Wilderness Challenge - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

         Candi and Marsha spent the weekend shopping.  Barnaby’s not only outfitted her with everything she would need, they also set her up with a top-notch rifleman.  The only thing she didn’t do that weekend was tell her parents her plans.  Time enough for that.  She didn’t want any long-winded lectures from either of them about how foolish she was to accept such a challenge.

         Candi opened the door to the rifle training center Monday after work and met her instructor, a middle-aged black man who clearly knew his business.  “Mr. Leonard, my name is Candi Martin.  I’m here to learn everything you can teach me about hunting, and survival.”

         A smile creased his face as Mr. Leonard studied the young woman in front of him.  “What do you need survival training for?”  His words were full of doubt and sarcasm.

         “I’m going to live in isolation for the next year.  I’ll need to hunt and fish for my food, and grow everything else.”

         His demeanor became serious as he circled her and took in her stance and appearance.  “You.  You’re going to live in isolation for a full year?”

         She put her hands on her hips and stared back at him a look of determination on her face.  “I am.”

         He stopped in front of her and stared into her face.  “You are aware this is a rifle training center?”

         “Yes.  The owner of Barnaby’s told me you specialize in wilderness survival training, not just rifle and handgun training.”

         “He’s right.  All right if that’s what you want and you’re serious we’ll start with the basics.  I’m going to teach you the way they teach our soldiers.  Why?  I was one.  I went through the course.  It saved my life.  Hold this!”  He handed her a rifle with full scope.

         She took it from him and held it awkwardly in her hands.

         “First of all you’re holding that rifle all wrong.  You’re holding it like you’re afraid of it.  Guns aren’t something to be afraid of; it’s the person on the other end of the gun you need to be afraid of.  I’m going to teach you how to handle a rifle the right way.  One thing you need to keep in mind is that your rifle is a weapon.  I’m going to start you out on the care, use, and cleaning of your weapon.  It will be your first line of defense against everything that comes against you.”

         “I understand.”

         “I’m sure you don’t, but you will once you get where you’re going.  You’ll need to be here every day until I certify you.  That means weekends too.  You won’t be going anywhere until I’m satisfied you’ll be able to survive in the wilderness.  Where are you going?”

         Candi took the map out she brought with her and pointed to the location.  “I’m going to be living here.”

         “I’ve been in the Bitterroot’s before.  It’s good for hunting, and you’re right, it is quite isolated.  Have you spent much time outdoors?  Are you absolutely positive you want to live there for a full year?”

         “Absolutely positive, and yes, I’ve done a lot of camping and hiking.”

         “Then let’s get started.  Each lesson will last at least two hours, perhaps longer.  Especially as you get near the date of your departure.  You will be trained in survival as well as weight lifting.”

         “Is that necessary?”

         “How do you expect to carry your kill back to your cabin?”

         “I hadn’t given it any thought.”

         “It’s as I thought.  You think this is going to be some walk in the park you’re planning on for the next year?”

         “N-no.  Not at all.  I know I’m going to be alone, except for the ranger station somewhere close by.”

         “You’ll be alone all right.  Nothing around you for miles except that ranger station.  So now that you’re here I’m going to make you think about what you propose to do.  That is why you came to me, right?”

         “Yes.  You were recommended by Barnaby’s.”

         “For good reason.  I’m the best there is, make no mistake about that.  By the time I’m finished with you, you’ll know how to survive anywhere, not just where you’re going.  I’m going to make you think and I’m going to pour instinct into you until your instinct is second nature to breathing.  Have you ever been on a horse?”

         “Yes, whenever I go hiking, sometimes when I camp.”

         “You are going to need to lift the dead carcass of the animal you kill up to the back of your horse.  Let’s see what your weight capacity is right now.”  He led her to some weights at one end of the room.  “Watch me first, and then I want you to do exactly what I do.  It will keep you from getting hurt.”

         Candi watched as he placed himself under a barbell, and lifted it from its resting place.  Another man came over and stood at his head.  “He’s my spotter.  If I get into any trouble he will be able to lift the weight off and put it up.”

         Candi watched him lift the barbell off the rest and pump it up several times.  He made it look easy.

         “Now it’s your turn.  I have two hundred pounds on this barbell.  You will have to lift at least that much, if not more, in order to get the carcass onto the back of your horse.  Let’s see what you can do.”

         Candi had never lifted weights before, and she had to go down quite a bit before she found her comfort zone.

         “Fifty pounds is a good place to start.  One thing you need to remember is only do what you can.  Push yourself if you must, but never, and I say, never go beyond your limit.  If today your limit is five lifts, next week try for six.  Your body will be the best judge of your limitations.  When fifty pounds becomes easy, we’ll add more weight, and continue to do so until I’m satisfied you can lift that weight to the back of a horse with ease.”

         “Will you be bringing a horse here?”

         “No.  When I feel you’re ready to start lifting your kill to the back of a horse, we’ll go out to a farm I contract with, and work with the horses there.  It’ll also give me a good idea how well you ride.”

         For the next two hours she worked until her arms ached.  She lifted weights, and then he took her to the practice range.  The first thing she had to get over was her fear of guns.  He showed her how to clean and care for her rifle, and then he showed her how to load and shoot.  He showed her how to check her rifle for ammunition, and also told her she was not to leave any cartridges in the chambers when she put her rifle up.

         In the weeks ahead she reviewed everything she had learned in the care, use, and maintenance of the rifle until she felt she could do it in her sleep.  As the weeks became months she found she could lift the weights required of her.

         By the time he took her out to the ranch for the first time she could aim at and accurately shoot what she aimed at.  Once he had gotten her to hit her target he had turned out the lights, and began the process of instinct.  He had blindfolded her and trained her to use her ears.  That was the most difficult of everything he had taught her, but she had accomplished it.

         She was excited the first time he took her out to a ranch.  There she lifted first fifty pound sacks of flour onto the back of a horse, and gradually moved up to a mid-size calf.

         “That is about the size and weight of most of the animals you will encounter.  Some might be heavier, and others more awkward, but if you can lift that calf, which weighs in at two-hundred fifty pounds you’ll do all right.”

         She remembered the flour sacks; and the baby calf, newly born; and took a look at the calf in front of her.  First she had to lift it.  “Two-fifty you said.”

         “That’s what I said.”

         She tied the legs of the calf and lifted it the way he taught her.  With more ease than she expected, she lifted it easily onto the back of the horse.  Then she took hold of the saddle horn and placed her foot in the stirrup, and climbed onto the back of the horse with the calf on the back.

         “Congratulations.  You are ready to hunt.”

         “You mean it?”

         “Miss Martin, I’ve put you through the Army survival training course with a few extras thrown in.  You came to me six months ago green as they come with one goal in mind: To live in the wild, away from everyone.  The course I taught you takes a year or more for most people, but they don’t come to the center everyday as you did.  If you’re not ready now, you never will be.  Your next step is to go and be part of what you trained for.  We’ll go back to the center and I’ll give you your marksmanship certificate.”

         A short while later she watched him sign his name on the certificate, and hand it to her.  There she read ‘Expert Marksman’.  A smile spread across her face as she reached out her hand to shake his.  “Thank you.”

         “You earned it.  Just remember what I’ve taught you: Instinct.  It will be your best defense against anything that comes against you.  If you ever want to come back to civilization please look me up.  You can have a job as an instructor if you ever want to switch careers.”

         “Thank you Mr. Leonard.  I really appreciate it.”

         “Enjoy your new life, and don’t forget the most important thing.”

         “Instinct.”

         “No.  God.”

         “I won’t.  Thank you again.”  Candi shook his hand and walked out of the practice range where she had learned far more than she ever thought possible.  She felt intense satisfaction.

         Six months from the day she had been in Mr. Mills’ office and received the opportunity to live in the wilderness away from everybody, and civilization in general she walked back into his office, certificate in hand.

         “I’m all ready, sir.  I received my expert certification as a marksman yesterday at the rifle range.”  Candi showed him the piece of paper Mr. Leonard had given her the day before.

         Mr. Mills looked down at the paper, before he handed it back to her.  “Very good.  When do you want to leave?”

         “Tomorrow.  It’s Saturday, I won’t have to worry about missing any work, and I can get a clean start Monday morning at the cabin.  I’m telling my parents tonight that I’ll be away for the next year.”

         He looked at her surprised.  “You haven’t told them yet?”

         “I wanted to wait until the last minute.  I didn’t want to be dissuaded from this course.”

         “I see.  I take it you’re all packed?”  At her nod of agreement, he said, “I’ll notify the pilot I’ve had on standby to pick you up tomorrow.  Have a good trip, and remember if there is an emergency of any kind, be sure to notify the ranger station at once.  You have your tetanus up to date?”

         “Yes.  I made an appointment to get a complete physical as soon as you proposed this challenge to me.”  Candi saw approval mirrored in his face, and felt good about what she had accomplished in so little time.

         “You got a complete first aid kit?”

         “Yes.  I got it at Barnaby’s, and had the hospital check it out when I had my physical.  They added some things Barnaby’s hadn’t included, and told me to contact them if I needed more supplies.”

         “Very good.  I suggest you get a good night’s sleep.  The pilot will pick you up at five a.m.”

         “So early?”

         “It’s a five hour trip.”

         “Five hours from Minneapolis to Idaho?”

         “More or less.  The last time I went other than outfitting the cabin for you, I flew commercial and had layovers.  You’re going in a much smaller plane, so it could still take as long.”

         “Well I had better tell my parent’s about this expedition.  They’ll need to know I’ll be leaving in the morning.”

         “You put in a change of address card for the post office so your mail goes through the company?”

         “Yes.  I took care of it yesterday.  All my mail will be going through the company beginning tomorrow.  I didn’t know when I would be leaving, but since I had gotten my certification yesterday I hoped it would be tomorrow.  I really want to see my new home and start on this venture.”

         “You might not be so enthused by the end of next week.  Remember, if you want to call it off, we won’t lose the grant.  The purpose is to find out if a person can survive alone in a wilderness situation.  Call it a wilderness challenge.”  He shook her hand as she stood to leave.

         “I’ll keep that in mind.” 

         He held up his hand.  “Before you leave I promised you something when you were ready to start on this adventure, your wages.”  He took a piece of paper from his desk and handed it to her.  “Here is the pay raise I promised you.”

         She took the sheet of paper from him and looked at it, stunned by what she saw.  She looked at the pen and paper before she took it from him, signed it, and handed it back to him.  “This is the grant money?”

         “Yes.  Of course the company gains a good portion of the grant as well.”

         “Naturally.”  He followed her to the door, where she looked up at him before she walked out.

         “Have a safe trip, and remember to keep a daily journal about your adventure.”

         “I will.  Thank you.”  She closed the door behind her, and felt a mix of emotions.  Eagerness to be on her way, fear for the unknown, and sadness that she would leave Marsha behind.  Buoyancy lifted her spirits as she left his office, and headed back to her desk on her last day in the company offices.

         She was in the break room for her last break.  After that she would be somewhere in Idaho in a cabin.

         Marsha followed her to the break room.  “I’m going to miss you.”

         “I’ll miss you too.  You’ve grown a lot in the last six months.  I’ll write often, and let you know how things are.”

         “I’ll look forward to your letters.”

         Candi saw the look of sadness on her face.  “Don’t be sad.  I’m doing what God has for me to do.” 

         “I’m not sad for you, but for me.  I’m going to miss you a lot.”

         “And just because I’m leaving don’t stop going to church.  You’ve got a lot of friends there who are willing to help you in any way.”

         “I wouldn’t dream of it.  I’ve never felt so fulfilled and at peace with myself in my entire life as I have been since the day you prayed with me.  Thanks again for the Bible.”  Marsha had tears in her eyes.  “What are you going to do tonight?”

         “I’m going to mom and dad’s to let them know I’m leaving.  I’ve left it to the very last.  I know how they’ll react, and I don’t want to be dissuaded at this late date.”

         “You’re really excited about this aren’t you?”

         They returned to their desks after Marsha prayed for her safety in the unknown.  “Very.  I can’t wait to get started tomorrow.  I am so proud of you.”

         “Me?  Why me?”

         “Look at you, you’re not the same shy person you were six months ago.  You’ve made a lot of friends at church.”

         “I owe it all to you, that’s why I’m going to miss you so much.”

         “You’ll be fine.  Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

         “You’re seeing your parents tonight aren’t you?”

         “Yes, and I’m not looking forward to it.”

         “You’re certain they won’t understand?”

         “That’s the understatement of the century, but it’s something I have to do.  I’m leaving at five in the morning.”

         “I’ll pray for you.”  Marsha hugged her before she returned to her own desk.

         The meeting with her parents didn’t go at all well.  Her father thought she had lost her mind, and her mother cried the whole time.  They were placated only by the fact she still had her job.  It had been a relief to leave.

         She was home and in bed by eleven o’clock.  Her parents might be happy she was about to leave civilization far behind, but she couldn’t be happier.