River 3
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The cannon was small, but Capt. Johnson had bought some grapeshot and cannister rounds for it. Either one would play hell with attacking pirates. I made a point of getting to know the three cannoneers, Jim Anderson, Bill Jackson, and Hiram North. They were all veterans of the Indian wars and knew how to handle cannon against gangs of attackers. We all felt a lot more secure when they signed on to the Lovely Louise. Between the cannon and our fast-loading rifles, we would be able to outfight any pirates who should be so unfortunate as to attack us.
Four of the ship's crew who were regular riflemen were assigned to guard the cannoneers while they used their cannon. The cannoneers were vulnerable to musket fire while they serviced their weapon, so they needed dedicated protectors. We were not able to have any more riflemen allocated from the regular crew because they were needed to keep the Lovely Louise operating during a fight. It was obvious that my wives and I were going to have to take up the slack.
We left St. Louis headed for Cincinnati with the boat loaded to the gunnels with freight and paying passengers. Everybody feared the threat of pirates on the major rivers, but the problem on the Ohio River was one of the worst. Though I was not really expecting my wish to come true, I hoped that we would not meet any pirates because of Mary's condition.
Mary was swollen to the point that she looked like she would burst with that baby. We got close to Cairo, Illinois, about the time her water broke. There was no midwife on board, but we were close enough to the town that we were able to get a midwife to attend Mary before the child actually started to move too much.
Capt. Johnson tied up at Cairo while we waited for the baby to arrive. The whole boat was on pins and needles waiting, but I got through it pretty well because a couple of crew members convinced me to drink some whiskey to "steady my nerves." I woke up with one hell of a hangover, but the baby was here. Mary had presented me, and, in truth, the whole boat, with a joyous package in the form of a baby girl which she named Anna Harriet Ostermier in honor of our two mothers. I thought that she was the most beautiful baby ever born, and the rest of the boat agreed with me. Mary was sure that Anna was going to be spoiled rotten.
The midwife was paid and put ashore, and we continued our trip to Cincinnati. We had hardly left Cairo before we met the first of the Ohio River pirates. This was a large gang which was using two flatboats and four rowboats. There appeared to be a total of 52 pirates. Normally, this would have been an overwhelming foe, and any sensible captain would have surrendered. However, we had our cannon and our rifles, so Capt. Johnson was defiant.
We began to shoot our rifles when the pirates were first spotted about 125 yards away as they came boiling out of a side stream. We managed to pick off a number of the pirates, but not enough to make any real difference at that range. To the surprise of the pirates, Capt. Johnson put on some additional speed to get us closer to the pirates before he slowed down to the point that we were barely making headway. This slowing down was to give the cannon a better chance to zero in on the pirates.
The cannoneers loaded the first shot with grapeshot. The large balls would tear great chunks out of the structure of the wooden boats we were facing. They fired the first shot at about 60 yards. The pirates must have been astounded when the cannon fired, judging from the way they acted so confused. Several of the grapeshot actually hit the boats and nearly sank one of them, as well as putting holes in a couple of others. Also, three or four of the pirates, it was hard to tell in the confusion, appeared to be hit with the same shot or by splinters from the boats. Whatever caused it, there were several parts of bodies in the water and a hell of a lot of blood.
The cannon fired one more round of grapeshot with comparable results before switching to cannister. This played hob with the pirates. It was like the world's biggest shotgun going off in their faces. I have no idea how many were killed or wounded by that first shot of cannister. Again, there were bits and pieces of human bodies strewn about the river. There was no opportunity to fire any more shots from the cannon, since the pirates tried to run away as fast as they could get their boats to move.
Most of the passengers had come out to watch the fight, and there was a lot of cheering and back-slapping when the pirates ran away. The cannoneers were the heroes of the day, and they deserved all of the praise that they got. The denizens of the river certainly had a banquet that day!
Several people raised the question of where so many pirates had come from. Normally, 30 pirates was a large gang, so the only answer that anybody could come up with was that the pirate leader must have been out recruiting. Well, we hoped that this debacle would convince the rest of the gang members that this pirate leader was not somebody to stick with. Either that, or it would convince this pirate leader to get his own cannon. Had we started an arms race for greater and greater killing power? I hoped not!
In any case, we had a few days of peace and quiet. We stopped at a small town to discharge some of our passengers and to pick up a few more. It looked to me like, even with the pirates, travel on the river was the safest and most comfortable way to travel—the only restriction was that very same river. You could only go by boat where the river was willing to flow. I wondered if it was possible to make a living transporting only passengers on the river. I discussed it with Capt. Johnson, but neither one of us had an answer at the moment.
Several times, we were flagged down to pick up more passengers. Soon there were men camped on the open deck, since all of the cabins were taken. There was so little river traffic in the winter and early spring that people were anxious to grab the first ride that showed up.
There were a few very young children riding as passengers, but Anna was still the darling of the boat. Mary did retire to our cabin for feeding the child, but Anna was in demand as a companion everywhere it was safe to take her on the boat. Mary was afraid to take her into the engine room because of the heat and the noise, but Anna went everywhere else there was to go. The "black gang" from the engine room spent as much time on deck as they could manage just so that they could spend some time with the baby. We wondered why Anna was so popular with the crew, but Capt. Johnson explained that most of these men did not have families, and the few that did saw their wives and children so seldom, that Anna was almost a daughter to them. She gave them a feeling of being with a family, and that brought them great comfort and joy.
It was on this leg of the trip that Helen announced that she was, indeed, knocked up. It looked, already, like we would have to postpone our trip to California that we had planned for next year. Capt. Johnson and the rest of the crew were delighted to learn of this, and the captain insisted that we were welcome to travel with his boat as long as we wanted to. This was a great relief, as it took a lot of pressure off of us, and Helen, particularly.
I spent all of my spare time manufacturing guns and my wives made the cartridges. We had a small factory set up aboard ship and turned out guns as fast as we could, while keeping the quality up. I did have to reduce the price of my guns to compete with the conversions of flintlocks to cap guns, but I still had a virtual monopoly on breech loading rifles. I did reduce my price to $75, but that was still a very steep price to pay for a gun. I considered going lower if I had to, but I was still selling every gun that I could make, so I stayed with that price.
We ran into our next pirates before we got to Evansville, Indiana, but this was a small gang of only six men, so we did not need the cannon. We were able to take care of the attack with just the rifles. This made such an impression on three of the passengers that I sold rifles to all three before the day was over. Since we were now regular members of the crew, Capt. Johnson had stopped paying us the bounty on dead pirates, but we did not mind, since he was paying each of us $2 per day in wages and providing free room and board. Besides, I was making plenty of money selling my rifles and cartridges.
Chapter 11 So far: Jerome the yearling wolf has died, but two new wolves have joined the people. One of them decides that Moonie can atone for his sins, and over time the river cleanses his soul. The story of Moonie was told, both before the time of this tale, and after. As River and Wayne walked back to the Waters' campsite, River continued to tease the big man. She reached up and stroked his chest, marvelling at the muscles she could feel. "What?" "Just checking to see if...
So far: River's parents return that evening, only to discover what happened this morning. Dale is adamant that he will kill the molester, even if it means going back to jail again. River, however, is dejected and mopish as the river continues to ignore her. River and Wayne were silent as they drove back into the park from the town. After they crossed the little covered bridge, River sobbed twice, and then broke out into tears. Wayne quickly pulled over, and then slid along the...
Chapter 24 and 25 Chapter 24 So far: The events in Stone Ledge reach a conclusion, and not a happy one. However Marilyn receives a treasure, and the flotilla heads back to the reserve in record time. The suicide of Virginia Audette is not yet a completed story, however. -------- ------- ------ As Marilyn and Nick admired their tiny new baby, River came over. "It isn't over," she said. "The river said that there will be a hearing the day after tomorrow, before Ginny's funeral....
CHAPTER 4 So far: River is now a girl, and a revered leader of the people, after a special rite at the river. But her parents are in peril, with her father apparently in jail, and her mother seemingly on the verge of a nervous breakdown. River rushed to her mother, who was close to losing it. "He went home last night, and got in after midnight," Alison sobbed. "He went into the office early, and found it was full of police and accountants. Somebody has stolen several million dollars...
CHAPTER 10 So far: Shortly after a traditional religious ceremony at the river had been a huge success, River and Wayne are running full tilt through the reservation towards the highway, where Moonie's chicken hatchery stands. Two shotgun blasts had been heard, and one squeal from a wounded wolf. River was a few dozen yards behind Wayne as he veered away from the river, running at full speed. Even so, she nearly caught up with him as they neared the hatchery, where they saw an old...
Chapter 28 - A New Dawn So far: Dale introduced a stone mason to his family, and River and the river helped him choose apprentices. Then Dale took Mark out hunting, or was it the other way around? ----- -------- ------ On Friday night, while Dale and Mark were still at their camp, in between hunts, River got up as usual at 2 a.m. and went to the river. She had been in there for about two hours when she looked up and found, to her surprise, a taxi from Sudbury Yellow Cab pulled...
Chapter 21 So far: things are moving along nicely. Alison and Mark are on the road north again, now permanently, with Nick escorting them. River has seen another couple given a special treat by the river, as her store starts to come together. And the expedition north is days ahead of schedule. ----- ----- ---- Connie called in sick on Thursday, her third day in a row. "Lovesick," she joked to River, as they worked setting up the store. She planned to drive back to Sault on Friday...
Chapter 30 - School Days So far: River learned how to tan a deerskin, and then there was a great coming together with people from many of the area reserves. The river taught all of them the language and the history, and one boy in particular learned something important. Homes were found for all the new students, and the high school is going to be close to bursting, mostly with grade 9 students. It was not all arrivals though. River had to say goodbye to Wayne, her first First Nations...
Chapter 39 - Death So far: Many of the residents of the area were updated on their winter activities, while a new and ominous character was introduced into the story. ---- ----- ----- Spring came on March 20 that year, although most people still considered March 21 to be the official date. Manitou seemed to prefer the second date, since the ice on the river broke up early in the morning and River and Mark went out at 2 a.m. to find the river filled with ice chunks flowing downstream. "We...
Chapter 26 So far: Nick solved the problem of a home for his new family, at least until a permanent place is completed. A delegation of the river people headed to a hearing at Stone Ledge, where Ginny's parents were banished. Luv's grandfather opted to move to the river reserve, while her grandmother decided to try her luck in the bigger city of Thunder Bay. ------- ------- ----- After the trauma and excitement of the past few days, River was looking forward to a quiet day ahead...
River and her stepdad were never close, but he didn’t mind her staying around the house and lending her some money here and there. The occasional blowjob or fuck helped motivate Brad to help her. The first time Brad had raped River was two months ago. Brad did not plan or really want to. But with River’s mom leaving them, he couldn’t help but resent the girl. He didn’t want to, but it happened. That resentment manifested as an aggressive lust one day when River spoke back to him...
River "Are we there yet," 14-year-old Ricky Waters moaned for at least the fiftieth time this morning. But finally the answer wasn't "No, not yet," but "almost" as his father slowed to pull down a side road toward the mountains. "Mangadetigweyaa Nature Preserve" was printed on a sign by the entryway. The place had been a provincial park when Ricky's dad was a boy, and he had come camping here every summer during the 1980s. He had decided that, with Ricky going into high school next...
Chapter 40 - Resurrection So far: The river has died, and River wants to die too. But there is Luv to think about, and her family. The men try to track down the killers, and are assisted by a very attractive and competent OPP officer, and a very plain and incompetent MoE agent. ------ ------ ---- The men went to the Waters' house first, and finding it empty, went next door to Nick and Marilyn's where they found it nearly full of women. River was holding Luv while eating pancakes. Liesl was...
CHAPTER 9 So far: River is back in the park after a long ride to Sault Ste. Marie, where she met, and collected two of the river's people who had been trapped in a cycle of prostitution and drug addiction. She will take them to the river as soon as they arrive at the campsite. They pulled into the campsite at about 10:30, after letting Gail and Gina off at the JR camp. The tired boys immediately went to their tent, and Alison told River that she would look after unloading the van...
Chapter 13 So far: River met with her family, and got an update on their activities. The next morning River and Liesl got a ride with Wayne to the edge of the reserve to visit with an interesting couple. After visiting one shop in the morning, she was headed to another home. ----- - -- ----- "Anna Audette?" River asked George. "Is she related to Kyle?" George chuckled. "No. Or at least not closely. There are five different families named Audette on the reserve, and six with...
CHAPTER 12 So far: River had a productive Monday, visiting many of the artists on the reservation. Tomorrow she and Liesl would visit some of the crafts people. River is heading back to the campsite to see how her mother and father made out in their days. ----- -- ---- River arrived at the campsite in time to help clean up the dishes. The boys had spent the day at the river, running wild, claiming they were fishing. They did catch one, in the traditional way, not...
Chapter 41 - Retribution So far: The river has not died, but is greatly wounded and River might still lose it. But a sting is set up to catch the polluters, and then Kyle and George Audette come to the rescue to help get it cleaned up. Our friend from the MoE makes another appearance, and really does little to help things. ----- ------- ------ Sid Oldman got to work more than an hour before the day shift started. He was a bit upset to see a forklift left out in the loading bay,...
Chapter 29 - The Students Arrive So far: The river saved another cancer victim, who decided that she and her daughter may stay in the area. Then news came of a near- disaster at Moose Portage Reserve that was narrowly averted by Rod and the girls. Finally, Mark wins twice, getting his trophy into the new house, and con(vinc)ing River to treat his hides. ---------- ------ ------ Sunday morning found River in her usual spot. She had a pair of trousers of her fathers to mend, and...
Chapter 17 So far: Everyone on the reserve had spent a busy week preparing for the Sunday services, when the Prophet and the Singers would leave on their expedition. ------- ----- ---- Sunday morning River was up in the early darkness as usual, standing in the river. She remembered a story from one of her helpers in the store on Friday. This was Small John George, a cousin of the Tall John who had returned safely with her brother the night before. Small John was one of the idlers...
Chapter 37 - Celebrations So far: Miners try to take the reserve as their own, and a small war erupts as the First Nations decide that they will no longer let the white men take what it theirs. The river keeps the war bloodless, in a way, and eventually it is resolved. ------- ------ ------ The town and reserve were abuzz for several weeks after the miners' war ended. It was nearly the end of November when River realized that her birthday, or Ricky's birthday, as odd as that now...
Chapter 20 So far: Mark and Alison no longer have any ties to Toronto, and plan to head north following their respective adventures, riding in convoy with Nick. As well, let's update what River and the others were doing on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. ------ ------- ----- While Alison might have wanted to get back to St. Mary's as soon as possible, the three did not get away as early as they might have wanted. For one thing, none of Mark's clothes fit him, so he wore some of...
Chapter 32 - Moose Hunting So far: Mark has an interesting first few days at school, showing his teacher that he is not a slow student, and helps others in the class. He makes a friend at lunch, which leads to an after-school fracas the following day. ------ ----- ------ River woke up at 2, and then went to wake Mark. She expected more of a battle getting her brother out of bed early, but actually found him quick to get moving and dressed. While River never used a flashlight to...
Chapter 36 - The War So far: grand openings abound, with the Ojibwe Co-op and the Waters house getting most of the attention. Nick's and Marilyn's house, and the credit union also opened. Finally, River gets another idea, and the First Annual St. Mary's High School Fashion Show is the result. ------ ------- ------ In early November Mark and River were waiting for the sun to come up on a Friday morning when they heard a chorus of wolf howls from a few miles down the river. They got out of the...
CHAPTER 8 So far: River avoided problems with the law while helping the river cure the elders from the hospital. After that, there was a shopping trip to beautiful downtown St. Mary's in the evening, in preparation for the bigger excursion to the city on Saturday. Finally, River sees that her dad has a secret, which he won't tell her. River woke early again, and was able to spend an hour in the river before heading back to wake her family first, and then went back to her tent at...
Chapter 27 So far: River came up with a solution that will keep Dale from losing most of his workforce during deer season, in a way that will please Mark. The river refused to cure the cancer victims who come to it, with one possible exception. The prophet headed off to visit two more reserves, and River has a new hobby, sewing. Finally, Marilyn finds another project, and plans start for Ginny's House II. ------ --------- ----- The next morning River spent most of her time at the...
River walked slowly in the moonlight toward her hot tub. The night was warm, but her heart was still cold from the breakup. She needed to feel again, it was difficult to continue being so cold in her life. It was difficult to pretend to be fine while having her heart ripped out. Her longing needed relief so that she could rest and she had not felt that in so very long. It was okay to let him go, but there were still many other things in her life that needed to be taken care of. She knew her...
Chapter 23 So far: Kyle's Rube Goldberg invention is a huge hit, Alison's tormentors are punished, and Mark makes a new friend in the Toronto police force. Finally, the northern expedition is a huge success ... until they return to Stone Ledge. ------- --------- ----- Rod reached the tree first, and Ria was amazed when he seemed to run up the trunk in a display that was equal to those parkour moves she had seen on the Internet. But Rod had never before done anything like that,...
Chapter 34 - The mine So far: Wayne headed off to college in London, Ontario. On his mission from Manitou, he meets new friends, both four-legged and two-legged ones. He gets a ride back north for Thanksgiving, and Ginny's House II starts to become a reality. ------ -------- ------ Soon after Thanksgiving Neil Audette's divorce was finalized in Thunder Bay, and as soon as Nick and he returned home, they started working on the mine in earnest. Neil took his samples to an assay place he knew...
CHAPTER SEVEN So far: River had spent much of the morning in town treating and finally liberating several elders from the local hospital, where they had been encouraged (trapped?) to stay in a scheme rigged by the administration of the hospital to maintain a higher bed count. With the elders freed, River needs to take them to the river, to allow them to be cured in the ceremony that they had missed on Monday. At the river River pretty much duplicated the ceremony from Monday. After...
Chapter 42 - Conclusion So far: The mill has changed hands, and a media frenzy waited for the First Nations occupation to erupt into violence, which never occurred. Nick and River negotiate a settlement, and a new couple return to St. Mary's. ------ -------- ----- A day after returning to work after her activities on the river, Const. Sandra Harper was passed by a black Mercedes travelling well in excess of the posted 110 kph speed in the opposite direction. Her radar gun recorded the speed...
Chapter 16 So far: River meets two new people, and the river bestows gifts on them. Carla gets a family, and a chance to be a girl, including a shopping trip. River and her new lawyer go to town, and make up with the hospital and the liquor agency. Then they cap off a busy day with a trip to Colin, resident computer nerd, and discover that a viral product means money will be coming into the reserve. And now: For a change we will look at the following four days, Wednesday to Saturday...
The woman was old and bent and gray, long in her days and hard-set in her ways. As constant in her course as the river which rolls past her place. Those whom she’d loved, (and some who’d loved her, she supposed) had long gone away, moved on or, mostly, passed on. Somewhere, (Tennessee, or Georgia she had heard) dwelt her children’s, children’s, children, but they neither knew her nor cared to. Yes, she was old, but the river was older still. Her family had dwelt on its banks for many...
Chapter 22 So far: the river has cured the doctor of cancer, although he won't admit it yet. Progress in getting a bank branch for the town has taken a different tack, with the possibility of a credit union managed by Alison. Both of Alison's children are registered for school in September, although not without problems. ------- ------ --- On Friday many of the townspeople were standing outside of Red Door First Nations Arts and Crafts, as the new store was named, and that name was now clear...
CHAPTER FIVE So far: Camping can be dangerous, as Mark learns when he is accosted by a strange, creepy man in the camp washrooms. River is minutes away, running faster than she ever has in her life. She doesn't know what is wrong, but the river has told her that Mark is in danger. She needed to get to the camp, find out where Mark is, and then get to the washrooms before the young boy is scarred for life. There isn't enough time. (Warning, this episode deals with pedophilia, and if...
Chapter 33 - Wayne's Mission So far: Night taught a science class, the Credit Union is started, and already expansion plans are made, and a massive moose chooses an honorable way to die. ----- ------- ------- Wayne arrived at the dorm in London with his roommate Jeremy just after noon on Monday. They spent the next few hours unloading the car and setting up their rooms. The dorm had two separate bedrooms with a shared bathroom and kitchenette, not the shared bedroom only type...
Chapter 35 ? Grand Openings So far: Word about the gold rush is on, and big companies wanting a piece of the action were surprised and upset when they couldn't convince the band to give up a share, in return for ruining the environment and rerouting the river. And Mark was taught an interesting lesson. ----- ------- ----- The months of September and October brought changes to St. Mary's. In the last week of September, the Ojibwe Co-operative had its grand opening. The store had been open for ...
Chapter 38 - Moving On So far: River gets some great news from the river on her birthday, and then sees her small celebration grow and grow and grow. Finally, Mark brings back a historic Ojibwe celebration with Longest Night to celebrate the solstice. ------ ------ ------ Winter in northern Ontario can be bleak. Snow, cold, short days, long nights and bad tempers for most people. But along the river the last one didn't occur this year. In February River promoted a winter festival, with all...
(Preface: The River Boat was created between Annora and My Erotic Tail. This tale of Abby and Sam on a house boat on the river grew from a small idea (SRP) into a wonderful tale. Thanks for the wonderful co-write Annora. I hope everyone enjoys the read as much as I enjoyed the write. A special Thank you to LadyShianne for editing.) (Chapter One) The Cherry The ride from the airport was long and quiet. They exchanged views of their expectations of this vacation get away. But the travel had...
Chapter 31 - Mark at School So far: River had her first day at high school, and all goes well. Her Ojibwe teacher had a sly way of letting her teach the language and history to the other students, without them knowing that she was really in charge. The river cured a newcomer to the school, although not in the way one would expect. And finally we discovered what Chip's secret was. Now we go back a few hours and go to Mark's first day at school. ----- ------ ------- Mrs. Cutler...
Chapter 19 So far: We start a chapter in which River does not appear. After Alison s horrible session with the vice president of the bank left her unemployed and shattered, she met up with the lawyer Nick and started to calm down. In this chapter we look at what her son, Mark did at the same time as Alison's meeting. ----- --------- Mark wandered through the Taddle Creek Mall, three floors of retail extravagance. In his mind he compared its 300-plus stores to the one main...
They pulled in at North Canyon Rapids an hour or so later -- no one was wearing a watch -- and called it good enough for the day. The hike out of there proved to be pretty good, and dinner was good, too. Al had some stories to tell around a tiny campfire that evening, and Crystal spent a few minutes talking about her beautiful trip down the Inside Passage on a salmon boat called the Glacier Bay a couple years before, and how they had to cross one wide opening in very bad conditions. A rogue...
They drifted on down the river, with Al mostly talking about the history and the geology of the place -- it was new and interesting to her, too, and would be among the many things she had to learn, she knew without asking. The wind was getting to her a little; so she dug around in her on-river drybag and pulled out a nylon rain jacket, that would help to keep the water off, and pulled it on. The Canyon walls were higher now, and closer together. As they drifted along Al explained that...
It was good to be out on the river. It was a comfortable day, not too hot; they got under way into a comfortable breeze that made things just about perfect. Scooter spent a couple minutes talking about John Doyle Lee, the Mormon assassin with nineteen wives who founded the Ferry back in the 1870s, the only place the river could be crossed for hundreds of miles in those days, and pointed out the old roadbed that led up the far Canyon wall. They ran around a slight curve and bounced through...
While most everyone but the crew was still asleep, Scooter and Crystal got their heads together in the early morning half-light. "If we're going to make this a qualifier for Randy, we're going to have to get him and Nicole out of Duane's raft," Crystal said. "And, I want to run with Nanci and Mom, at least today." "Guess we can do it," Scooter said from behind the roar of the big propane burner that was heating wash water. "How's about you take Noah, and I'll take Randy and...
River Boat: Day 2 (Turtle Cove) (This story was written by Annora and My Erotic Tail in (SRP) Thanks Annora~) (Edited by LadyShianne…Thanks S~) The sound of Abby in the kitchen woke Sam from his slumber. Slowly he arose and made ready the ‘Cherry’ for its daily voyage. The two of them exchanged ‘Good mornings,’ as Sam got the boat under way and Abby started breakfast. A bit nervous, they glanced at each other not sure what to say to break the ice. The River Boat made its way down river as...
River world is more of an experiment then a true reality anyone to have died on Earth is brought back to life on River World. River World is 100 times bigger then earth and it has billions of people on it. If someone is killed in River world at some point the keepers will bring them back to life somewhere down the River. Different people control about very square mile and the Keepers supply resources like food and some forms of luxury items. Thou they tend to be rare. The Keepers are the...
Kat started to school in the little River City community school and caught up to the other students. The weather was getting cooler and even on sunny days it was too cool for Kat to go without clothes. Except when she was inside the houseboat, then she hardly ever wore clothes. Luther had even quit fussing at her. For Thanksgiving, Luther and Kat fixed a real fancy Thanksgiving dinner and invited Granny to eat with them. With duck season coming on, Luther spent a lot of time getting his...
"You know," Scooter remarked as she and Jim headed down the Bright Angel Trail from Indian Gardens. "We ought to rig it around with Al so we could actually run with Dave and Mary once. I've never run with them, and I've always heard they were pretty cool." "They are," Jim said. "I spent all last fall running with them, remember? If Team 2 has a certain religious tinge to it, Team 1 has a New-Age tinge to it, so to speak." "What kind of tinge do you think Team 3 has?" Scooter...
I sold every one of my shotguns at Rock Island. They were much more popular than the rifles. Even an Indian band pooled their resources and bought one of the shotguns. That was the kind of thing that was going to kill the nomadic life of the Indians. Once they learned how much easier it would be to obtain food with the shotgun, they would be buying powder, shot, and caps. That meant that they would locate near a trading post and not want to wander very far away. We didn't pick up much...
Once everyone had a chance at the lunch line and were standing around working on sandwiches and pop, Scooter got up on the drybox of her raft. "OK, folks," she called out. "I'm Scooter Whitsell. Scooter isn't my real name and some of you know what it is, but I'm trying to forget it so I usually don't answer to it. I'll be your trip leader the first half of the trip, since Crystal knows a lot of people here, and it'll give her a little more chance to be friendly. She'll be leading...
The Ohio River could and would be very treacherous if it was ever given the chance. Sand bars abounded and the channel was almost impossible to find when the river was in flood. Capt. Johnson had a man on the bow taking depth readings every few yards. The Lovely Louise was barely moving just fast enough to keep up steerage. Any faster and they would not have been able to correct for changes in the channel. Fortunately, the Lovely Louise drew very little water, even when heavily loaded. She...
Abbey and Sam were in slumber on the River Boat. The gentle swaying of the boat was like a rocking cradle. The night was quiet and peaceful. Abby lay warmly in Sam’s arms. The Moon’s light come through the window of the bedroom casting shadows as the boat swayed with the rivers swells. Sam opened his eyes wide in the pitch black dark. He looked at Abby whom was sound asleep. Sam rolled back over to his side, searching for a cool spot in the pillow. Then he nuzzled into sleep again. ‘Clink,’ A...
There were some supplies that Scooter needed to fill out early the next morning, things like extra sunscreen, sunglasses, Chapstick, and tampons, but fortunately they were able to find them in a convenience store not far from the motel. The Canyon Tours business office proved to be a small building that had once been a house, with a large steel building in the back and a big parking lot. Crystal parked the Dodge along the back fence and got out. Scooter got out of the car and checked out the...
It was getting well along in the afternoon when the crew bus got them back to Flagstaff, but there was still work to do. Scooter found out that no one had been joking about dumping the groovers -- they'd taken several and used each one till it was getting close to full. They all stunk like hell, and there was nothing to be done about it but try to survive and hope to hell there'd be a swamper junior to her on the next trip. They stunk just about as bad while they were being hosed out and...
Friday morning was strange. It still seemed strange to haul their things in from the trunk of the Dodge, to hang clothes in real closets, put them in real dressers. They took their time about it, and it still felt nice. Once again, Scooter volunteered to do Crystal's laundry -- a washer and dryer were things the house lacked. After Al picked up Karin and Crystal in the late morning, around lunchtime, Scooter drove the Dodge over to the Burro, got the laundry going, and had a beer and a bar...
What with one thing and another, it took several hours to wind up this end-of-the-season staff meeting. There was one more item on the list to wrap up the year: the season-end staff party at Al's the next night. Everybody who had been at the staff meeting would be there, of course, but so would most of the summer boatmen and swampers within reach, many of the people from other companies who had filled in for the odd trip or two, a few former boatmen like Michelle's parents Pat and Rachel,...
The trail was familiar -- she'd hiked it a couple months earlier; one of the hike-ins had done it a couple years before, it turned out, so he was familiar with it, too. She suggested he take point since the trail could be tough to find in spots. Scooter figured she'd take sweep, to make sure everybody made it up all right, but right now her mind was mostly on other things. A little ways up the trail she turned around for one last look at the six rafts and the river. She was sad to have to...
River Boat: Day three (Ryes Hot Springs) The morning started with sounds of birds chirping lightly through the house boat’s bedroom window. Sam looked to his side for his new found companion only to see that she wasn’t there. Slowly rising and a quick dart to the bathroom to brush his teeth and a splash of water upon his face. Then slowly entering the day room in search for the lovely lady that had filled his night with passion. Seeing her silently sitting on the back deck with her leg...