Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
He was supposed to have come with me, but we really needed more meat, so he’d set out to trap grouse and ptarmigan. Two birds that were usually hunted with firearms, but they could be lured out and trapped as well.
The door opened, and Jake stepped out with a faint grin. “I was getting ready to go out and search for you. How did it go?”
“I foraged like a pro. Did you catch any birds?”
“Yeah, I learned why locals call them dumb chickens. Looks like we’ll eat tonight too.”
I grinned. Fuckin’ A.
“I’ll go grab the camera,” he said.
I nodded and returned to my task.
It wasn’t as windy today, and it hadn’t snowed since this morning. It might even be a few degrees warmer. Or, I was just sweaty from digging around the woods for hours.
Jake returned and eyed the table dubiously as he set up the camera on a tripod. “Uh, is any of that edible? Wait, you found wild onion?”
“Yeah, there’s a grove about a mile inland,” I said. “I guess it’s deep enough that it doesn’t get as cold. I found these in a thicket.”
He gave me a strange smile and got behind the camera. “Ready when you are, darlin’.”
Okay, let’s impress my man.
“Not only did we pick the worst season for survival in Alaska because it’s freezing cold and hunting season is over,” I started by saying. “It’s also the worst season to forage. But that doesn’t mean we can’t find edible things in the forest when there’s three feet of snow.” I gestured at my spread. “Jake asked me if any of this was edible, and I’m pretty sure it is. Otherwise, it’s been wonderful entertaining you all these years.”
Jake chuckled.
I started with the small items. “When you’re out in the cold, it’s more important than ever to eat because you burn more calories when you’re freezing. Unfortunately, in terms of emergencies and survival, you gotta lower your standards and take what the forest offers. In other words, drink your damn pine needle tea because it’s a vitamin C-rich immune system booster.” I set aside the pine needles and decided to save the pine bark for later, ’cause I was too excited for the main event. “Now, this.” I grabbed one of the many tuberous roots I’d gathered. “This is the root of a common cattail. And the winter is actually the best time to harvest this particular part of the plant. It doesn’t look like much, but it’s a natural starch from which you can make your own flour—or if you wanna bake it, boil it, have at it. I can’t promise a delicious loaf of bread in the morning, but I can turn grouse soup into a thicker stew, and it’ll carb up our diet perfectly.”
Jake looked up from the viewfinder with a pinch of wonder in his eyes.
Yeah, check me out, baby. I know survivalist shit.
Oh my God, that felt so good.
Religious experience.
Best ever.
Holy hell.
I yanked up my long johns, my pants, my thermals, and I felt so goddamn good—so relieved, so empty—and then I washed up and walked out of the bathroom.
Jake was just exiting the other one, and we stared at each other.
“I will never take a toilet for granted again,” I said.
“Me either. My legs feel like jelly.”
Amen.
We left the back of the diner and returned to our corner booth where two massive moose heads loomed over us. We didn’t even care the locals were staring. Enjoy the show, folks. They seemed to dislike city people in this village, and yet, they were strangely fascinated by us. Not much unlike Kyle. He and his man Logan were off charging our batteries for us.
Jake opened up our laptop.
In mere seconds, we’d see our kids’ faces pop up on the screen.
I couldn’t wait.
“How badly do you wanna order food?” I asked.
“I don’t wanna talk about it,” he muttered. “The two men at the counter ordered bacon cheeseburgers, and I’m not saying I would give up my left nut for a burger, but throw in some fries and we’ll talk.”
My shoulders shook with laughter. God, I was so hungry. But we’d made a promise. We’d allowed ourselves to use the facilities and to drink coffee. That was it. A week without coffee, man…
“Here we go.” He shifted closer to me as we waited for the FaceTime call to connect.
I gave his leg a squeeze under the table.
The screen lit up, and fuck, so did we. All the kids were clowning around and trying to take up the most space in front of the camera. Talk about a sight for sore eyes. Adam was singing—sort of—and Callie was waving just like Sam was showing her how to.
Haley and Nikki were snickering in the background.
“Hi!” Colin dove forward and gave us a close-up of his little Jake Junior mug. “Are you surviving?!”