I'm glad you're enjoying this so far :) Checking the map, I don't think having Red and Ben walk from Cabresto Lake to Humbug Gulch is going to work, so let's hope the balloon is (mostly) in one piece!
Shelter The storm lasted a few hours and by the time it was over we were wet and cold. The basket sheltered us from the worst of it and wrapping the balloon silk around it helped a little, though when the wind caught it and billowed it out it tended to shower us with more water. Ben's cigars somehow stayed lit throughout the storm, but that seems to be some supernatural power he has, and their smell never improved. Ben was out of the basket first, stumbling slightly on cold legs and the stiffness from sitting still again for hours, and stretched. The sun was setting now, orange above the hills, and the air was clean and had a faint chill to it. "Hoo-ee," he said, flexing his arms out and behind him. "I feel like I've been convalescing. It's nice to be on the ground and using my legs again." "If we get the balloon up we're probably safer than on the ground," I said, looking at it and wondering how you could tell if there were holes in it. Ben shook his head. "It'll be dark before we can do that," he said. "I don't think we'll have a good time trying to take off in the dark." I thought about it, thought about it a little harder, then shook my head. "What're we going to bump into up there? Birds?" Ben jumped up and down a couple of times and windmilled his arms. I had to smile. "It's not getting up, it's all the stuff we have to do to get up," he said. "It takes an hour or so. Anyway, maybe we're near the Gulch, might be that if we take the balloon up again we'll overshoot." That made me stop and think a bit harder, and I realised he was right; if we were being pushed around by the wind it wasn't like we could just turn around and go back. But... we were currently sat on the shore of a lake after a storm, and there wasn't a living soul save us to be seen in any direction. "Let's find some wood," I said. "If we're camping out the night here I want something to get us warm." We both looked up the slope to where the trees started, and to my relief the trees looked dense enough that there would be fallen wood in there and probably not too wet neither.
It took all the remaining daylight to haul back several stacks of branches; nice wood about as thick as Ben's fingers, plus some thigh-sized logs to set around and contain it, and hopefully keep asmouldering until the morning. Underneath the trees was pretty dry in places, and we were able to pull back an armful of dry leaves, moss and suchlike that took the flame easy and kept it there until the wood picked up, and then the only light around the lake was the fire until the moon rose. We pegged out our jackets and trousers on sticks thrust into the sand and took it in turns to sleep and keep watch. Which meant that come morning we were mostly dry and mostly warm and there was just hunger to keep us on our toes.
We climbed to the top of the ridge, and then I climbed a tree that didn't look like it would throw me off in a hurry, and I looked out over a landscape of hills, trees, and somewhere to the south a glittering line that might be a river, and then I came back down again. "We're getting back in the balloon," I said. "There's nothing for miles, but there is a river." "And where there's a river there's boats," said Ben. "Have we ever robbed a boat?" "We stole a canoe once," I said. "We were getting out of Thurston, as I recall." Ben thought about it as we walked back to the balloon, our feet sliding on dead underbrush between the trees. "Was that the one where the Mayor's son was keen on you?" I sighed; that would be the bit that Ben remembered. "It's also the one where we borrowed a couple of flitches of bacon," I said. "We were going to try and sort out the wild boar problem they had at the back of their graveyard, and you thought we could put the bacon out and shoot it when it came to find out about it." Ben nodded and laughed. "Oh yeah, that ended up with us locking the pig in the library, didn't it?" "Library," I said, just a little mockingly. It had been a single room with eight books, the local newspaper, and a couple of chairs where old men fell asleep smoking pipes. "Yeah, and then we had to get out of there before they asked us to let it out again." "The Mayor's son offered to help you with that," said Ben, and winked. "Let's get the balloon off the ground."
Greg - I'm sure it would have been quite the adventurous walk, but I appreciate you wanting to get them a little closer to their target :)
Hmm, I think stealing a boat would follow nicely after having sto... er, borrowed a hot air balloon. Also: continuing to enjoy all the stories these guys are reminiscing about. There's many a short story to be told about them.
3 comments:
I'm glad you're enjoying this so far :) Checking the map, I don't think having Red and Ben walk from Cabresto Lake to Humbug Gulch is going to work, so let's hope the balloon is (mostly) in one piece!
Shelter
The storm lasted a few hours and by the time it was over we were wet and cold. The basket sheltered us from the worst of it and wrapping the balloon silk around it helped a little, though when the wind caught it and billowed it out it tended to shower us with more water. Ben's cigars somehow stayed lit throughout the storm, but that seems to be some supernatural power he has, and their smell never improved.
Ben was out of the basket first, stumbling slightly on cold legs and the stiffness from sitting still again for hours, and stretched. The sun was setting now, orange above the hills, and the air was clean and had a faint chill to it.
"Hoo-ee," he said, flexing his arms out and behind him. "I feel like I've been convalescing. It's nice to be on the ground and using my legs again."
"If we get the balloon up we're probably safer than on the ground," I said, looking at it and wondering how you could tell if there were holes in it.
Ben shook his head. "It'll be dark before we can do that," he said. "I don't think we'll have a good time trying to take off in the dark."
I thought about it, thought about it a little harder, then shook my head. "What're we going to bump into up there? Birds?"
Ben jumped up and down a couple of times and windmilled his arms. I had to smile. "It's not getting up, it's all the stuff we have to do to get up," he said. "It takes an hour or so. Anyway, maybe we're near the Gulch, might be that if we take the balloon up again we'll overshoot."
That made me stop and think a bit harder, and I realised he was right; if we were being pushed around by the wind it wasn't like we could just turn around and go back. But... we were currently sat on the shore of a lake after a storm, and there wasn't a living soul save us to be seen in any direction.
"Let's find some wood," I said. "If we're camping out the night here I want something to get us warm." We both looked up the slope to where the trees started, and to my relief the trees looked dense enough that there would be fallen wood in there and probably not too wet neither.
It took all the remaining daylight to haul back several stacks of branches; nice wood about as thick as Ben's fingers, plus some thigh-sized logs to set around and contain it, and hopefully keep asmouldering until the morning. Underneath the trees was pretty dry in places, and we were able to pull back an armful of dry leaves, moss and suchlike that took the flame easy and kept it there until the wood picked up, and then the only light around the lake was the fire until the moon rose. We pegged out our jackets and trousers on sticks thrust into the sand and took it in turns to sleep and keep watch. Which meant that come morning we were mostly dry and mostly warm and there was just hunger to keep us on our toes.
We climbed to the top of the ridge, and then I climbed a tree that didn't look like it would throw me off in a hurry, and I looked out over a landscape of hills, trees, and somewhere to the south a glittering line that might be a river, and then I came back down again.
"We're getting back in the balloon," I said. "There's nothing for miles, but there is a river."
"And where there's a river there's boats," said Ben. "Have we ever robbed a boat?"
"We stole a canoe once," I said. "We were getting out of Thurston, as I recall."
Ben thought about it as we walked back to the balloon, our feet sliding on dead underbrush between the trees. "Was that the one where the Mayor's son was keen on you?"
I sighed; that would be the bit that Ben remembered. "It's also the one where we borrowed a couple of flitches of bacon," I said. "We were going to try and sort out the wild boar problem they had at the back of their graveyard, and you thought we could put the bacon out and shoot it when it came to find out about it."
Ben nodded and laughed. "Oh yeah, that ended up with us locking the pig in the library, didn't it?"
"Library," I said, just a little mockingly. It had been a single room with eight books, the local newspaper, and a couple of chairs where old men fell asleep smoking pipes. "Yeah, and then we had to get out of there before they asked us to let it out again."
"The Mayor's son offered to help you with that," said Ben, and winked.
"Let's get the balloon off the ground."
Greg - I'm sure it would have been quite the adventurous walk, but I appreciate you wanting to get them a little closer to their target :)
Hmm, I think stealing a boat would follow nicely after having sto... er, borrowed a hot air balloon. Also: continuing to enjoy all the stories these guys are reminiscing about. There's many a short story to be told about them.
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