Chapter Eight: Day Three

Becky felt the warm sun streaming into the car caressing her face gently, as she awakened to a new day in the Majestic Mountains. She had slept late, probably because she had been exhausted and she no longer felt the same sense of urgency. She was relatively comfortable considering her circumstances, and more at peace than she had been for a long time.  

“God, I give you this day. Thank you for your protection during the night. Keep me safe today too.”  

She pondered her predicament.

“I have never pretended to understand everything, but somehow it seems that there are no guarantees in life when it comes to having parents or siblings. Some people have parents and grandparents throughout their entire lives, while others do not. Many of them have an abundance of of aunts and uncles too, as well as cousins by the score. I do not. My foster parents and friends are my only family. Is that the way life is supposed to be?" she wondered.  

She knew there were no easy answers to her questions.

“Whatever happened in my case? I am so alone.” Becky was almost in tears, “God, what did I do to deserve this?”  

Becky decided not to dwell on self-pity. She got up and went outside to check her fire. There were still a few smoldering pieces of wood, so restarting it was not necessary. She just had to add more evergreen branches and wood to the fire. Again, the white smoke rose straight up. 

"I wonder how natives make their smoke signals. That is another skill to add to my list of things to do, someday. For today, I am going to finish my new manuscript, write an introduction to it, as well as a dedication to my parents and then spend some time focusing on my current goals. That should prove an interesting challenge."

She went down to the mountain stream to wash and shampoo her hair, taking a change of clothing with her.

The water was quite cold, but refreshing.

"That certainly feels better." 

Becky continued to wonder what to do about her current situation. Attempting to walk back to the highway seemed too risky because it was so far and there was a high likelihood of encountering wild animals. Going to the gas station on foot was just as risky. It could prove to be a total waste of time, particularly if there was no one there because of the forest fire.

It was still spring and that made it even more unlikely that there would be people there yet, unless they were year round residents. Even if there were some people there, the forest fire rangers might have enforced evacuation. Maybe the airplane that she saw had picked them up. In either case, they would likely return sometime, but when, she wondered.

"Stay here. Sit tight!" She told herself. "Keep your act together. You need to keep your head on straight. Stay busy." 

Playing a waiting game did have some distinct advantages. It was like being on a camping trip when she needed it the most. She was not suffering, hungry or thirsty. The weather seemed to be warm enough and she had access to clean water and a fire. If she took some precautions and was careful, she probably would not have any problems with wild animals.

She watched a chipmunk trying to carry an acorn from tree to tree, and managed to capture it on her camera. 

"God, here am I in the middle of the beautiful Majestic Mountain range, with nature at its finest. It is so magnificent!"

Becky rinsed out several pairs of socks, as would need them if she decided to try to walk out of the wilderness. She spread them on the hood of the car to dry. In the sun, that would not take long. She refilled her empty water bottles, and changed the water in the ones in her backpack again. 

"I don't have any insect repellent, but I do have several cloves of garlic in my cooler. That will work." She peeled one, squeezed the juice out of it and rubbed on her face and arms.

“That is almost overpowering. Next time, I will water it down in a water bottle.”

She checked the food in her cooler.

"I have to cook the steak I bought immediately, or toss it out soon." 

Becky cut it the meat into small chunks with her pocketknife, emptied the hot water out of the tin can sitting on the rocks and set the pieces inside. "I need a skewer but this will work, too. I can bake a potato on the flat rock in my fire and eat some raw carrots.”

“I do need some salt.”

She checked her glove compartment in the car and was able to find several, small packets of salt and pepper left over from her last visit to the local diner.  

"This will do for now."