Why don’t we see if we can catch our dinner?” asked Jed as he pulled a canoe from the storage area. “This time of day is usually a good time to catch some fish.”
Lizzie looked at the ground and kicked at it softly. Her shoulders were slumped, and tears pooled in her eyes. “I’ve never been fishing. I don’t know what to do.” Jed was a little concerned about Lizzie’s attitude. Her demeanor was listless and lethargic, and everything about her spelled defeat.
“Hey, Lizzie, listen to me for a minute.” Jed turned the canoe upside down on the ground and, taking Lizzie’s hand, pulled her over to the canoe and sat her on it. He sat down next to her, still holding her hand. “I know things don’t look good right now, and we both want to go home, but we can’t.” He looked her in the eyes, making certain he had her attention. “We could have it so much worse! At least Pete left us somewhere that I know, and we have supplies and equipment to keep us going for a long time. We can fish; there is plenty of game. We could live here even if we never were found, but we will be found! This place is too important to the company. Someone will come eventually. In the meantime, we can make the most of it, or we can feel sorry for ourselves and mope. I’m just as homesick as you are, but I need your help if we are going to do this.”
Lizzie squeezed his hand and whispered back, “I’m sorry for being a baby. I’m just overwhelmed, and I want so badly to see Daddy.”
“That’s okay. You’ll have to help me when I’m feeling down, too.” Jed gave her a hopeful smile. “We’ll make it.”
“All right. Let’s go fishing, but you have to be patient with me and teach me how.” Together they picked up the canoe and carried it to the dock. Jed went back to the storage area and selected a tackle box and two life jackets.
“I can swim. I don’t need a jacket,” Lizzie protested.
“Wrong! I don’t care how well you swim. No one goes out in a boat of any kind without some kind of floatation device. If you fall in fully clothed, no matter how well you swim, you will have trouble surviving for long without one. Besides, this lake had ice on it just a couple of weeks ago. You would not last long in the water right now before hypothermia took over, and you would drown. You never take the canoe out by yourself, and you never go without a life jacket. Clear?”
“All right. I get it.”
Lizzie nearly pouted but nodded her assent. Lizzie climbed into the front of the canoe; Jed stepped into the back, pushed them away from the dock, and started paddling. Lizzie picked up her paddle and tried to help but succeeded only in splashing water.
Jed chuckled. “Here, watch how I hold the paddle and what I do.” He dipped his paddle deep into the water and then slowly stroked from front to back. “See, you dip the paddle, and then pull it through, kind of like stirring cookie dough. You dip it down and then pull, instead of slapping the paddle at the water.” Lizzie tried again and did better, but she had trouble keeping the paddle straight so it actually pulled rather than sliced through the water.
“That’s the idea. Now you just need to get the knack of using your paddle to direct where you want to go. If you allow it to rotate in your hand, you will direct the canoe one way or the other instead of straight ahead. Some people alternate sides, stroking once on the right and then on the left to direct where they go, but the turn of your paddle blade will direct you just as easily. Let’s head for the point over yonder.” Jed pointed with his paddle toward a spit of land that stuck out into the lake.
Lizzie continued to try to help paddle, and she was starting to get the hang of it; but it was Jed’s hard work that got them to the area he wanted.
“Paddling’s a lot harder work than it looks like. I’m pooped!”
Jed grinned at Lizzie as he broke out the rods and tackle, prepared what he thought was the best lure for the time of day, and handed the rod to Lizzie. Lizzie listened carefully and watched as Jed demonstrated the proper way to cast and then retrieve the lure.
“Don’t be disappointed if you don’t catch anything the first few times you try,” he told her. “I remember I went with Dad several times before I ever caught anything. It takes a little time to figure it out sometimes.”
Lizzie made her first cast, which didn’t go where she wanted it to go, so she started to real the lure back in to try again. All of a sudden there was a splash of water at the end of her line, and her rod tip bent. “Quick, reel it in! Looks like you got a good one on there!” exclaimed Jed. He grabbed the hand net as Lizzie excitedly reeled in the fish, which fought hard, but to no avail, and Jed dipped out the exhausted fish with the net. “You got a lake trout! It looks like about sixteen inches. Great job!”
Lizzie was almost bouncing in her seat with excitement. She had never tried fishing before, and now to catch a nice fish on her first cast was intoxicating. Fishing was a lot more fun than she had thought it would be.
“This one is your supper,” Jed said. “You always get to eat your own first fish. I promise you’ll love it.” The canoe had a live well under the center seat—a Romson Industries specialty—built into all their canoes. This special feature meant any fish they caught would still be alive and fresh when they returned to land. They fished for another hour, long enough for Jed to catch two slightly smaller lake trout and for Lizzie to catch one more. “We have more than we can eat for tonight, and the smoker isn’t ready yet. Why don’t we head back to the lodge and have an early dinner?”
Lizzie was more than ready to head back in. Fishing was more fun than she thought it would be, but the stress of the abduction, of seeing the plane crash, and of sleeping in a strange place was catching up to her. She was very tired. Once they returned to the dock, Lizzie stood in the canoe to climb onto the dock, but in her weariness over-balanced and fell backwards into the water. It was shallow enough for her to stand, but the cold took her breath away, leaving her gasping. Jed jumped onto the dock. He dropped to his belly and extended a paddle to help her out of the water. When he drew her close enough to reach her, he extended his hand and pulled her to safety.
“Brrr!” she said, wrapping both arms around herself, shivering, and her teeth chattering.
Jed dove to the end of the dock and reached out, barely catching the canoe with the end of his paddle before it drifted out of reach. “Go to the cabin right now, and get those clothes off. Crawl into a sleeping bag! Don’t waste any time. I’ll be up in a couple of minutes. Be in the sleeping bag by the time I get there. We don’t need to deal with hypothermia along with everything else.”
Lizzie stumbled toward the lodge as Jed unloaded the fishing gear. He dragged the canoe onto the dock and carried it onto land where he overturned it to protect it from weather. Carrying the fish and tackle, Jed sprinted to the lodge. Tossing the fish and gear on an old table to clean later, he quickly entered the cabin to check on Lizzie. Somewhat frightened for her, he called out, “Hey there, Lizzie. You in the sleeping bag yet?”
“Yes, but I can’t seem to get warm!”
“Okay, it will take a little time. Do you have your hair wrapped in a towel or anything?”
“No. I didn’t take the time. I just wanted to get warm.”
“I’ll bring you one in just a minute. I’m going to start a fire in the stove and get some hot tea going. Be there in a minute.” Jed shoved some tinder in the firebox of the wood cookstove and lit it. He slowly added small kindling and then larger pieces. While he waited for the fire to catch, he filled an old iron kettle with water and set it atop the stove. By now the fire was going nicely, so Jed added a couple small pieces of wood topped by a small log to hold the fire and closed the door. He adjusted the damper to get a good draw up the chimney. When he was satisfied the fire was burning well, he left it and, grabbing a towel on the way, walked to Lizzie’s sleeping area. “Can I bring the towel in now?”
“Come ahead. I’m decent.” Jed opened the curtain and stepped through. Lizzie popped her head out of the sleeping bag where she huddled, shivering.
“Stay wrapped up. I’ll dry your hair for you and wrap it. We need to get you warmed up. I wasn’t kidding about the water temperature.”
“That’s for sure! I’ve never been so cold in my life! That’s the softest ice I’ve ever fallen on.” Jed was pleased to see a glimmer of a smile.
“Yeah, the water is probably about thirty-five degrees right now. Just a few more minutes in the water and you could have died. Then where would I be? The ice hasn’t been off of it more than a couple of weeks. You also learned a good lesson, I hope. Never stand up in a canoe.” Jed was almost scolding. “You scared me.”
“I’m sorry, Jed. I knew better, but I didn’t think. It isn’t quite the same as Daddy’s ski-boat.”
Jed finished blotting as much water from her hair as he could, then he wrapped the towel around her head. “I’ll check the water and see if it’s hot enough for tea. How do you drink it?”
“A little sugar, please. I’m not much of a tea drinker.” “You need something hot in you right now, and it’s the best I’ve got.”