The Self Sufficient Hermit

"Hey, that's everything. I'll pay up now while I got the chance. Could be a long hard winter. Beaver have extra long coats this year, and the moose have been coming down early too."

"That so? You always get the weather closest of anyone I know, so I'll make sure I stock up well now while I can. Uh... it totals up to $374.98 J.W., will that be cash or charge?"

"I said I'd pay up. How much do I have charged by the way?"

"I don't think you have any. You paid it off in July when you brought in that last shipment of those tables."

I handed Jacob the cash and spent the next half hour loading up my boat with my purchases. With what I had at home and this, I had enough to last the entire winter and then some. Hopefully I would be wrong about how hard it was going to be, but Jacob was right about one thing...I did have an uncanny accuracy on the weather over long term.

Actually, the beaver, moose and other wild creatures told me just by how they lived, and what their furs looked like. I just interpreted what I was seeing and figured out the whys. It had been dead on accurate so far at any rate.

I ran back up to the store to pick up my mail just before leaving on the boat. As I walked in a crowd of people blocked the walkway just inside the door. It irritated me as I had to stop doing what I came for and wait for a hole to open up to allow me inside.

"I need some hand lotion. My skin is drying out and cracking. I know you won't have any good lotion, but I will take the best you do have. That should keep me until I can have something better flown into this back woods hole." The almost whiney voice carried over the group.

"Yes ma'am. We have that right over there. I'll get it for you. Excuse me."

Jacob was about falling all over in order to get something off a shelf. I stood there and laughed.

The young woman turned to look at me. Her eyes were very blue as they flashed their impatience. I was impressed with how beautiful she was, even if she was stupid while handling a boat.

"What do you find so funny?"

"Him."

I pointed at Jacob as I squeezed past her. It was an abrupt move on my part, one that could have been taken as very rude. One of her male companions stepped up as if to protect her... but she held up her hand stopping him.

"Him? Why is that?"

"That old fart hasn't moved that fast in years. I'm surprised he doesn't have a heart attack right now. I can't ever get him to get things for me like that. Usually he just points the stuff out and goes back to whatever he's doing. You must rate up there next to royalty to get him to fall all over himself like that. Especially since you sounded like a queen ordering her minions around too. Had anyone else around here said what you did, he'd have told them to go... well, to leave his store."

"You seem to find odd things amusing. I asked him to get these things for me and he has been serving me well. Your manners however..."

I interrupted her before she could tell me what she thought of me. Her eyes were on fire now and I thought that her head had come up a bit more. Reminded me of my mother when she'd get real angry and call me by my given name... all three of them.

"What do my manners have to do with anything? Oh... never mind. You'd never understand anyway. You must be that actress that's up to 'experience' Alaska. Good luck with that. By the way, you really need to learn manners and how to properly operate a boat. You damn near killed a very nice young lady today."

I noticed the guys in suits moving in closer. I guessed they were her body guards or something.

"You boys just stand back. You get closer you might get hurt." I knew what I could do with them, even if they didn't. They just stared at me, trying to intimidate I'm sure. It didn't work. I'd been rounds with guys far bigger, meaner and tougher than they ever thought of being. I'd managed to come out ahead with the others so these guys didn't worry me at all.

"How rude and if you're referring to the chick that took that swim, it was funny. Oh wait... you're the guy that jumped in after her aren't you?"

"Yeah, I jumped in after her. That water is death right now lady. It's only about forty degrees and a few minutes in it will kill. Hypothermia has a way of doing that you know... killing people."

"I think you're over-reacting. You seem to be just fine."

"Oh yeah? Well it took about forty five minutes to fix eight minutes in that fucking water. You damn near killed her... and me." I angrily replied. "You should take a dip in it yourself if you don't think it's a big deal. I'd bet you'd change your mind in a heartbeat once you were in completely."

I grabbed my mail off the counter, brushing past her and her group. I would be the first to admit that I was rather abrupt in doing so. I just didn't care for those who thought a couple weeks visit gave them deep insight to my back yard.

"You are a rude insensitive jerk."

"Yeah... have a nice day yourself Bi... Ma'am."

I had been about to call her Bitch with a capital B, but Emma had just walked through the doorway and I would never cuss in front of her if I could help it. I didn't care for this young woman or her ways. She seemed to think she was above everything around her, and her people were obviously enforcing that concept too. She also sort of reminded me of my ex-fiancé too. A spoiled brat.

She had caught me starting to say bitch, and I could see her flushing in anger. I didn't really care though. I was against most of the people who came up from Hollywood and figured they knew all about Alaska.

That damned Treadwell had started quite a bit of it with his antics with the bears, and the bears had finally shown him what for. It was shame that because of his 'playing' several bears had to be put down too. I didn't care much for Hollywood types, and I certainly didn't watch many movies either. I didn't have the time for that nonsense.

As I walked out I overheard her asking Jacob who 'that rude man was'. I missed Jacob's response, but I'm sure he placated her well. I couldn't blame him he was after all running a business.

She had upset me a bit with her attitude but to be honest, I hadn't been around that beautiful of a woman in years. She shook me up just by being there. I wasn't used to beautiful women like her in this town. Her actions earlier with her operating the boat were too much for me though. It didn't matter how pretty a killer was... they were still a killer.

Most of the women in town were married or way too young to be thinking about that way. There were none in my age group that were free and available, and I wouldn't have wanted to mess around with a married one that way in any event. Besides it appeared I had my hands full just having to keep Amber away from me now. Thinking about it I realized that Amber was very beautiful as well. That realization shook me up too, since I'd always seen her as a kid, not the beautiful young woman she'd become.

All the way back to my cabin I thought about Jacob and how funny he looked running around filling her order like he had. I'd never seen him look so... boyish before. It was like she was something special. I didn't see that, not at all. I figured she was a snob. Either that or she was looking for some kind of publicity stuff.

Back home at my cabin I put away my purchases and started dinner. I looked out over the beach as my stew warmed up on my wood burning cook stove, and saw where I could pull in some drift wood here and there. I'd get to that in the morning since the tide would favor me. Some of that wood could be good for making tables if I treated it properly as soon as I could. I would gather drift logs up and they'd become either firewood or planking. If they became planking, I'd cut the best of them down later and make usable high grade lumber out of them. The lesser ones I would keep for home projects that could come up.

I have a nice shop and when the gen-set is running, it powers the house and shop all at once. My home is well set up on a low rising hill so I have a nice view of the ocean, the beach and the mountains on either side and behind me. My fifty acres is all mine, and since I don't owe one red cent on it, my living expenses are about as low as one can hope for.

I spent the next few days gathering in logs from the beach and a few that I found floating out in the water a ways. Towing half of them to the shop from the beach with my D-6 Cat, I soon had them cut into planks and firewood. In the matter of several days I had enough wood to keep me warm all next winter after it properly dried out, and make a bunch of picnic tables and accessories.

All around the eaves of my shop I've hung glass floats that I find while beach-combing. They drifted in on the tides, lost from the Japanese fishing boats I figured. Most were a green color but once in a while I'd find a deep dark blue, yellow or even a reddish type too.

I have also found lots of other strange things here and there, which also found places hanging around inside and outside, so my shop looks kind of different. Most all of it drifted up to the beach which is only a short walk away. All I know is that my shop feels like home to me, and that's all that matters.

A couple of locals had been over to my place and they've commented on the floats I have, and how cool it is the way I had them arranged. I never really thought about them being anything but something to add some color to the place.

A few days had gone by and I was up on the mountain working on getting some light branches off of some low lying brush. I used them in the making of chairs for the dinner tables. My biggest market is from those who own log cabins. The tables are rustic and natural looking and blend in well with log homes.

The weather was miserable, and the wind took your breath away. I had to get the branches though, and if a person waited on the weather to be good around here you'd never get anything done at all. My rain gear kept me warm and dry enough as it was.

I sat on a rock outcropping sheltered by an overhang to eat my lunch when I saw a white streak with black smoke tear across the cloudy sky. At first I thought it was a meteor, but a second glance proved me way off on that.

I saw a small jet with fire coming out of the tail...where an engine had been if I didn't miss my guess. The jet was moving very fast and the angle it was coming in at proved to be nothing but bad news.

As I watched, the pilot was working to get the nose up before it hit the water. Just as I thought he was going to make it, the left wing skimmed over the water then smashed into a large breaker rolling in from the ocean.

The plane spun in tight circles and broke apart as each successive wave contacted the fuselage. From my vantage point I knew that it was going to end up on the spit. The water on the other side of the spit was treacherous as hell, and if it made it over that hump of land, that plane would be gone for good along with those unfortunate souls on board.

I left the outcropping running, and made my way down to the beach. My four-wheeler was sitting there with the empty trailer hooked up, and without a thought, I got on and started it up. Gunning the engine, I slammed it into gear and tore out to the spit.

As I pulled up along side of the burning wreckage, I thought to grab my fire extinguisher off the trailer. It was a ten pound unit, and I could see that it wouldn't be enough to put out this fire, but it might buy me some time to get whoever was on board off hopefully alive.

The rear section of the fuselage was gone, torn away and a black hole yawned before me. Dark gray smoke was billowing out and in the background I could see dark orange flames near the floor. I stuck the extinguisher's nozzle into that hole and depressed the plunger. A few seconds later I had emptied it completely.

Plunging into smoke and extinguisher filled cabin I saw a limp form in a seat. Bending over I released the seat belt and drug them out away from the plane. I went back in six more times before the flames prevented me from doing any more. I wasn't sure, but I thought that only the Pilot and co-pilot were left, and from the way the front end of the jet looked, all crushed in by the huge rock it had headed into, I was certain there was nothing more to be done for them anyway. I tried to get up and look into the cockpit but flames chased me away.

Looking back at the bodies I had laid out I realized that I had seen these people lately. It was the movie star and her group. She had been the first one I had grabbed out of the wreck. Not intentionally, since all I had been able to 'see' had been a form in the seat.

I heard coughing, and it was coming from one of the five men I had pulled out. I went to him, hoping he was coming around and would be able to help me out, when I realized his coughing was not the kind of cough I wanted. He was dying. Blood was coming out of his mouth, ears, and nose. He was desperate to tell me something.

I bent down and he grabbed my shirt, pulling me closer. It was a weak grasp, but I bent further for him.

"My wife... *cough*... tell her... I... *cough*...I'm sorry... *cough*... I love her and..."

The sudden silence and relaxed grip forced me to look at his eyes. He had died trying to tell me to tell his wife that he loved her. I turned to the others, and started to check them out. One of the other men had died at some point, or perhaps he had been dead when I pulled him out of the wreckage. It was one of the body guard guys. The other body guard was dead too. The fifth man I'd pulled out was dead as well.

The fourth man was badly injured, and from the looks of him I wasn't so sure he'd make it either. I did what I could for him and at one point; he was lucid enough to thank me. He wasn't looking good, and the grayness in his face worried me. I took off my rain coat and covered his torso up as best I could.

The second person I had pulled out of the plane was a young woman. She'd been with the actress that day I remembered. She was staring at me, her eyes showing a bit of fear and a lot of pain as well. I saw that her arm was definitely broken, and I was pretty certain that the Coast Guard would have to work on her before they flew her to the hospital.

I was hoping that the Coast Guard would be able to fly out too. The weather was picking up and from a glance around I knew I'd be lucky if they'd be able to fly or even get a cutter out here today.

I turned to the first person I had pulled out. It was her. Miss snot-nose spoiled brat bitch. She was from all appearances, unharmed. Shook up, and some small cuts and bruises on her face, she did have a cut on her head that was bleeding pretty badly, but otherwise she looked okay. I was hoping that she'd be some help for me at that point.

"You hurt anywhere seriously?"

"My arm and back are sore. Other than that I think I'm okay though. Sam... how's Sam?"

"What's he look like?"

"He was wearing the chinos and flat top loafers. Uh... he had glasses too."

"Oh... he didn't make it Miss. He was hurt pretty badly. He did manage to tell me to tell his wife that he loved her though."

"Oh no. OH NO! Sam... Oh God...What about the others? Janice and Paul... Jim... um... the pilots... Don and Bill my body guards?"

"Miss, you need to lay back and rest. Janice has a broken arm... we may have to do something about that later... not sure with the weather and all. Which one is Paul and which one is Jim?" "Paul, he's tall, blonde... "

"Okay, He's hurt very badly. I don't know but I don't want to get your hopes up... he may not make it unless we can get him to a doctor. Jim and the pilots...and your body guards are... gone."

"Oh God. NO... no, no, no. You have to get help. Paul... he's my only lifeline. You've got to do something now. NOW."

"Look, I can't move him. I'm afraid that we'd injure him more. If you feel well enough, go sit with him and talk to him. Janice too. I'll go make a few calls and then get some supplies and come right back. Should only take fifteen minutes. Okay? Do you understand me?"

She looked shell shocked and I was worried she was going to pass out. She nodded her head and stood up slowly. I held onto her arm until she had her bearings. When she saw the bodies laying there on the ground I thought she was going to faint, but she steeled herself and started to make her way over to Paul and Janice. None of them were dressed for the weather, probably figuring that they'd be in L.A. by lunch time.

I got on the four-wheeler and drove back to the cabin. I put in the radio call to the Coast Guard and got the bad news first hand.

"We can't fly out until probably day after tomorrow. Hell, we may not even make it then. We've got seventy-five knot winds gusting to over a hundred and zero visibility. The inside strait is running up forty foot seas right now too, so the cutter is out as well. Even if we could get out through the strait, we'd never make it around Prince Of Wales and the open ocean to your place. This here is the big hundred year storm bud. Nobody is flying or boating in this. Weather service is saying it could last a week or possibly more. You're going to have to make do J.W."

I knew the Chief and if he was telling me they couldn't make it, the weather was rough. Real rough. I was desperate though. Totally out of my element and I couldn't stand to watch someone die and not try something.

"Can you get someone dropped off here to help me? Anything at all? I don't think the one man will make it... he really needs medical help."

"What about the pilots and others on board?"

"Pilots are dead, four other men are dead. One woman has a broken arm...the other just got cuts and bruises. The one man though... he has something really wrong internally... I can't help him. He's not quite lucid... eyes are weird too... one pupil is larger than the other... "

"Concussion for certain... if it's not something more serious. Look, I'm really sorry J.W.... but we just can't risk it. You'll have to make do. If it will help I can get the surgeon to talk you through some stuff... might be able to do something for the guy and that woman too."

"Chief, I'm not a doctor or a paramedic. Hell, I can barely keep myself out of deep shit here. There's no way I can doctor these people like they need. I don't have anything but the basics out here."

"J.W., I know you. You can do what needs to be done, and all that can be done. The Surgeon will talk you through what he can, and we'll be out the first break in the weather we have."

"What should I do with the man? It's getting colder and the rain isn't helping much either."

"The Doc says to go ahead and move him. Be careful to keep his head aligned with his body if you have to pick him up or turn him over. Use a blanket to lift him if you can J.W.."

"My trailer has a lift bed... maybe I can slide him up onto it careful like... "

"Doc says be careful and go ahead and get him inside somewhere warm and dry. It'll be better to be near your radio too. You may have to set that one ladies arm too. Doc says he'll walk you through that. You have any whiskey or alcohol there with you?"

"Yeah, but I don't think it's a good time to be drinking..."

"It's not for you it's for the lady with the broken arm. Have her drink as much as she can. It will help to kill the pain when you splint, or when you set her arm if you have to.."

"SET HER ARM? Hell, I told you that I'm not a medic... I can't set broken bones."

"Doc says he can walk you through it well enough. If it can be done there right now it will heal faster. Since we don't know how long we'll be grounded, we have to assume the worst. He'll want to know what it looks like and all, and if it's too bad he'll have you support it until she can be med-e-vac-ed out. Just relax J.W. You can do this."