Our beginning

The Cabin

We left at about 7 pm and drove all night without any stops,we had all missed hunting more than any of us could have imagined. It was nice to finally see our home away from home, the porch that wrapped around the cabin was covered in a thin layer of snow and my swing was covered also. I wasn't worried about it though, the moment the sun came all the way up it would melt. We were high enough up a mountain that it could be below zero at night and in the 60s during the day.

The sun was starting to rise and I was ready for a nap before we went hunting, Marky followed me up the stairs to the bathroom. "Can we go hunting tonight, just the two of us, after the family prehunt?" he asked.

"Of course we can, I can't wait to go snag another buck.... this time if I see a real big one at least I'll be able to try for it.... I was so disappointed that I had no way to bring him back to the car but then the smaller one came along."

"Pure luck....." he dramatically picked on me, sticking his tongue out.

"We'll see who fills the freezer this year." I had started walking out of the bathroom and he started to tickle me, picking me up and carrying me back down the stairs and then into our bedroom. He tossed me lightly onto the bed and then climbed up to cuddle me, "I'm going to take a nap before we eat and go for our prehunt, please bring everything in and put it all away!" I shouted then got under the blanket to get warm. As I did so Lola and Kena came to lay on me and I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I decided to take a shower and get fresh clothes on. As I let the hot water clean out my pores and turn my skin redish pink I thought about the last time I had been here with my husband. This is our favorite place to be, it has been ever since before we bought it and all of our memories since have just made it that much more precious to us. My thoughts wandered to my visit with my grandmother and I was sure that she knew something important was going to happen on this trip. I was excited to go on my hunt with Marky every time we came here but after my visit I was even more curious about what we would find in the Caves than ever. I would have to plan our family hunt for an area that wouldn't disturb the cave or anything around it since Mark wouldn't want to hunt the same place twice in one day. Also, the cave was special for us so he'd be glad that I saved that spot for us to hunt alone.

As I got out of the shower I noticed my hunting clothes had been taken from the bathroom and a robe was laid where they had been so I dried off and slipped my robe on to go see what was going on. The lights were dimmed and candles were lit all over the room with red, orange and pink rose peddles scattered throughout the room but I didn't see my husband anywhere so I laid myself down on the bed and crossed my legs opening the robe a bit for when he came in. As I waited I turned the speaker on next to the bed which started playing our songs that we had designated to each other throughout the years and then he walked in with breakfast for me. Pancakes, over easy eggs, crispy hash browns and bacon just the way I liked it with orange juice and water. We sat and ate together in silence listening to each song play that reminded us of the years we had spent together.

"I fed everyone else while you were showering and had them all get ready for the hunt, I hope that's alright."

"Of course it is, my love." I kissed his lips gently and then kissed the tip of his nose.

"Whenever you're ready to start the hunt everyone else should be ready also."

"Alright.... Well, I'm still hungry though...." We had finished off the food and drinks so he looked at me curiously. I took his hand and kissed his finger tips then spread my legs and opened the robe as I removed one arm at a time, placed his hand on the inside of my thigh and pulled him close wrapping my legs around him. I undid his pants and slipped inside of my wet opening.

"Oh my lord, you really are the best thing that's ever happened to me Chevy. No one could ever come close to making me feel the way you do, not ever."

"I love you too handsome, let's get ready to go hunting! I'm so excited for the first catch of the hunt! Who do you think will get the first catch?"

"I'm guessing that you will.... but Johnie's pretty sure he'll get the first catch."

"I'm better on Brian, I hope he got himself prepared and caught up on sleep because it's go time." We both rushed down the stairs playfully poking at each other and laughing. "Everyone ready?" I called out as I entered the front room.

I wasn't at all surprised to see them all sitting in chairs and on the couch all dressed and ready waiting for us to come down. This was the moment we were all waiting for, for the last twenty four hours. We would be splitting up into teams. Mark was taking Johnie and Alex while I was taking Ava, Brian and Raven. For today's trip Kena and Lola would be staying in the cabin, I would let them come with tomorrow after I had found our yellow and orange reflective vests so no one accidentally saw them as prey.

"May the best hunter win! Make sure you catch your time for each successful hunt and stay away from the cave, we're hunting there tonight so I don't want anything disturbing the prey there. Stay safe and good luck to you all, remember that you could find anything this year because we set animals loose to multiply last time we were here and we stayed away long enough to let them settle in!" I gave Alex and Johnie hugs and then kissed Marky before we went separate directions.

Mark's point of view..............................................

As we walked into the woods I gave both boys their bows and double checked that they had their arrows attached to their backs properly. I watched as Johnathan knelt down and loaded an arrow not to far down the path. He had gotten really good at tracking so I trusted his instincts and put my hand on Alex's shoulder to stop him from going further without speaking. Johnie let the arrow fly and we heard a squeal ring out through the forest, he ran over to where his arrow had been aimed and brought it back with not one but two nice fat white rabbits. He was smiling ear to ear so happy that you would think he was the cat that ate canary. I couldn't help but laugh a bit, then I checked the time and jotted it down before helping him remove the rabbits and tossing them in my bag. We would never out live this story if someone with Chevy hadn't gotten a better time but I had to admit he was getting really good and would be a formidable opponent if and when he ever had to defend himself.

Not much further into the trees I saw Alex put his hand to his side where his throwing knives were holstered so I put my hand on Johnathan's shoulder to signal him to stop and observe with me. Alex moved slowly into a direction I couldn't see and all we could hear after he threw two knives was thud, thud. He raced off to bring his catch back which to my delight was two pheasants, Chevy's favorite. She was going to be so happy when she saw them, which reminded me to check the time and jot it down before motioning for him to clean his knives in the creek near us and tossing the pheasants in my bag.

It was my turn and they knew it, Shavell and I always let the kids get the first catch that way we could stop anyone from getting in the way. Being observant had saved us from many dangerous situations in the past and this was another reason for going out in smaller groups plus going in opposite directions.

The boys had both acted faster than I had expected but when I heard rustling around like something large was digging I was glad they had. I signaled for them to stay behind me with my fingers and edged forward as I loaded my arrow into my bow. I already knew what was around the corner and needed complete concentration to get it right in the head. I rounded the corner and let go of the arrow, watching as my target was hit exactly where I had planned then dragged the huge boar back to where the boys had got comfortable.

"Man!! That boar's so big!! Mom's going to be so happy when she's our catch for today and we didn't take long to all get something. Do you think they'll be done too?" Alex asked.

"She has an extra person to keep an eye on and I'm sure she's wanting a buck before she heads back so she won't be there when we get back. I'm proud of you both, you did an excellent job today. Now we need to get all of this back and make prep easier your mother." I jotted down my time and took out the sling in my bag to help us drag the boar back before taking my arrow out of its skull, it had went clean through its eye and out of its ear.

When we made it back to the cabin, I was excited to see what she would bring back.

Return to Chevy's Point of View...........................................................

As we entered the woods I noticed Brian getting his bow ready right off the bat and got the girls attention to get them to watch what he did. Right as I did so his arrow flew and I saw the 5 point buck that he was aiming for, the arrow went straight through its throat and attached it to a tree which was perfect because we didn't want to take any chances of it running away. Not wanting to drag the deer around the woods I jotted Brian's time down and wrote a note for the girls.....

Find your prey close by, I'm going to have Brian stay with his catch to prep it for going back. Just a moment.

They both nodded.

I walked over to Brian and wrote again as I handed him a sling.....

Stay here, we won't be far. Be right back. Great time and amazing catch, I'm proud of you!

Ava and Raven both looked ready to catch something as I walked their way. I nodded to send them forward. Ava put her hand on her hip where I had trained her to have her knives and Raven loaded an arrow, we didn't get far when they both got ready to aim in opposit directions. When Ava came back with a quail and 6 eggs my jaw dropped, what would Raven bring back? I wrote their time down together put Ava's catch in a bag and handed it to her motioning for her to go back to Brian then headed in Ravens direction. When I got there I realized what had been taking her so long. She hadn't only drawn one arrow, she had loaded two more after getting out of my sight and had bagged herself five nice fat rabbits. I was extremely satisfied with my three children and their skills, now it was my turn..... I walked her over to where Brian and Ava were waiting after helping her remove her arrows and putting them in a bag for her, then I motioned for them to stay and I listened for any movement for a moment.

I could hear something moving but couldn't see anything so I moved in the sounds direction as quietly as I could. When I saw it I almost didn't want to bag it but I already knew if Mark caught it I would never hear the end of it. A 10 point white buck with what looked like brown spots was maybe 20 feet away from me so I notched my bow and let the arrow fly, it zoomed straight threw his heart and he collapsed right where he stood. I wrote my time down and gave a little whistle calling the other three over to me. "Give me your bags, I'll need your help with this big guy!" I said with a big smile. "I hope their catch was as nice as ours!" it didn't take us long to get both deer heading back to the cabin and when we got there I walkied the boys seeing that they were moving around inside. "Testing.... Testing.... You know who you are.... Come Back??"

"Marky to Chevy.... How was your hunt? Over....."

"Come see for yourself! We need your help.... Over....."

They rushed out amazed by what I had on my sling and we got everything inside to get it all skinned and prepared for making this and that. When we got done we compared times for catches and found that Brian won first catch with Johnie only two minutes after, Alex followed and then the girls, Mark was only a minute off from the girls and though my catch was the best I was last. I wasn't bothered though, it had been the best hunt we had ever had and we weren't out in the woods long so my private hunt with Marky would be perfect since there was no way that we gave any warning to the rest of the wilderness.