“Can I help you guys?” the woman asked, trying to hide her apprehension.
Robert’s sunglasses protected him from the glare of the store’s glass window. His hidden eyes glanced into the store. He saw a man trying to conceal himself behind the shelves of the first aisle, and peeking over it at them.
“We want to buy a few things,” Robert said, trying to smile.
The woman looked at the sign on the door and tore it off.
“We’ve decided not to sell anything. We’re closing now. Goodbye.”
Robert cautiously stepped toward the woman, and said, “Hold on. We just—”
As Robert spoke, a small gust of wind blew his loose shirt back, revealing the pistol. Seeing the pistol, the nervous woman screamed. Instantly the man hiding in the store ran down the aisle toward the door. At the doorway, he leveled the shotgun and pointed it at Robert and Kyle. Both men raised their hands above their heads. Robert began inching backwards and Kyle followed.
“Nobody is going to rob me! Keep walking or I will fill you full of lead,” the man said, as he continued to point the shotgun at both of them.
“We have cash. Look, I’ll show you,” Robert said, as he slowly moved his hand toward his front pocket.
“Move your hands another inch and I’ll kill you. My neighbor was murdered last night by thugs like you. It’s not going to happen to me,” the man said, as he jabbed the shotgun toward them in short, violent strokes.
“Okay… okay… we’re leaving… we don’t want any trouble,” Robert replied, as he began to back away from the man at a quicker pace.
When the man began to slowly lower the shotgun, they turned and continued walking away at an increasing speed. They repeatedly looked over their shoulders at the man holding the shotgun as they retreated, feeling some relief when the man relaxed his arms and the shotgun finally pointed down. However, at that moment, from a distance up the street, they heard another man’s voice yelling at them.
“Hey! Hey!”
They quickened their pace toward the bridge. Then they heard a barking dog. Looking back, they saw the man that was yelling and that he was restraining a large vicious-looking dog with a chain leash. The man had a shotgun pointed toward Robert and Kyle, and then he dropped the chain to the ground. The dog sprinted forward.
“Run!” Robert screamed.
Kyle was already in motion, sprinting for the embankment by the bridge as fast as he could. Robert felt the adrenalin instantly course through his body and his legs turned into steel springs propelling him forward. He could hear the dog’s claws on the asphalt, getting closer, and with a quick turn of his head, realized that he could not outrun the dog. Robert stopped running, grabbed the pistol from his belt, and spun around. He gripped the pistol tightly and used his other hand to chamber a cartridge. He dropped to a kneeling position and the dog lunged directly into two bullets and landed at Robert’s feet, dead. Two men were now coming their way with shotguns.
“Get on the river! I’ll hold them back,” said Robert.
Kyle disappeared down the embankment.
“Don’t come any closer. I have the advantage,” yelled Robert, as he held the pistol up for them to see.
“You killed my dog!”
Robert did not reply. He walked backward to the embankment and was ready to run for his raft. Before he jumped down the embankment, he yelled back at the men to stay away or he would shoot to kill. Robert slid and jumped his way down the dirt slope and motioned for the others to push off. He jumped into his raft and pushed off the riverbank. Robert pushed his paddle against a concrete pier supporting the bridge and fiercely paddled away. As the river curved, he paddled toward the cover of low hanging trees. He heard a shotgun blast from the bridge, but the distance was too far. They had successfully escaped and headed downstream again.
The sun was at their backs and getting lower on the horizon when Beth said that they were just upstream from Great Falls. They slowed down near an airport observation tower on their left and hugged the riverbank with their rafts. Beth explained that it was a civilian airport and the military base was further down on the right side. Robert did not want to get closer to the city and pointed to a little island splitting the river. They put ashore on the island and carried the rafts and equipment into the shrubbery for concealment. They all gathered driftwood for a fire and Kyle found grubs under a fallen tree to use as bait. Kyle set the lines for the night and joined the group back at the campfire. He found an abandoned cooler by the riverbank and offered it to Beth to use as a seat for her and the baby.
“What do we do now?” asked Richard.
After a brief silence Robert said, “We need to eat. I think we’re all starving at this point. It would be best to eat what we got from the hotel first. It’ll spoil the soonest.” Robert stood up and looked around before speaking again. “Go ahead and split up the food. I’ll take a walk around to see if there is anything else to eat.”
“Oh, not more cattails,” Richard moaned.
Robert pointed to the bow staves and said, “If I can get those done, we’ll have more options for food.”
“Need any help looking?” asked Kyle.
“No, this won’t take long,” replied Robert. “Try to get some fish for us.” He gestured toward the far end of the island. “I don’t hear any frogs nearby. The best I can do will probably be some greens.” Robert walked away to forage and Richard grabbed the axe to get more wood for the fire.
“You’re home,” Kyle said, smiling at Beth.
Beth smiled back. “Almost. The best thing for me would be to go further downriver and go ashore just before you have to go around the first bridge. It wouldn’t be good to start walking the rest of the way now that it’s getting darker.” Beth began to rock her child. “I keep wondering if, at a place like this, martial law would be declared. Nervous people can get trigger-happy. I don’t want to get shot in the dark.” The baby began to cry again. “I really need to get a new towel on her and clean this one in the water,” she explained and excused herself to go to the riverbank.
Kyle toasted a bagel in the flames and thought it tasted delicious. As he ate, he noticed Robert moving about in the tall grass. He felt guilty sitting there, so he got up and trotted over to Robert. He noticed Robert had an armful of some green plants.
“What is that?” inquired Kyle.
“I call it lambsquarters. I remember my grandmother showing it to me when I was young. She told me they gathered and ate it all the time on the farm. I have it growing around my house, too. It grows like a weed.”
“That reminds me. Did you tell Richard that I’m continuing to Kansas City with you? Did you invite him, too?”
“No, I am dreading that, but I should get the invitation over with,” Robert said, as he shook his head in doubt.
At the campsite, Robert pulled each green leaf from the plant, making a mound of primitive salad. Robert grabbed a handful and began to chew. It had a bitter taste, but he thought it would suffice. They were at nature’s mercy now and had to make do with what they had.
“Is it any good?” asked Beth, not realizing the grimacing expression on her face.
“Not as good as a fancy restaurant salad with lots of ranch dressing, but it’ll do,” said Robert.
Beth took a bite. “Bitter, but okay. Kind of tastes like spinach.”
“Well, I like spinach and I’m starving. Here goes nothing,” said Kyle.
Richard was the most reluctant and the last to try the greens. He gagged slightly and said, “I need a cigarette.”