Tina watched him carefully and laughed again. “Look, cowboy. We’re not looking for a knight in shining armor. We both have one of those at home and we intend to get back to them. I was going to quietly watch you go by like I have a dozen other people, but I saw the hat. That’s all. Thought it was weird and before I realized it I called out. You can get back on your way.” She stepped out onto the road and held a hand out. “Tell Gabby that Tina and Tarra say hi.”
Jake took her hand and slowly shook it, looking into her face for any sign of duplicity. He saw none. Now that he thought she might not want his help, he couldn’t just ride away without seeing if they were okay, even though she looked healthy enough. Actually, more than that. She was attractive with her long hair and cat-shaped eyes. She wore a tight black T-Shirt, emphasizing strong arms, and camo pants covering a shape that would definitely turn heads. She wasn’t dirty or desperate at all.
A woman like this shouldn’t be stranded far from her knight in shining armor, as she put it.
“You ladies have food and water?” he asked.
Tina gave him an almost patronizing smile and nodded. “Yeah, we’ve got plenty.”
How could they have plenty if they’d walked here and been camping for days? Surely any food they’d had with them—and water—would be gone by now. Jake wasn’t aware of a river or creek anywhere near. Maybe that was her pride talking?
His conscious pricked at him. What if Gabby and the girls needed help right now wherever they were stranded? He’d been hoping and praying for days that someone would step up and help them, if and when they needed it. He’d be a hypocrite to not do something for these women now.
“Can I meet your friend?” he asked, hoping to get a look at their campsite and see how they were faring before making any decisions.
“Sure. Come on.” She tilted her head toward the woods. “Here’s a wide enough opening to get your 4-wheeler through.”
Jake waited for her to get out of the way, and then drove the ATV through the ditch, and just into the edge of the woods, hiding it from view. He got off and followed as Tina quietly stalked through the woods, admiring her skills. She barely rustled a leaf, quiet as a mouse.
He sounded like a herd of elephants as he walked.
They approached the campsite from behind, and he saw the other woman, Tarra, who was doing something that nearly blew Jake’s mind. She had a small piece of wood tapped into a tree, and under that she was tying an empty water bottle to the trunk, held tightly to the tree with a boot shoelace.
In just a moment, he watched in astonishment as clean, clear water began to drip into the bottle.
“How’d you do that?” he asked, startling the woman, who reacted by whipping around and reaching for her own pistol, quick as lightning.
Jake flinched. These women were no shrinking violets.
Before she pulled the gun free, Tina stepped in front of Jake. “Wait, Tarra. This is Gabby’s husband. He’s okay.”
It took Tarra a moment before her face fell into a friendly smile and Jake studied her. Strong chin and clear hazel eyes, she wore a ReelCamo Girl tank top with tight blue jeans and boots. The headband she wore with her bouncy pony-tail was also ReelCamoGirl. Jake recognized the brand, as he’d been forced to look through pictures of women on Facebook wearing it when Gabby decided she wanted some for her birthday. She looked clean enough to have just finished a photo session. She also didn’t look as though she needed his help.
These women couldn’t hold a candle to his Gabby, but they were both attractive women; too cute to be out on their own in a strange town living in the woods. Grayson might get mad, but Gabby would never forgive him if he just left them here.
And he was more afraid of Gabby then Grayson; by a long shot.
Jake tried to make friends with Tarra, feeling terrible for catching her off guard. “Can you show me how to do that? Is it a special tree or something?”
Tarra laughed. “They’re all special trees. Most of them are good for something. This one is a Birch. They’re everywhere in this area. Plenty of water. Just have to make sure you don’t drain too much from one tree and that you cover the hole. Otherwise, you’d kill the tree.”
“That’s so cool. I want to learn how to do that.”
“Google it. There’s tons of YouTube videos that show you how,” Tarra answered, and then laughed, letting him know she was kidding—sort of.
“Tarra,” Tina admonished her. “She’s kidding. It’s easy to do. First, you need a Sycamore, a Birch or a Hickory Tree. Then you just find a small stick to use as a spout—or a tap—you’ll need to carve it down to flatten it on each end so the water runs smoothly off of it.
Then find a flat spot on your tree and angle your knife up and give it a firm smack to imbed the tip of the knife into it about two centimeters. Give it a little wiggle. If you did it right, you’ll see water right away running down the knife. Then you drive your tap up into the hole with the flattened end you made, making sure it’s pointed down. Keep messing with it until the sap rolls down the stick instead of the trunk of the tree and position a container under it. It takes about an hour to get a full bottle, but works every time. Just be sure to cover the hole really well when you’re done or you’ll kill the tree, like Tarra said. You can even get sugar sap from Maple trees this same way if you need a sugar spike, or if you want some pancake syrup.”
Jake nodded. “Impressive. I’ll have to try that.”
He looked around at their campsite. They’d built a solid lean-to against a large fallen tree and covered it with layers of full branches, still green, and even plugged the holes with moss. It looked cozy enough. From the opening, he could see two good sleeping bags stretched out with travel pillows and pads underneath. Between their beds, there was a small sawed-off log being used as a table. A lantern sat on the table beside a solar charger, not being used at the moment, with an emergency hand-crank radio/flashlight combo.
“You picking up anything on the radio?” he asked.
“Not yet,” Tina answered. “Maybe soon, though. We keep trying.”
Outside their lean-to shelter, they’d built a nice campfire ring with stones. One side had a make-shift rock oven of sorts. The other side held two racks made of sticks between two forked branches. On one of the racks a small pot of soup hung, bubbling, and on the other side a rabbit was slowly browning. It smelled delicious and Jake’s mouth watered. Stacked on a nearby log they were using as a table were camp-plates, two spork combos and actual condiments; salt, pepper, and Texas Pete. A half dozen more bottles of water were lined up next to it.
Tina stepped up and expertly turned the rabbit on the spit.
A sizable stack of firewood lay cut and split, all ready for burning, and an axe lay leaned up beside it. The campsite was neat, functional and cozy. He looked around in awe.
Definitely not shrinking violets. He was impressed. Maybe they didn’t need his help after all? Heck, maybe he and Grayson needed their help.
He took a deep breath and gave it another thought. The least he could do was offer. “I’m headed to my brother-in-law’s homestead down the road a piece. Y’all are welcome to follow me there if you want.”
Tarra and Tina exchanged serious looks.
Jake hurried to answer their unasked question. “Gabby and her sisters are hopefully on their way. They were on a beach trip when the lights went out. They might even be there now.”
“Who else is there?” Tarra asked suspiciously.
Jake held his hands up, palms out. “I don’t know for sure, but I assume just my brother-in-law, Grayson. He’s married to Gabby’s twin sister, Olivia. He’s harmless. We both are,” he finished, followed with a nervous laugh. “We’ve got plenty of food and water there. You two can hold up until we figure out a way to get you home, if you want.”