Shepherd's Last Winter: Episode 11, Book Learning

This is the tenth episode of the novel Shepherd's First Winter. It is available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle format.

Book Learning

In the winter the sun barely moves above the southern horizon. It appears to bounce only above the surface of the earth before falling off into oblivion. Night is the guest that will not leave so it must be endured with patience. It was something expected and at first a wonderment.

Pal sniffed through the house as if it were a new surrounding. Shepherd thought it was just his way of making sure everything was in place and nothing had been moved.

“In New York City there are people who never come out until the sun goes down,” Shepherd said. “They would love it here.” Shepherd chuckled. “They would die in a week. They couldn’t survive. They wouldn’t starve to death. They would die of boredom. They just party until the sun comes up. I don’t know how they do it.”

“Are you sniffing a mouse?” Shepherd said.

Pal seemed to recognize the rhythm of speech for a question and appeared to show interest but was stymied beyond that.

“I would make a mousetrap,” Shepherd said. “But I’m afraid at first you would have to sniff it and you would lay the blame all on me. And who knows what trick you

might conjure up for me.”

“With some ingenuity, it is certain something could be fashioned that would be harmless to you and deadly for the mouse,” Shepherd said.

“Are you sure it was a mouse?” Shepherd said. “I don’t think I’ve heard you comment definitively... Oh, a mouse; little creature, long tail, big ears for its size, very cute. Just a moment.”

Shepherd walked over to his bookshelf and pulled out the volume M in his encyclopedias. He thumbed through it. “Mouse, there it is. Pal come here!”

Pal trotted to Shepherd. Shepherd crouched down to one knee. “Right here, Pal, that’s a mouse… Don’t worry they’re not that big, but if you see something like that it’s yours; if you catch my drift.”

“I’ll leave it out for you to study and read some more,” Shepherd said.

Pal sniffed the picture and continued sniffing around the cabin.

“I just thought I’d inform you that a real mouse smells nothing like the picture,” Shepherd said. “While here in the wilderness, it’s important you don’t have a disconnect between the abstract and reality. Yeah, and here I am talking to a dog as if he understands. Granted that has been done for millenniums, but how many show a dog a book as if he can read it?”

Shepherd's First Winter; Shepherd and Pal, Friends, Episode 10

This is the tenth episode of the novel Shepherd's First Winter. It is available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle format.

Shepherd and Pal, Friends 

Shepherd and Pal had many conversations about the cold and loneliness. Pal at times looked with great understanding and compassion while at other times looking on in wonderment and bewilderment.

“It is best you don’t know what I’m talking about,” Shepherd said, “You would look for another master.”

“Pal, a man has to do something. He must contribute to others or to society in some way. All I know is how to make a deal happen and trade stocks. It was not the fear of the city and the crime that brought me here. I face no greater fears than what I have the last two months.”

Shepherd brushed the top of Pal’s head and Pal licked his hand. “Is it affection or the salt from my skin? Will you eat me someday?” Shepherd laughed and moved to the window and thought for a while about looking out his apartment in Manhattan; the busy streets with taxis as far as the eye wandered. People rushing to nowhere. Aimless expressions. Blank stares. In many ways much lonelier than this place. “It is strange, I was more lonely with people than without them.”

Shepherd turned to Pal, who was looking out the other window. “It all comes down to purpose. I must find a purpose or I’ll cease to exist. Does this make sense to you, Pal?”

Pal looked at Shepherd and looked out the window.

“You want to go out, don’t you.”

Pal barked and looked outside.

“Let’s go, boy,” Shepherd said. “We’ll play in the snow and I’ll show you how to dodge the taxis.”

They played in the snow till near exhaustion and played some more.

There were times in the middle of a session of wrestling in the snow when Pal suddenly disconnected and ignored Shepherd. He looked off into the distance as though

something was near. At first, Shepherd tried to distract Pal. Pal snapped at him like a parent to child and as if to say, “There are more important and pressing matters in

the distance that you have no conceptual ideas about; senses you will neither possess nor understand.”

At those times Shepherd learned to fall in line with the moment because Pal would not be distracted. He grabbed his rifle and assumed the same vigilant posture.

Shepherd's First Winter; Episode 9, The Good Moose

This is the ninth episode of the novel Shepherd's First Winter. It is available on Amazon in paperback or 

Kindle format.

The Good Moose

It was near the middle of December. The terrible cold was yet ahead. Shepherd wanted to make certain he remained ahead in splitting wood. He enjoyed the challenge and exercise. Pal looked on in confusion and chased chips of wood.

Pal pranced and appeared agitated. He looked toward the woods behind the cabin. He let out a muffled bark toward the trees. Shepherd stopped splitting and looked in the direction Pal was looking. He moved to peer from another angle. He saw nothing. Pal continued disturbed and moved forward. He raised his nose and stretched out.

Shepherd dropped the maul and grabbed his rifle that leaned against the stacked wood.

He positioned himself to see what Pal was looking at. Winding through the trees plodded a mammoth moose. Pal charged. The moose dropped its head and charged Pal.

Pal suddenly realized that his barking and snarling had little effect on frightening away the intruder. He scurried back toward the cabin. The moose continued his charge.

Shepherd held the rifle to his shoulder and squeezed one round into its forehead. The moose’s front legs buckled. It fell to its knees and skidded to a halt on its chin.

“Food, for Daniel and his family,” Shepherd said.

Shepherd made a crude sled with unused boards from the cabin’s construction. He tugged and pried the moose onto the sled and hitched the snow machine to the sled and headed toward Daniels.

Shepherd pulled in front of Daniel’s cabin. He knocked on the door.

Daniel greeted him with a warm smile and handshake. “Come in, what brings you this way?”

“Food,” Shepherd said.

“Then, we will fix you something to eat!” Daniel said.

“No!” Shepherd said. “I brought the food.” He pointed to the moose behind the snow machine. “It’s all yours.”

“I can not take a man’s food,” Daniel said. “It is yours.”

“I have plenty of food,” Shepherd said.

“I’ve seen what you eat,” Daniel said, “It’s all canned.”

“To tell you the truth,” Shepherd said. “I’ve never cleaned an animal or gutted it. I wouldn’t know where to start.”

“Nan!” Daniel said. “Come here!”

Nan came to the door.

“Look!” Daniel said. “Shepherd shot a moose and brought it to us. He says he doesn’t know how to clean it. Will you show him?”

“I don’t know if I can stand it,” Shepherd said. “I have a weak stomach.”

“You only get sick on the first one,” Nan said. “If you want to live out here you better learn how,” she smiled. “Are you a sissy-man?”

“Yes,” Shepherd smiled, “and proud of it.”

Nan grabbed his hand and led him inside. “You start with good sharp knives.”

Shepherd helped Nan but walked off into the trees a couple of times to vomit. By nightfall, the moose was completely dressed out.

Maggie cooked steaks from the moose and they all had a sumptuous meal at Daniel’s home. They played cards afterward. While Shepherd was involved in having fun Nan wrapped about forty pounds of meat in a burlap sack and tied it to Shepherd’s snow machine. 

Shepherd said his goodbyes near six o’clock. Daniel walked with Shepherd to his snow machine. Shepherd saw the meat.

“I got plenty,” Shepherd insisted.

“It is not right for you to not take at least some of the meat,” Daniel said. “In a strange way, it would make my family feel as if they were eating from the hand of another. We know better, but it's a tradition that sticks with us, you understand?”

“Sure,” Shepherd said. “I understand. I didn’t come up here to run a hot dog stand.”

“Careful going home, my friend,” Daniel said. “That was a good moose.”

Shepherd's First Winter; Episode 8, Settlling In

This is the Eighth episode of the novel Shepherd's First Winter. It is available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle format.

Settling In 

The next day, Daniel pulled up to Shepherd’s cabin in his snow machine. Shepherd greeted him at the door and they visited over coffee. They spoke little of the events the night before.

Daniel rose from the dining room chair. “I wanted to check on you and tell you thanks for seeing Nan home safely. She can take care of herself, but things can happen.”

“She is a beautiful daughter,” Shepherd said. “You and your wife are blessed.”

“Thank you, my friend,” Daniel said. “Now that you know where I live, come, stay anytime.”

“And the same goes for me,” Shepherd said.

Shepherd thought highly of Daniel, his family, and his people. They were the peaceful ones of the American natives. They did not want to quibble or fight over hunting grounds and territory but rather chose the worst of environments certain no one would dispute with them over the land. “And here I am,” Shepherd said. “He treats me like a brother, but history tells him I am a competitor; an episode of a social structure that will consume him and his way of life as sure as the legend of Amoruk.

Life there was a struggle, especially for families. In New York life revolved around how to entertain and amuse yourself. Shepherd’s short time with Daniel’s family brought him to the realization that everything revolved around survival and food. They were a part of the food chain in a very real way, not in the abstract.

Shepherd did not have such worries. His pantry and larder were full. He had enough money to last a lifetime. He could not imagine gutting an elk or moose. He cleaned fish with an uncle when he was a boy and it made him vomit. He knew the day would come when he’d have to do it.

Pal was playful and eager to please. Shepherd taught him a wide range of voice commands and hand signals. The experience was good for both of them, especially

Shepherd; it took the edge from his New York impatience.

Shepherd and Pal spent days full of wonderment; Shepherd, his first winter in the wilderness, and Pal the first year of life. Behind Shepherd’s wonderment was imagination. At times he haunted him at night; imagination that was built and nurtured on experience and reality. What secrets did the cold and dark hold? Did Pal already know them? Both became comfortable as wind, cold, and snow fashioned the landscape and imagination.

“I really like it here, Pal,” Shepherd said petting him with long strokes. “I’m breathing again.”

Shepherd's First Winter; Episode 7, The Council

This is the seventh episode of the novel Shepherd's First Winter. It is available in paperback or Kindle format on Amazon.

The Council

They came to a stop at Daniel’s house. It was a log home, slightly larger than Shepherd’s place. They shut off the engines.

“Make sure your family is safe,” Shepherd said.

Nan went inside the home for a moment and came back out. “Everyone is fine," she said, "but Father is long overdue.”

“The river leads to Ruby?” Shepherd said.

“Yes,” Nan said.

“Is that the way your Father would come back?” Shepherd said.

He handed Pal to Nan, started the machine, and headed on the trail toward Ruby.

Shepherd figured the drive would be two hours. It was a clear half-moon sky, and the trail was easy to follow. The cold was not unbearable, yet it was uncomfortable. He heard earlier from his shortwave radio temperatures would be below zero Fahrenheit.

There were snowmachine tracks leading to Ruby, but none returned. He expected to meet Daniel along the way, but after nearly two hours there was no trace of him.

He saw several lights ahead of him. It was Ruby. It looked as if everyone was inside.

Shepherd stopped at the first house and knocked at the door. A young man came to the door and stared.

“I’m looking for my friend, Daniel,” Shepherd said. “He came to town several hours ago and didn't return to his family. They are worried about him. He lives east, maybe 20 miles on the river.”

“There is a tribal council meeting tonight,” the young man said. “Maybe he is there. Keep driving it will be the building with all the snow machines.”

“Thanks,” Shepherd said.

Shepherd drove for no more than three hundred yards until he saw a well-lit large log building with at least twenty snow machines parked outside.

Shepherd walked into a small foyer. He stomped his feet and entered a hallway that led to a room with the door open. Inside were men in a half-circle. Three men sat in front of them. Shepherd entered the room.

One man rose from the three. “This is a closed meeting. It’s tribal.”

“I just wanted to check on my friend,” Shepherd said. “His family is worried. Do you know him?”

“I am fine, Shepherd,” Daniel said, rising from the other men. “This is the man I told you about who lives near me.”

“I’m sorry for interrupting,” Shepherd said. “I just wanted to make certain Daniel was safe. I’ll wait outside.”

Shepherd took a step away and turned back. “Does this meeting have anything to do with Daniel’s dog?”

“Yes,” said one of the three.

“Nan, Daniel’s daughter, and I saw something strange about halfway between my cabin and the river, and several days ago something large in the distance moved slowly toward my cabin.”

“Tell more,” the man said.

Shepherd related all the events that happened with him and Nan and also the night at the cabin, even the strange behavior of Pal.

They spoke in their native tongue to each other. It was all respectful and organized. As the conversation became more intense Shepherd slowly moved to the exit.

“Do not go,” the man said. “We would like to hear if you have an opinion.”

Shepherd moved closer to the men.

“I cannot be sure what the first thing I saw was,” Shepherd said. “I’m certain it was taller than an average man. What Nan and I saw was definitely a man and I base that upon the fact it hid motionless behind a tree; an animal would not do that.”

A man from the group said, “But we are not dealing with a man or an animal.”

“Thank you, Shepherd,” the man of the three said. He addressed the group. “Let’s go home now and be vigilant.”

Daniel introduced Shepherd to several men, all natives. There was some light conversation, a few more questions.

They drove back to Daniel’s home where he was introduced to his wife, Maggie, his 15-year-old son, Ben, and his 17-year-old son Izzy.

“Stay with us tonight,” Maggie pleaded.

“I’m really concerned about my cabin,” Shepherd said.

“It may be dangerous,” Daniel said. “Can I send one of my sons with you?”

“No,” Shepherd said. “I will be fine.”

Shepherd drove back to his cabin with Pal in his box. The ride was uneventful. The cabin was undisturbed.

Shepherd's First Winter; Episode 6, Some Thing or Someone

This is the sixth episode of the novel Shepherd's First Winter. It is available in paperback or Kindle format on Amazon.

Some Thing or Someone

Shepherd quickly got ready.

On the rear of his snowmachine, he placed a box for Pal. In fifteen minutes Shepherd and Nan were skimming across the snowed plain on their snow machines. They drove on the frozen stream that cut a gully and led to a forest. Shepherd followed closely. On both sides a wall of white. Standing high over them were pines laden with snow.

Nan maneuvered the machine like she knew every bend in the stream and every rock protruding above the ice.

Her tail lights came on. She stopped. They cut their engines. Nan hopped from her machine and walked ahead. Shepherd grabbed his rifle and caught up with her.

“A tree across the stream,” Nan said. “It was not there when I came this way earlier.”

“Perhaps heavy with snow,” Shepherd said.

Shepherd climbed to the top of the stream bank and ran his hand across a rough-cut pine. He quickly slid back down the bank.

“It’s been cut,” Shepherd said. “Someone wanted you to stop here.”

Shepherd brought his rifle to his shoulder and aimed at the trees above and fired off three rounds. “If someone is out there that will speak volumes.”

Shepherd and Nan listened and looked overhead.

“You know how to handle a rifle?” Shepherd said.

Nan grabbed a rifle from her machine. “Never leave home without it.”

“Go up the bank over here,” Shepherd said, pointing to the south bank, “And I’ll go up on the other side. Take a good look.”

They crawled to the top of the bank and scanned through the trees.

Shepherd strained his eyes. Deep into the trees, something large and dark moved behind a tree.

“Nan!” Shepherd whispered loudly.

Nan slid down the bank, crawled up the other, and lay next to Shepherd. “Do you see something?”

Shepherd pushed his rifle firm in the snow and aimed it toward the tree. “Come, take a look at the tree I aimed at. There is someone behind it.”

Shepherd moved out of the way and Nan looked down the sights of the rifle. “It is someone or…”

“It is someone,” Shepherd said. “Somethings don’t conceal themselves.”

“Keep an eye on him,” Shepherd said.

“What are you going to do?” Nam said.

“Move the tree,” Shepherd said.

“How?” Nan said.

“I came prepared,” Shepherd said. He slid down the bank and untied a small chainsaw from his machine. He tugged it a couple of times and cut the fallen tree from their path.

Soon they were on their way until the steam bed rose where they could see over the banks. They reached the point where the stream joined the river. A small bridge across the stream marked the path to Daniel’s home.