Free Finding Home by Ali Spooner Page A

said.
“Are you ready to go hunt now?” she asked.
     
    “ I will be in just a
moment,” Nat said, then took Marissa in her arms for a long, slow
kiss.
     
    “ Now we can hunt,” she said
as they left the bedroom.
     
    Nat took her range coat down from the
hook by the door and slipped it over her shoulders, then handed
Marissa her new coat. Once more, Nat had chosen well and the coat
would provide great warmth for her lover. Next she walked over to
the mantle and pulled down the two rifles resting there, handing
one to Marissa.
     
    “ Have you ever shot one of
these?” she asked.
     
    “ A few times, yes,” Marissa
answered.
     
    “ Great, let’s go then,” Nat
said and they stepped outside.
     
    The snow was beginning to accumulate on
the ground and made a soft crunching sound as they walked behind
the cabin and into the woods.
     
    “ Our buck will probably be
moving around to stay warm and if we are lucky we will cross his
path and be able to track him,” Nat said.
     
    She watched as Gyp moved ahead, her
muzzle to the ground as she searched for scent. Several times she
would trot off the path they had taken only to return moments later
ahead of them.
     
    Nearly an hour had passed without any
sign of movement in the woods. The snow had grown heavier, limbs
burdened with its weight began to snap or hang low to the ground.
It had grown colder as well and their breath blew like smoke out of
their mouths and noses as they traversed the wooded
hillside.
     
    Nat was about to suggest they turn back
for the day when she saw Gyp’s ears perk to a sound just
ahead.
     
    “ Easy girl,” Nat whispered
to the excited dog as they crept forward as quietly as they
could.
     
    They reached a small clearing that
looked down over a small creek and standing there taking a drink
was the buck Nat had thought they would find. He was large. His
rack spread easily thirty inches and he would easily weigh two
hundred pounds.
     
    “ Do you want to take him?”
she asked.
     
    Marissa looked at her with fear in her
eyes. She was doubtful about being able to kill such a majestic
creature and her trepidation was evident to Nat.
     
    Nat had to remind herself that not
everyone was a natural born hunter and it may take several hunts
for Marissa to become comfortable with killing for food. Until
then, Nat would provide for them and teach Marissa all she knew
about hunting.
     
    “ I will take this one,” Nat
said.
     
    Marissa watched as Nat raised the rifle
to her shoulder and took aim at the buck. Nat waited until he
raised his head as he smelled the air, but too late to catch their
scent as her finger pulled back against the trigger and a single
shot rang out. The buck fell to the ground as the shot echoed down
the valley and Gyp raced forward.
     
    Nat had hit him squarely in the heart,
dropping him immediately, killing him instantly, preventing any
suffering he would have felt, had her shot not struck a fatal blow.
They walked down to the creek and Nat turned to Marissa.
     
    “ This part gets a little
messy,” she said as she took a long knife from her boot. “You might
want to look away,” she warned.
     
    “ I will be fine,” Marissa
said and she watched Nat as she knelt down beside the
buck.
     
    “ Thank you for giving your
life to us my brother to keep us fed during the winter to come,”
Nat said as she drew the knife across the buck’s throat to drain
the blood from him.
     
    Next, Nat plunged the knife deep into
the buck’s chest and made a cut the length of his entire underside
to eviscerate the animal and prepare him to be carried back to the
cabin. She took two lengths of rope from her small pack and tied
the buck’s hooves together in front and back while she sent Marissa
in search of a long branch they could use.
     
    They struggled at first with the weight
of the buck, but after several minutes they were traveling
comfortably back through the forest to the cabin. They lowered the
buck next to a tree and