 
DAVID SHATH SQUARE Chapter Twenty-six
We didn't stop to rest. There wasn't time. The hides had to be tanned and strips of deer meat preserved.
Thoreena wrapped chunks of fat in burdock leaves to which she added pulverized rose hips. She said the bright red berries were acidic and the acid would prevent the fat from going rancid over the winter.
"We need a little fat in out diet to stay healthy, especially if the diet consists mostly of lean meat," she said.
While Thoreena turned her attention to the hides, I carried a load of deer meat up to the cabin with instructions from Thoreena to build a slow fire to smoke the strips of meat. As I suspected, the cabin door lay flat on the ground. It had been pushed open by Shadow in his headlong rush to save us from the mountain lion. He must have scented the big cat from inside the cabin as it slipped through the bush, lured by the smell of fresh blood and entrails. There had been no sign of Shadow or the lion since the previous night.
I tried not to think what might have happened to my dog as I went inside the cabin looking for dry herbs Thoreena had collected before the first heavy frosts of October. Bundles of sweet smelling wild sage, sorrel, and mint hung by their stems on the cabin walls. I lifted down several bundles of sage and took them outside where I built a fire of birch wood. My dislocated shoulder hurt like hell.
While I waited for the flames to die down, I crushed handfuls of the sage leaves in my hands. The pungent smell reminded me of the roast goose my mother used to prepare for Thanksgiving dinner. As I sat on the ground inhaling the sweet odor of the herb, I began to cry. Memories of my mother with her gentle hands and soothing voice overcame me. I was still blubbering when Thoreena strode into the yard and began to inspect the fire. She didn't look in my direction. Instead, she poked around at the glowing embers, pretending to find something of interest in the hot coals. After a while, I pulled myself together and smiled at Thoreena.
"I guess I'm not the tough guy every woman dreams of marrying."
"You're not so bad, Hardy. And what makes you think every woman wants to marry a tough guy?"
"Motorcycle ads. Haven't you ever read an ad for Indian Motorcycles? The woman is always riding into the sunset with her arms wrapped around some guy on an Indian bike."
"You don't have to worry about me. I don't like motorcycles...or any machines for that matter. A horse and buggy is my idea of transportation."
I laughed.
"Thoreena you should have lived in 1850, not 1950."
"You're right. I'm just a simple country girl who loves animals, flowers, and the great outdoors.
"And I also love you, Hardy Zacharia Stricker."
We stood up and embraced. I suddenly had this crazy idea.
"Remember when we talked about getting married?"
"Sure, it was just after he decided to find this cabin and live in it."
"Let's do it?"
"Get married?"
"Yes. You'll dress in your finest satin gown and I'll wear a dinner jacket. We'll invite guests, have a ceremony, and feast on delicacies such as venison, lake trout, and stuffed grouse."
"Who is going to perform the ceremony?"
"The preacher, of course."
"Hardy, there is no preacher."
"Yes there is. He's standing right over there," I said, pointing to a stately birch tree.
"Hardy, you're crazy."
"Maybe I am. But we've been working so hard these last couple of months, we've forgotten how to have fun. This will be a make-believe wedding with make believe guests and a make believe ceremony."
"But the food will be real," said Thoreena, who was warming to the idea.
"The food will be great," I said, as I went into the cabin to get the fishing line that also doubled as snare wire for catching grouse. Thoreena thought that beating the birds to death with a stick was an inelegant method of killing them; we had since set several snares made of fishing line to catch the unwary grouse which were plentiful near the cabin.
Thoreena built a second fire to roast a haunch of venison and then threw bunches of wild sage on the slow fire to flavour and help preserve the venison strips. She walked gaily back to the clearing to check on the hides stretched and curing over another smoky fire.
It didn't take me long to catch several trout and snare a couple of grouse. Before I returned to the cabin, I walked into the bush and broke off several slender branches from a willow tree. It was easy to fashion the flexible twigs into a head-dress which I decorated with red rose hips and some of the most beautiful feathers from the dead grouse.
I bent a very slender twig into a delicate ring and then searched the beach for a tiny piece of white quartz that I could tie to the ring with fishing line. I wasn't sure how long the setting would last, but at least I had a magnificent wedding ring to present to my lady. I had never felt so happy. The only thing that bothered me was my missing dog. But I couldn't ruin this magic day by ruminating on a lost pet. If God meant him to survive, then he would survive. I said a prayer for my lost friend and picked up a smooth, black stone which I put in my pocket. The Indians say there is power in stones.
When I returned to the cabin, the air was aromatic with sage and the haunch of venison was on a spit cooking slowly over an open fire. Thoreena emerged from the cabin radiant; her long blond hair had been combed to brilliance with a balsam bough; her neck was adorned with a chain of mint; and her slender feet encased in slippers of pure white birch bark.
"Hardy, I thought you were fishing. It's unlucky to see your bride before the wedding ceremony."
"Perhaps, but who could resist to gaze upon such beauty?"
I walked up to Thoreena and placed the head-dress on her.
"Please accept this humble gift from the person who loves you above all others in the world," I said, bowing low before my future bride.
"It's beautiful, Hardy. I will accept this gift and cherish it for the rest of my life."
"Then let the ceremony begin," I said.
"But what about your best man? And I need a maid of honour?"
"That's nothing. This noble tree stump will stand up for me. And as for you, why..."
Just then we heard a noise in the bush. Both of our hearts skipped a couple of beats; we thought the mountain lion had returned to exact its revenge.
But to our surprise and joy, a black dog hobbled out of the woods and collapsed before the fire.
"Shadow!"
We both pounced on the dog, checking him for superficial wounds or major lacerations.
"He's fine," Thoreena finally said. "He's just dehydrated and exhausted."
"He must have chased that cougar right out of this territory," I said. "He probably spooked that old cat so bad he'll never return."
Thoreena was already filling the frying pan with water for Shadow to drink. He lapped it up lustily and then collapsed at our feet. He was one tired dog.
"Well, Hardy, I think you've found your best man," said Thoreena.
"And I think you've found your maid of honour. Shadow has been such a good friend to both of us that I think he should stand up for both of us," I said.
"I never thought a male could be a maid of honour," said Thoreena, "but in this case your right."
"He's not exactly a male or a female. He's been neutered," I said.
"In that case let the ceremony begin," laughed Thoreena. "And by the way Hardy you look magnificent in your white tie and dinner jacket."
I stood beside the stately birch and pretended to be the preacher.
"Do you Thoreena take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband in sickness and in health 'til either of you shall die?"
"Are you sure that's how the wedding vows go, Hardy?"
"It's close enough. The important thing is that we love each other."
"I do," she said.
"And do you Hardy take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife in sickness and in health 'til either of you shall die."
"I do."
"Will the man now present the woman with her wedding ring."
I had placed the ring in Shadow's mouth, hoping that he might rise to the occasion and put the ring in my hand. But he was too tired to respond, so I reached down and retrieved the willow ring from his mouth.
"With this Thoreena I do wed in sickness and in health as long as we both shall live."
"That was beautiful, Hardy," said Thoreena, who started to cry.
"It's not over yet. We still have the feast and the dancing."
"Let's dance first and eat later," said Thoreena, who put her arm around my waist as we began a slow waltz around the fire.
It was a cold night. We kept warm by staying close to the fire and in each other's arms. The northern lights blazed above us. I'm sure they are God's angels.
To Chapter Twenty-seven
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