Guy
1528 Words
Thursday, 8th September 1442
At around 5 in the evening, a party of Adventurers that made up of a MacDonough, a 17 years old lad named Guy, as the leader, his younger sister named Gillian aged 13 years old and a pair of newlyweds had just completed about 12 miles trekking away from town.
The leader of the party was chosen because of his expertise as a hunter-gatherer from the Irish Traveller group and also had a strong survivable experience in the wilds. Along the way, he had managed to hunt down some rabbits that he had managed to knocked them out cold with some blunt arrows.
His younger sister had quickly skinned them and soaked the strips of meat in salt to prevent spoilage as well as to make them into their supper for the evening.
The two newlyweds that joined up had brought with them some loaves of bread that would be able to last them for some days throughout the journey.
As the cold autumn weather delays the process of spoilage, the food with them could last for quite some time before they get to the nearest civilisation, so to say.
Since it was already 5 in the evening and the water in the leather pouches that they carry were still full, they decided to make camp for the night. Just a short distance away, Guy saw some pine trees that would be able to provide good tea, shelter and also accessible tinder and firewood.
"Come on guys, you see that tall pine trees over yonder? That's where we are going to head next. There's a lot of firewood and tinder and the ground would be soft as the pine leaves act as a natural mattress and keeps our body warm as the ground doesn't actually take away our body heat."
"You guys bring along your own blankets, right? Alright then, let's head over there instead and make camp. It's heme some time since I had spent the time outdoors and we could have some pine tea. I would show you how to do it, it's simpler than it looks."
The party of four then moved towards the cluster of pine trees and soon had reached the perimeter of the area. Guy chose a good spot and decided that they build a small fire first to warm themselves.
"It's already Autumn now, but here in the outdoors, it's considered as winter and the nights would be extremely cold. I would guide you on how to use your woollen blanket as a sleeping bag that is snug and warm and your knapsack as a pillow."
"Right now I need you to put your loaves of bread away from the ground and hang it in the lower branches. If not you could just tie them across the trunk. Pine trees are excellent to hang perishables since the tree repels bugs and so on."
From the guidance of Guy, the newlyweds had learnt something new. All four of them were not hungry since they had a hearty meal just before setting off. Guy showed the newlyweds which we would be calling them as the Guinness' how to set up a slow-burning teepee top-down fire.
"This fire would be able to last a good 4 to 6 hours and the smoke would also chase away the gnats. It is also a good smoke to preserve our game meat for later. How about some pine tea?"
The Guinness agreed at the suggestion since they had not been away much like spending time under the stars et cetera. However, they did not forget that they were performing a task and would be away for at least two weeks at a stretch.
The four of them changed into their own clothes and hanged the Adventurers clothes by making a clothesline in between two tree trunks.
Each carried 3 water pouches and for tea, they used one water pouch instead. A small pot was set on a fireplace to boil the water first and once it simmered hot, some fresh pine leaves were then thrown inside it and covered.
Next to the fireplace, Guy had already brought some fairly thick branches about 2 inches in diameter and had broken it underfoot. He the stacked it next to the fireplace in a teepee kind of manner and then he placed some embers from the fireplace on top of the pile.
Soon, a small fire could be seen crackling on the top as some kindling were placed along with the embers from the fireplace. In the end, all the embers from the fireplace had been transferred to the slow-burning campfire.
"Don't forget to bring out your hand warmers and stuff them unto your clothes. This would give them added warmth beside the campfire right now. Remember Autumn nights can be cold and don't ever get caught sleeping without a cover on the ground. It's alright to get sick but it's not alright to gey hypothermia."
Guinness' nodded their heads as they listened and then engaged in some small talk other than making fires as they sipped their hot cups of pine tea that soon warmed their bodies.
Gillian was making crude stands next to the campfire to dry the rabbit meat that had been skinned earlier. As the pelt had to be washed and prepared, it was of no use to them right now and was buried instead. They had to travel light, fast and with the best survival items available which would be food and water.
As the smoke rises from the campfire they were burning from the top, it dried the rabbit meat and soon everyone would be able to gnaw on it as they trudged on.
Gillian removed an incandescent stone from her bag and then used a linen cloth that was soaked much earlier in beeswax and then made a small boxed lantern and hung it above the clothesline to shed some light when they sleep.
As the night approaches, the forests became alive with the stirrings of some nocturnal beasts. Guy reassured to the Guinness' that there was nothing to worry as the sounds were too far away and furthermore, they are downwind so their scent would be carried off miles away from those nocturnal beasts.
"If you're hungry, go break a loaf of bread and share it between you two. Don't mind us, we are used to hardship before we came to Gracehaven and being here in the outdoors really bring back memories."
"Too bad we are following the western route or else we would be near some body of water and we could have fresh water and also fish to eat. Hahaha."
Guy knew that the Guinness' was hungry and too shy to mention so the former offered them to have supper first. They could even have some meat if they wished to since the meat could be roasted to have them immediately.
"Thanks, Guy, it seems you could hear our stomachs growling earlier. Don't worry, we have the hand warmers in out tunic and breeches now and we would be comfortably warm. Besides, how do you make our blankets into sleeping bags?"
Guy was sipping the last drops of his tea and he took his own blanket to show how it was to be done. He first laid them flat on the ground and then he lay diagonally on it.
The edge of the blanket went over his socks first and then he threw the left flap of the blanket over his body and then the right before he curled up and placed his head on a mound of dry pine leaves that he had made into a blanket.
Gillian was laughing at the sides because, in that small demonstration, it also indicated that once Guy had curled up inside his sleeping bag, he would not stir up till the next morning.
The Guinness' were shocked at first and then let out a chuckle as they realised that it was time to have a good rest. They soon followed suit after they ate some slices of bread that they had broken and soon were snugly fit inside their blankets as they curled up at the sides and went to sleep while Gillian was the last to rest.
"Hey Guy, have a goodnight buddy. It is really true that this blanket could really become a great sleeping bag. Hahaha." complimented the Guinness' as they curled up and slept in the soft pine needles like as if they were sleeping on their own beds at home and was accompanied by the soft natural breeze.
The party of four couldn't wait to meet the next civilisation that they deduced would be about half a day's walk. Once they found an inhabited town, village or settlement, they could steady have some decent food for lunch.
Besides, all four didn't carry many coins since they only limit themselves to 100 coppers per person. Out here from the boundaries of our town, its 12 coppers to a silver, so they had close to 9 silvers on them.
With Guy as their party leader, we're pretty sure that nothing would go wrong, aren't we?
- Writer
