Our beginning

Home Bound

I was so glad to be back on the road and finally on our way back home. With everything that had happened the last two days, I was terrified that the rest of my family might not be there when we got back. Two days was already a great deal of time to be away and I had hoped that we would have already been home by now and we would have been if not for all the outside interference.

I was going to miss those girls... well..... all of those kids but I needed to be home with my husband and the rest of my children. I was getting extremely worried about them, even though I knew they could take care of themselves and I had taught each one of them a trait that they needed me for most I still felt that it would be best if I was there instead of each of them knowing something I'm useful for. If Bella got separated from them they didn't have a doctor of sorts and if Mark was separated from them their hunting teacher, provider and main protection was gone. If I was there they could go where they needed to and I could help but at the same time I knew they needed to learn to do this without me, just incase something happened to me and I had no way to return.

It was around midnight when we headed out of Brownsville and we had been on the road for at least two hours trying to retrace our same route that we had came as best I could. Kena and Lola were starting to wake up but no one else had really moved much. I hadn't seen any traffic at all in Texas but when I got to Tennessee there were vehicles everywhere and lots of people. I hadn't went this way the first time because I had followed the river but going the opposite way I got lead this way somehow. I was glad to see that Tennessee hadn't been as badly affected but I was concerned about how no one seemed to be worried or even like they knew what was going on in Texas. Maybe it wasn't the whole state? I may have just taken roads that no one used I guess and hadn't seen anyone but as I always said better to be safe than sorry.

We didn't stay long, I topped off both tanks with gas and checked all my fluids then we set back out to find the river. I figured I'd go for a short jog with Kena and Lola once we got out of the city and away from all the people, they had been cooped up in the car for a while and I wanted to stretch my legs for a bit.

I was pretty impressed with how well Lola listened and took hand cues, she was extremely intelligent and we both already loved her very much. They both went potty and stretched out a good amount before loading back up into the car. Once I got them completely situated I gave them a couple of my dehydrated treat bars and they ate them up, I figured our next stop would be when everyone woke up or the next potty break which ever happened first.

The girls sat together watching out the window and then cleaned each other, which was adorable and I loved every moment of their bonding time. Then they stared into the woods as we zoomed passed. At about 10 or so Kena started to whine and I figured we were only 4 hours away from where we had been swimming the first trip so I'd see if anyone was moving around, bring the girls for a stretch and maybe see what we could hunt down as meat to go with the rice I had left.

The sun was beating down nicely and the wind made it a perfect temperature, as I pulled over Kena scratched at the door so I hurried along once I realized no one was waking up. When I got out, I hurried my pace a bit thinking she was in a hurry to potty but after I got them both latched to me I heard something I hadn't before and understood why Kena wanted to stop so badly.

It sounded like there was a small child crying somewhere in the woods....

We investigated a bit and couldn't find anything, the sound had disappeared as fast as it had started. Lola wanted to go back to the car so I brought her back and she laid in the sun going through the rocks she had in her bag.

Kena and I weren't done yet though, we had seen signs of deer and I was still wondering about the crying noise. We went a bit deeper into the woods this time but got there faster because we had already knew the area a bit. We found a spot near a tree and some brush to sit next to and waited a bit to see if anything came into view. Kena fell asleep with her head on my leg and then I saw it, a huge white buck. I had no way to get it back to the car by myself so I just sat and watched, I couldn't waste a beautiful creature. If I was going to bring one back it would have to be at least half that size but he was gorgeous so I sat and watched until something spooked him. I couldn't see anything and Kena was weighing me in place as she slept so I couldn't move without making to much noise. When I had almost given up and woke her up a buck the perfect size came walking by and when I say walking by I mean within 10 feet, it didn't even seem fair when I shot my arrow through its neck and then another fast through its skull. Kena was surprised when I shoved her off of me but I had to get to the prize before anything else noticed and start prepping it then head back to the car to get everyone's help getting it put away. She was a bit grumpy but she'd enjoy the organs and bones when the time came so she'd get over it in no time.

When we got back to the car Brian was already up and moving around, his jaw dropped when he saw me dragging the buck. "This lazy cow didn't help me one bit but she's going to enjoy the bounty. Worst part is.... she was mad at me for waking her up when I finally got him." he laughed and started helping me get it all separated and packed away where it needed to go. We got the fur stretched and laid the hide out with the hair face down on my trunk so it could dry out and I put the antlers up for Kena after we ate dinner. This would make a perfect addition to my fried rice after we finished the last four hours to our swimming spot. Brian had cut steaks and ribs, there was a nice roast for me to cure and surprise everyone when we got home and Kena had fresh meat and bones to chew on for the next couple days. It was an extremely healthy male and I had tossed the healthiest organs in a jar with apple cider vinegar for later, if no one else ate it with me Kena would.

Then we heard it again.... louder this time and heading straight for us. Brian stepped forward and I loaded an arrow. A small child ran straight into Brian's arms and we were lucky I had prepared and was such a good shot because a boar came running up right behind him and I put an arrow right through its eye ball and out the back of its head!

"Wow, Mom! I think you just saved my life.... and this little dudes also!" we both looked at the child in his arms. "Are you alright?"

The child started to sob and wouldn't look at either of us but as I approached the boar he screamed as if warning me that it was dangerous. I pulled a hatchet out to show him I wasn't afraid and then I cut its feet off and threw them into a jar of vinegar like I had the deer heart and organs. I slit its ears off and tossed them to Kena, I had appreciated her staying out of my way which we had been working on.

"Chase!! Is that you son?! Chase!?" I could hear in the distance.

"Is that your name? Those your parents? " he nodded, "Over here!! I have him, he's safe!" They ran over and hugged him. "Do you want this? I can't take it with me and we have to get going."

"Oh, yes! Thank you so much for finding our son and giving us this amazing gift."

We got loaded up in the car and headed out on the road again. When we finally got to our destination it was about 5 and the sun was starting to go down gradually, I was glad we had finally made it especially because everyone was starting to move around.