Writer's Block Ch. 01

Early the next day Terrance fed the fire for the last time. He found a branch with a Y shaped crook. He measured it roughly against Maria as she slept and cut it to size. It wasn't perfect but it would work as a crutch. He found some pines close by and stripped the outer bark to get to the inner bark. It would taste like the worst, most bitter food ever but it was food and would put something in their bellies for breakfast. He woke Maria just before setting off. "Are you ready to get out of here?"

"Definitely!" She said with a look of determination.

Helping her up, he gave her his gift. What was left of his shirt was used to cushion the crook of the crutch. He was now wearing just his T-shirt. Maria took his coat and put it back on him. "I'm dry now. I'll be ok. You need to be warm too! I can't do this without you."

Terrance threw snow on the fire. Maria said a silent goodbye to the heat that had kept her alive during the night. She put the crutch under her right arm and had Terrance on her left side supporting her. They walked out and up the hill. It was hard work and the crutch was painful under her arm. The snow was tough to move through, deep, thick and it soaked their legs as they heated it on their pants. It took more than an hour to get to the top of the hill. By Terrance's reckoning it would take another 2 hours to get to the cabin.

"So how many damsels have you rescued?"

"This week? You're the first. Normally they fall into my lap all over the place but this is a slow week."

"You're a funny guy!" She said sarcastically but still laughed. "I need to rest a minute. This crutch is killing my armpit."

"Want to swap arms?"

"Yeah, I'll try it. You never told me where you're from."

"I'm from a town called Marchant Falls, Minnesota just over the border." Terrance's mind wandered to his home town. "It's a nice place, full of great people. It has the lowest crime rate in the whole of the USA."

"And you come up here to escape paradise?"

He looked at her pondering the comment. That is what he did. He hadn't realised it but that's exactly what he did each year. He left his family, his friends and his life for this place. "If I hadn't left paradise for this place I wouldn't have found you, and neither of us would have wanted that."

The sun was really shining. The temperature must have been above freezing because the birds were out in full force. Terrance realised they hadn't had any water even though they'd been camped by a river. "Are you thirsty? We didn't drink last night."

"I hadn't really thought about it until you mentioned it, but yeah I am."

He pulled a zip lock bag out of his pocket. "Don't worry it's clean." He filled it with clean snow and put it inside his jacket "hooowow, that's cold."

Maria laughed at him. He smiled back. "How's your back feeling?"

"It's pretty sore."

"I'm sure it will be. It's quite a gash."

She smirked. "Are you still talking about my back or what you saw when I took my pants off?"

"Oh, well," his face reddened as he lost his voice. "Ahem, I was obviously talking about the wound on your back, but honestly it's been so long since I've even spoken to a woman, when I saw...you... last night..." gesturing to her lower abdomen. "I admit I was shocked." He didn't know how that was going to be received. He winced ready to get a slap or a crutch around the head.

"It's ok. I quite liked that even after seeing all my special bits and even getting a little grope you were still a gentleman."

"It was definitely not a grope. I needed to do what I did. I wouldn't have done that unless I had to do it!"

"Terrance, I'm kidding. I actually couldn't have cared less at the time. I was fully expecting to die."

"We should go soon." he pulled the zip bag out, the snow had all melted. "Here drink this."

There wasn't much in the zip bag but it was better than nothing. Once it was empty she refilled it and tucked it between her shirt and jacket. "Let's go."

For the next hour they struggled through the deep snow. Their feet were numb and their legs were stiff. It was around midday when Terrance decided to stop. "We need a fire to warm ourselves or we're going to be stuck out here again."

Maria was thankful for the rest. "Do you have any more pine bark?"

"Um, no but if you can last a little while longer I have a whole lifetime supply of pasta back at my cabin."

Maria had never felt so hungry. She was feeling light headed and weak. "You're becoming hypoglycaemic." Terrance told her. You need food. Good thing you ate that squirrel last night or you'd have been suffering much sooner. Just rest for now."

He finished building the fire, moved a large log for them to sit on and warm up. He asked. "What do you do in your real life?"

"I'm in advertising. I'm a sales executive at Brandon Marsh."

"And how does that tie in with an adventure on a rough river in Canada?"

"I needed adventure. My life in the office is so boring. I wanted more from life."

"I'd say you found your adventure. Let me check your back."

Maria opened her jacket and shirt. "Are you sure you're not just checking me out?"

"If I wanted to check you out I'd just ask." He checked the wound. The blood was all dry. He smelled it. No bad odours. "You're still fine. I am going to have to open it back up to clean it and stitch it when we get back to the cabin."

"I look forward to it." She said with all the excitement of eating a dry, stale bread sandwich.

As they sat warming their legs and feet Terrance thought about the past few hours. They were both looking for something new and they found each other in the same place. "Do you believe in fate?" He asked.

"I never used to."

"And now?"

She searched Terence's face for his meaning. As she did, she saw something more. He seemed lost in his thoughts. "What's wrong?"

"This situation. This is going to sound crazy. What if the universe put us together for some reason? What if you were meant to have the accident? What if I was meant to find you? It seems strange that in this whole wide wilderness you were hurt in earshot of someone, and that someone being me."

Her eyes still searched his face. This time she wanted to know everything. She pulled his face around to look at her. "Maybe you're right." She kissed him and then put her forehead against his.

They set off after killing the fire. Maria was swapping sides with the crutch every five minutes. Her underarms were sore. The crutch was hardly ergonomic. "Get on my back. You can't walk on that thing anymore."

She climbed onto him and he walked like a man possessed. He wasn't wasting any more time. She was in need of medical help, she was hungry and she was getting cold again.

Along the way her position was causing some friction. She tried to reposition herself but the pain in her leg made her unable so she had to stay in place and put up with the awkward nature of her positioning. As Terrance bounced along it only made things worse. After 15 minutes of suffering the friction she felt a feeling rise through her, until it exploded from her mouth "oh my goooooodddd!"

"What? Are you ok? Maria?"

She held him tight and couldn't speak as the orgasm ripped through her. Having this man between her legs was more than she could stand even if he was facing the opposite way to her usual partners. Partner? Did she just think of him as a partner?

"I'm fine. My leg just hurts."

We're almost there then you can rest and eat.

They approached the cabin, he let her down and they went in. The first thing he did was lit the already made fire. Then he put a pan of pasta on the stove. "Right let's get that dressing off."

Maria took her jacket off, then her shirt sitting on his bed bare breasted. Terrance untied the straps holding the piece of wood in place, all business no pleasure. As the pressure of the wood let off, the wound opened again causing Maria massive pain. It was about 5 inches long and a good inch and a half deep. It looked clean but he wanted to be sure "I'm going to clean it properly and sew it up. I've got some Vicodin you can take before we do it if you want."

"No it'll take too long for them to kick in. Let's just do it."

He prepared some salt water solution, picked up iodine, cotton wool swabs, needle and fine fishing line. He poured some vodka into a clean bowl, putting the needle and line in and then pulled on some latex gloves. "Ready? This is going to sting so you might be better lying down in case you pass out."

She agreed and went to lie on his bed. He took a deep breath. It wasn't a situation he relished but to do a proper job and make sure she didn't get an infection it had to be done thoroughly.

He carefully opened the wound and took a swab soaked in the salt water running it through the wound. Maria screamed into his pillow but stayed still. There was no debris in the wound which was good. He placed a towel by her side and poured the saline solution into the wound allowing it to flood through the whole injury. Maria was crying and shaking. "I'm sorry." Said Terrance, feeling bad about causing her pain. "You're doing great."

He allowed the saline to sit a couple of minutes before repeating to flush it. Once it was flushed a few times he told her. "Ok I'm going to sew it now."

He put the line through the eye of the needle and sat next to her. "Ready?" She nodded. He pushed the needle through one side of the wound and out, then through the other side tying it. Maria felt a searing pain and screamed again. "Tidy! First one down, just a few more to go."

The first stitch was half way between the top and bottom of the gash. The next two would be at a quarter way and three quarter way down. Again as he pushed the needle through she felt the searing hot pain, this time managing to bare it by gritting her teeth and groaning loudly.

"Five more." He informed her. "It's looking good. You'll have a hell of a scar to go with your story."

"And I thought it was you who was looking for the story!"

Terrance laughed. "Brace yourself!" He pushed the needle through again, this time Maria clenched her eyes and moaned.

After 20 minutes she was all sewn up. Terrance passed her a glass of water and two Vicodin with her bowl of plain pasta. She put the pills down and started to eat. "There's plenty more if you want it. I know it's not exactly tasty but it's food."

He went outside for a little while, returning with two lengths of wood. "We need to splint that leg in case it is broken."

He measured them against her leg and cut them to size. "I'm going to have to tie them tight so they probably won't be comfortable." The shorter one he placed on the inside of her leg with the longer one on the outside. He used some webbing he had spare to secure the pieces in place and to immobilise the knee, checking it was secure. "I'm going to check the traps to see if there's any meat."

"Thanks Terrance."

He nodded acceptance of the gratitude and left. She ate the pasta, took the pills and got up to look around the cabin. It was nice enough; comfortable, cosy, compact and functional. If it wasn't so remote she could get on board with living somewhere much like this, a simpler life, rather than living the rat race. She limped and sat in the chair looking out of the window. It was a beautiful but dangerous way to live. The view was a muted scene of white snow lying on the ground, accented with vertical grey trees. A monochrome scene of nature.

The Vicodin was starting to kick in. She looked up to the book shelf; crime thrillers, romances, comedies, tragedies and factual titles. At his desk she found lots of papers. She picked one up and read it. It was a love story describing the loss of a young woman before she and her man could even start their life together and how his life had to continue without her. "What a beautiful concept" she thought. "I hope it doesn't come true"

Her head was feeling slow and her stomach was feeling strange. She felt floaty so she made her way carefully to the bed to lie down.

An hour later Terrance walked in with a squirrel and two rabbits. A good day as it goes. He saw Maria asleep on the bed 'sleeping beauty' he thought. He checked her pulse and her temperature, both normal. The cabin was warm but the fire was low. He placed two logs in the stove closing the door, noticing his papers had been moved on his desk. He knew Maria had been reading. A feeling came over him as his lips rose at the corners.

His heart beat with an unfamiliar rhythm. It was too fast for someone who hadn't exerted himself. The feeling was tugging in his belly. It wasn't unpleasant but it was strange. He sat in his chair looking over at the woman in his bed. He wondered if their fates would continue a while longer together, hoping. His mind went to the previous night and the morning he spent with her, thinking about how lucky she had been that he was there to hear her calls. He wondered about her boat mate's fate and whether he might have survived. It was something he couldn't shift from his thoughts.

Quietly he walked to the bed and sat next to her. "Maria, hey Maria?" He said quietly attempting to wake her gently. "Maria? Do you know if the guide you were with got out of the water before or after you?"

She blinked aggressively with dry tired eyes. "I think he got out before me, after the rapids that tore my back."

"I need to see if I can find him. If he's out there, there could be a chance he's still alive. He may need help. You stay here, stay safe and stay warm. I'll be back by this time tomorrow. If I'm not wait as long as you can. If you need someone, you need to walk west until you come to my neighbour's cabin about two miles in that direction." He said pointing through the back wall of the cabin. That's about two hours walk in this snow. Only if I'm not back and you absolutely need to."

Maria nodded. She was worried. If Terrance didn't come back she would be on her own and in serious trouble.

"If you start to get a fever go find my neighbour. He has a radio and can call for help. I'll see you soon." He put his hand to her face and stroked her cheek.

Maria stood up as best she could and hugged him. "Please be careful. I don't want to be without you!"

Terrance nodded and walked out into the cold. Her words ringing in his ears, bouncing off the walls of his mind and settling square behind his eyes for him to cogitate. He walked for an hour or more with those words in his ears. What did they mean? She'd known him a day and met him in harsh circumstances. She shouldn't be talking that way. He could admit to himself that there was an attraction for him but he was a scruffy recluse for 6 months of the year. Why would she be attracted to him?

He found the river and with rifle in hand began to scan the banks from where he found Maria. No sign of any activity. There hadn't been any fresh snow so any obvious sign would still be present. He walked along the ridge of the hill until another section of river came into sight and again he scanned with the rifle.

There was something. Near the bank was a blue fleck. It could be trash; god knows there was plenty of that about. There was no sign of movement in the snow around it. He scanned further up the river to a set of rapids he believed to be the ones that had capsized their canoe. The blue fleck was the only lead so he started down towards it. The day was late and it was darkening as he approached the area. "Hello?" No reply.

He walked closer to the bank. "Hello?" No reply.

As he closed on the blue fleck, he saw it was the guide. He'd managed to climb out of the river but perished on the bank. That could so easily have been her fate too. Terrance built a fire and camped out near the guide's body. He'd take him away with him in the morning and radio for help from his neighbour's cabin.

He wished he'd searched for him the previous day but his priority was dealing with an injured and hypothermic Maria. At least that's how he tried to justify it. He apologised to the guide before finding sleep.

In the morning he snowed the fire, and built a rack out of dead pine branches using pine bark for lashings. He hefted the guide onto the rack and pulled him through the snow. It was a relatively warm day and Terrance was feeling the heat. Every fifty metres he had to stop and cool off. It was still well below freezing so no fear of the guide thawing but it was tough going.

By mid-afternoon Maria saw Terrance through the window dragging what looked like a trailer. She gingerly put on her jacket and went to greet him. "What did you find?"

"He didn't make it. He was a mile up river from where I found you."

She looked at the guide and cried. "His name was Martin. I'm sorry Martin."

Terrance sympathised with her, he'd done the same. He left Martin on the rack, walked over to the cabin, picked up one of the rabbits and entered. Inside he skinned and gutted it, put it in a pan with a heap of snow and set it on the stove. Maria had kept it going during the night as she didn't know how to start the fire again. "You need to show me how to light a fire the way you did for me. I need to learn better skills."

"You won't need them. When the authorities come for Martin they'll take you to hospital to get checked out, and you'll be rid of this place."

"If they come they can check me out here, but I'm staying. I don't need my boring life in the city. This is far more worthy of being called living"

Terrance would have preferred she went to hospital but he knew better than to argue with a woman with her mind set on something. "You're a stubborn woman!"

"I am? Well it'll be something you'll need to get used to because I want to stay out here. You have amazing skills and I want to learn from you."

He wasn't sure he liked the idea. A woman in the cabin would be nice but he'd come out to the wilderness to be alone to concentrate on his writing and his own unfinished business. She wasn't going to be told otherwise though and she wouldn't survive alone, so he had little choice.

"You take the bed. I have a camping mattress I can roll out on the floor."

"The bed is plenty big enough for both of us." Her eyes telling him more than her words.

"I need to go across the valley to radio the ranger's station. There's a rabbit boiling on the stove. Eat it once it's boiled for another 30 minutes take the meat out and boil pasta in the water. Eat and drink plenty. I'll be back a little later."

Terrance walked out of the cabin. Maria sat in the chair by the window, looking out over the snow scene. She was drawn to it as if she was umbilically tied to the area. It wasn't a view for hungry eyes, there wasn't much detail to feed them but it was enough to keep her entertained for hours.

She did as she was told with the rabbit, pulling it from the stewy water and putting it on a plate. She put a scoop of rice in to the water and let it absorb the stock. She found the salt and seasoned it slightly. Stirring as it boiled, her mind wandered to her neutral feelings about Terrance seeing her body as he dealt with her injuries. If another man had seen her body in her other life she would have felt humiliated but she felt no negative feelings about Terrance seeing her.

The rice cooked absorbing most of the water. She added half the meat from the rabbit, starting to eat before even removing it from the stove. She put more wood in to keep the place warm for his return. He would probably be cold after his trek.

*********

As Terrance approached Henry's cabin he called. "Hey Henry!"

Henry was home and opened his door. "Hey Rance, been a couple of weeks how's hunting?"

"I found a couple of strange catches. Mind if I come in to warm a little?"

"Sure. I have a pot of coffee on."

"Rance" as his neighbours called him stepped up into Henry's cabin kicking the snow from his boots before entering. "Can I use your radio? There's been an accident and I need to get some help."