Wilderness Challenge - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

         Candi woke to Rascal’s bark, and heard the knock on the door as she shushed him.  She realized she forgot to set her alarm, as she grabbed her bathrobe, and went to open the door.  Rascal pranced around the entrance at the sight of another person.  He emitted some perfunctory low barks, and Candi had to quiet him again before she admitted the pilot.

         “You must be the pilot Mr. Mills told me about.  I’m sorry.  I overslept.  I forgot to set my alarm.  I’ll only be a few minutes.  Everything is packed and ready.  By the time you have this loaded, I’ll be ready to go.”

         He looked around at the various boxes packed and ready to go.  “Yes, that’s right.  Name is Bart Hampstadt.  I’ll get these taken care of while you get ready.”

         “All right.  What can I expect for weather this time of year?”

         “Nice this time of year, sixties.”

         “Sounds nice.  I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”  Candi disappeared into the bedroom and went through to the bathroom where she ran a shower, the last she would enjoy for a long time, and dressed for the beginning of her journey.  When she emerged from the bedroom with her cosmetic case, he had taken the last of the boxes.

         He had a look of admiration on his face as she came in sight.  “All set?”

         She took one last look around, closed the curtains, and made sure she had everything turned off before she locked the door behind them.  “Yes.”

         “This all yours?”

         “No.  I rented furnished.  I told my landlord I would be vacating the house today, and I would leave the key on the counter.”  She held out her hand as she followed him out to his van.  “I’m sorry, I forgot to introduce myself.  I’m Candace Martin, but call me Candi.  It’s nice to meet you.”  He shook her hand before he handed her into the van, followed closely by her dog.  “And this is Rascal.”

         “You didn’t forget to make sure all his immunizations were up to date, did you?”

         She buckled into the front passenger seat while Rascal leaned his head over the seat, tail wagging and mouth open, as he looked everywhere at once.  “He's all up to date.”

         He got in behind the wheel, noted she was buckled and looked back at Rascal.  “Good, all set?”

         “Yes, thank you.”

         The plane was on the river, not at the airport as she expected.  She helped him stow her belongings.  With everything stowed she buckled in and Rascal jumped in behind her.  Candi watched and listened as Bart readied the plane for departure, interested in the preflight routine before takeoff.

         She said a quick prayer as they prepared for takeoff.  “Lord, please keep us safe on this journey.  Protect the plane by Your blood, and keep everything in good working order.  In Jesus name I pray, amen.”  Candi watched the landscape rush past her window and the plane lifted into the air.  “Have you been flying long?”

         “Twenty years.  I flew commercial for the first ten, then started my own charter service, and worked that for five years.  That’s when I met Mr. Mills.  He asked me to be his private pilot.  I accepted.”  He look at her.  “What about you?  What brings you out here in the middle of nowhere for an entire year?”

         “Lots of things, mostly I just like being alone.”

         “No boyfriends left behind?"

         Candi studied the terrain.  “No.”

         “Something must a happened for you to accept such a drastic decision.”

         “I stay pretty much to myself.”  Candi shied away from the memories of her past.  “Have you flown here before?”  She remembered what Mr. Mills said about the cabin.

         “When Mr. Mills told me I would be flying you out here, I made a couple flights to familiarize myself with the flight plan.  And too, Mr. Mills come with me to be sure the cabin was livable.  We brought out a new bed and table a couple weeks ago.  I also put in a new hand pump.  It was rusted solid.  The bathhouse was another matter.  It was in bad repair.  We built a whole new one for you, complete with tub, so you won’t have to take a bath in the river, not that it will have hot water, ain’t none of that at the cabin.  No electricity either.  The only thing he needed to do with the cabin was put on a new roof, and put in new windows, they was broke out.  He wanted to hurry with the repairs and such, he was sure you would be ready to leave soon.  So it come as no surprise when he called me yesterday to pick you up.”

         “It sounds wonderful.”

         “Wait till you see it.  You’re a long ways from everything.”

         “Except the ranger station.”

         “They might not be far away, but unless they come see you, you won’t know they’re there.”

         “That’s good.  I’m not looking forward to people, though I know the rangers are important up there.”

         “I suppose they’ll stop in and make your acquaintance.  They came by when we was up there to see what we was doing at the cabin.  Mr. Mills told them how he owned the cabin and the acreage around it, and that an employee was coming to live there, but we didn’t know when that would be, and just wanted to make sure the cabin was in good repair for when you arrived.”

         The flight took just under five hours.  Her first spectacular glimpse of her new home with tree and rock covered mountain slopes and a river that wound its way through the mountains left her momentarily speechless.  “It’s beautiful.”

         “That’s the Selway River.  If it weren’t for the fact Mr. Mills had his cabin there, you wouldn’t be able to come up here.  Hikers and campers have to apply for a permit a year in advance.  The river is famous for its rapids and can be dangerous for those not experienced in white water rafting and even then you can’t turn your back on her.  She’ll kill you in an instant if you’re not careful.”

         Her eyes gleamed with excitement.  “What’s her designation?”

         “Between three and five, usually four to five.”

         “Looks like I won’t be swimming in it very often then.”

         “You see what looks like an island in the river?”  Bart pointed below to the river.  “Down there, you see several buildings altogether?  That’s ranger accommodations.  And just up a ways is the ranger station.  Across from the ranger station, it looks like an island but it’s not, see the small lake?  Mr. Mills owns most of the bend in the river.  You can see the nice beach area and the cleared area where the cabin is.  The lake is more sedate.  You can swim there, but even then you have to be careful.  You know how to watch the signs of the river?”

         She could see the white froth of the river below as the plane prepared to land.  “I’ve been white water rafting many times, so to answer your question, yes, I know what to look for.”

         “If you get in trouble, we’ll never hear from you again.  I’m just warning you to be careful.”

         “I will.”  As the plane landed she had a good look at the ranger station.  It was a simple two-story cabin with wide front porch.  There was also a smaller house in back without any windows.  “What’s that building out back of the ranger station?”

         “That’s the bathhouse.  You have one too.”

         The plane landed on the river beyond the island in front of a short sandy beach with a dock to accommodate the plane.  “There really isn’t anything else around is there?”

         “Mr. Mills told me his grandfather from the early 1800s was the first to settle here and build the cabin.  He believed in isolation when he wanted to hunt.  Future generations would see some improvements with the cabin, and somewhere around the mid 1800s one of his ancestors even did some mining and didn’t want any claim jumpers.  You saw his is the only cabin up here besides the ranger station and the cabins that belong to the rangers.  This here is the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area.  Are you ready to turn around and go back?  I can start her up and take you on back to Minneapolis.”

         “Not on your life.  I like it already.  It’s completely isolated from everything.  Is there a mine on the property?”

         “Yep, but it was mined out long before 1900.  It produced some rich silver ore until it petered out.”

         “You know a lot about Mr. Mills.”

         “Like I said, I been his pilot for five years.  You get to know all about a person in that time.”

         “I guess you do.”

         “He did say you wanted isolation.  You won’t get it more isolated than this.”

         “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

         “I don’t know if you saw it from the air, but the forest service started building a road up here.  It’s little more than a dirt road, barely able to accommodate two vehicles passing each other.  Mostly it’s used for horses and pack animals.”

         He opened the door and she could make out the cabin through the trees.  Rascal was eager to get out of the plane as he jumped to the dock and wandered around the river and disappeared through the trees leading to the cabin.

         Bart helped her unload all her gear and equipment into the cabin before he took off again.  “I hope you have a successful year here.  At least the country around here is beautiful.  Remember what I said about the river.”

         “I will.”

         He closed the door of the plane and soon rose in the air.  Candi waved until it was out of sight before she headed towards the cabin, Rascal by her side.

********

         Over at the ranger station Stan Morrison turned to his partner, Harvey Bennett, as they stood together on the porch, and pointed at the plane.  “Plane landing on the river.  Looks like our new arrival is here.”

         The plane soon dipped out of sight.  “What did you say his name was?”

         “It’s a she.”  They went back inside where Stan consulted a sheet of paper on his desk he received the week before.  “Her name is Candace Martin.”

         “A woman is going to live in the cabin alone for a year?  I can understand a man, or a family, but a woman alone?  It isn’t enough that we have to watch out for avalanches, fires and tourists?  Now we have a single woman living in our front yard too?  Is that legal with the forestry service?”

         “I looked up the legalities concerning the cabin and found that it’s been in the same family since the early 1800s, long before this was set aside as a national forest.  She has every right to be there.  Her boss is the owner.  He seemed pretty confident the first time I talked to him that she would be able to live there without any major difficulty.  He said he has a federal grant to conduct a study in isolation.  Seems the young lady wants to be alone, away from everything and everyone.  So he not only has the right as the owner of the property, but he has the government okay on it as well.  She can be there as long as she wants and nobody will tell her different.  He called again yesterday to let us know when she would arrive.  That’s why I went over to the cabin yesterday to chop some firewood to get her started.  No use having her struggle unnecessarily on her first day in the cabin.  Time enough to see if she can handle it alone.  Though we’ll need to go over and make her acquaintance tomorrow.  Welcome her to her new home.  She’ll be conducting all her business through the station.”

         “If she’s doing a study in isolation should we interfere?”

         “We have to.  Though I did promise we wouldn’t interfere more than necessary.”

         “You’re right.  We need to make her aware of the dangers of living here.  I’m sure she hasn’t been briefed about the wildlife common to the area.”

         “We’ll soon find out.  By the way when does your replacement arrive?  Your own tour here must be almost up.”

         “End of the week.  I got his communiqué yesterday.  His name’s Logan Carmichael.  He’s a bachelor, new to the service.”

         “Good place to train.”  Stan sat behind the desk, and located the communiqué.  “Says here he’s always wanted to be a ranger, having grown up in the Rockies of Colorado.  Has a degree as a firefighter, land preservationist, as well as police training at an academy back east, and he’s also a doctor, with a two year residency in surgery, and one year as a veterinarian.”

         “Where did he get his medical training?”

         Stan looked through the dossier.  “Harvard Medical.”

         “Quite a well-rounded résumé.  He should work out real well.  That will be a help to your wife when the big fires start.”

         “I got a message from headquarters this morning.  Sandra has been reactivated to the forest service.”

         “She’s been wanting that.”

         “Yes she has, and now that the new ranger is a doctor, could be why they decided it would be a good idea to reactivate her.  I also read a communiqué that the ranger service is going to place at least one doctor at each station.  This is a beginning.  And with Sandra being a registered nurse it will work out very well.”

         “That will give you four full time rangers plus your wife.”

         “We could still use more rangers here though.  It always puts the station in a hardship when someone is off in an emergency.”

         “Does she know?”

         “I told her as soon as the fax came in.  She’s planning a celebration dinner.  She’s been after the service to activate her since the children were grown and left the station.  She wants to feel useful again.  Now she has her opportunity.  What are you going to do when you leave here?”

         “I’m being assigned to Yellowstone.  At least the ranger station is close by if she’s ever in trouble.”

         “It’s a good thing for her and for us,” Stan said.

********

         Candi knew the ranger station was close and felt a sense of security, though she realized for the first time just how isolated and alone she really was.  As excited as she had been by the opportunity, she wondered if she would get lonely as she went into the cabin.

         Rascal took off and began his own exploration.  For the first time she didn’t worry about him.  She always wanted enough room for him to roam at will.

         Inside Mr. Mills had furnished the cabin with a bed and table just as he promised.  The new brass bed stood on one side of the cabin, just as she pictured it, without the curtained partition.  The beautiful rustic oak table and four chairs stood in the center of the kitchen area.  There was a leaf for it beside the sink if she ever needed it, which was doubtful.  She was alone and she intended to keep it that way.

         Her first chore would be to clean the fireplace.  Candi stared at the blackened fireplace, determination on her face.  She knew there were fears she needed to face.  Mr. Mills had asked her what she ran from.  Only she had the answers to that and she intended to guard those answers with her life if necessary.

         With the fireplace cleaned, she went outside and found a stack of wood.  She knew she would need to replenish it in the very near future.  In the meantime, she had enough to start a fire and make supper.

         With the fires started in the fireplace and stove, she looked at the cobwebs that hung from the rafters, and every other nook and cranny she could see.  Thick dust covered everything.  She was grateful for the hand pump as she filled the bucket, and began to clean. 

         The sun was low on the horizon when she stood back and admired her new home.  Time to get everything put away.

         A wardrobe stood against the wall at the foot of her bed beside a six-drawer highboy dresser.  They didn’t look new, but were in very good condition.  There was a window in the middle of the side wall that looked out on a meadow surrounded by woods.  No need to worry about anything or anyone peeping through the window though she would make some curtains for it.

         The kitchen area had two cupboards above the sink with the hand pump, and a long cupboard at the side where she stowed the broom, mop, bucket, and table leaf.  She pushed the table against the wall near the entrance.  A window on that side wall near the stove looked out on more meadow surrounded by woods.

         There was a shelf above the stove.  She decided to use that for bread and other dry goods.  The transmitter Mr. Mills told her about sat on the end of the shelf.  She just needed to find out how to use it.  She looked it over, found the switch, but left it off for the moment.  She would try it out in the morning.

         At the back of the cabin between the kitchen and the living room was the back door, which led to the bathhouse.

         The living room area between the kitchen and the bedroom had some shelves on one side of the fireplace and a large picture window between the kitchen and living room that looked out toward the river.  The shelves would be perfect for the books she brought with her, and also a good place to put the files for her work with Taylor and McHenry.

         When everything was stowed, and the bed made up, her only thought was to crawl between the sheets, but her stomach had other demands.  She had eaten little during the day.  Even Rascal looked around for something to eat.

         She had bought groceries for about a month.  She hoped it would give her enough time to replenish her supply.  She would look for wild berries and other vegetables that grew wild in the coming days, and get a garden started as soon as possible.

         She soon ate, and with Rascal’s dishes filled they were both satisfied.  Rascal lay on the rug in front of the fireplace while she crawled between the covers of her new bed.