Pieces of Daniel

Doctor’s Orders

“You know, days like these…these are my favorite,” Pawpaw said as he hopped into the driver’s seat of his truck.

It was a Friday afternoon in the winter of Daniel’s senior year. He was helping his Pawpaw load the truck with supplies and ammo for their weekend hunting trip. Hunting wasn’t Daniel’s favorite thing to do, but he could appreciate the process and was glad to spend time with his Pawpaw and his uncles. Daniel was a little disappointed his dad wouldn’t make it for the deer hunt having duty that weekend.

“Why are these your favorite days, Pawpaw?” Daniel asked.

Pawpaw leaned to the side to wave to his sons-in-law to go ahead. They would lead the way to the trailhead that would take them to a remote cabin only a few miles walk into the woods.

“The crisp air…the smell of fires…living like we were meant to. Packaged meat in a supermarket? That’s not how we’re meant to live. I also like being with my boys… and boys-in-law, heh-heh,” Pawpaw said with his signature chuckle. When it had been a while since he had seen Pawpaw, Daniel would catch himself laughing a little when he heard his chuckle the first couple of times. It was one of his favorite things about Pawpaw.

It was a forty-minute drive to the trailhead, trailhead being a loose description of where they were going. It was only a shoulder section of highway a little flatter than average with enough room for two, maybe three trucks or cars. Very few, if any, would be able to find the trail unless they had been there many times before. Daniel didn’t make the cut for that group, but maybe one day.

During the drive, Pawpaw talked a lot about his days in the Army during World War II. He spoke about how he was part of a special group called the Devil’s Brigade. He shared how they worked with the Canadians, trained in hand-to-hand combat, skiing, rock climbing, parachuting, amphibious warfare, and explosives. Because of it, he had spent time in Montana, Vermont, Alaska, Italy, and France. From the way he talked, Daniel could tell he missed those days, but also, there was a lot he’d like to forget.

Pawpaw moved from talking about the war to how he met Enisi when he was stationed in Oklahoma. He said Ama, his water angel, was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. It was love at first sight, for him at least, he chuckled. Though Pawpaw’s countenance was cheery, he subtly wiped two escaped tears before quickly bringing his hand back to the wheel.

“Well, here we are,” Pawpaw said, pulling off to the side of the road next to Uncle Job’s truck.

It had been a while since Daniel was here last, but every time he got out of the car he thought it was some kind of joke.

At first, one would think there was nowhere to go. Off to the left from where they parked was a rock face rising twenty to thirty feet up. Straight ahead was a flat outcropping about thirty meters wide, populated by maples, and seemed to wrap around the rocky hill to the left. To the right was a steep drop-off with great pines growing up the slope, blocking any view they might have had of the opposite side of the ravine the trees seemed to be trying to climb out of.

“Let’s get this show on the road,” Pawpaw said as he took the larger of the two packs. The gentle giant had turned fifty-eight two months ago and was as robust as ever. Some men are strong, some are sturdy, but Daniel’s Pawpaw was both.

Daniel donned his pack, picked up his rifle, and waited for his Uncles and Pawpaw to lead the way. Uncle Job, Aunt Judy’s husband, and Uncle Ronan, Aunt Leah’s husband, stepped off first, followed by Daniel, then Pawpaw.

The four walked about fifty meters deep into the flat outcropping from the road. The deeper into the woods they went, the narrower the outcropping and the more pronounced the trail came to be. Another fifty meters and the woodland trail disappeared and converted to a rocky scree-filled lane. “Remember last time, Daniel,” Pawpaw said. “This scree is tricky. Take your time until we get to the other side of the hill.”

Daniel’s first time to the cabin, he was so excited to be going he rushed ahead. He slipped on the scree and slid down the rugged hillside until he bumped into a wedged boulder about ten meters down. It gave Daniel quite a scare and took the group a good twenty minutes to get him back to the trail.

“Don’t worry about me on this trail, Pawpaw. That first slip was my last slip,” he said, without looking back, in fear of a misstep.

When stopped when they reached the forest edge of the rocky section of the trail. The group had been climbing uphill as they walked the path, and now when looking back, the view of a hundred little mountain tops greeted them. Pawpaw said, “I love this part of the trail. What’s life if you can’t stop and enjoy the little things, right boys?”

“You betcha Pawpaw,” said Ronan. Job nodded his head. The three of them continued to follow the trail as it entered the woods once again. Daniel, captured by the beauty, couldn’t stop staring. “Yoo-hoo, Danny boy,” Uncle Job called out. Daniel smirked and ran to catch up to the group.

It took the men another forty minutes to get to the cabin. They traveled through the woods, across a small paddock, and two streams before they came to the small shack. Sitting amidst a modest group of tall oaks and a stone’s throw from a beautiful clearing lined by apple trees, it was perfect for hunting trips.

“Are we hunting tonight, Pawpaw?” Daniel asked as they approached the cabin.

“Not tonight. We’ll settle in and get an early start tomorrow,” Pawpaw said with a wink. “Now, you remember the rule, right?”

Daniel remembered. “The youngest has to get the wood,” he said.

“That’s right. But, after we get things going in the cabin, I think I’ll come out and help ya. I don’t like to sit around for too long anyway,” Pawpaw said.

“That sounds great, Pawpaw,” Daniel said. It was nice to be out in the quiet, but finding the right wood, cutting and splitting it was a royal pain in the rear.

Daniel was lucky this time, though. Not too far from the cabin, a few dead trees had fallen. After a half-hour, Daniel had brought back enough firewood he’d probably only need to go out one more time over the weekend.

“Woah! What’s this?” Pawpaw said in amazement. “You did all this in a half-hour?” He said as he walked over to Daniel and hugged him from the side. “You are becoming quite the young man. I have a feeling this may be your big hunting weekend,” he said, meaning he might just bag a buck.

The two brought in a bundle of wood to get the fire going, then stacked the rest outside the door. Being the best angler in the group, Uncle Ronan had left to catch some fish for dinner. While he was gone, the other three got things prepared for the hunt tomorrow.

“What we planted at the beginning of the spring in the field held up pretty nice. That and the apple trees still have some fruit here and about. I’m thinking of staying by the edge of the field opposite the cabin,” Job said.

“No kidding,” Pawpaw responded, “you saw fruit on the trees?”

“Nah, just on the ground. Went to take a quick look while you two were getting the firewood,” Job answered.

“Surprised there are any apples about this time of year. Hopefully, our warm fall and late winter will mean we’ll be lucky tomorrow,” he said as he pulled out his pipe.

“Yeah…we may end up going back home tomorrow if things play out like I think they will,” Job said excitedly. “Rory…you know Rory, right? From the A and P? Well, he went out last week for a little sneak peek and ‘found’ a ‘roadkill deer.’ He said it was like shootin’ fish in a barrel.”

Pawpaw looked to Daniel, giving him an encouraging nod. “Well, it sounds like the population is bouncing back pretty strong, then.” Keeping his eyes on Daniel, but speaking to both men, he said, “Keep in mind we take only what we need. To kill more than we can eat and use is a waste.”

Job rolled his eyes a bit before heading out to fill the bucket with water. Job had come from a family of trophy hunters and he and Pawpaw didn’t exactly see eye to eye on what the place of a hunter was. But, Job respected Pawpaw, and it being his cabin, would follow his rules.

The wood-burning stove started to kick off heat, causing Pawpaw and Daniel to take off their coats. Daniel asked, “Pawpaw, did you ever take Enisi hunting?”

“I did. She wasn’t much for the hunt, but she was the best dresser I had ever known. She could clean a deer in no time at all. Why do you ask?” He responded.

“I dunno. I guess it just occurred to me there are never any girls when we go,” Daniel responded.

“If any of the ladies wanted to come, I would be fine with it. These aren’t the most glamorous accommodations,” he said as he looked at the sparsely furnished shack. “I think it might turn some of the ladies in our family off. But, you bring up a good point. Do you think I should ask your aunties and your mom if they’d like to come?” Pawpaw inquired.

Daniel laughed when the thought of Aunt Leah being told she needed to pee in the woods. She complained when the toilets at home weren’t up to snuff. Mom could take it or leave it. She’d rather be reading. Aunt Judy, though, she would love it. Daniel responded, “I think Aunt Judy would like to come.” Pawpaw laughed, too, knowing his daughters.

Daniel asked, “Didn’t you use to take Aunt Judy rock climbing?”

Before answering Daniel, Pawpaw sat down in the one nice chair in the cabin, a rocking chair he’d made from scratch one summer. “You have an impressive memory, Daniel. Yes, I used to take Aunt Judy rock climbing. When she was young, we’d find her up in the trees all the time, even in trees that had no low-hanging branches. It’s a miracle she never slipped or broke anything. Seeing her intrepidness and wanting to relive a little of my Army training, I took her up to Seneca Rocks. She was fearless.”

He continued, “Would you ever want to go to the rocks? I’m not in as good a shape as I used to be, but we could at least take a look.”

“I would like that Pawpaw,” Daniel said. Unlike deer hunting, he genuinely wanted to try rock climbing.

“Rock climbing? Sounds like fun,” Uncle Ronan said as he brought in his haul to show the group.

“Nice catch, Ronan!” Pawpaw said. He looked over at Daniel and asked, “You think you can help Uncle Ronan with the cleaning?”

“Sure thing, Pawpaw.”

While the temperature hadn’t gone below freezing yet, it was getting cold. “Thank you for helping out with the cleaning,” Uncle Ronan said. “Things always go faster with two sets of hands, right? You wanna descale and I’ll gut?” he asked.

“Sure,” Daniel said. They walked to the stream a few hundred yards behind the cabin where the water had a strong enough flow to carry the fish remains away. There were two perfect sitting rocks right next to the stream for them to clean in relative comfort. Uncle Ronan took the two cleaning boards out of one of the stacked buckets, handed one to Daniel and took one for himself. He reached into the bucket and said, “here’s your knife,” as he gave Daniel the dull knife to descale the fish, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small sharp knife for the gutting.

“I saw some pretty fresh deer scrapings up the way from where I was fishing,” Uncle Ronan said as he took the fish Daniel descaled and started to gut it.

“Oh yeah,” Daniel responded. “Was it this stream?”

“It was one of the ones we crossed on the way to the cabin. The second one, the one with the rock crossing. I think we’ll have pretty good luck by the field, but if we don’t, I’m heading there,” Ronan said. “You excited about bagging your first?”

“Sure,” Daniel said.

“Don’t sound too excited,” Ronan joked. “I get it. It’s different for everyone the first time. And who’s with you will likely tell if you ever come back. Your Pawpaw’s a good teacher. I bet you’re going to look back on this weekend and be pretty happy.”

“What was your first time like?” Daniel said as he handed his Uncle Ronan another fish.

“Well, I’m the youngest in my family. So, after I saw four of my older brothers come back from their first times, grinning ear to ear, lookin’ like they grown two inches…I wanted what they had. I couldn’t wait to go,” Ronan responded. “But, I didn’t get one until my third trip.”

“So, you think I may not get one this weekend?” Daniel asked.

“You never can tell. But the way things are looking right now, there’s a good chance,” Ronan said as he put the third trout in the clean bucket.

The two finished up with the last three fish, took the “dirty bucket,” and dumped it where the stream was swiftest. After rinsing the bucket and splashing the rocks enough to clean them off, they headed back to the cabin to fry up the fish on the woodstove.

Uncle Ronan wasn’t a huge talker, which Daniel was thankful for at the moment. As they walked through the woods in the waning light, Daniel thought about what his uncle had said, that his brothers came back with smiles on their faces and looked two inches taller…like that was the moment they became men. Was that how it was going to be for him?

When the two got back to the cabin, Uncle Job and Pawpaw were sitting near the stove talking about past hunts and catches. There was a pot of water boiling on the stove and a frying pan out ready for the fish.

Uncle Ronan said, “I brought some butter for the fish,” with a gleeful look in his eyes, walking over to his pack to get it. Daniel placed the bucket of fresh fish next to the stove.

Uncle Ronan said, “Has to be my favorite dish outside of barbecue,” as he dropped the creamy yellow cube into the pan and rubbed his hands together.

“You frying those with the fish heads?” Uncle Job asked.

“Nope. I know how you like it, Job. They are filleted with skin on,” Ronan responded.

“Whew! That’s fast!” Pawpaw exclaimed. “You gutted and filleted six fish just like that, huh? You never cease to impress me, Ronan,” he said.

Job rolled his eyes again and said, “You may be fast, but you’ve never caught a bass like the one I caught last trip.”

Ronan shrugged off the one-upmanship and said, “That was a great catch, Ronan.”

He continued, “With the filleting, practice makes perfect, right? Well, I’ve had a whole lotta practice. Plus, I had a little help from Daniel here,” giving a nod to his nephew.

“Daniel, you’ll have to get your Uncle Ronan to teach you how to do that. I would like to, but I don’t think I could go as fast and get as much meat as he does,” Pawpaw acknowledged.

Uncle Job walked over to the skillet to take a look. “Thanks for leaving the skin on, Ronan,” he said, sans praise, as he walked over to a bag of peanuts, grabbed a handful, and sat back down.

“Daniel, can you pull the rolls out. I think with the rolls, the sweet bread Judy made, the peanuts, and the fish, we should be all set for food tonight.” Pawpaw said.

“Don’t forget the whiskey!” Job said, pulling out a bottle of Wild Turkey, then added, “Doctor’s orders,” with a bit of chuckle.

“Why did you say ‘Doctor’s orders’?” inquired Daniel.

Pawpaw answered, “Well, it came from Job’s Pa. He used to say it every time he poured. Back during prohibition, in the 1920s and part of the 30s, no one could drink alcohol.” Pawpaw said.

“Really?” Daniel responded.

“That’s right,” Pawpaw said. “But, there were a couple distilleries that were able to make and sell alcohol, but only to doctors and dentists. They would ‘prescribe’ whiskey to cure colds and whatnot,” he said as he put his camp cup out for a bit of Job’s bourbon.

“I guess it must have been good to be a doctor or one of those distilleries then,” Daniel commented.

“Indeed,” said Pawpaw. “Although, common folks worked around it with a few moonshine batches here and there.”

“Stuff tastes like dirt,” Ronan said, “and it’ll knock you out.”

“Everything in moderation,” Pawpaw commented.

“Amen,” said Ronan.

Job “humphed” then said, “too much of a good thing,” letting the statement hang.

He walked to Ronan, who was flipping the first set of fillets in the pan, and poured some of the drink into his cup. Job turned to Daniel and asked, “Want some?”

Daniel looked to Pawpaw, who said, “Sure.” He quickly went to his pack to grab his cup. Job poured about a shot’s worth into Daniel’s cup.

Each of the men looked at Daniel as he brought the cup to his lips. Feeling emboldened by his acceptance to this fraternity, Daniel would drink this like men did…like in the movies.

In one swallow, it was gone. Before the first scent of alcohol would singe his nostrils, warning him of the potency. Before the first drop could numb his tongue so he could appreciate the flavors, the drink was down his gullet.

“It burns,” he said between coughs, eyes watering. Then men couldn’t help themselves. Job almost fell on the floor laughing, Pawpaw had tears running down his cheeks, and Ronan with his cackle laugh and knee-slapping, said, “You’re a bold one!”

Once Pawpaw caught his breath, he said, “Oh goodness, Daniel,” and pointed to Job to pour a little more into his cup, “this time, sip. This first taste sometimes seems a little rough, but by the second or third, you can appreciate the taste.”

Daniel wasn’t sure if he wanted anymore, but now more than ever, he wanted to prove himself to the group. He went to get a sip from his canteen before coming back to the circle.

“Have a couple peanuts first,” Ronan said, bringing a handful over to him.

“Thanks,” said Daniel, cheeks still red from coughing…and embarrassment.

Ronan took the first group of fish off of the pan and started with the second. He looked back at Daniel and said. “Hey Daniel, don’t worry about it. Every one of us did the same thing the first time we had whiskey.” Ronan paused for a moment before saying, “We may have only taken a sip instead of shooting the whole thing,” he said with a smile, “but you’re in good company.”

That’s when Job chimed in to say, “Not me.”

Once everyone’s eyes were on him, he added, “When my mother’s milk went dry and they couldn’t find a wet nurse, this is all that would assuage me,” he said, making a bottle-sucking face before breaking into laughter with the rest of the group.

When Ronan finished frying the fish, they filled up their plates with the trout and rolls they had brought from home. Aunt Judy’s banana bread was the perfect thing to finish off the meal.

By the time they’d finished dinner, Daniel, who had slowly sipped his second drink, was really starting to feel the effects of the liquor.

Pawpaw looked at Daniel and said, “Looks to me like it’s almost quittin’ time. I think I’ll only stay up a bit longer.”

Uncle Ronan added, “I’m just gonna clean the pan and then I’ll probably hit the hay.”

They both looked to Job, who caught on and said, “Yeah, me too.”

Daniel didn’t want to miss anything, but he also knew he felt like he was floating. And he couldn’t keep his eyes open. Pawpaw walked over to him and said, “You go on ahead to bed. I’ll take care of your plate and cup.”

Daniel got up, took his sleeping bag out of his pack, and walked over to one of the old army cots in the corner of the room. He laid his bag down and crawled in and was out within moments.