ɢᴀʟᴇ (traps) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-03-24 09:35:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, agent washington, gale hawthorne |
Who: Gale and Wash
What: Taking fellow brother-in-arms to chill in West Virginia after bouts of crazy
When: Early/mid-March
Where: The Hawthorne Home and by a stream
Rating/Warnings: Dead fish?
Status: Complete
Gale’s familial home was what you might call very country. It was in the Middle of Nowhere, West Virginia, rural living at its finest - a stream ran through, nearby, and the long gravelled road that he’d driven the rental car up on led to a place that looked like it had seen better days, but was strong and sturdy. The timber could probably use a new finish, the maroon roof the last touch to make the place appear rustic; a farmhouse, really, with flowers in mason jars in the windowsills (they were supposed to be welcoming, courtesy of Posy Hawthorne) and the interior matched the concept - the sink in the kitchen, for example, was large. Meant to hearken back to the good old days when sinks were used for canning and washing babies. It was cozy, the whole thing, and Gale had missed home. Mostly, it even looked the same too, except for the old workshop attached to the house that had been converted into a room for Rory, Gale’s brother. He was fifteen and very much in that stage where he wanted privacy and his own space to do whatever he wanted - he’d been sharing a room with Posy, while Gale’s old room had been a spare room for storage. Now it would be a guest room for Wash, for as long as they stayed. As Gale predicted, his mother had just loved the former Marine - she was pleased that Gale brought another fellow military recruit to the house yet it worried her what exactly was going on in Orange County. Even so, Hazelle Hawthorne would take care of them while they were here - that morning, she’d cooked a large breakfast for the whole family (biscuits with sausage gravy, pancakes in all sorts of funny shapes mostly for Posy’s benefit, eggs any style and fresh orange juice) and they’d all eaten at the table together. But then of course had to go about their day. “I have to get going, honey, do you think you could take Posy to school?” Hazelle asked, stooping to clear the plates. Gale sent her money when he could, to help supplement as he always did, but she continued her work as a preschool teacher, not even considering retirement yet. “And then what do you have planned? You might be able to get some good fishing in.” It was still a little chilly, winter tapering off and water temperatures heating up, but the stream was bountiful. Gale would have to see. There wasn’t a lot to do in rural West Virginia, unless you liked hiking or whitewater rafting (and it was definitely too cold for that). Fast food restaurants were even far and few in between - it wasn’t very lively. “Whatever Wash wants to do,” he grinned, scooting his chair back. “Come on, Posy, get your coat. We’ll drop you off.” “Okay!” The ten-year-old decided she had a crush on Wash, so she wanted him to see how sophisticated she was. Rory, meanwhile, just groaned. Because school was so dull. From the time Wash had arrived at the Hawthorne family home he felt as though somewhere between the airport and the house that he somehow been sucked into some kind of time rift and had been sent back to the time Little House on the Prairie had been set. Just minus the prairie part. It was nice, actually. Wash had grown up in a city, granted Spokane was a sprawling city and wasn’t exactly known for its skyline (unless you counted the mountains that surrounded it), but it was still a city nonetheless and one Wash had been rarely out of until he joined the marines. In fact the closest thing Wash had ever come to good ol’ country living was an old Ma and Pa diner in the down town area that went out of its way with its décor to remind it’s customers of what life was (probably) like in bygone simpler times. Being surrounded by actual trees and forests with babbling brooks and fuzzy wildlife was a little claustrophobic at first, but Wash was acclimating quickly. Even though he felt bad for taking off just after his CO had mysteriously turned up and taken the time to track his ass down at a bar, the longer he stayed out here, the more Wash felt himself relaxing both mentally and physically. Gale’s childhood home was beautiful, warm and serene and Wash had had the best sleep in his entire life that first night in the guest room. No Dreams, no waking up to any weird memories that didn’t belong to him or any bizarre “gifts” that threatened to either put holes in people or completely destroy his electronic devices. Must have been something in that clean fresh country air. Wash had almost forgotten what a full night’s sleep felt like. Hazel Hawthorne – even her name sounded as though it belonged in a bygone age</i> - was an absolute sweetheart and Wash took to her surprisingly quickly. Not having any brothers or sisters of his own, he just as easily took to Gale’s two siblings. The entire family made him feel welcome and at ease, something Wash hadn’t had in a long time. Breakfast was delicious and he ate like a man who hadn’t had a decent meal in years. When he had finished his healthy serving of pancakes and eggs, he sat back in his seat and listened to the family banter. He raised a brow when Gale stated that their activity for the day was up to him. He had no idea what he wanted to do. Hike in the woods, visit a few of Gale’s old haunts, maybe try his hand at fishing? It all sounded like fun, really. Taking Posy to school, however, sounded like a good start to the day, at least. He pushed away from the table as Posy ran off to get her coat and chuckled a little bit at Rory’s eye roll. Oh, to be fifteen again. “You need a ride too, Rory?” Gale asked, as he found his old hunting jacket (it was something of a relic, he’d had it for years and tended to default to that almost as often as his combat boots) and slipped it on. His brother was old enough to walk the mile or so to school on his own (uphill, in the snow, both ways?) but Hazelle always liked for Posy to be dropped off, at least until she entered high school too. But that wouldn’t be for a few more years. At least with Gale in town he could take her, and spend some quality time with his sister. The middle Hawthorne kid shook his head. “Nah, I’m good, I’ll walk. Thanks though. You guys enjoy the fishing.” He grabbed his bag lunch from the counter, about to set off - in the dreams, Rory was just as protective of the family as Gale was, and had taken the tesserae rations (meager oil and grain) in exchange for his name on more slips of paper in the Reaping ball. Which was something Gale had done as well but the fact that Rory had to, it just made him want to fight harder for change to happen. Posy appeared then, carrying her lunchbox and grinning. “I’m ready!” She was ushered to the rental car, along with the fishing supplies too just in case - if Wash wanted to try his hand at the stream, then Gale would make sure they caught something good for dinner. He loaded everything into the trunk, and Posy talked a mile a minute. “Wash! Did you know that Gale has a girlfriend? He’s going to bring her next time and she’s going to do my hair like she said. Maybe you can come too and we can double date!” Oh, right, Posy. Sure. Gale chuckled a little. “Get in the car, weirdo.” Obvious crush was obvious. Wash had to bite back the laughter that threatened at the back of his throat. Life is always simpler when you’re ten. A near twenty year age gap? Appropriateness? What on Earth is that? “I do as a matter of fact,” he answered her as he helped Gale load the rental’s trunk. “I’ve even met her. She’s fantastic.” And terrifying, in a good way, of course, but let’s leave that part out. Remember: ten-year-old. “But I think when Gale brings Leliana out to meet you all, he’s going to want to do it without me. Besides,” he grinned over at Posy, “I don’t think Gale would appreciate me dating his cute younger sister.” He gave a subtle wink at Gale before making his way to the passenger side door. “There’s a code about that kind of thing, you know.” Aw. No wonder Posy took such a shine to Wash - he was so sweet. The whole family did, really; Rory thought the former Marine was cool and Hazelle wanted to adopt him. “Yeah, it violates brothers-in-arms code,” he explained even though what the fuck, no such thing. Maybe if his sister was twenty instead of ten (though he planned to step in and judge any of her boyfriends later on down the line anyway, as was the duty of the older brother). “Just let Leli do your hair, I think that’ll be fun.” He wanted to bring Leliana anyway, and he would - she didn’t have much family for him to meet, so Gale planned to welcome her as one of the Hawthorne’s. It’d be like that at some point regardless, if they ever got married, so - good practice. “Are you really gonna go fishing?” Posy asked from the backseat. “Catch me something good, catch a big one!” “We can.” Gale glanced at Wash as he drove. “You ever been fishing before?” “Not really,” Wash said with a shrug. “I’ve fished my skateboard out of a fountain a couple of times and my shoes out of the Spokane River-“ such an original name for the tiny river that ran right through the center of the city “-and I had to fish myself out of the ocean that one time I tried to surf, but I don’t think any of that counts.” He looked over his shoulder at the girl in the backseat. “No promises on anything good, alright? I’m pretty good at catching things like skateboards and tires and boots, but I’m not too sure on the fish. But I’ll see what I can do. I’m sure your brother’ll more than make up for it, though. He’ll teach me what to do.” Wash couldn’t have had a better teacher for all the things Outdoorsy. Wash liked Posy. She was pretty much what he’d always thought having a little sister would be like. You know, minus the crush part, as cute as it was. Yeeeeah, skateboards and tires didn’t count, Wash. Sorry to say. But it gave Posy a giggle to think about fishing and catching a boot, of all things. “There’s lots in the stream, sometimes I catch stuff too,” she nodded. “So you’ll be able to get something.” In the summer, she would even wade to her ankles and fish that way, just scooping them up - it was slow and lazy time for the fishes then, so much easier. Her elementary school wasn’t too far from the house, and Gale pulled into the lot to drop his sister off. “Mom will pick you up later, okay? Be good.” Then once Posy gathered her bookbag and her lunchbox, she waved goodbye and was swallowed by the crowd of other eager young minds to enter the building. Now the fishing could begin. “You doing alright?” Gale asked, back on the road now. “Jet lag isn’t too awful? I know it’s kind of a hike from the OC to here.” But he hoped Wash felt like he could kick back and relax a little - that was why they’d come in the first place. Wash waved goodbye to the young Hawthorne sister and told her to have a good day before she disappeared in the crowd of happy school children. He settled back into his seat as Gale took them back towards the road. He glanced at his friend when the other spoke. “Yeah, I’m alright,” he said with a small half-shrug. “Jet lag isn’t too bad. I slept like a rock the first night and that I think pretty much took care of it. The bigger issue was having the woods so...I don’t know...close, I guess?” He gestured out the car window to the tree line a few feet away. “Spokane sprawls and from there I went to San Diego and then the Middle East. That’s taken some getting used to. I mean, it’s fine, it's just every now and then I get this weird feeling that the trees are too close.” Wash wasn’t sure how else to describe the claustrophobic feeling of getting swallowed up by the forest. It sounded silly in his head and probably even sillier out loud. “What about you?” He asked. “How are you doing? When was the last time you were back here?” It was interesting. Gale hadn’t come across anyone who got claustrophobic around the forest (and personally, the forest was where he felt most comfortable) - usually the great outdoors meant, you know, space. But everyone had their quirks and phobias, he didn’t judge. “There’s a McDonalds up the road if you want something more urban?” His grin was light-hearted and warm, two things not usually associated with Gale - but being home sort of that had effect on him. Being around his family did. “Haven’t been back since my exercise in South Africa was done - but I came to get Tella, because my family had been taking care of her while I was overseas. Then I moved to Orange County for the second time, and you know how it went from there.” So all in all, that was almost a year ago - man, time flew, didn’t it? “I’m glad to be back though. Even if everything just reminds me of the Seam, and District 12.” The ash, that haze of soot, the dust. His father had been a coal miner just like in the dreams - West Virginia was District 12, and here coal mining was still prevalent even if the quotas weren’t being met to satisfy the Capitol’s demands. Those life parallels had a great sense of humor. He parked near the stream, the trickle of it a soothing sound to his ears. From here they could walk the rest of the way, a bit further into the wilderness. “This way,” Gale waved him along, gathering the tackle box and the fishing rods. “If you see any good soil clumps, dig around for worms. We can use them as bait.” “We’ll keep McDonalds in our back pocket in case fishing is a bust,” Wash laughed. It was an easy sounding laugh for him, natural and calm. “But to be perfectly honest, man, I think your mother’s cooking has ruined me. I don’t think I’ll ever eat anything that tastes as good.” There was a saying that went “there’s no place like home”. Even if West Virginia reminded Gale of places in his Dreams, he seemed to be doing pretty damn good here. It was good to get to see a side of Gale that Wash didn’t normally see, even when the two did their usual banter back and forth. And after everything they’d been through lately, especially in the last month, it was good to see him smile. Really good. Wash wondered for a moment if he ever went back to Spokane, if he’d feel the same way. His homelife had been a wreck, but it wasn’t as if the entire city had been out to get him. He’d had friends there and some pretty good memories of those friends. He wondered what they all were doing now ten years later. He wondered who had let Celia practice dyeing their hair after he left or if she had ever finished cosmetology school. He wondered if she met someone, had gotten married, had kids. He’d lost touch with her after he’d joined the Marines. He’d cut all ties with everything having to do with Spokane when he’d left. Maybe he could try to find Celia and everyone else he’d hung out with at the skateparks again. Maybe he could go back after all. After Gale parked the car and got their fishing gear from the trunk, Wash followed him along towards their fishing spot. Bait. Yes. They’d need that. Wash kept his eyes on the ground looking for good soil clumps. “Did you used to fish a lot as a kid?” He asked as he stooped down to dig around in what he thought to be a pretty good looking clump. “Do you really think we’ll catch anything? Posy sounded as though she had her heart set on fish for dinner.” “Oh, I think we will,” Gale nodded, confident in his assessment. “And my mom will make something good - she really can cook through, right? I knew she was going to try to fatten you up and feed you well.” Mostly, Hazelle was just pleased that her son brought a military friend - she worried about Gale, and she worried about Wash too, knowing that the life (even if you were Reserves, or discharged) wasn’t easy. The memories stuck with you always - they certainly did for the Hawthorne family, from all those times Gale was fighting in Afghanistan overseas and they had to go day to day, not knowing much. So anything she could do to provide a little comfort, and thank the ones who served, she as a military mother would gladly do. The sound of rushing water could be heard the closer they go to the stream - he’d let Wash find the bait (nice juicy worms) but picked the best spot to do the fishing. “You gotta do it by an overhanging tree here, like this - it’s where the bigger fish rest because it’s protection from the sun and predators.” He knew how to think like his prey, that was what made Gale a good hunter and trap-maker; it was like he had a natural skill for it, intensified since the dreams. “Does bring back memories though. I fished a lot as a kid. It was a good time to just get away. Me and my dad would go together, but then after he died I went on my own.” Wash laughed as he dug worms up out of the ground. “Your mom’s doing a pretty good job of fattening me up,” he said. “Carolina’s going to have a field day when I get back. Jesus, it’ll be nothing but push-ups, sprints and sparing for the next two weeks, I already know it. You know she made me join a gym? I have no idea how the hell she talked me into it, either.” There hadn’t been much talking, really. It was more like: Gunney, I found a gym for us. Meet me at this address at 0700. “And then magically I became her sparring partner. She says she’s rusty, but between you, me, and the fish, I think it’s an excuse to wipe the floor with my ass on a daily basis. She was the best brawler on our squad and even ‘rusty’ she’s about ten times better than I am.” The words may have been the complaining type, but Wash was doing anything but. He spoke about Carolina with a kind of respect not just reserved for one’s superiors. He still wasn’t thrilled with the idea of his former commanding officer in Orange County and getting swept up in all the weird bullshit it had to offer, but falling back into the familiar role of Carolina’s subordinate had been easy and Wash had done absolutely nothing to resist it. Carolina hadn’t had to make the effort to find him and make herself a part of his life again, but she had, and Wash welcomed it. A handful of squirming pink worms pulled out of the ground, Wash got to his feet again. “Hopefully these are good to start,” he said as he joined Gale by the large overhanging tree. God damn, but it was beautiful out here. When you lived in a city, it was hard to imagine that places like this still existed. Wash watched the water rush past them as Gale spoke about where the best places to fish were. It all made sense, hide from predators, get a bit of shade, wait for some big fat worm to dangle in front of your face and then become someone’s dinner. Wash smiled a bit. It was nice to hear Gale talk about how he and his dad had come out here to get away. Wash had no such bonding experiences with his stepfather, but he felt as though he could kind of make up for it here and now. Gale wasn’t a father figure - the age difference made that a bit impossible, not to mention laughable, but he was about as close to a brother as Wash had. “Thanks for bringing me out here,” he said. “Hey, you deserved it.” They both did, they deserved a break, which was why Gale had even come up with the idea to give them both a little vacation. “You gotta introduce me to Carolina though, when we get back,” he added, taking the squirmy pink worms from Wash - yep, they were nice and juicy, these would do just fine. “She seems kind of awesome. I definitely have an appreciation for tough redheads.” Leliana didn’t look steely - her look was more batting lashes and a sweet accent to go with her cookies n’cream appearance. But she was pretty much the deadliest person Gale knew. Their worms du jour went onto the fishing rod, with the expert (ha) showing how to do it in steps. “You allow the bait to kind of drift,” he said. “Because to fish it looks natural; insects and worms are washed into the water this way, so it’s nothing out of the ordinary.” Soon, they’d have some delicious trout. And Gale really did love trout. “She is kind of awesome. I’ll introduce you, don’t worry. I think you’ll like her.” He shifted his footing. “She’s on the network, which I’m not particularly thrilled about, but she basically told me in no uncertain terms that she’s not going anywhere. She’s one of the toughest people I know so…” He trailed off. Carolina had died in Wash’s dreams. Did that mean she was going to die here as well? Katou had managed to avoid that fate, but still the whole concept worried him. Wash shook his head. He had time to think about that when he got back to Orange County, prepare Carolina for what was coming, warn her in the very least. Right now, however, he needed to be concerned about what was going on at the end of his fishing line. He let the bait kind of wander out into the water, drifting along with the current, not too far away from where they were in the shade, but far enough to appear - what Wash hoped - natural. “Like this?” He asked. This was definitely different than fishing his skateboard out of the fountain, or his shoes out of the river. “What do we do now? Wait? Fishing is a waiting game, isn’t it?” “Yep,” Gale wouldn’t bullshit about it - fishing definitely was a waiting game, but it was nice to just chill for a hot minute or so, and not worry about anything besides the fish swimming by. He and his father would have all sorts of conversations, stories passed between them while they sat by the stream, patiently biding their time. “But who knows, you might have beginner’s luck and catch something before I do.” You never could tell. He settled on a rock, casual as can be. For once his muscles weren’t knotted into tense bricks, or slabs of concrete. “Yeah, the network can be...a lot.” So in that sense, he really sympathized with Wash being hesitant about someone he knew from the past finding their way to a forum which would irrevocably change their life - in both good ways and bad ways. Was about equal for him, but the good seemed to outweigh the bad on most days. “Helps to have allies though? And any friend of yours is a friend of mine, so there’s that.” Friend? Yeah, Carolina could be considered a friend now. Neither one of them were in the Marines anymore. She wasn’t technically his commanding officer, no matter how easily Wash fell back into taking orders from her. They were just two civilians trying to make sense of civilian life. The best way to describe what they were to each other would probably be friends and Carolina was sure to need all the friends she could get. “Thanks, man,” Wash said. He continued standing near the water’s edge, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he watched his line in the water. “She’s a little much at first, but you get used to it. Like I said, I think you’ll like her. I think Leli will too.” Although the idea of Leliana and Carolina, two of the deadliest women Wash knew, joining forces was a slightly frightening one. He chuckled. “We’re probably doomed if they get along as well as I think they will.” Wash was quiet for a moment, listening to the stream and watching his line. “It’s kind of weird,” Wash said. “The way she just showed up. She’d been in my Dreams. I didn’t think I’d see her or any of the others again, so Dreaming about her was...nice. Now she’s gone in my Dreams and back in reality. Kinda ironic.” Leliana was pretty easy to get along with, so yeah, that would be interesting. Gale would look forward to it. “I think pretty much everyone from our dreams is out there somewhere anyway,” he pointed out, adjusting the line a little as it bobbed in the water. “It’s just a matter of the stars aligning to bring them into our lives, and us into theirs - which sounds like bullshit, and five years ago I’d have thought so too, but now I’m not so sure.” He considered a lot of this a nudging from that Fate bitch. There was really no other explanation, and it had been enough to get him to shift his viewpoints about the concept a little. “Glad she’s here for you, though. I mean, we make friends with people outside our dreamworlds but there’s just something about having someone who really gets that part.” That was why he was close to all the Panem people - some more than others, but. He’d still have their backs, no matter what, if shit were to hit the fan again like it did before (let’s hope it didn’t). “These days nothing sounds like bullshit anymore,” Wash said with a shrug. “Could do with less creepy shit and more fun shit.” Between the fog in January and the Arena in February, Wash’d had his fill of the life and death situations. He functioned well enough in them, but he wouldn’t mind hunting gremlins again. A cup of soda to the head wasn’t bad in comparison. The fish didn’t seem particularly interested in the worm at the end of Wash’s line and as much as he would have liked to have brought back a nice fat fish to satisfy Posy’s request, Wash didn’t mind just standing out here. The normal restlessness of his mind seemed quieter than it had been in a long time. No whispering from the ghost of an A.I at the back of his head, no constant expectation of a shoe dropping. It was a much needed break. “What it was like growing up out here?” he asked. “What else did you do for fun?” Sometimes, the right fish swam by when you least expected it - probably why there was truth to the saying about there being other fish in the sea? Or something. But Gale just had a feeling that the trout gods were going to smile upon Wash today - they simply had to be patient and wait a little longer. “It was a lot different than being in an urban city, but really, I don’t have much to compare it to,” he said. “Overall, it was kind of...hard. Because coal mining is still a thing here, and my dad died of Black Lung. Then I took over as ‘man’ of the house, so I was working in a warehouse from a pretty early age before joining the Army. Out here, it’s not exactly the land of opportunity.” A harsh truth, but he felt like he’d done pretty well for himself regardless - he had two jobs back in the OC and was learning new things, going places. “For fun though, I’d wander in the woods, go swimming, fish and hunt. When I got to high school I was working a lot but sometimes we’d just head into town to see a movie - like, honestly, that was the extent of it. There’s just not a lot to do that’s not outdoors, but it was good,” now it was Gale’s turn to shrug - he really had no complaints about his upbringing. Maybe money was tight but the Hawthorne’s did the best they could. “Anything nibbling?” “I’m sorry about your dad,” Wash said. He would have liked to have met the man, shake his hand and tell him how his son had saved his life not once, but several times over the past several months, both literally and figuratively. Gale was a good man, and for as much as Wash didn’t believe in heaven or hell, he had to believe Mr. Hawthorne, wherever he was, knew that. He sighed and shook his head. “No bites,” he said. He started reeling in his line. Maybe putting in somewhere else would prove to be more fruitful. He frowned when he saw that all that was left on the hook dangling in front of his face was a few bits of worm chunks. “I think the fish are on to us, man,” he said turning and showing the hook to Gale. “I’ve been outsmarted by a trout. Hand me another worm? I have a score to settle now.” Gale had to chuckle a little. “You’ve got this,” he promised Wash, giving him another of those worms from the bucket of soil they’d gathered. Probably a good idea to change out the bait, make it fresh and all that. The look in his eye was one of understanding, because he appreciated the condolences about his father - some days, Gale missed him pretty badly but he liked to think that his old man would have been proud of everything he’d accomplished so far. “Just think of how good that pan-fried trout is going to taste. Or maybe even grilled - nothing beats grilled trout, you know? Bet my mom will even make some new potatoes with butter.” He’d appeal to the stomach side of things - maybe that would inspire some nibbling. Nibbling was good, but biting was what they needed. A good ol’ chomp on the hook by one or two hungry and eager fish “I wouldn’t know,” Wash answered as he baited his hook. “I’ve never had freshly caught trout before.” He paused for a moment sifting through his collage of acquired memories. “Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve had trout before period.” He baited the hook a little more securely this time. He moved to a different spot on Gale’s other side, still under the shade of the tree. “Alright, second time in. Fingers crossed.” He put his line in and let the current take it away from the shore. After a moment or two of standing and shifting his weight from foot to foot restlessly, he too took a seat on the ground to wait for something to find the worm interesting. He was prepared to wait a while yet. As luck would have it no sooner had his butt hit the dirt when something starting tugging on his line. Instantly Wash was scrambling to his feet again. “Uh, Gale? I think I got something.” Well, that was a biter. Hell yeah. Always happened when your ass hit the ground and you settled in, always. “Reel it in,” Gale instructed, coming to assist with that. Sure enough, that was that decent-sized trout - and rather than letting it flop around on the ground he removed the hook from its mouth, putting the catch on a stringer before moving it to the creel to transport home. “Not bad for your first time fishing,” he clapped Wash on the shoulder. His own line was starting to twitch in that telltale sort of way also; it didn’t take much longer for Gale, and they both had something delicious caught themselves from the cool waters of the stream. There was something fulfilling about that, hunting and catching your own food - different than hunting for sport, which he had never really been into. Whenever he went hunting, it was with full intent to use most every bit of his kills - in the dreams it was for survival, and here it was for practicality purposes. Out of respect, really. “We can clean these at the house. It’s not as bad as the deer, and you held onto your guts for that so I have full faith in your abilities.” Wash was rather proud of himself, having caught a fish the first time a fishing pole had been put in his hands. And not just a little sunfish or some tiny minnow, but a pretty good size trout! There really was nothing like catching your own food. It gave Wash a sense of accomplishment, like he’d earned his meal instead of having to scavenge for it. Even better that Gale caught himself a trout shortly afterwards. Wash looked with no hidden pride at their two catches. He was eager for Gale to show him how to clean and gut the fish so that Mrs. Hawthorne could cook them up later. “The deer wasn’t so bad,” he said. He’d had that same sense of accomplishment when they’d taken down the deer last fall, especially when he had been able to cook to meat for Kyu a few days later. He would have liked to have been able to tell her about this as well, seeing West Virginia, catching fish, hiking in the woods. Of all of Wash’s past regrets, letting Kyu go was one of his biggest. He shook his head a little, putting Kyu out of his thoughts. He chuckled, “you’re going to turn me into a survivor man, yet,” he said. “And in return, I promise you’ll be doing aerials off the ramps at the skate park in no time.” |