I grabbed my pack and re-slung my my rifle after checking the mag for the 100th time and so we were once again off to Phillips Lake.
It was only another two hours walk when we came upon the dirt road leading to the lake. Sally and Cally were maybe 20 steps in front of me and Dennis as this was more than familiar territory for her and apparently Cally. Cally was thirsty and started to run ahead to the lake for a drink and a splash. This dirt road was tree lined and we had not made the last turn before there was a shot that rang out from the direction Cally had taken to the Lake.
Sally without thinking ran towards the sound of the shot before I could say anything to stop her. Myself I went to the tree line with Dennis in toe and continued to go in Sally's direction while staying concealed. When I found a spot through the trees I could take in the picture of what was going on, I was almost stunned immobile.
What I saw was Cally down on the ground "dead stone still" while Sally was kneeling by her side. One guy was standing and talking to Sally with his gun pointing at her. I could just barely hear the conversation but from what I could hear made my determination needle peg out into the red zone !
"Why did you shoot Cally," was Sally's question ?
"Cause I'm gonna eat that Coyote.... and now I want you to UN-sling that pee shooter you have and very slowly sit it on the ground, muzzle pointing away from me."
"What to hell is wrong with you mister ? You just shot Cally and now you are acting like I am your prisoner or something" ?
"If you do not do as I say I will put a bullet in your head and all your worries will be over there Missy; I might even eat you after I play with your body for a while" !
That was all I needed to hear so I blew a big hole in his head with a 7.62 round in his ear. He crumpled to the ground and other than a few twitches he was no more.
I stayed where I was for a few moments to see if anyone else would be coming upon the scene as the report of my rifle was anything but quite in the stillness of the night. I have a suppressor in my back pack but there was no time to screw it on...it was a mistake to take it off the rifle to save some weight to begin with, but hind sight is 20/20 or so the saying goes.
Sally just sat there looking at Cally with her eyes barely able to see through her tears. I did not know what I would find when I got to her but instead of talking about the man I just blew away she just said, "He did not have to shoot Cally"!
"Sally I am pretty sure he will not be shooting anyone or anything anytime soon."
"Thank you." was all she said.
I could not bring myself to skin and eat Cally and Sally would have probably thrown a fit if I had suggested it so I grabbed Cally's back legs and pulled her body into the woods. She would become a meal for the numerous critters in these woods, "Dust to dust Cally" as I left her body next to the base of a tree.
As I came out of the woods Sally was going through Mister Coyote killers pockets and pack he had been carrying. The rifle he had used to kill Cally was an iron sighted SKS which shot 7.62X39 rounds. The rifle was old and worn but serviceable as Cally had been shot in the head from an estimate 40 yards away. Cally's killer had about 50 rounds for the gun and there were still 8 in the magazine. There was even a folding bayonet attached to the barrel.
Sally asked if I wanted her to keep the gun and ditch her .22 and my answer was am emphatic, "No."
"Your .22 can kill all kinds of small and even big things and not destroy the meat like that SKS will plus it is heavy and there are less than 60 rounds. It ain't worth lugging around IMO."
She looked at the SKS one more time and laid it next to the dead body. The guys pack had hardly anything worth having other than some matches and a few dirty changes of clothes with a small folding knife in the bottom of the pack. But the back pack looked almost new so Sally claimed it as her own after throwing the guys clothes out. I checked for a pocket book or some kind of I.D. and there was nothing. No money, no I.D. nothing !
Sally came beside me and took my wrist and said, "Lets go have a wash and a drink I want to get away from that A$$hole as soon as I can'"
I always liked Sally since I first met her when she was just 15 years old but, I had no idea how strong a spirit she had developed as she became a 24 year old woman. My esteem of her increased considerably .
There was a big flat rock that was half submerged in Phillips lake and that would be where we would wash our clothes and bodies. I told Sally to go ahead as I wanted to scout around a bit before I settled down to get cleaned up.
"Give me your shirt and let me wash it for you while you are checking what else is out there."
"Are you saying my shirt stinks" ?
"No, no, the shirt smells very manly, like some man dead for a week "!
I grimaced and went through the act of smelling my armpits before I took off the shirt and handed to her at arms length with a scowl on my face. Next bug out bag will have some deodorant !
As I left my shirt with Sally and proceeded to a place where John's cabin was was located. I first stopped and retrieved the SKS as a gift for John at his cabin after finding Dennis grazing at the water edge. He seemed content so I unloaded him and tied the rope he carried to another convenient tree.
I did not really like walking at night with my shirt off as the Mosquitos and anything with a pair of eyes could see my upper body without much problem, however I arrived at the spot of John's cabin only to find it had been burned to the ground. I went through the ashes and found what I assumed was John and his wife, burned to death in the ashes of their bed.
Nothing left worth anything in the cabin but John did have a boat shed 40 yards away which was still standing. In the shed I found his boat wiring was fried but I did manage to pull out his heavy duty plastic canoe, some rod and reel fishing poles and a tackle box. Weighted down with my stuff and now the Canoe and more stuff it was a chore getting everything to the water's edge. That accomplished I went back to the boat shed and did another search for anything useful . I did find some boat motor oil which we could use for the guns and even got a couple of rags for just in case.
I filled the Canoe with everything and stared to paddle across the lake to our washing rock. I wanted to call out to Sally and let her know it was me ( didn't want to get shot ) but I figured without a shirt and the full moon Sally would know it was me.
As I arrived at the rock Sally said, "What about John was he at the cabin"?
"The cabin is burned to the ground and I will assume the two bodies were of John and his wife. They did not make it out of the Cabin."
Sally just starred at me and shook her head in bewilderment.
I looked for my shirt and saw it hanging on a tree branch to dry. Sally's clothes were also hanging as she only wore her Bra and what looked like a "T" back pair of blue underwear. She had already washed herself off and even her hair judging buy how it hung down her back still dripping wet.
It was only another two hours walk when we came upon the dirt road leading to the lake. Sally and Cally were maybe 20 steps in front of me and Dennis as this was more than familiar territory for her and apparently Cally. Cally was thirsty and started to run ahead to the lake for a drink and a splash. This dirt road was tree lined and we had not made the last turn before there was a shot that rang out from the direction Cally had taken to the Lake.
Sally without thinking ran towards the sound of the shot before I could say anything to stop her. Myself I went to the tree line with Dennis in toe and continued to go in Sally's direction while staying concealed. When I found a spot through the trees I could take in the picture of what was going on, I was almost stunned immobile.
What I saw was Cally down on the ground "dead stone still" while Sally was kneeling by her side. One guy was standing and talking to Sally with his gun pointing at her. I could just barely hear the conversation but from what I could hear made my determination needle peg out into the red zone !
"Why did you shoot Cally," was Sally's question ?
"Cause I'm gonna eat that Coyote.... and now I want you to UN-sling that pee shooter you have and very slowly sit it on the ground, muzzle pointing away from me."
"What to hell is wrong with you mister ? You just shot Cally and now you are acting like I am your prisoner or something" ?
"If you do not do as I say I will put a bullet in your head and all your worries will be over there Missy; I might even eat you after I play with your body for a while" !
That was all I needed to hear so I blew a big hole in his head with a 7.62 round in his ear. He crumpled to the ground and other than a few twitches he was no more.
I stayed where I was for a few moments to see if anyone else would be coming upon the scene as the report of my rifle was anything but quite in the stillness of the night. I have a suppressor in my back pack but there was no time to screw it on...it was a mistake to take it off the rifle to save some weight to begin with, but hind sight is 20/20 or so the saying goes.
Sally just sat there looking at Cally with her eyes barely able to see through her tears. I did not know what I would find when I got to her but instead of talking about the man I just blew away she just said, "He did not have to shoot Cally"!
"Sally I am pretty sure he will not be shooting anyone or anything anytime soon."
"Thank you." was all she said.
I could not bring myself to skin and eat Cally and Sally would have probably thrown a fit if I had suggested it so I grabbed Cally's back legs and pulled her body into the woods. She would become a meal for the numerous critters in these woods, "Dust to dust Cally" as I left her body next to the base of a tree.
As I came out of the woods Sally was going through Mister Coyote killers pockets and pack he had been carrying. The rifle he had used to kill Cally was an iron sighted SKS which shot 7.62X39 rounds. The rifle was old and worn but serviceable as Cally had been shot in the head from an estimate 40 yards away. Cally's killer had about 50 rounds for the gun and there were still 8 in the magazine. There was even a folding bayonet attached to the barrel.
Sally asked if I wanted her to keep the gun and ditch her .22 and my answer was am emphatic, "No."
"Your .22 can kill all kinds of small and even big things and not destroy the meat like that SKS will plus it is heavy and there are less than 60 rounds. It ain't worth lugging around IMO."
She looked at the SKS one more time and laid it next to the dead body. The guys pack had hardly anything worth having other than some matches and a few dirty changes of clothes with a small folding knife in the bottom of the pack. But the back pack looked almost new so Sally claimed it as her own after throwing the guys clothes out. I checked for a pocket book or some kind of I.D. and there was nothing. No money, no I.D. nothing !
Sally came beside me and took my wrist and said, "Lets go have a wash and a drink I want to get away from that A$$hole as soon as I can'"
I always liked Sally since I first met her when she was just 15 years old but, I had no idea how strong a spirit she had developed as she became a 24 year old woman. My esteem of her increased considerably .
There was a big flat rock that was half submerged in Phillips lake and that would be where we would wash our clothes and bodies. I told Sally to go ahead as I wanted to scout around a bit before I settled down to get cleaned up.
"Give me your shirt and let me wash it for you while you are checking what else is out there."
"Are you saying my shirt stinks" ?
"No, no, the shirt smells very manly, like some man dead for a week "!
I grimaced and went through the act of smelling my armpits before I took off the shirt and handed to her at arms length with a scowl on my face. Next bug out bag will have some deodorant !
As I left my shirt with Sally and proceeded to a place where John's cabin was was located. I first stopped and retrieved the SKS as a gift for John at his cabin after finding Dennis grazing at the water edge. He seemed content so I unloaded him and tied the rope he carried to another convenient tree.
I did not really like walking at night with my shirt off as the Mosquitos and anything with a pair of eyes could see my upper body without much problem, however I arrived at the spot of John's cabin only to find it had been burned to the ground. I went through the ashes and found what I assumed was John and his wife, burned to death in the ashes of their bed.
Nothing left worth anything in the cabin but John did have a boat shed 40 yards away which was still standing. In the shed I found his boat wiring was fried but I did manage to pull out his heavy duty plastic canoe, some rod and reel fishing poles and a tackle box. Weighted down with my stuff and now the Canoe and more stuff it was a chore getting everything to the water's edge. That accomplished I went back to the boat shed and did another search for anything useful . I did find some boat motor oil which we could use for the guns and even got a couple of rags for just in case.
I filled the Canoe with everything and stared to paddle across the lake to our washing rock. I wanted to call out to Sally and let her know it was me ( didn't want to get shot ) but I figured without a shirt and the full moon Sally would know it was me.
As I arrived at the rock Sally said, "What about John was he at the cabin"?
"The cabin is burned to the ground and I will assume the two bodies were of John and his wife. They did not make it out of the Cabin."
Sally just starred at me and shook her head in bewilderment.
I looked for my shirt and saw it hanging on a tree branch to dry. Sally's clothes were also hanging as she only wore her Bra and what looked like a "T" back pair of blue underwear. She had already washed herself off and even her hair judging buy how it hung down her back still dripping wet.