Jed stopped by Lizzie’s curtain and called, “I have your tea. May I come in?”
“Sure, come ahead.”
Jed parted the curtain and entered Lizzie’s room. He held out a large mug of tea. “It’s very hot. Drink it down as quickly as you can. Don’t burn yourself, though. It will help warm you up.”
A shiver shook Lizzie as she reached for the mug. “Thanks, I appreciate the way you are taking care of me.”
Jed shook his head. “It’s nothing. We have to take care of each other if we are going to make it up here. We don’t have the luxury of being selfish. You would do the same for me anyway.”
“I might, if I knew what to do. I really don’t know anything about living like this. I’m afraid I won’t be much help.”
“You’ll learn. Mostly, it’s attitude. If you have the right attitude, you will adapt to any situation. You just have to be willing to adapt. We have two choices as I see it. Either we complain and moan about being stuck here, or we decide to enjoy ourselves and make the most of it. Personally, I love it up here in the wild, and I’d spend all of my time here if I could, but it isn’t for everybody.”
“How do you know what to do?”
“Dad, mostly. He was a Marine scout/sniper during the Vietnam War, and he learned to move through the woods and jungle without being seen or heard. He taught me how to move in the woods when I was little. You know you have learned when you can kill a deer with a knife. I’m not good enough, but he is, or at least he used to be. He doesn’t have the time to spend up here much anymore. He says he would like to retire up here, but Mom won’t have anything to do with it. She doesn’t mind coming up for a week or two, but she starts going stir-crazy pretty quickly.”
Jed looked at Lizzie, curious. “Doesn’t your dad ever talk about the Marines? I know he served with Dad in ’Nam.”
“No. He won’t talk about it. I’ve asked. He says he tries to forget, but I know he can’t. I know he gets jumpy during thunderstorms and when fireworks go off.” Lizzie shivered with a sudden chill.
“I understand. Most veterans won’t talk much, especially the ones who spent a lot of time in action. It has way too many bad memories for them, and people who weren’t there don’t understand. I hate it when people make unfair judgments because they don’t understand or don’t care. All I’ve been able to get Dad to tell me has been when he’s been teaching me things. I’ve heard him and your dad talk together and listened without asking questions. Do you know Ray Hood from the Mendota plant?”
“I know who he is, but I don’t know him,” Lizzie said.
“He served with them, too. In fact, the Marine Corps is where Dad picked most of his managers because he knew what they were like and what they stood for. Dad says there is no training for success like the military, especially in a combat unit, because you have to depend on the guy next to you, and you have to have the character to lead them.”
Lizzie had finished her tea. “The tea really helped. I’m starting to feel like a human instead of a human Popsicle now. Thanks.”
“Good. Give it a few more minutes, and then you can get dressed and come outside. I’ll have the fish on the fire by then.”
Jed took Lizzie’s cup and walked out. He built a fire in the fire pit, and while waiting for it to produce coals to cook over, he cleaned the fish.
One nice thing about being a part of a company that produced outdoor equipment was the plethora of good equipment stocked at the cabin. It took only a few minutes to scale the fish, gut and clean them, and have them ready to broil. By the time Lizzie came out, he had set the cooking rack over the fire. The fire had burned almost down to coals, so Jed walked into the lodge and fixed coffee in an old tin coffeepot, blackened from an unknown numbers of fires. He took the pot outside and set it in the coals, then laid the fish over the coals to broil.
Lizzie watched as Jed fixed the coffee and started broiling the fish. “You’ll make someone a great housewife someday if you keep that up!” Lizzie giggled.
“Nah, not much chance. I’m useless in a kitchen. Out here I can make it, though.”
The aroma of fish broiling was tantalizing. Lizzie realized suddenly she was ravenous. She hadn’t eaten much all day. She hadn’t felt like eating before, but now the smell of fish grilling had her stomach growling and her mouth watering.
“Why don’t you grab us a couple of plates, cups, and some forks? I think it would be nice to eat out here tonight.”
“All right.” Lizzie walked back into the lodge and returned just as Jed turned the fish over to cook on the other side. “What else do you want with it, Jed?”
“I didn’t fix anything else tonight. I thought we could get by with just the fish for now. Maybe later if we are hungry we can eat something else. Mom says I’m weird, but when I’ve caught fresh fish and grill it like this, I don’t like anything to interrupt the flavor and enjoyment. See what you think, and next time we can do it differently if you like.”
Carefully, he pulled the fish from the rack and placed the large trout and the smallest one on Lizzie’s plate. “You get to eat your first catch all by yourself. It’s our tradition. If you don’t want both you don’t have to eat them, but I have an idea you will surprise yourself. Be careful of bones. I grilled them whole, instead of filleted.”
Lizzie was cautious as she peeled the meat from the bones and took her first bite. “This is really good! What did you do to it? I don’t usually care much for fish, but this is wonderful!”
Jed just grinned. “It’s easy. Fresh fish right out of the water, cleaned, and put directly on the grill over an open hickory fire, eaten in the fresh air when you are hungry. It works every time.”