Chapter 84

When Hugo finished with the phone call it was only mid-afternoon. "Come on Terry, lets go over to the big cut. You have never been there." he said. "Your truck will do better than the Bronco."

"So what is the big cut, a canal?" I ask.

"There are two kinds of cuts in this district. One it the artificial ditched they made to connect bits and pieces of the Waterway, but the other are areas that the logging crew worked. They have been replanted, but you'll see why I call it the big cut."

I was dressed appropriately for the walk in the swamp in the spring time. My boots were some nylon like material on top and a very tough leather, shoe area. That particular boot design was make famous in the Vietnamese war. They were still used because for their ability to dry fairly quickly. The big invention was the drainage holes in the bottom. If they got water inside, it drained out as you wore them. You might need to change socks, but the boot itself would dry out. Even military used surplus, they cost fifty bucks.

The boots were worn with the issued fatigues in a dark forest green of the game wardens outfit. I didn't thing the jungle camouflage was a good idea. Especially not where there might be armed men. The idea was not to sneak up on anybody. The idea was not to have them shoot you by accident. When I left the truck, I added a blaze orange shooters vest over the solid green fatigue top.

Hugo and I had just ridden an hour along back roads to the entrance of the big cut. There were small clear cuts in the swamp area, but only one big cut. According to Hugo the big cut was a thousand acres or more of flat land where once had stood trees as big around as small car. Industry needed the lumber, the state needed the money, so they harvested some of the swamp.

When I turned into the big cut, I switched into four wheel drive. Even then I had to look carefully and plan as far as I could see ahead to stay out of the standing water. With water you never knew how deep it was and the pickup was not a submarine.

We must have driven a mile into the cut when Hugo said, "Stop here, we can walk the rest of the way."

"The rest of the way where?" I asked.

"The rest of the way to the end of the cut. It's all going to be replanted this summer, but right now it's being baited I think," Hugo informed me. "Baiting is illegal on state owned lands. So if you find bait in the great dismal, you want to bring somebody before judge."

"Do they get a slap on the wrist?" I asked.

"No cop of any kind ever gets to decide what the punishment will be, but he can't let it stop thim from doing his job," Hugo said. It was the best answer I ever heard to why do you bother giving someone a ticket for a rolling stop sign violation.

"I guess you do have a point," I said.

So we walked over a portion of the big cut and found nothing. After a couple of hours we got in the truck and hoped to make it home before dark. I felt great from the walk. I didn't realize how much I had missed the exercise of my morning runs.

"You know I got that camera from an illegal bait stand in the big cut. I found one of those bait machines and the camera. The person was filming the baiting operation to see if any deer found his bait. That way he would not have to waste any time on a useless spot." Hugo said disgusted.

"That don't sound much like deer hunting does it?" I asked.

"No that's more like deer shooting. Those guys sit in the stand listening to Ipods, till a deer comes for his welfare meal, then they shoot at him," Hugo said. "By god they don't all get away with that shit in my district."

"Good for you," I said and I meant it at the moment I said it. He did sound a little pompous, but sometimes the world needed a little of that shit too.

When we got home, I put a couple of slices of bread in my toaster oven. I used them and some canned beef I had bought at the store, to make a pretty good sandwich. I loved junk food and potato chips and canned beef was about as junky as you could get, without leaving the house.

I decided to ride the motorized trike up to the convenience store for a gallon of gas and a can to put it in. I was surprised that when I did all the things Mike told me to, it fired right up. Not only did it fire up, it rode pretty well all the way up to the convenience store. I bought the gas and a plastic bag filled with 2 lbs of animal crackers. I know I paid at least 30% more for them, but I saw them and I wanted them. Even better the food police couldn't fine me in the middle of nowhere.

When I got home, I found out why I really bought the animal crackers. I had started my period. I have heard some other women say they have craps or diarrhea when the menstruate, but me, I eat everything in sight I am always starving. I can not seem to fill the bottomless pit and it was now that I wasn't running regularly.

I took some Tylenol for the slight discomfort in my abdomen and the slight pain behind my eyes. Neither of those things would stop me doing anything I wanted. I mean anything at all. Of course the smell might make me a target for bears. I had heard that, I didn't have a lot of faith in the story, since I heard if from and old wife. Then again, I planned to stay close to the truck for a few days, just in case.