Chapter 18

Pepper stepped out of the trailer and stretched, once he was free of its confines. It was false dawn and the light was just bright enough to see his surroundings clearly, while still giving everything a soft appearance. The dew on the ground gave the grass a delicate appearance, like something out of a fairy tale. There was just enough of a chill in the air to make him wish he was still in bed.

The whinny of a horse drew his eye to the south end of the pasture. Looking at them brought back the memory of their charge into the pasture. A yearling broke away from the main herd, and started bucking. Pepper smiled while watching the young animal feel its oats.

A movement at the far end of the pasture drew his eyes. For a second he wondered if there were two herds of horses, until he realized that the animals weren’t horses. He strained to see them better, but without luck. He didn’t know enough to determine if they were deer or elk. The low light and distance didn’t help. It didn’t matter to him that he didn’t know they were elk, it was the first time he had ever seen a herd of wild animals. There were over twenty of them.

He watched the animals for a minute, until nature called too strongly for him to ignore any longer. He shuffled over to the outhouse to relieve his morning bladder. This was the same outhouse that stood over his ‘practice’ hole. Sam said that it was the Cadillac of outhouses since it included a sink as well as a seat and a urinal. The sink used water that was stored in the two-gallon tank that was attached to the wall above the sink. It had to be refilled from the stream.

Pepper stood at the urinal wondering what people back in Los Angeles would say about him using an outhouse. Outside of the smell and the occasional breeze on his butt, he found the experience to be similar to using a regular toilet.

Thinking of the song, he muttered, “If they could see me now.”

Feeling much more relaxed after finishing his business in the outhouse, Pepper went outside. He walked over to the bridge that they had been building for the past four days. When Donny had said that they were going to be building a bridge, he had assumed that it was going to be something like a little pedestrian bridge. He was wrong. This was a little wider than a two-lane road. It had stringers made of poles the diameter of telephone poles. Sam said that it had to be that wide to allow a ‘combine’ to cross the stream.

Donny looked over the bridge feeling something that he had never felt before — pride in building something. Even now that it was nearly done, he had trouble at times believing that he had actually helped build it. He had helped cut the poles to size, built the cribbing on both ends of the bridge, helped place and secure the stringers, and then nailed the flooring in place. Throughout the work, Sam and Carl explained why they were doing things the way they were being done. Much to Pepper’s amazement, he actually understood what they had done and why.

Pepper had learned a lot over the past four days. He had used tools that he knew existed, but had been mysteries to him. He could now start and operate a chainsaw. He knew how to check the oil, sharpen the cutting teeth on the chain, and adjust the cutting bar. He had learned how to use a drill with an auger bit. Sam had even patiently showed him how to use a hammer to drive nails into wood. He had learned how to attach a choker cable to a pole.

One of the most important lessons that he learned was about safety. Sam and Carl emphasized safety in everything they did. They never did anything without checking and double-checking the situation for possible hazards. They would tell him where to stand and what to watch for. Nothing was done until everyone knew what they were supposed to do and what everyone else was to do.

Each time Pepper would start to rush, one of them would say, “The hospital is three hours away.”

He even had to dress to be safe. He wore leather gloves to protect his hands, safety glasses to protect his eyes, and safety boots to protect his feet. The boots had been a surprise. Donny had dropped them off at the bunkhouse the morning he was to leave for the trailer. There had also been five work shirts, three pairs of blue jeans, a package of socks and a package of underwear. Rather than a cowboy hat, he wore a baseball style cap with the name of a tractor company on it. Donny had left before Pepper had a chance to thank him.

Pepper heard the trailer door open and close behind him. Sam asked, “Are you still looking at the bridge?”

“Yes,” Pepper said. “I can’t believe I helped build it.”

“We’ll put up the handrail this morning and pack up the trailer this afternoon. We’ll be back at the bunkhouse in plenty of time for dinner,” Sam said.

Pepper asked, “Why are we staying in the trailer rather than the bunkhouse?”

“Basically, we would kill about an hour each way if we drive over here in the truck every day. We were here for five days, and that would mean we would lose about a day’s worth of work. Next week we’ll be putting in a gate in that fence on the other side of the stream. We’ll have to cut down some trees, to create a road to the field. When all is said and done, living in this trailer puts us at the job site,” Sam answered.

“I thought we were taking the trailer back this afternoon,” Pepper said.

Sam said, “No. We’re just cleaning it up for the next folks who use it.”

“Won’t you be using it?” Pepper asked.

“Probably, but you never know,” Sam answered. “We’ll pick up the dirty linens and towels and replace them with clean ones. We’ll make sure all the dishes are washed and put away dry. Of course, we’ll check the inventory of the staples and mark down anything that’s getting low. We’ll have to take all of the perishables with us. You’ll need to pack up your stuff to take back to the bunkhouse.”

“I didn’t realize it was so much work,” Pepper said.

It seemed to Pepper that everything was a lot more work than he imagined. It also seemed that no matter how much work they did, there was always more work to be done.

“It won’t take long with the three of us working together,” Sam said.

Pepper said, “I’ll help however I can.”

Sam looked down at the far end of the meadow and said, “The elk are leaving.”

“Those were elk?” Pepper asked.

He could see the herd disappearing into the trees. It was amazing how quickly one of the animals could disappear on entering the woods.

Sam nodded his head and said, “Elk are bigger and heavier looking than deer. It’s a magnificent animal when you get a chance to see one up close. They’ve got huge antlers that sometimes reach four feet from base to point. When you look up at the top of the antler, you’re looking up at something that’s nine feet above the ground. They weigh four or five times what you do so don’t try to pet one. You’ll be in a world of hurt.”

The animal life out here was another source of lessons for Pepper. He had come upon a skunk one afternoon. Fortunately, he froze in place far enough away that the skunk didn’t feel threatened. He was still near enough to smell the animal. He now understood what it meant to smell like a skunk. He had also observed a beaver swimming through the stream. The animal actually had a flat tail although he had thought that was a myth of cartoons. Sam had explained that it had a dam further down the stream. He had also seen a bobcat catching a mouse.

Sam said, “If we’ve got enough time, we just might get to do a little fishing.”

“Great,” Pepper said.

In the evenings, Sam and Carl spent their time fishing until it got too dark to see. Carl had loaned Pepper his gear and taught him how to fly fish. It wasn’t until the third night that he finally caught a little trout. It had thrilled him more than he thought possible and he was quite disappointed when he had to throw it back.

Sam headed for the outhouse. Carl stepped out of the trailer and looked around. He spotted Pepper over by the bridge.

He said, “You’re still looking at the bridge.”

“Yes,” Pepper said.

Carl looked at the mountains in the distance. He sighed and said, “I can look at those mountains all of the time. This is truly God’s country.”

Pepper said, “I guess it is.”

“When I was a young buck, right out of high school, I figured that the last place I wanted to be was in the country. I wanted to see the world so I joined the Navy. I saw the world alright, and I mean that quite literally. I spent eight years in the Navy going from port to port with lots of water between ports.

“I worked on a cruiser in the Pacific Ocean. We went to Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, and parts of the Middle East. I saw all of those places. When I was ashore I would check out all of the sights. I went to Buddhist temples in four different countries. I saw historical sights of all kinds. I walked through buildings that were two thousand years old. I saw landscapes that were ugly and some that were kind of nice.

“I met people of all different cultures. I learned about Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, and people belonging to a few religions that you probably never heard of. I saw people of all different classes. I had sex with a fuck bunny in a Thai whorehouse. I had tea with a Buddhist monk. I saw palaces where men lived like kings. Mostly, I saw real poverty in a lot of those places.

“I was about to reenlist when we stopped in Hong Kong. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, that is a thoroughly modern city. It has skyscrapers with traffic jams that could compete with San Diego at rush hour and win. I was walking along and found that I was in a less than luxurious neighborhood. To be quite blunt, it was an ugly dirty place. I was standing there surrounded by people jabbering in a language that I didn’t understand. All of a sudden it hit me; I didn’t like the life I was living.

“I had been searching for something. It dawned on me that I would get somewhere, and ask myself if this was the place for me. None of the places I visited even came close. I’d look for mountains and there wouldn’t be any. I’d look for lush green meadows, and all I would see was swamp, concrete, or dust. I’d look for forest and all I’d see were buildings, jungle, or desert. Nothing grabbed me by the heart and said that I belonged there.

“I didn’t realize it, but I was comparing every place I visited to here. I was looking for wide-open spaces, lush woods, clean running streams, mountains in the distance, and blue skies overhead. I missed the sounds of birds singing in the trees, elks bugling in the early morning, the babbling of a brook, and the wind in the trees. None of the places I had been, had it all. Nowhere could compare to here.