Wild Desperation

Chapter 30

                                        Sang

The night went by uneventfully after getting meat from half of our 50 traps for supper we left the rest up till morning in hopes of a fresh breakfast. Victor had told the guys I could sing and that lead me to give a mini concert around the fire as I sung what songs I knew and the guys joined in just for fun before we headed to sleep. The morning trap check was just as successful as the night before and left us with 15 rabbits and 5 squirrels after the safe to eat check. We all happily gorged on the meat as we pleased, stuffing the rest into our bags to have for lunch when we got to our next camp.

 We had just enough gas in the trucks tank for one more run after the guys got some out of an abandoned Chevy. The ride would take about two hours to cover over a hundred miles, about five days travel on foot so I didn't mind reaching Magnolia Springs state park early. Our trusty truck did it's best to get us there but it was running on fumes by the time it finally died on us, we were 2 miles short of the park but it was better than 20. I unloaded Nightmare from the trailer and loaded him up with our bags as we walked the rest of the way. I wasn't surprised when the guys even picked a campsite next to a huge oak tree for my benefit, even if they didn't mention it aloud I was thankful for the thought. 

We were right next to a gorgeous lake with lots of fish and a number of waterfowl and I didn't mind the easy options for our dinner. I told North not to bother with snaring since we could have fish tonight and we all settled down to finish off the rabbits from this morning. Luke went to work practicing with his bow alongside North and Nathan as they aimed at marks in the tree bark, Nightmare was grazing nearby while I brushed Arrow's fur to his wolfish grin. A few of the boys went for firewood and I got to work enlisting the remaining guys to help me braid some vines.

 It took a couple hours but we braided enough vines together for me to mesh them into a sort of net, I tied some rocks to the bottom as weights, then came the fun part. "Alright who wants to go for a swim?" I quizzed as I set my bow down by the bank and went to slip out of my shoes and pants, wearing swimwear under your clothes made things a lot easier. "I hope the water is f***ing freezing." Gabe muttered as he and the others started to strip down to their boxers, only Luke and Sean were banished to dry land. I was quick to toss my shirt on my pile of belongings as Arrow settled down to guard them while we worked. 

"Okay I want everyone to grab hold of the top of the net at evenly spaced intervals and hold it at the waterline." I instructed as I toke my share of the mesh netting. It's about 16 feet long and although only three feet high it greatly increases the odds of catching fish. I guide the boys towards the waist high water as I instruct them to spread out across a small stretch of the pond. "Now what Trouble?" Gabe growls to my left and I snort. "I thought that was self explanatory Meanie, keep the net tight and walk it towards the bank as we cut this area off from the rest of the pond." I indicate as I slowly march forward with the net tightly in my grasp. 

A few smaller fish jump over the net when they realize we've created a corral but they don't worry me, the boys however seem startled by the tiny little escape artists. The payoff for hours of braiding our net together shows as we get into the clearer shallows, a number of decent sized catfish and what appears to be some species of carp are frantically swimming in search of an escape from their watery prison. I order the boys to tighten the net and bring it on closer to the bank before getting North and Silas to join me in catching our dinner.