Day Nine

The sun was shinning when I woke up this morning. I packed all my belongings and I made my way to the edge of town. I walked about two miles through the woods until I found a dirt road that appeared to be headed in a southeasterly direction. I followed the dirt road until it crossed a small stream. I then traveled a short distance up the stream and spent the night.

Day Ten

Today began the same as any other. I woke up, stretched, and began folding my sleeping blanket. As I was folding my blanket I heard a voice say, "Freeze." I did.

When I was five years old I accidentally crossed paths with a rattlesnake and I remember freezing without anyone telling me to do so. Instinct. I escaped being bitten by that snake by following my natural born instincts.

Today when I heard the word "Freeze" I froze just like I had done when I was a child. And I waited.

After a few seconds a female voice said, "I have you covered with a fully automatic rifle. If you move I will cut you to pieces with so many bullets that all the King's horses and all the King's men won't be able to put you back together again. If you understand what I just said, say 'yes' but don't move a muscle."

I said, "Yes."

"Good," she said. "You speak English. Now listen carefully. Very slowly lift your hands and put both your hands on top of your head."

I slowly put my hands on top of my head and I waited until she spoke again.

"I saw you yesterday afternoon only by chance. I followed you here and I hid while you fixed supper and went to sleep. After I was certain you were asleep, I moved off into the woods and got a little sleep myself. I woke up about two hours ago and I carefully moved back into position so I could wait for you to wake up. I am telling you this so you will know I could have shot you at anytime but I didn't. I don't kill unless I have to. But I have killed and I will do it again. So please don't give me a reason to shoot you. If you understand what I just said, say 'yes' but don't move a muscle."

Again I said, "Yes."

"The reason I followed you is because I am low on food. I have money so I can pay for any food you might wish to sell. I can pay in silver coins. Real silver. If you have any extra food you would like to exchange for silver coins, then I would like to buy it. If you don't have any food to sell I will leave you alone and I won't hurt you. If you do have some food to sell, we will reach an agreement on how much I should pay, and then I will leave and not hurt you. Regardless of whether you have any food to sell or not, I will not hurt you if you follow my instructions and don't make any quick moves. And whether or not you sell me any food, I will be not be staying for breakfast. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"If you have any food you wish to sell, then say 'affirmative.' If not, then say 'negative.' You can think for a moment before you respond."

I knew the answer but I pretended to think about it. Silver coins could be a real asset if I had to trade for something in the future. Everyone will accept silver and gold. But everyone won't trade for clothes, or bullets, or food. My food duffel bag was extremely heavy and it was really slowing me down. If I exchanged a few pounds of my extra food for a few ounces of silver coins, then I could make better time as I traveled. So I opened my mouth and said, "Affirmative."

"Excellent. Now here's how we'll handle the transaction. I want you to keep your back to me at all times and keep your hands on your head until I tell you to lower them. My rifle will always be pointed at the center of your back and if you turn around to look at me, or if you make any sudden movements, I will unload my rifle into your body. If you understand, say so."

"I understand."

"Good. Is your extra food in your duffel bag on that rock?"

"Yes."

"This is what I want you to do. Without standing up, get to your knees. Move on your knees over to your duffel bag. Keep your back to me and don't take your hands off your head. You can start moving whenever you are ready."

I obeyed and gradually moved to a position beside my food duffel bag.

"In a minute or two I will toss a canvas bag onto the ground beside you. When you hear the bag land on the ground don't let it scare you. Remain perfectly still until I give you more instructions."

I waited and a few seconds later I saw a canvas bag hit the ground about two feet to my left and a little in front of me.

"When I tell you to, you can take your left hand off your head and reach out and pick up my bag. Leave your right hand on your head. Okay, pick up my bag with your left hand."

I reached out and got the bag and drew it forward and put it on the ground directly in front of me.

"Now listen carefully. I am behind some very good cover and I have my finger on the trigger of my rifle. You may use both your hands to open your bag and transfer whatever food you select into my canvas bag. But first I want you to move my canvas bag to your left side so I can see what you put into my bag. When you open my canvas bag you will find a few empty ziplock bags and a few empty plastic containers with snap-on lids. You can put the food into them if you need to in order to keep it clean. I can't recognize the food at this distance, so tell me what each thing is when you put it into my bag. When you have finished, tell me that's all you want to sell, and I will give you more instructions."

I opened my duffel bag and removed five pounds of white rice, five pounds of wheat berries, two pounds of dry beans, two pounds of dry corn, two pounds of dry noodles, two pounds of instant potatoes, ten tea bags, one-half pound of powdered milk, one-half pound of salt, one ounce of peppercorns, ten small Tootsie Roll candies, ten caramels, and ten hard candies. I looked through my duffel bag once more and I decided to add one can of Spam and one can of Chili to her canvas bag. I had described each item as I put it into her bag and I concluded by saying, "That's all I want to sell."

A very gentle female voice responded, "I had no idea you were so rich. I envy you. But I always keep my word. Will you accept eight silver dollars in exchange for all that food?"

I thought for a moment and I realized that hunger was affecting her sense of value. I had been hungry many times in the recent past and I understood her predicament. Therefore I replied, "Before the war started, silver dollars sold for about $10 each. I know the price of silver has doubled since then, so silver dollars are worth about $20 each right now. And before the war started, I could have bought the food I just put into your bag for about twenty dollars. I also know that food is currently selling for at least six times its pre-war price. Therefore, all things being considered, I can't accept your offer because my conscience would bother me for the rest of my life. I think you are offering me too much money. I believe six silver dollars would be closer to a fair price at this time. Is that acceptable to you?"

A few moments passed and neither one of us spoke. I could hear a small bird in a tree not too far away. Then I heard a soft female voice say, "Yes. I will leave six silver dollars on top of the rock beside your bag when I pick up my canvas bag. But right now I want you to put your hands back on top of your head."

I did.

"Now move on your knees straight ahead to that pine tree about fifteen feet in front of you and then stop. And don't look behind you."

I moved on my knees to the pine tree and stopped.

"Now keep your hands on your head and don't look behind you. You appear to be an honest man but I don't know for sure. If you turn around or lower your hands, I will kill you. That would make me sad, but you would be a lot sadder. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Don't even think about moving until I tell you to."

I stayed on my knees with my hands on my head. I may not be very smart, but I was smart enough to know that if I moved I would be dead in a matter of seconds. I listened as footsteps moved very quietly to the canvas bag and stopped. About two minutes later I heard footsteps retreating to the edge of the clearing.

"Our transaction is complete. I verified what you put in my canvas bag and then I put six silver dollars on the rock beside your duffel bag. Now listen very carefully. When I tell you to, I want you to count very slowly to 5000. After you start counting I am going to quietly make my way back into the woods. As I leave I am going to have my rifle pointed at you until I can't see you anymore. If I see you turn around, or if I hear you stop counting, I will shoot you. When you reach 5000 you can do anything you want to with one exception. Don't follow me. If you try to follow me, I will shoot you. I am very serious about this. I know the direction you came from and the direction you were headed when you made camp. Your safest bet is to keep going the way you were going before you stopped to make camp. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"After I leave here I will find a good place to stop and make sure you aren't following me. If I see you following me, I will kill you. I don't want to kill you, but I will. My life means as much to me as your life means to you. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now start counting very slowly, as loud as you can, beginning at one and continuing to 5000."

I began counting, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. ..." After what seemed like hours I finally reached, "4997, 4998, 4999, 5000."

I rolled onto my back and stretched my arms and my legs. I had cramps in every part of my body. But I was alive. A few minutes later I walked over to my food duffel bag. Sure enough, there were six silver dollars on the rock beside my bag. Three of them were minted in the early 1900's and they each contained about 3/4 of an ounce of silver. The other three were minted in the late 1900's. They were bigger and they each contained one ounce of silver. I was pleased with the transaction. I put the silver in my pocket.

I then looked at the ground around the rock. No footprints that I could see. I moved carefully over the ground in the direction from which I had heard the voice but I saw no footprints. Oh well. I would never be able to identify this "Cinderella" by her slipper size but I would never forget her voice. Maybe our paths will cross again. And maybe they won't. Only time will tell.

I packed my things and I followed the stream back to the dirt road. I then continued down the road in the direction I had been traveling. I had no intention on following her. She was right about my life being important to me. She had paid a fair price for the food I was willing to sell. The transaction was over. I couldn't blame her for being careful or for wanting to travel alone. She reminded me of me.

Day Sixteen

When I started hiking this morning, I discovered some deer tracks that ran parallel to a small stream. I decided to sit a short distance from the stream and wait as the sun continued to rise higher in the sky. I had waited well over an hour when I saw a medium size deer traveling parallel to the stream and coming in my direction. The deer was moving slowly and I had picked my location so the gentle breeze would blow my scent away from the stream in the opposite direction. When the deer was almost adjacent to me, I was looking directly at its side and I aimed about six inches above its front leg and about six inches behind the front of its chest. It was the perfect "heart" shot and I took it. The deer leaped forward a few feet but collapsed almost immediately. I made sure it was dead and then I gutted the deer and removed all its internal organs.

As I was working two men approached me. I had been concentrating on my task of gutting the deer and I had not noticed the men until they were just a short distance away. I mentally lectured myself for not being more careful.

Both men stopped when they were about ten feet away and they greeted me in a very civil and pleasant manner. It had been a long time since I felt comfortable around strangers but these two men didn't make me nervous in any way.

One of the men said they had been hunting unsuccessfully for two weeks and their family was completely out of fresh meat. Then he asked if I would consider trading half my deer for any other provisions I might need. I really didn't need an entire deer right now but I did need a lot of other things (especially toilet tissue) so I said that would suit me fine.

They offered to suspend the deer from a pole and carry it back to their camp where I could look through their provisions and a suitable trade could be established. I agreed and we were soon traveling back to their camp. I was surprised it was only about a half-mile on the other side of the hill where I had shot the deer. We stopped outside the entrance to a cave and a man came out. The first two men told him about their agreement with me and then he came forward and shook my hand and introduced himself. They he called out and two women and three young children came out of the cave. Everyone greeted me, shook my hand, and told me their name. They were all related by either blood or marriage. However, it was too many names and too many new faces for me to remember in that short period of time.

One of the men offered to butcher the deer and another man offered to take me inside the cave so I could look through their supplies and we could reach an agreement on what a fair trade would be. I selected two rolls of toilet tissue, one bar of deodorant bath soap, and one tube of toothpaste. The deal was settled.

I heard someone ask for a cup of water from the other side of the cave. I looked and saw a teenage boy lying on a cot. I asked if he was okay and I was told he had been sick for several days and he wasn't getting any better. One of the women asked me if I had any medical training and I said no. Then I remembered my Beck Blood Purifier. I showed it to the boy's mother and I let her read the information I had copied into this diary. That was all I let her read because this diary is still very personal to me.

She discussed the matter with her husband. They didn't have any distilled water but they did have some rain water which they put into a pressure cooker. I watched as the man took a short coil of 3/8-inch copper tubing and fitted it to the pressure relief opening in the lid of the pressure cooker. He then put the cooker over some red hot coals. And he bent the copper tubing so its other end was over a clean pot a short distance from the fire. When the water in the pressure cooker began to boil, the steam escaped through the pressure relief opening in the lid and traveled up to the top of the copper pipe. As it circulated down through the coils in the pipe, the steam cooled and became water again. The water gradually dripped out the end of the tubing into the clean pot. I made a casual remark that the setup looked like a moonshine still and several of the people laughed. One of the men said it was the same basic principle but instead of distilling alcohol, they were distilling water.

I have never been much of a drinker but I did enjoy a glass of beer or wine occasionally. So I asked if they had any moonshine they would care to sell. Everyone laughed. One of the ladies told me they had never made any moonshine or brewed any beer. However, every fall they had always fermented 3 or 4 gallons of wine using grapes from their small vineyard. That would last them an entire year. Unfortunately, when they evacuated their farms, they only brought their most basic necessities with them and that didn't include the little bit of wine they had left.

The boy's mother then asked me if I would help her attach the Beck unit to her son's wrist. I explained that I had never actually done it before. However, I had seen the many diagrams and drawings in the research report I had left behind. So I agreed to assist and we both followed the instructions that came with the Beck unit. We both felt the boy's left wrist and together we located the two pulse points on the inside of his wrist. I marked each artery with a thin black ink line on the inside of his wrist. Then she put a little salt into a small cup of water and mixed it up. She dipped each cloth covered electrode into the salt water and placed them parallel to the boy's arteries. Then I wrapped the Velcro strap around the boy's wrist to hold the small electrodes in position. I inserted a fresh 9-volt battery into the Beck unit. I then plugged the other end of the electrode wires into the Beck unit and turned it on. I told the boy to rotate the dial until he could feel a tingling in his wrist. He was impatient and rotated the dial too fast and yelped. He tried again more slowly and gradually found the correct setting for him. I told him to lie still and relax. After 30 minutes he should turn the unit off and remove it.

The boy's mother invited me to join them for lunch. One of the women prepared a delicious deer stew that was absolutely delightful. As we were eating and talking, I asked them if they intended to make jerky out of some of the deer meat and save it for the winter. They said they had been so short of fresh meat they hadn't considered that option before. They asked me how I normally made jerky so I told them.

"To make jerky," I said, "you slice the meat into strips in the same direction as the muscle. Each strip should be about 1 inch wide and 1/4 inch thick. The length isn't important. Be sure to trim off all the fat because the fat will not cure properly and it will spoil the meat.

"To support the meat while it is drying you can hang it over a clean straight pole. Or you can push a thin wire through one end of each piece of meat and then hang your string of meat between two trees. The most important thing is that each piece of meat should not touch itself or another strip of meat.

"There are two ways to dry the meat. First, you can dry the meat in direct sunlight. You need to protect the meat strips with cheesecloth or screen wire so the birds can't eat them and the flies can't lay eggs on them.

"However, the best method is to dry the meat strips over a fire. Dig a hole in the ground and start a fire in the hole. Don't use soft wood such as pine because the pitch will taint the meat. When the fire has burned down to hot coals, hang the meat between two stakes about two feet above the hot coals. The air should feel hot to your hand but it should not burn your hand. You don't want to cook the meat. You only want to dry it. You should add a few damp hardwood chips to the coals to make smoke and the smoke will put a protective coating on the meat. The heat and the smoke keeps the birds and the flies away.

"Periodically bend the meat strips to test them for dryness. Properly dried meat will crack or snap when it is bent. If it bends without cracking, it still contains too much moisture. If it crumbles then it too dry. It will still be edible but it will have lost some of its nutritional value.

"Store the dried meat strips in any container that will protect them from insects. Properly dried meat jerky is safe to eat for at least a year or more. It can be eaten dry but it usually tastes better if it is dipped in water for a short time just before you eat it. Or it can be added to a stew. And that's all I know about meat jerky."

We finished lunch and sat around chatting for a short time longer. These people were extremely polite and friendly. They invited me to spend a few days with them while they made a supply of Colloidal Silver and experimented with the Beck unit on the boy.

That night we had deer steaks. And I had a very pleasant night's rest.

Day Seventeen

I woke up early in the morning and I noticed one of the men wasn't inside the cave so I asked where he was. I was told it was his shift for guard duty and that he was somewhere outside. Later I learned the three men take turns standing guard for 2 or 3 hour shifts during the night. I volunteered to take a shift of guard duty but they declined my offer. I wasn't the least bit offended because I knew they were only being protective of their loved ones.

The three small children and I played a variety of games that day. We still had plenty of fresh deer meat and some of it had been sliced into jerky and it was drying nicely over a bed of red hot coals. It was a simple matter to keep an eye on the jerky while I played with the children. I grew very fond of those children. Late in the afternoon I made a decision. I opened my food duffel bag and counted out five small Tootsie Roll bars, five caramels, and five hard candy balls which I returned to my bag. Then I took the remainder of the candy and gave it to one of the women and told her it was a gift for the children. When the children saw the candy, they looked at me as if I was Santa Claus. The lady told the children they could each have one piece of candy after supper. From that moment on the only question the children had was, "How much longer before supper?"

After supper that evening the teenage boy said he was feeling better. He didn't feel well enough to get up and do his chores, but he said he was definitely improving and he hoped he would be up and around in a day or two. He was still using the Beck unit twice a day and drinking two tablespoons of C.S. four times a day.

Day Eighteen

I spent today hunting with the men. I wasn't lucky enough to shoot another deer but I did bring in some small game with my snares. The men were interested in learning my technique for setting snares so I showed them.

You need a six to eight-inch loop at the end of the snare and this loop must move freely or the snare won't close properly when it needs to. I always make a very small non-slip permanent loop in one end of the wire and then I thread the opposite end of the wire through this small non-slip loop. I pull the end of the wire through the small loop and I form a slip loop about eight inches in diameter.

Next I find a strong straight stick between 1 to 2 inches in diameter. I use my hatchet to cut two shorter sticks from the long stick. The first one I cut about 18-inches long and the second one I cut about six-inches long. Then I sharpen one end of the 18-inch stick. In the other end of that stick, I cut a notch about one-half inch deep and about one inch from the end. The notch looks like the right-half of the capital letter "M" with the level side towards the short end of the stick and the sloped side pointing towards the long end of the stick with the sharp end. I then cut one end of the shorter stick so it will fit into the notch in the longer stick. It should fit so the two sticks can't be pulled straight apart but they can easily be disengaged if you move them in any direction except directly against the two mating notches.

Then I find a spot to set my snare, such as a narrow game path, or between two logs, or between two rocks. I look for small animal tracks or where the natural obstructions of nature will force a small animal to travel precisely through a narrow area.

I carefully drive the long stick between 10 to 12 inches into the ground with the blunt end of my hatchet. Next I wrap my snare wire around the short six-inch stick about two inches above the notch. I then place the 8-inch wire loop at the narrow spot in the trail and support its lower end about two inches off the ground with two small twigs. Then I find a nearby sapling (or overhanging tree branch) that has some spring in it when I bend it over. I pull the sapling down and wrap the wire around the sapling and then I mate the notch in the short stick to the notch in the long stick. The spring in the sapling keeps the pressure on the short stick and the two sticks will remain together unless they are pulled from any direction other than straight up. When a small animal comes down the trail there is a good chance they will get their body or neck caught in the 8-inch loop as they are passing and pull the wire so the two notched sticks separate. The sampling then returns to its upright position pulling the noose tightly around the animal and holding it several feet off the ground. This keeps it from being eaten by small wild predators until I return several hours later to check the snare. And since I use wire the small animal can't chew or claw its way to freedom.

That's the way I set my snares most of the time. There are lots of other ways to set snares or dead falls, and each one is usually best suited for a specific type of terrain.

There is one more thing. You can't place a snare in one spot and then leave it there continuously. If you do catch something then the chances are pretty good that you have depleted the wildlife in that specific spot. If you don't catch anything it generally means you are not in a high-traffic area. Finally, the sapling gradually loses its spring the longer it remains bent over. Therefore, it is usually best to move your snares to a new location every two or three days. And that's pretty much all I know about snares.

When I returned to camp later that evening I discovered the teenage boy was moving around and he had done some of his chores. He said he still felt just a little weak so his Mom had him continue with his Beck treatments and C.S. dosages.

Day Nineteen

When I got up this morning, I began feeling really guilty about eating the food that belonged to these people. I made a decision. I opened my food duffel bag and I set aside one pound of white rice, one pound of wheat berries, one pound of dry beans, one pound of dry corn, one pound of instant potatoes, four packages of dry gravy mix, two packages of dry chili mix, five tea bags, a little sugar, a half-pound of salt, and some peppercorns. I put those items, and the small amount of candy I had previously reserved, into my waist pack as emergency food rations so I would have something to live on when I left this group of "cave" people and continued my journey towards home. I didn't know how much longer I would stay with them, but I wanted to be ready when I felt it was time to move on. I then gave my duffel bag with the rest of my food to one of the ladies and told her to add it to the group's food supplies.

Day Twenty

I woke up and got ready to go hunting as I normally do. One of the men told me they wouldn't be hunting today because it was Sunday. They were going to have worship services and I was welcome to join them. I didn't want to offend anyone so I sat through about two hours of Bible reading and discussion. Later that afternoon one of the men engaged me in conversation and he tried to tell me about God and Jesus but I politely told him I had my own personal belief in God and I didn't feel the need for organized religion at this particular time in my life. He was very gracious and he accepted my answer without any hard feelings. I congratulated myself for getting out of that sticky situation without offending anyone.

Day Twenty-Two

Shortly after I woke up this morning one of the men asked to speak with me in private. As politely as he could he asked me if I had any spare clothes besides the spare socks I washed every night. I told him no. He said that was what he suspected and then he handed me a decent looking shirt, a pair of used blue jeans, and some underwear. The underwear was new and still inside its plastic wrapper. He said they were a few of his extra clothes and he would like for me to have them. I offered to pay for them but he refused.

Then he very casually asked me how long it had been since I had a bath. I knew what he was getting at and I smiled. I wasn't offended because I knew I smelled a little rank. I told him that I thought right now would be a good time for a bath. I got my new bar of deodorant soap, my bath towel, my recently acquired extra set of clothes, and I made my way to a private spot near the creek. I scrubbed my old clothes down really good and I hung them on the bushes to dry. Then I took a much needed bath. I put on my extra set of clothes and they fit reasonably well. I then collected my wet clothes and made my way back to the cave. I hung my wet clothes on some bushes so they would dry in the sun. I was really beginning to enjoy life again.

Day Twenty-Four

Nothing important has happened since my last entry. Since I have not been traveling during the day, I have been able to bring in enough meat each day to feed myself and at least one or two other people. But I have not shot another deer since the one I bagged when I first met these "cave" people. The other men in the group had done better. Over the past few days they had shot two more deer.

This morning I went hunting alone at dawn and I returned empty handed. I hoped I would have better luck in the late afternoon. I decided to hunt to the southeast for a change. I walked about a mile and found a good spot to sit where I was completely hidden but where I had a clear field of view down an old dirt road in both directions. A small creek ran close against the opposite side of the road at this point, and I suspected this would be a natural watering spot for wild animals.

I had been sitting quietly for almost an hour when I saw someone walking down the road. I remained absolutely still and I watched as a young woman about my age walked past me with a small bucket in her hand. She stopped at the point where the creek and the road were only a foot or two apart and then she lowered her bucket down into the water. When her bucket was full she started back down the road in the direction she had come from. Before she was out of sight I saw her turn into the woods. I waited a minute or two and then I traveled quickly but quietly through the woods adjacent to the road. I stopped across the road from where I saw her enter the woods. It took me a few minutes but I eventually saw movement about 100 feet into the woods. I cautiously and very quietly made my way to a position near her camp so I could observe what was happening.

The woman was alone. There was only one backpack and one blanket near the campfire and I figured it was hers. She had balanced her bucket of water on three flat rocks over some red hot coals. She was boiling water. She just sat there looking at the water waiting for it to boil. Her back was facing me so I couldn't see her face. Then she removed her cap and her straight black hair fell to the top of her shoulders. It was the "shadow" woman I had seen in the street a couple of weeks ago. Then she started talking to herself. Instantly I recognized that voice. It was also my mysterious "Cinderella." I was both delighted and angry at the same time. I was delighted to have found her. But I was angry that she had not given me a chance to prove that I was a decent person.

I made a decision. I said, "Freeze."

The woods never seemed so quiet as they did at that instant. I saw her flinch and then she remained perfectly still.

I said, "Slowly put your hands on top of your head."

She complied.

Then I said, "I am not going to hurt you if you follow my instructions. Don't make any sudden movements. Do you understand?"

In the weakest voice I have ever heard, she squeaked, "Yes."

Then I asked, "If you have any food to sell, I can pay with silver. Do you have any food to sell?"

I saw her shudder. A moment later she said, "No."

For some reason, I asked another question, "Do you have any food at all?"

"No."

When she said no, I could feel the hunger in her voice. So I made another decision and said, "Please don't be afraid. I'm not going to shoot you. May I please enter your camp?"

She said, "Yes."

I walked around her campfire and sat down facing her. I said, "I have my supper in my waist pack. Would you care to share it with me?"

A small tear began to form in her right eye and she quickly turned her head to the side so she could wipe it away. She replied, "That would be very kind of you and I accept."

I removed some rice, several strips of dried deer meat, and a tea bag and put them on the rock beside the fire. I watched as she transferred some of the boiling water to a smaller cook pot and placed the rice in it to cook. We had to wait about 20 minutes for the rice to cook, so we talked.

Her name was Lisa. I told her my name was David. I told her about my Mom and Dad and my two older brothers. She told me about her Mom and Dad and her married sister. And then we ate supper. I have never enjoyed a meal so much in my entire life.

It had gotten too dark for me to travel, so I asked her if it was okay if I slept on the opposite side of her campfire for the night. She said that would be fine.

I then made another decision. I told her I had to return to my base camp in the morning and that I had plenty of food at my base camp. I then removed my one week's supply of emergency food from my waist pack and I put it all on top of her belongings on her side of the fire. I told her there were no strings attached and that I was just trying to practice some silly rule I had heard when I was a child about doing to others what you would like to have them do to you. She smiled but didn't respond.

I curled up beside the fire and I tossed and turned until almost dawn before I finally drifted off to sleep. I woke up several hours later. I was alone. But I found two silver dollars on top of my belongings near the fire. Lisa had left the money to pay for the one week's supply of food I had given her. I put the two silver dollars in my pocket.

I gathered my belongings and made my way back to the cave and the small group of people who had become my friends. I missed Lisa. I really didn't know her but I still missed her. Maybe our paths would cross again. And maybe they wouldn't. Only time would tell.