 
DAVID SHATH SQUARE Chapter Fourteen
When the rosy fingered dawn broke upon the horizon, I awoke to find myself lying near Thoreena and Shadow on a bed of green moss. Actually, Thoreena and Shadow hogged most of the moss. I was pushed aside onto sparse lichens that grew on granite boulders. I was so hungry and exhausted that I had no idea where I was or why I was lying in such a strange place.
I stood up to examine my surroundings. The brush at the side of the path was burned black. The smell evoked memories of the previous day -- memories that swam back into my consciousness like wary fish following doom-ridden lures.
"Hardy, where are we?" asked Thoreena, who sat up and scrutinized the havoc we had wreaked on the wilderness. "I dreamed we were surrounded by black wolves and a fire."
"You're right on both counts," I said.
"It wasn't a dream?"
"No, it wasn't."
As Thoreena became fully conscious, the events of the previous day infiltrated her mind.
"Hardy, we were surrounded by fire and wolves."
She kneeled and examined some brush burned by the fire.
"Junipers," she said. "And a lot of dead pine needles. It's a good thing this blaze didn't get away on us. It could have raged forever in this wilderness."
"You put it out. Or don't you remember?"
"Yes, I do remember, vaguely. The whole thing is like a fantasy."
She stood up, clutching a burned juniper bush.
"Hardy, I'm worried. We're starving and stranded. No one is even aware that we're missing."
"That's what I was thinking."
"What do you mean?"
"Nobody knows. For all they know, we just disappeared."
"This is good?"
"Well, it is if you want to keep the baby."
"Of course I want to keep the baby. But how does this help?"
"We could live in the cabin at the end of the lake. You could have the baby and no one would interfere."
"But everyone would think us dead."
"Thoreena, this is an opportunity to make a life for ourselves. We'd be free and alive and responsible for our own lives."
"They'll be worried about us."
"Let them worry. After you've had the baby we can return home and they'll be so grateful they won't even notice the baby."
I could tell that Thoreena liked the idea. She had that dreamy look in her eyes. She pictured herself a mother rocking her child in a cabin on a lake in the wilderness.
"What about Ravin' Craven?" she asked. "He'll tell them what happened."
"Ravin' Craven was so drunk he won't remember a thing."
Thoreena considered this.
"You're right. It's as if we'd died and been reborn. Hardy, we could make a life. I could have the baby and we'd raise it just like a man and a wife! We could even have a marriage ceremony."
She was getting very excited about the idea.
"Okay," I said, "we're agreed. Let's do it."
We started down the path to Lake George hand in hand. In our excitement, we had forgotten Shadow lying on the bed of moss. He was unable to rise because his back leg was stiff and swollen from the wolf bite. He whined softly to get our attention. We ran back to where he lay and Thoreena examined the wound, while I stroked his head and inspected the crease in his scalp made by Craven's bullet.
"The leg wounds are deep punctures," Thoreena said after a few minutes. "Probably infected. How does his head look?"
"It looks clean. I don't think it's a problem."
Thoreena sat back and considered.
"How far is the lake?"
"I'm not sure but I'd guess we're close," I said.
"Alright, you go for water. I'm thirsty and Shadow is dehydrated. and needs attention before we move him. We can worry about food later."
"What kind of container am I supposed to use?" I asked.
"I don't know, Hardy. You're smart. Use your imagination."
"And what are you going to do while I get water?"
"I'm going to gather herbs to make a poultice to draw the infection out of this wound."
I couldn't find a flaw in her plan, except for the lack of a water jug.
"You know Thoreena," I said as I started toward the lake, "you're pretty smart yourself."
"Of course I'm smart, Hardy. That's why you love me."
She said this under her breath. It was partly true. I did love her intelligence. But then I also loved her long legs, blue eyes and hair the colour of autumn wheat.
I didn't take long to reach the lake. The path was downhill and led to a white shingle lapped by the clear water of Lake George. To my left a granite cliff towered several hundred feet above the beach. To the right birch trees, poplars and willows grew down to the water's edge. In a small bay, arrowheads and cattails grew in abundance.
I waded into the lake, submerged myself and gulped great draughts luxuriating in the coolness of the water and the softness of the white sand bottom. I soon felt guilty that Thoreena and Shadow were not sharing my reverie so I emerged from the lake to search for a container to carry the precious water.
I walked into the bush looking for a hollow log or birch bark to fashion some sort of water-tight bucket. But the birch trees were too small for my purpose and the only hollow log was rotten. I aimed a kick at the log, missed and ended up flat on my back. I cursed and was about to get up when I noticed an old wash tub lying on the ground under a fallen tree. I crawled to the spot where it lay and began to work it loose. It had obviously been discarded many years ago because most of the galvanized finish was rusty. But otherwise the metal was sound. I yanked the tub from under the tree only to be disappointed when I saw several bullet holes in the bottom. I was about to toss it aside when Thoreena's words came back to me: "You're a smart guy. Use your imagination."
I sat on the fallen log and began to think. I had a tub capable of carrying several gallons of water, except for the holes in the bottom. How to plug them? I remember my grandfather said that wood swells in water. What if I broke some small branches off a tree, stripped off the bark and pushed the branches tightly into the holes. How long would it take for them to swell to plug the holes? Maybe if I pushed them in snugly they wouldn't need to swell to form a seal?
I jumped up from the log and began to tear branches off a nearby willow. The bark peeled easily from the green wood and it wasn't long before I had corked all the bullet holes with smooth, white branches. I rushed down to the lake and filled the makeshift bucket with water. When I carried it to shore, water began to spurt from the holes. I was about to throw it away when I noticed the leaks were becoming drips. After awhile, the drips slowed. If I walked briskly, there just might be enough water in the tub for Thoreena and Shadow to drink.
I refilled the tub in the lake and began to walk up the path. I couldn't run because it was heavy and water slopped over the lip. By the time I reached them, my arms and legs ached and my heart was pounding. But I felt proud when I saw Thoreena's face as I trudged into sight.
"Hardy, I knew you could do it," she said, planting a kiss on my cheek.
"Not much to it, really," I said. But Thoreena had plunged her face into the cool water so she didn't hear what I said.
After Thoreena drank her fill, I carried the tub over to where Shadow lay on the ground. I had to lift him into a standing position but once he got his muzzle into the water he kept drinking until his stomach began to bloat. I stopped him because I was afraid he would explode.
Meanwhile, Thoreena was busy shredding leaves. She crushed them in her hands and placed them on a swatch of cotton torn from her t-shirt.
"They're burdock and plantain leaves," she said. "They'll draw out the infection."
She wrapped the crushed leaves in the cotton swatch, dampened it with water and then wrapped it firmly around Shadow's leg, covering the two wounds that looked like small bullet holes.
When she finished she stood up to examine her work.
"A poultice should be heated in boiling water to be most effective," she said, "but this will have to do until we find a permanent camp."
"Is Shadow going to be all right?" I asked.
"I don't know, Hardy. This poor dog has suffered a lot. If the leg wounds get badly infected, he could..."
"He could what?"
"He'll be okay. He's strong and young," she said, trying to sound confident.
We had to carry Shadow to the lake. I hefted his head and chest while Thoreena carried his hind quarters.
As we walked my eyes began to water. I didn't want Thoreena to see me crying so I looked away and pretended to scan the bush for blueberries.
To Chapter Thirteen
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