Battling Blazes

Original draft Pt 1

The Great Fire of 1910

1909: February 28th, 10:50 AM
Winston Brown looked around the cabin in awe; it wasn't posh but was still a looker. He finally gained enough money to move up to Montana and bought a property with a house built on it prior to his move. Winston scanned the front foyer; everything was spotless; a cabinet with glass built into the doors, displaying clay plates and bowls, a small side table left barren, and finally, a coat and hat rack made up of deer and elk antlers, giving it a mountain man feeling; none of which held the letter the previous owner left. It held the layout of the building along with a letter about caring for farm gardens and other things he would need to know. This was what Winston requested; he considered every possible outcome if he wasn't fully prepared for the mountains. After checking the area, he hung his hat and coat.
"Well, it should be cushy to do things anyhow," he sighs as he heads from the foyer towards the living room. The floorboards creaked under his weight. Winston shivered; knowing that the house was relatively new, he didn't understand why the boards groaned with his movement. It was also surprising that the house had the smell of wet wood and dirt. as if someone came in and through mud and soaked sticks into the home.
Walking into the living room, Winston walked towards the table in the middle of the room. What caught his interest was the white envelope sitting dead center on the table.
"So John didn't forget my request for a letter with helpful tips to be left at my new home," he laughed wholeheartedly, though his laugh didn't reach his eyes. They held an underlying look of irritation and contemplation for the letter wasn't placed in the foyer like his letter stated. He snagged his knife from the pocket of his jeans and quickly sliced open the envelope. Drawing out all of the documents, Winston fell backward onto the chair sitting directly behind him. There were at least 6 pages of writing, all to give knowledge of how to survive in the mountains. Winston started biting his thumb, a common habit of his when he was nervous; though this time a metallic flavor hit his tongue after a few seconds. The taste was bitter, leaving Winston to quickly shove his hand away from his mouth. Then, in two seconds, he knew where the flavor came from. It was his own blood. He must have been biting down hard, Winston concluded after wiping his thumb onto his jeans.
Looking back towards the letter, Winston let out a breath of air. With nothing else to do, he started to read the 6 pages of writing.

"Finally," Winston sighed, "John didn't leave anything out. I don't know if that's a good thing or not." Getting up, he went to the kitchen to look at some of the seeds John left. He knew that planting crops would be tricky; seeing as he would have to cut down a chunk of wood on his property for a plot. Good thing was that with enough snow on the ground for planting to not be possible -granted it was only two to four inches, less than most years-; there was not enough snow to stop him from cutting down trees. Winston owned a horse, so moving trees from where they fell wouldn't be horrible. Finding the tools might be another story though.
"The letter said that the shed was to the left of the house, behind a thicket of trees. Totally specific, eh John?" He whispered to himself. He snagged a piece of dried meat from the cupboard and meandered over towards the front door again.
Winston went out the door, walking to the left on the porch. This would be annoying to find the tool shed.
One hour later, the tool shed was found. Winston sighed in agitation as it was farther than needed. Either way, he started to dig through the shed. It was darker than he thought. It was noon but there weren't any windows built into the walls leaving the room consumed by darkness. Winston sighed and headed back to the log cabin. He grumbled as he trekked through the snow.