Sure enough he was gone a few minutes later. From where I sat I could just see the top of the cookie box up on the table. Out of my reach but his bed, which was beside the table, wasn’t. I jumped up on the bed then onto the table and picked up the whole box and got back on the bed. I did feel a little guilty and after eating a couple of them right away I decided to have a bit of a nap. Sometime later I heard him come up the steps, as he was swinging the water can off his back he looked in the window and saw me on the bed, unfortunately the cookie box was right beside me.

  He yelled, “Jerry! What, how did you get –?” Then he mumbled a bunch of words I didn’t understand.

  Now you must understand that I had been ready to forgive him, it may have only been an oversight on his part. But his tone of voice just got me mad all over again, so I grabbed that box, jumped off the bed, got under it and in the furthest corner I tore into those cookies and I ate as fast as I could. By the time he was inside and peering under the bed there were only a couple left. He glared at me and I glared right back at him.

  Suddenly he started to laugh. He backed away and sat on the bed and said, “Okay, c’mon out, I guess I deserved that. C’mon boy.”

  I walked out, not quite sure what to do. He scooped me up and gave me a squeeze and said, “Okay we are all even. And I’m sorry for being a pig.”

  A few days later we went for another walk only this time John took the big water can with us; on the way down the trail he placed two little buckets just under half way down. On the way back he filled them both with water. After that I always went on the grub run and having that water part way up solved most of my thirst problem.

  We went hunting for grouse a couple of times; somewhere along the way he had become a pretty good shot. I really didn’t mind fetching them when they didn’t wiggle but those lives ones always got my mouth full of feathers!

  I felt younger and stronger during our time on the lookout. All the exercise and John’s plain cooking made me lose some weight and I felt better than I had in a long time. It was just like I had somehow returned to the summer of my life. I think this was what Mom always meant when she talked about Indian Summer and how it was so beautiful. If this was Indian Summer – bring it on!

  But I guess it couldn’t last. One afternoon a storm rolled in, the wind blew, there was thunder and lightning flashing all about and our tiny building shuddered to the buffeting and pounding. Later in the evening the rain came and pounded on the roof and windows. I can’t say that it was the most comfortable feeling in the world. That night, I was concerned that John might be a bit afraid so I slept in his bed instead of my own. It rained for almost two full days, then after talking on the radio to Bob, John went out and dragged out some things he called shutters and started putting them over the windows.

  The following day we left.