Bev also picked up a couple of boxes of baby wipes.

"What are those for?"

"When we get our hands dirty and just need a quick wipe. Besides, who knows what your father will be like in a week or two?"

That was a sobering thought. Having to wipe my sick father's ass. Well, I'm sure he did it for me lots of times. It would be like returning the favor.

Do you know how much space a box of 20 spoons or forks takes up? Surprisingly little. We got one of each and a couple of six packs of steak knives. They had a special on a set of plates, bowls and mugs that was cheap enough to throw away after the trip. Three towels and a dozen washcloths, a box of energy bars and we were done.

We got home to find Dad in the garage, drilling some screws through a 2X4 into a piece of plywood. He picked it up and put it on our dolly, which already had a piece of plywood attached to the back. There were a couple of holes through the plywood that matched holes in the bottom of the dolly and he ran some carriage bolts through them.

He pointed to the counter, told me to grab the wrench, washers and nuts and had Bev tilt the dolly all the way back. There was enough bolt sticking through for me to attach the nuts but not enough to scrape the ground.

Once the wood was fastened to the dolly, Dad wheeled it over to a small bookcase and had us lift it up. The bottom shelf was about three eighths of an inch inside the 2X4. He picked up a piece of plywood that was cut the same size as the bookshelf and placed it in front. It touched the 2X4. Dad got a couple of thick, black rubber bungi cords and had us wrap them around the dolly, bookcase and plywood, one a few inches below the top, the other about halfway up.

"That should do it," he said. I've already measured your ice chest and it will fit fine on the bottom shelf. The stove will work on the next one and there's some room on top of it and on the side. I don't know what you've got for the other two shelves, but I'm sure you'll think of something. I'm getting tired so I'm going to go in for a nap. You two can handle the packing. Do me a favor and tie those to the sides." He was pointing at a couple of rifles in scabbards leaning against a chair. There was a bundle of plastic tie wraps next to them. "Make sure you pack the ammo, too. Load both rifles before you do."

Bev said, "Boy, it's not going to seem like camping with all this."

"I'm not doing this to camp. I'm doing it to either have a miraculous recovery or die." He left before either of us could respond.

It's amazing what you can fit inside a 50 quart ice chest. We got all our food, energy bars and coffee inside as well as our cutlery and the towels. The stove, butane and washcloths all fit on the second shelf. Our stack'o'pots, toilet paper and wipes took up the third shelf and we got Dad's sleeping bag and a couple of pairs of jeans for each of us next to it.

The scabbards each had a couple of small belts for attaching them to our saddles so we tied them around the sides, then secured them further with the tie wraps. The bookcase was wider than the dolly, creating a four inch overhang on each side. The rifles were hidden behind it so nobody would see them unless they were looking at us from the side. Dad and I always kept our hunting licenses fully paid up, so we could get away with having the rifles. Using them was another matter since hunting season for just about everything didn't start till fall or winter. If we just hunted to eat, I was sure we would make out OK. And I had no qualms about using wishes to get out of a jam if we needed to. Sort of like Obi Wan saying, "These aren't the droids you're looking for."

We didn't have much more we wanted to bring with us. I got my backpack and stuffed clothes, some waterproof matches we'd forgotten, a couple of skinning knives, brushes for teeth and hair, toothpaste, a few bars of soap into it. I had a radio that was solar powered, had a crank for emergencies and also had a lantern attached to it. That would give us some entertainment as well as lighting up the cave for Dad and Bev. I still saw just fine in the dark. We also took a pair of tennis shoes for each of us. Bev said she wouldn't be able to stand wearing the same pair of hiking boots for weeks.

"We can tie my sleeping bag to the bottom of the backpack and I'll wear it. We can rig up a sling for your sleeping bag and you can carry it over your shoulder or on your back."

We took the backpack and sleeping bags out to the garage and came back inside. It was after 1:00 so we decided to have some lunch. Mom wasn't in the kitchen, in fact, we hadn't seen her since we came in from the garage the first time. She must be in with Dad, taking a nap. We heard a noise and smiled at each other. Maybe not on the nap.

We had grilled cheese sandwiches and a couple of apples for lunch. The apples reminded me of Cinnamon. I hadn't been ignoring him but I wasn't taking him out as much as he deserved. I held up my apple and said, "Let's take a ride after lunch."

"Sounds good. We could ride over to see your sister. You know you're going to have to come up with a story and tell them all. It's not fair to take off and leave Vicky here without an explanation."

"I hadn't thought about that but you're right."

"So, what do we tell them?"

"Something so unbelievable that they'll have to believe it," I said.

"And what might that be?"

"We'll tell them about Dad and how bad the cancer is. Vicky's probably done that anyway. Then the suggestion that they cut his stomach out and how Dad wouldn't even consider it. We'll say he and Mom saw a story on 60 Minutes about a place in Mexico that works on terminal cancer patients and has a phenomenal success rate. So, Mom's taking us to catch a train and you and I are going to take him down there. We'll both stay with him until you have to come for school, then it'll just be me."

Cinnamon was glad to see the apple in my hand, not so much because he was hungry as he knew that an apple in my hand meant we were probably going out for a ride. I noticed that Vicky's mare wasn't in her stall.

"You know I'm going to have to let him run and get rid of some of this energy," I said, looking at him practically dancing around his stall.

"That's OK," she said, petting her gelding. "We'll just take it nice and easy over to the Bells' and you two can catch up with us."

Both horses munched on their apples as we saddled them up. I gave Bev a kiss and climbed up on Cinnamon. He was moving before I had my foot all the way in the stirrup.

I'd told Bev that Grace was built for delivering babies. Well, Cinnamon was built for running. I let up on the reins and he put on the afterburners. He drew in lungfuls of air through his nostrils, converted it to more speed, then snorted out the remnants. I could feel the heat of the expelled air on my thighs as we rode.

I saw Manuel working on the fence so I pulled up next to him. I asked him if he was aware that my father was sick and he said he'd noticed the changes but didn't feel it was his place to say anything. I told him how Dad was really sick and that the doctors said it was too late to cure him. He brightened up and told me that there were clinics in Mexico that were supposed to do great things with cancer. He was happy when I told him we were leaving for Mexico the next day, smiling and nodding his head.

He told me not to worry, that he would take care of everything and he could get some help if he needed it. I asked if he thought he could run the place by himself and he admitted he was finding it difficult to keep up. I told him to keep a lookout and it was OK for him to bring someone else in to help out.

"I have a cousin working for Senora Bell but there is too much work there for one person, also. Her boy, he doesn't want to work. If I could bring another cousin up, he could help at both places. That would be good."

"Go ahead and do that, Manuel. I'm going over to the Bell ranch right now so I'll make sure it's OK with her. I'll talk to my mother and you and your cousin can work out wages with her. We'll pay for his work on our ranch and Mrs. Bell will pay for her work. Is there room for him to stay out here?"

"Si, there is a ranch house with plenty of room on the other ranch."

"OK. I'll make sure that's all right with her, too."

There was a gap where he was working on the fence so I walked Cinnamon through it, then climbed on. We took off across the open range for a couple of miles until I saw Bev ahead of us. He let me know he had plenty of energy left but allowed me to slow him down when we caught up with them. Bev reached over and rubbed near his ear, telling him what a good horse he was. If it was possible for a horse to melt, that's what my Cinnamon did.

"Is there any way we could ride instead of hiking to the cave?" Bev asked me.

"Sure, we could ride. But how are you going to feed four horses for as long as we'll be there? It's a forest."

"Right, I didn't think of that. Why four horses?"

"I assumed we'd use one for a pack horse."

"Oh yeah. That makes sense."

"As long as Dad holds up, it's going to be a piece of cake. It's just a little further than taking the road over here."

Bev pointed ahead. "That looks like them." Indeed, I could see 3 grown people and one smaller body on horseback.

"Is she still giving them lessons or do they just ride?" I asked.

"I think she pretty much lets them alone unless there's something they specifically want to know about. I don't think Christina's allowed to go off by herself yet. Vicky said she was complaining to her about only being allowed to ride around the ring."

Vicky waved and she and Kyle urged their horses into a gallop. The other two turned towards us but didn't make any effort to speed up.

Vicky looked good. She and Bev are both outdoor people and I think they would both die if they weren't allowed outside. The fact that she was with Kyle probably added to it. She looked fresh, alive, like a rose bush after a light rain.

"What's up, Bro?"

Grace and Christina were just riding up. "We came over here to tell you about Dad and to say goodbye."