Haven Hill: Chapter 3

By the author of The Widow in the Woods

When Ariel woke up, she heard soft clunking sounds coming from the main room of the cabin. Her mother muttered something unintelligible as she worked, and Ariel smothered a little giggle. She wasn’t surprised that her mom was up way earlier – she was always up at the crack of dawn. She also liked to talk to herself.

It was going to be a good day at the cabin, Ariel was convinced with her usual optimism. She hoped she would be able to sneak in some book time – she was deeply engrossed in a mystery where the girl was the hero and was preparing to save herself.

She stretched luxuriously, her long skinny arms reaching for the ceiling, and her toes pointing off the bed. She loved staying at the cabin. She’d left her window open and the air in her room smelled fresh and piney. She could hear the birds and the distant rushing of the creek down the hill behind them. It was a sound she could listen to for hours if she didn’t have to pee so badly.

Reluctantly, she got up from her comfy bed to go to the bathroom, then joined her mom.

…

Kate sat on the floor just outside the pantry, surrounded by canned goods. She jotted down her inventory in a colorful notebook and sorted out the remaining goods by date.  The boxes of canned goods she’d brought with them went into the back of the pantry, and any cans with a “best by” date within the next year went back into the boxes to go home with them and get used up.

She smiled when her daughter emerged from the bathroom, wearing an enormous purple and yellow t-shirt, her long dark hair wildly askew. Ariel padded over to join her mom on the floor.

“How goes the inventory?” she asked, even though she really wasn’t that interested in canned food.

“Pretty good,” replied Kate. “We’re leaving behind more than we’re taking back, so our food supply here is growing.  But I did think we had more canned ravioli in the pantry. I wrote it down right here.”

Kate frowned at her notepad. Had she forgotten to mark down they’d used 5 cans of it since the last inventory? “Anyway, are you hungry?”

Ariel looked at her like she was crazy. “Um…YES. When am I not hungry?”

Kate laughed and got up to make some scrambled eggs and toast for both of them. They took their plates of breakfast out to the rocking chairs on the screened-in back porch.

A symphony of forest sounds played. The birds sang energetically, the sound of the creek was even louder, and a breeze through the treetops played back-up. Kate thought this was the most peaceful sound in the world and she relished sitting in silence with her daughter.

Ariel was the first to speak.

“What’s on the agenda today?”

Kate referred to the notebook she’d brought outside with her.

“I’ve done the canned food inventory. We’ve got to go down to the basement and check on the supplies down there, then I thought we could take a hike and cool off in the creek. Sound good?”

“I wish the basement wasn’t so creepy,” Ariel complained.

“Well, it’s a basement. Basements are nearly always creepy. You’re helping,” Kate informed her pointedly.

Ariel sighed deeply, pretending to be inconvenienced. “I had plans to lollygag and carry out shenanigans.”

Kate grinned. “Well, you’ve been bamboozled. I’m discombobulating your plans, whippersnapper.”

“I’m flabbergasted by this malarkey, you flibbertigibbet.”

“Are we about to have a kerfuffle or a brouhaha?”

Ariel thought for a minute. “Darn it, I can’t think of any more good words. It’s too early.”

Laughing, they took their plates inside and split up to get dressed for the busy day ahead.

…

Ariel made her way down the creaky wooden stairs from the kitchen into the basement. It smelled damp down there, but not altogether unpleasant. Her mom had cleared the spiderwebs so she didn’t have to walk into any and do the spiderweb dance to frantically get the sticky silk off her face.

Working together, it only took them an hour to replace batteries, count water jugs, and run dusting cloths over their gear.

Ariel stomped up the steps loudly, bellowing enthusiastically, “Hiking time!!!”

Kate shook her head, smiling, and made her way up at a slightly less exuberant pace. “Do you want to eat here or while we’re out?”

“Out!”

Once they were dressed in t-shirts and shorts over swimsuits, the two quickly gathered up some snacks to throw into their backpacks, which were otherwise ready to go and equipped with personal water filters, knives, bear spray, paracord, extra socks. and other essentials for a day in the forest. Kate patted the small of her back to make sure that her Glock 19 was holstered there, and added a couple of extra magazines of ammo to her own bag.

“Can’t I take some water from here?” Ariel pleaded.

Kate shook her head. “There’s perfectly fine water in that creek down there, and you know how to make it safe to drink. What happens if you don’t use skills?”

Ariel sighed deeply, rolled her eyes, and answered in a singsong voice, “You lose them.”

They each clipped a set of “bear bells” to their belt loops. Most of the time, bears wanted to avoid you as much as you wanted to avoid them. The bells were just an early warning system to alert them to your presence. Kate had made theirs from leftover Christmas sleigh bell ornaments and then added a carabiner to attach them to belt loops or backpacks.

Kate locked the door and rattled the doorknob, checking it as they left. Ariel looked at her like she was crazy. “ She teased, “Who are you locking out, exactly? The bears? The raccoons? Maybe those scary, scary chipmunks?”

“It’s just good security,” Kate informed her. “And one never knows when the chipmunks will band together with the raccoons and wreak all sorts of havoc. Which path do you want to take?”

“Let’s go up to the bridge and then come back and swim.”

The bridge wasn’t actually a bridge at all. It was a huge tree that had conveniently fallen over the rushing creek, providing them with safe, dry passage. It was a 20-minute walk to get there, and they set out at a comfortable pace, the bells making a soft, merry sound as they walked.

The blackberry bushes that lined the narrow trail were bursting with ripe fruit. Ariel crammed handfuls of berries into her mouth as they walked, groaning in delight.  Kate shook her head and laughed, then grabbed a few berries of her own to snack on.

When they reached the “bridge,” they went halfway across and sat down over the creek, swinging their legs, while they grabbed another snack from their backpacks. When they finished, they each pulled out their personal water filters and got a satisfying drink from the fresh, cold mountain creek.

After their thirst was sated they filtered some water to go. Ariel could have done the step-by-step in her sleep. First, she filled the bladder that came with her filter with water from the stream. Then, she laid a clean bandana over her regular water bottle to catch the “chunks.” Finally, she screwed the filter to the top of the bladder and squeezed the water through it. It went through the bandana into her bottle, safe and refreshing.

They wandered around so Kate could quiz Ariel on the plants in the area. The mulberries and elderberries weren’t quite ripe but they would be soon. The bright red sumac berries were ready to harvest and be ground into a bright seasoning.

An abundance of chickweed was ready for salad, and wood nettle leaves could be used as cooked greens or dried for tea. There was an enormous patch of burdock, and they pulled two apiece to peel and cook the roots for supper at the cabin.

Once she’d identified the edibles, the medicinals, and the do-not-eat-under-any-conditions flora and fungi, Kate gathered some wintergreen from the bright patch she’d located, as well as wild onions that she’d use later with the burdock root.

By that time, Ariel was practically dancing with impatience to get going. Finally, at long last, they set off toward the swimming hole.

There was a narrow place in the creek beside a deeper section that made a wonderful place to cool off on a hot day. They stripped off their hiking boots and socks and put their outerwear on top of them before wading in. Ariel floated on her back while Kate laid on a rock in the middle of the swimming hole, gazing up at the bright blue sky trimmed with lacy autumn leaves.

She loved this place.

As she watched, the sky began to darken and thunder rumbled in the distance, cutting their refreshing dip short. Begrudgingly, they got out of the water and carried their bags, clothing, and boots across to the cabin-side of the creek. They got dressed and wandered up to the house, utterly relaxed.

Ariel made straight for the door.

“Wait! I have to unlock it,” Kate informed her, shaking her head and smiling at the girl’s impatience.

Ariel turned to theatrically twist the doorknob anyway…

….and the door to the cabin swung open.

Kate felt her blood run cold. “Ariel! Get back!”

Her daughter backed away from the open door, the color drained from her face.

“I know you locked that door, Mom.”

“I did,” Kate nodded, her mind racing to devise a strategy.

“Let’s just go,” Ariel pleaded.

“We can’t,” Kate whispered.

“My Jeep keys are inside.”

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About Daisy

Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, adventure-seeking, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites.  1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty; 2)  The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived; and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. Her work is widely republished across alternative media and she has appeared in many interviews.

Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books, 12 self-published books, and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses at SelfRelianceand Survival.com You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter.