Today’s
excerpt is from Toboggan, Book #4 of the nine-book Janitors Series. Out of the blizzard and in a line shack they
had found, Nick gets a fire going, then figures out how to keep one going. Enjoy and have a fantastic day.
m.j.
With
little wasted motion, Nick opened four bottles from their stash and poured them
on the driest-looking piece of wood. One
of the matches soon had the piece of wood blazing. Alas, the blaze soon fizzled out. Nick stood back and thought for a
minute. “Okay, we know how to start the
fire. Now we have to figure a way to
keep it going.”
With
that he went through the kitchen cabinets and found several cans of various
foodstuffs. Using a knife he found in
one of the drawers, he slit the labels off the cans and sat them on the
table. Then he went back out and brought
in three more stacks of wood. Next he
went back out and looked around until he saw a shack next to the cabin. He forced open its door and peered
inside. It was a stabling area for
horses. Without hesitation, he picked up
a pile of moldy hay, after piling some dried horse manure on top of the
hay. This he carried back into the cabin
and placed in the fireplace, around the wood he had put there earlier. Now he put some of the labels from the cans
around and under the hay and manure.
Then he doused the entire stack of material with the contents of three
more bottles from the bag.
When
he lit the alcohol this time, the fire sputtered, crackled, and slowly—very
slowly—caught hold. In time the wood
logs really started to burn. Satisfied,
he carefully added three more pieces of wood.
When
he saw the fire would continue to burn, he turned to Phyllis. “You better get out of those wet things.”
Without
hesitation, Phyllis started undressing.
As she did, Nick got two of the blankets out of the bag and set them on
the table as he pulled two of the chairs over near the fire to hang Phyllis’
clothing on. When she was down to her
bra and panties, he wrapped one of the blankets around her shoulders, then
pulled another chair over near the fireplace.
“Sit here,” he offered.
She
did so without comment as Nick got the other blanket and wrapped it around her
legs. Then he got out two more of the
blankets, stripped to his underwear, and placed his clothes on the chairs with
Phyllis’ things. He pulled the last
chair next to her and wrapped himself in blankets as he had done for Phyllis.
After
he let out a long sigh, she smiled, “Thanks.
My Knight in probably still wet underwear.”
“Speaking
of which, how are your undergarments—dry wise, that is?”
“Not
bad. Should be dry soon. You’re a good fire builder.”
“Even
if I had to cheat and use horseshit to start it?”
“I
don’t care what you used, just so it started.
I was chilled to the bone, but I’m glad you made us go on when I wanted
to quit. That’s why I appointed you
Captain of the ship.”
“Appointed? Appointed!”
“You
know what I mean. Thanks for taking
charge. I still can’t believe we’re
alive. When we were shooting down that
damn hill I was too scared to even yell.
I’m surprised I didn’t wet myself.
Speaking of which…”
“Okay,
I get the message,” said Nick as he looked around the cabin. “In case you haven’t noticed, there’s no
plumbing here. Looks like just a drain
from the kitchen sink. Bet there’s a
well outside someplace, and I’d bet we find an outside privy also.”
“Well,
I sure don’t want to go outside.”
“No,
you’re warming up now. You best stay in
here,” Nick agreed. He stood up and
walked over to the kitchen area. There
he found a deep pan and brought it over to Phyllis.
After
he handed it to her, he turned his back.
Soon he could hear a tinkle as she did her business. Then he grinned when she asked, “Uh, what
should I do with it…my full bed pan?”
He
turned back around, and answered, “I’ll take care of it,” as he stepped forward
and picked up the pan. He walked to the
sink, shrugged his shoulders and dumped it out there. Then he walked to the door, opened it,
reached out, and scooped up half a pan of snow.
With a smile, he carried the snow-laded pan over to the dasher board
near the sink and left it there as he headed back to the warmth of the fire.
“You’re
making a primitive gal outta me,” joked Phyllis.
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