From Fire to Frost

How to Dress a Deer and Fight off a Monster

    That evening, an hour before they decided to make camp for the night, they paused as a group and Madelynn showed Amelia, Mrs. Bancroft, and Devin, who was very curious, how to properly butcher and dress the body of a deer. She showed them how to skin the entire deer, keeping as much of the hide intact as possible for further use. The watched as she removed the innards and cut the carcass into usable meat. "The majority of the meat on a deer comes from the trunk of it's body and it's upper legs. There's very little meat at all on the lower leg portions or the head," she told them, "and those parts we will discard." She also demonstrated how to slice the meat off the rib cage, neck, haunches, and the back.

    Then she showed them how to use a hunting knife to sever the tendons holding the bones together, and in this manner she was able to take apart the legs. She cut the meat from the thighs of the deer, and then the group buried as much of the bloody earth as possible and the innards and brains into a hole that Eldridge had made.

    They placed the loose meat into one of the empty oilskin pouches, and wrapped the two leg portions into the other. Then, a lot lighter after their toils, the party continued on for another hour.

    They eventually found a nice spot to stay the night next to a trickling stream. No longer having to dig out divots in the earth to avoid sleeping in ash, they made beds for themselves: some next to fallen logs, others in the beds of soft moss covering the ground. Madelynn and Eldridge started working to find a way to preserve the meat for later.

    "How long will the raw meat stay good for?" asked Amelia, watching them curiously.

    Eldridge answered her. "In this cooler weather, just a couple of days from the time that the animal is killed to butchering before it starts to spoil," he explained. "But after it has been butchered it will only stay good for a few hours, which is why we will be turning into jerky, smoking or roasting the meat tonight and carrying it with us.  Unless meat is smoked, cured, or salted, even fresh roasted meat will start to spoil in less than half a day."

    "But how will we smoke the meat without a barrel?" questioned Laura.

    "With this," said Madelynn, holding up  the deer skin. "It won't completely do the trick, but we can use this to smoke most of the meat overnight."

    Amelia watched as Madelynn and Eldridge built up a huge fire. It wasn't like a bonfire that towered into the air, but very wide instead. The two placed into the coals a very thin, flat rock whose surface heated up very quickly. On this surface they put deer meat that they had sliced into very thin strips. They explained that they would turn each strip over as it baked until the deer meat strips had turned into jerky.

    Meanwhile, over another part of the fire they erected a spit, held up by two forked branches stuck into the ground. They used the rawhide to hang the deer meat from this spit, dangling about a couple feet from the tops of the flames. Then Madelynn and Eldridge spread the deer hide over the top off the spit, pinning the four legs of the deer skin as close to the ground as it could go. They took fresh green pine branches and strips of bark and laid them up against the hide, creating a complete dome around the meat.

    "What will that do?" asked Amelia, dumbfounded.

    "In essence, we have created a smoke tent, like the natives use to smoke their meat. The dome will trap the heat and the smoke inside which will circulate and cure the venison. It would be better without salt, but beggars can't be choosers," Eldridge answered with a shrug.

    Meanwhile, away from the smoke tent, James had built up a smaller campfire and he was roasting one of the deer haunches, turning it slowly to evenly cook it throughout. Laura, Devin and Eva had wandered off to look for vegetables while Mrs. Bancroft had gone down to the creek banks to refill their water vessels.

    The widow marveled at the horns that Madelynn had made. They had worked all day, like a charm. Not a drop had leaked from them and although the group still had to drink sparingly, they hadn't run out of water. Before, with just the one water skin available, the group had ran out quickly and then found themselves parched and desperate to drink from the next source of water they came across.

    She uncapped the vessels and refilled them in the clear mountain stream. Wiping off the rims with her skirt, she pushed the caps back in and slung them over her shoulder before refilling the skin. The skin had fallen into the dirt earlier, so she scrubbed it off in the stream with her fingers and then slung it over her shoulder with the others.

    Laura and the children were wandering through the forest. The children were having fun, bounding over logs and balancing along the tops of the big ones. Laura enjoyed watching them having such a carefree moment. They hadn't been able to play like this for most of their journey, so far, and she didn't feel it was good for children to be so serious all the time.

    She was hoping to find some wild vegetables of some sort; something fresh to go with the venison that Madeline had shot. She wasn't as good at foraging as her husband or Madelynn though, so she had her doubts about finding anything edible. But then she saw a cluster of ruddy-orange caps growing under a copse of evergreen trees. She crouched down to get a better look and noticed they had reddish traces running along them.

    They look familiar to her for some reason, and she tried to place the memory of where she had last seen them. She thought they were edible, but she wished someone was nearby to confirm it with her. Devin ran by just then, having leapt over a baby tree from the top of a log. He noticed her investigating the mushrooms and stopped to look.

    "Bloody milk caps," he said.

    "Well that doesn't sound good," Laura commented in dismay.

    "No, they're good to eat," he replied. "Mama and I used to pick them all the time. They're yummy. They turn your fingers red though," he told her.

    "Really?" she asked, perking up in interest.

    He nodded, before zooming off to go catch his sister.

    Laura began to fill the bucket with the bloody milk caps, and realized quickly that the mushrooms bled a sticky substance when she picked them that stained her fingers reddish-purple. She quickly cleared the patch of them. Venturing on, she saw more and more, and continued picking till her bucket was full and her hands looked gruesome.

    She hollered for the children, who quickly came running, and they all headed back towards camp. She felt they had been gone long enough now. As they neared the treeline, Eva noticed her red hands.

    The little girl gasped in horror, thinking she had hurt herself, and pointed at the  woman's hands. "Happened?" she asked.

    "It's the mushrooms, Eva," explained her older brother. He removed one of them from the bucket and showed her the red ooze. His sister recoiled in disgust.

    "Eww," she said, wrinkling her nose at it.

    "But they're yummy," he insisted. "Try one," and with a grin, he lunged towards his sister, holding the bloody-looking mushroom.

    She squeaked, and dodged, trying to avoid getting touched by it. Devin laughed and started chasing her with it and she screamed happily, running from him towards the camp. The small group cleared the woods and Laura realized that the rest of their party were watching them, probably alarmed by Eva's screams.

    Just then, with Devin hot on her heels, Eva dove towards her mother. "Mama! Save me" she shouted.

    Madelynn grinned and relaxed, as did the rest of the group when they realized the children were just playing. She seized her daughter and swung her into the air, keeping her from her mischievous brother. As Devin got close, she plucked the mushroom from his hands and laughed merrily as he groaned in dismay, realizing that his game had ended.

    "Bloody milk caps?" she said, looking at the offending item. "That's a good find," she told them.

    "Laura found them," responded her ever-so-honest son.

    "Well," she said, as she placed them in the pan with a small amount of deer fat, "they will be a delicious addition to our dinner, which is almost finished, thanks to James.

    She had harvested as much of the deer fat as she could, knowing just how useful it could be. Not only did it have the added benefit of aiding in the cooking process, but mixed with certain herbs or plants it could make a powerful salve for various uses. 

    "Smells good!" chimed Eva, her mouth watering.

    "Indeed," said Mrs. Bancroft. "We are lucky to have fresh game, because the closer it gets to winter, who knows if we will be so lucky."

    "Let's not be negative, Mother," chided her daughter. "Let's just be grateful for what we have now."

    Everyone gathered around James, who used the spare knife to cut strips of cooked venison off of the leg bone, handing them out to the group one by one. The mushrooms were searing nicely. As the group waited for the venison to cool they watched Madelynn toss them skillfully with the pan. As the mushrooms finished, she scooped them out with the spatula and handed some to each person.

    They ate their dinner sitting around the campfire. In high spirits, Laura, James, and Madelynn sang an old miner's tune that they had learned back in New Haven. It had a swinging rhythm and an engaging chorus. Before too long, Eva was dancing along in time and the other adults were joining in at the refrain, clapping the beat merrily.

    Suddenly, Mrs. Bancroft noticed Laura's hands and gasped. "Why, my dear!" she exclaimed, appalled at the sight of them. "Whatever happened to your lovely hands?"

    Amelia walked over and took Laura's hands in hers, staring at them curiously, as Laura explained. "They've just been stained by the sap from the mushrooms."

    Madelynn, who had plenty of experience with this particular fungus, reassured her. "The stain will go away in a few days. Just scrub your hands with some sand when you wash to help remove it."

    Laura nodded. "Easy enough," she confirmed.

    Slowly they began to simmer down, as exhaustion claimed them. They nestled into their beds, except for Eldridge. He decided to take the first watch so he could continue keeping an eye on the smoking meat. They had decided to divide up their night into two and a half hour shifts. Mrs. Bancroft, who even now still suffered from insomnia, agreed to take the second watch, and then James would take the third.

    The night was quiet, and Eldridge's shift past without remark. He awoke Mrs. Bancroft at the allotted time, and handed her the rifle. He also instructed her to stir up the coals under the smoking meat once before she handed the shift over to James.

    The widow sat down on the same log that Eldridge had, leaning back against the tree behind it. She had asked Madelynn earlier if she could read out of Madelynn's family Bible, stating that she hadn't read the good Lord's word in far too long. Madelynn had obligingly let her borrow it, and keeping an ear out for any unwelcome sounds, Mrs. Bancroft indulged herself in the Good Book.

    After an hour or so, Mrs. Bancroft rose and entered the woods to use the bathroom. As she was taking care of her business, she suddenly heard a crackling in the brush nearby and a low, unfriendly growl.

    The sleeping party were jarred from their sleep by a piercing scream.  Immediately, Madelynn, James, and Eldridge leapt to their feet, at the ready.  Amelia, a heavier sleeper, and Laura, her body not as responsive as normal, were a little slower to rise.  "What is it, Mama?" asked Madelynn's groggy, sleepy-eyed son.

    Suddenly, another high-pitched wail echoed through the trees, coming from the forest. Everyone could hear something crashing at high-speeds through the underbrush.  "Mother!" shouted Amelia, and she began to run for the woods in alarm.

    James grabbed her arm as she ran past him, and just in time too, for her mother emerged from the vegetation, a look of absolute terror plastered across her face.  Right on her heels, it's face full of glistening white teeth was a bristling furry figure.  It's beady black eyes were glued on the fleeing form of the older woman, and without the vegetation to slow it down, it began to gain on her, throwing up chunks of turf as it ran her down.

    Madelynn knew what it was, and without a second's hesitation, she seized her daughter and threw her on top of the boulder they had bedded against. Her son followed, his bark of surprise nothing compared to the snarls coming from the approaching creature. She ran towards Mrs. Bancroft, grabbing the heavy cast iron pan as she ran past the fire pit. James grabbed a flaming branch from the fire and followed her.

    Eldridge grabbed onto the heaviest, stoutest branch he could find.  "Get on top of that boulder!" he shouted at his wife, running to the widow's defense and trusting Laura to keep herself and her unborn baby safe.

    The fiercesome predator realized quickly that it's prey was fleeing towards it's herd, and lunged for her, not willing to lose it's dinner.  In a scuffle of fur, fabric, claws and hair, the two went down in a heap.  The widow fought to protect herself, keeping her arms between her face and the muzzle of the creature.

    Amelia screamed as her mother disappeared underneath the monster's body.  Madelynn reached Mrs. Bancroft a split-second later and hit the animal with all the force she could muster.  The cast iron pan cracked the creature over the head with a tremendous gonging sound and the creature howled in pain as it was knocked off the widow.  It rolled to it's feet right as Eldridge swung his branch, smashing it in the side and knocking it sideways again.

    It growled, baring it's fangs at them, and without delay, it lunged back towards it's bleeding and injured prey. James waved his flaming branch into it's face and it hesitated, giving James enough time to pull the widow to her feet and away from the predator. Madelynn swung the pan again, and it crashed into the animal's muzzle.  It yelped and leapt backward, but with amazing dexterity, bounced off the ground and pounced towards Madelynn.  Eldridge was there to aid her though, and hit it, knocking it back to the ground.

    The creature rose a little more slowly then. It paced just out of reach of their weapons, snarling aggressively.

    Meanwhile, Laura had run towards the boulder, fully prepared to scramble up besides the children.  She knew she couldn't risk the baby to go to their friend's aid.  Her eyes fell on one of the bundles of provisions, sitting at the base of the great rock and she gasped, realizing what was inside.

    Dropping to her knees, she threw open the blanket, revealing the contents, and there, as if it was waiting for her, was the pistol.  The group kept it loaded, in case of emergency, and saying a prayer of thanks, she grabbed it, letting the rest fall back to the ground.  She rose to her feet, raising her arms at shoulder's height, and aimed the gun at the bristling creature.  With a startling bang, she fired.

    The animal yelped in pain as the first bullet struck it above the eye, ricocheting off it's thick brow bone.  It's body jerked away from the projectile, causing the second bullet to graze it in the shoulder. Confused, and angry, it's body and face burning in pain, it must have had enough and it turned, fleeing back into the forest.

    It took a few minutes for the widow's defender's to relax.  Amelia reached her mother's side in seconds and she and James helped the sobbing woman stagger back towards the fire.  They sat her down on a stump.  The poor lady couldn't stop shaking nor her teeth chattering as the adrenaline and fear were still coursing through her body.  Laura had dropped the pistol into the bundle at her feet, and grabbing the blanket from nearby, wrapped it around the shivering figure.

    Madelynn moved back to the group, setting her pan down on the rocks around the fire.  She could tell by the amount of blood on Mrs. Bancroft that some of her injuries would need medical attention.  Devin and Eva slid down the boulder and ran to her, throwing their arms around her in relief.  Poor Eva was crying in fear and she embraced her daughter, trying to comfort her. 

    Laura had been taught some basic medical skills from her mother, who had been a nurse, years ago before her marriage, and she took charge.  She sent the children to the creek to fill up the bucket with fresh water, and then cut some strips from her nightgown.  Upon investigation, she discovered that most of Mrs. Bancroft's wounds were fairly superficial, and would heal on their own in a matter of days.  But Mrs. Bancroft's forearms which she had used to protect her face and neck, were gushing blood from a series of deep lacerations. Some of the scratches were so deep that bone could be seen, shining white through the dark blood.

    "We are going to have to stitch these wounds closed," Amelia said to no one in particular.  "And they are going to have to be thoroughly cleaned first. But I'm not sure what to do about possible infection." The children had returned and she used the water to start flushing out the deeper wounds on the widow's arms.

    Mrs. Bancroft moaned in pain as the water worked it's way through the lacerations. Her daughter held her, keeping her upright. 

    "What was that creature?" asked James as Eldridge stood nearby, alert for the possible return of the animal, his branch in his hands. 

    "Wolverine," responded Madelynn, her tone quiet and serious.