Now, in our third day, everything was going smoothly with the sawing.  A couple of hours worth of work and R. J.P. and I had already felled more than we would be able to cut today. R. Emycee had picked up the mill procedures and was adding nicely to our racked planks. With the Parker’s bots and a few more additions from camp there was more labor here than we could use. Every thing cut yesterday was already loaded up and sent to a building location. I went over to where Joe and RoDan were stacking and asked him if he felt he could run things without me and Janie for a while.

     “No Prob Bart. Things are looking good here. Any troubles I let you know. And another thing. We‘ve got the extra robots and chainsaws so why don‘t I keep a couple of them busy cutting and clearing to the west of us, grids R2 and R3. We‘ll certainly use the lumber later but it will expand our perimeter now.”

     “You worried about something coming out of the woods? We haven‘t seen anything yet.”

     “A little, it’s early spring here and who can tell what might be awakening or maybe coming up from the south. Last night I saw some large I.R. signatures inside the tree line that could have been almost anything. Then again they were indistinct and might have been nothing at all. I sent RoDan out for a closer look and nothing turned up. Anyway if for no other reason it will eventually give us more cleared land for farming.”

     “Yeah, I should have thought of that.. And it’s too early to get careless. Sounds good to me. I’ll see ya later.”

     I next went to the mill and said to Janie, “How about we play hooky. I think It’s our turn.”

     “What have you got in mind Bart?”

     “A little fishing down by the riverside looks good to me.”

     “That sounds Great! I was talking to Connor Benjamin and I know he would like some samples from down there and it would be a welcome break from this.” Janie had worked the middle watch last night and hadn’t much sleep afterwards as we got off to early start that morning.

     Heading back, a glance to the south showed some construction progress being made up atop of the mound. Our new City on the Hill. When we got back to the tent area there sat Les and Judith Reye, Burt Buchanan and a few more who were evidently just up and starting their day. Passing near them I said in what I hoped was a friendly sounding tone of voice. “Kind of a late start guys. Daylights a wastin’, looks like a lot of activity up on the mound and some more to the north. There are a few who have started with robots and shovels to move out the rocks and to plow the hard way. Heck, you might learn to like it. And the bots are bringing in a load just about right for putting up some outhouses.”

     Buchanan glared and seemed to snarl. Les Reye said in petulant manner, “It’s the blasted 20 hour day is all. A little time and I’m sure and we’ll get used to it somehow or other.” He turned back to his wife and the rest, pointedly ignoring me as we continued on our way. I refused to be put into a bad mood

     I said to Janie, “Get what you need and I will grab my fishing gear.” Into the tent, from my smaller bag, packed so long ago back on Earth, I took out a couple of small plastic boxes. Soon back outside and we were walking towards the river.

     Another pleasant day. It was very early spring and this was our third morning on planet and still no rain though from orbit Captain Travis had said that there was a storm moving towards us that would likely arrive later this afternoon or tonight. For now though, blue skies, fleecy high clouds and a breeze just a bit stronger than we had experienced so far. It was chilly from last night and I could feel an increase in the humidity but that could have just as easily been imagination from knowing about the coming storm.

     After we reached the rivers edge I took one of the small boxes out of my pocket and carefully removed the lid and taking something out from one of the divided sections said, “Look at this Janie, it’s a Caddis Alchibus.”

     “A Caddis Alchibus?”

     “A bug!”….. There in all it’s splendor, in the palm of my hand, was an inch long plump brown body laced with purple and green threads with tufts of fur forming gossamer reddish wings each tipped with white. The shiny point of a small hook just poking into view. It was a creation I put together last night.

     Skeptically shaking her head, “It doesn’t look like any bug I’ve ever seen.”

     “Just wait and see. If there is anything at all like a fish in this river it will find it irresistible.”

     Setting the boxes down I looked at the nearer vegetation and cut a 10 foot length of one of the slender cane like growths that sprouted profusely along the shore. They weren’t new from this year but just beginning to revive from winter dormancy. After stripping off the fine fronds just starting to grow, I flexed it back and forth a few times and said, “This will be fine.” Then, retrieving the boxes, from one took a small reel, a roll of pressure sensitive tape, and a few rod guides. With Janie watching it wasn’t long till I had my rod assembled and was set to go.

     We walked a few yards upstream to a spot where the area behind us was unobstructed and I stepped out into the river a couple of feet from shore. The water was cold, clear, and almost up to my knees. “Far enough out for now”, I thought , if anything unexpected came near I might be jumping back to shore in a hurry and relying on my boots to protect my legs. A lot of people had been viewing the river for several days and none had seen anything large or dangerous looking yet but you never know.

     Letting out just a little line at a time I cast slowly forwards and back, watching the curls straighten and getting a feel for the cane pole’s flex on the back casts. A dozen or so back and forths and with the line out 20 yards I watched as the fly landed gently on the surface. It was sheltered from the rather strong current by one of the rocks off shore. The fly began slowly drifting down stream resting on the waters surface. After a while I retrieved it and repeated my casting sequence to a slightly different spot.

     Janie watched me repeat this procedure a half dozen times or more and said, “Guess there’s nothing like a fish in this river, eh Bart.” With that she took a small net and began seining and collecting small aquatic life forms and placing them in separate vials full of a preservative and dictating notes into her recorder for when Connor Benjamin would examine them later. What she was finding didn’t look much like a Caddis Alchibus, a fact which she mentioned more than once.

     An hour and a half later I had moved closer to the water fall but still no strikes. I had seen some smallish iridescent shapes darting under the surface but none had gotten close enough so that I could get a good look. I stayed close to the bank at all times. Janie had just come over with our lunch when I had my first strike. The tip of the very flexible pole twitched ever so slightly. I gave it a brisk jerk and said in triumph,” I got one.” A minute later it dangled out of the water in its full glory. The “Fish”, about 5 inches long, looking vaguely like the Slizard Jules and Hanna Parker had seen. Instead of legs though it had slightly opposed fins; three sets of them and it looked like another set was beginning to grow by the bifurcated tail. . It sparkled in the sun on top as if it’s small scales were prisms. The underside was a pale almost bluish white. It had two rows of small pointed teeth in the mouth which extended about an inch down the length of the slender body. “What I beauty”, I declared.

     Janie, not quite as impressed as I said, “Thinking of getting it mounted? Or with ten more we could fry it up and make a mouth full. Good thing I brought lunch, but I do have a sample container large enough to hold it so lets save it for Connor.”

     Only slightly deflated I readily agreed. Anyway you couldn’t say we were goofing off if we were looking for local food sources. We ate the lunch Janie had brought with her, and afterwards I went back to fishing while Janie gathered more samples. After she ran out of vials, she sat on the bank enjoying the rest and watched. She reported seeing a few more small slizards, and got a picture of one entering the water. I eventually pulled in 6 more of the same type fish things, most were larger and one was almost 18 inches long. With Janie taking pictures I let them go pending Connor’s determination on edibility.

     While Janie watched and I fished we engaged in small talk, mostly about the state of the camp and our fellow colonists and the prospects for the future. I was gradually building up to the real reason I had gotten Janie to come out here with me in the first place. I had seen that Janie’s recorder was off and I made sure that mine was, so use your imagination if you must, but I am going to omit my bumbling and fumbling conversation as I worked my way to the point where I made the tentative suggestion that it would be kind of a good thing if we sorta started living together or got married or something like that.

     After I had stammered my way to the conclusion Janie looked at me with a twinkle in her eyes and said. “Oh Bart! Why of course we should. How romantic of you.”

     The clouds had begun to build and the temperature seemed to have dropped. It was apparent rain or maybe even a late snow was on the way. We gathered our things and started back. A light rain was falling by the time we got to the tents, Mariana Stuart was standing outside of a small dome just erected, and with a glance at me turned to Janie and said, “Well, did he ask?”

     Janie laughed, “There was never any doubt.”

Ash

After leaving the little face-to-face with Kellerman, I went to the small tent I had set up for my hide-away. I had left Andy’s array out in the sun with the solar panels open. The shorter Alchibah day was stressing the recharge system considering how I had been running the system.

The two ice cubes I had left on copy had finished as well as the latest data correlation program. I looked briefly at the results screen and froze. I really wanted to howl at the moon and bark trail like an ole Coon Hound. My answer was not there but the data showed a clear trail to what I wanted. Damn but this array was good, did Andy really know what He had built? I put the whole system on suspend to allow the charging system time to catch up and maybe get a full charge for a change. Pocketing the ice cubes, I started for the landing field intending to arrive about ten minutes after the shuttle.

Stopping in the flats below the landing field, I stopped to watch the approach of the Galileo. I knew Travis had the stick; the guy had a smoothness about his control hand that just screamed “I be Good” to another pilot. Longing for a stick of my own, I ambled over the last ridge just as Travis was having his usual confab with either the Historian or Bartlett. At my request, today it was Bartlett.

“Good afternoon Gentlemen,” I greeted them.

“Like I said Ash, this had better be good,” Bartlett growled.

I took the two ice cubes out and handed them to the two of them. “Gentlemen, I present you the decrypted database of the PC 1192; minus four pages of entries and one appendix.”

Travis looked stunned, “I thought this was going to be a much tougher decryption problem?”

I kicked at the ground and replied, “I did not beat the system I beat the user. I used the time hacks on the outside of the entry packets to determine who the Senior Officer was and it was not the Political Officer. It was in fact the Damage Control Officer. I know that scum like the pores of my skin. I have spent ten years looking for a way to kill him and get away with it. I knew his favorite keys, tried them, and out came the clear copy. I cut some very personal stuff about a person near and dear to me out and recorded the rest on your cubes.”

I turned and walked a few steps then came back. “Bartlett, I know you want to know what’s on that missing section. But, boy if yall wanna live and breathe dontcha all ever chive me on that. Cause I’ll not give yall another free shot and who’ll thatall will chafe bad is worth more to me than your damn ass!” I knew my face was the Mommas side of the genes version of Andy’s Reaper but, for once I just dindt care. I liked Bartlett but, I had to stop this here!

Bartlett

I paused for just a moment, staring at Ash all the while, and then said, “Let me do some thinking out loud…. Captain…. Ash…. follow me on this and tell me if I get it right. First, we have Ash’s former command database with sections encoded. Ash tells us he didn’t know that there was hidden information but readily agrees to help find out what it is. We are looking primarily for information on UNWG plans and capability.

“Second,” and with a glance again at Ash, “Ash, in remarkably short time tells us he has cracked the coding problem and presents us with all of the information, he says, except for some personal stuff on someone near and dear to him. But then specifically tells me, though it must have been for your benefit also, or maybe even primarily Captain, that I should not inquire about said information. Seem correct so far Captain?”

“Sure does Bart and continue on. I am beginning to get a glimmer.”

“Ok Captain, I take it for granted that Ash isn’t stupid and he did have time to decide how to make his presentation. He could have easily omitted the part about the personal information or claimed that there were still a few things he hadn’t been able to decode. We might not have believed him but more likely we would have and then asked him to keep working on the problem. Ash chose instead to tell us there was more information he knew about but refused to talk to me, or I think us, about what that information was. Why would he do this? Because he must think that is info that is so very important that we ought to know about it, but that if he flat out tells us what it is he would be in a world of hurt.” I paused again.

Captain Travis nodded and said, “It’s becoming obvious, keep it up I think the end is in sight.”

“Therefore, and in conclusion”, I began, “Ash has told us there is a deep and dark secret. Something concerning some one near and dear to him that we are not meant to know, except we must be meant to know, or he wouldn’t have mentioned the secrete in the first place. Well, who might be near and dear to Ash? Could it be Andy Stuart? A good first approximation. It might be Mariana, it might even be someone else we would never consider, but I think Andy works for my purposes. I, and on the good chance this information was really and primarily for your benefit Captain, should pay a visit to Andy…. and ask him what it all means! After all if Andy is not the person being shielded he just might apply the screws to find out what this is really all about. If he is the one in question, at the very least his response will be instructive. Or, since we have gotten this far perhaps Ash might have something more to add.”

And as Captain Travis beamed, and Ash squirmed, I once more looked at Ash expectantly.

Ash

“I should have known better than to try to put something over on you Bartlett. But I had to try. I actually hoped you would lash out at me as a diversion. First, the decryption is complete and accurate. Some of the documents within I am well familiar with and could use them as an accuracy verification. The UNWG is going to be here at least a year sooner than the Capt.’s or my hot guess.”

“I don’t doubt that in the least. Might it be sooner?” asked Bartlett.

“A very good chance.” Captain Travis stated.

“There is a PHD Thesis in the files, which lays out in excruciating detail the pulse phase of Lancers DEE-HEE drive, as well as the Gravity Grabber Assist Drive that made the Mayflower possible. The name of the writer should be disgustingly familiar. The missing pages while containing nothing, which will not eventually become at least semipublic; do contain information which if released improperly or maliciously could cause serious damage to our technological development. The data concerns Mariana, and if handled wrong will put Andrew William Walker Stuart into a Black Scottish rage for weeks. During that period of time Mariana will then be useless and we need them both functional. I have a plan in place to prevent this but I need secrecy to pull it off. Frankly, I was hoping for a fight with Bartlett to buy me that cover!”

Bartlett

“Look Ash. You’ve gotten entirely too clever for me here. We are not UNWG bureaucrats. If you need time for something to happen, and it makes sense for the colony as a whole that’s fine with me. But if you are waiting for me to decide for you what to do then I need all the information that you possess. It’s obvious that that’s not your game, and whatever you are up to I will trust it is not against the colony as a whole. Just do it! Didn’t command teach you anything? Or are you just too damn skittish? Remember Ash, I trust You. Well to a point.”

“Captain Travis, may I be excused now? I have other fish to fry. And let me know how it all turns out.”

“Thanks Bart, I’ll take it from here.”

Ash

I watched Bartlett walk away and stared at Capt. Travis with what I knew was a stunned look on my face. “He trusts me, you coulda fooled me. Honest Travis I was ready to take a second sucker punch just to keep this quiet. Now Bartlett goes all logical on me. Well, He missed his chance. I will not take another one now and for some strange reason I think it’s not Bartlett who’s gonna find that out. Sorry to take your time, if you need any assistance with the math in that Thesis just give me a call!,” with that I nodded and walked away.

Travis

I just stood smiling watching Bartlett walk away in one direction and Andrews in another and the only thought that came to mind was; Peas in a Pod, Peas in a Pod!

Day 2

One of the animals that loves us to pieces back on Earth, has decided to follow us to our new home….rats. I can’t believe it, yet I can at the same time. I’ve been running around trying to capture them — the last thing we need is them proliferating and destroying the local ecology (who knows what kind of impact they could have). I’ve asked those in the kitchen if we could perhaps make a stew out of them. We’ll see how that goes.

Some colonists have seen one of the native animals that they’ve called the Slizard (courtesy of the Parkers). Can’t wait to see a snake with legs!

We’ve also seen some little flying insect things. One is like a daddy long-legs spider with wings, about as big as a mosquito. And the other one is a bright blue dragonfly thing, about the same size and shape but the wings are the same blue as the body and are opaque. They like to dart back and forth to the wildflowers, and have started venturing into camp.

There’s also this strange noise we all hear at night. A hiss then a growl, but more like one sound than two. Sometimes it is a yip then a growl (same animal, or different one?).

The really interesting one we’ve only heard twice. It is a low pitched (g)rumbling sound. It rolls, so to speak, and lasts for a full 5 seconds or so. It is unlike anything I’ve heard before (though one person mentioned it was a little like a “purring” gas engine on idle but deeper and more animal-like; I couldn’t say as I’ve never heard a gas engine before).

Breakfast is often peppered with theories about what kind of animals are out there. Some are even taking bets (latrine duty being the most common exchange).

How on Alchibah did such dumb folk get here? Seriously!

I was walking to the kitchen when I overheard some people discussing homes and such. This one guy, turns out it was Les Raye, comes in and starts bitching about how they wouldn’t give him any wood to start his house.

That stopped me cold. What? House? You’re ready to start a house and we barely have a kitchen?

After he started on about how this group needs to stake claim to their land and how else but to start building their homes.

I couldn’t just stand there anymore, so I gave him a peace of my mind. I can’t give you specifics as it all happened so fast, and I barely came up for breath.

Basically, I told him there was no way anyone is ready to build houses, or even decide whose land is whose. We have far more important things to figure out, and to build, and the last thing we all need are houses.

I also said that they obviously didn’t have enough things to do or they wouldn’t even have time to think of such things. And that they better start helping carry their weight.

The looks on their faces was priceless. All gaping mouths and looking dumbfounded. Dumb indeed.

But then the “leader” (Les again) had to open his big mouth, explaining that he wasn’t the labor type and some BS like that.

I informed him that neither was I — I went to university, had a good government job, and never built a thing in my life, but what else did we expect? We knew we were coming to a new planet, and had to start from scratch. Of course there would be labor involved, doing things we had never done before! How did you get on this trip if you didn’t know that? What kind of dumbass are you?

He didn’t care for that. Young lady this, and young lady that, mind who you’re talking to.

So I punched him in the face.

Then I went back to the cargo area. I couldn’t even remember what I wanted from the kitchen in the first place.

Now my hand hurts. Had never punched anyone before (don’t even know if I did it right). But this planet is a place for firsts isn’t it?

Day 2
I can’t believe I’m sitting on a new planet. I also can’t believe how much it is like Earth. While the plants look different, they are also familiar enough to put us at ease. Hell, there’s even drinkable water.

I’ve been busy helping unload the cargo and setting things up. Basically doing whatever needs to be done. Many are like me, though some have specialties that have them working on specific tasks.

Like the saw mill operation. Amazing we can cut the trees like we can at home (well, our old home). Everything went smoothly until we woke up in the morning to curses flying like bullets. Ha! That should teach us to assume that just because it looks familiar means that it will act familiar :) Poor guys, all that work for nothing.

With more colonists coming down, I was able to take a few hours off and roam the immediate area. I can’t tell you how exciting it is to see everything, even though right now it mostly involves plants.

I love the wildflowers. There’s this one that has a really fat stalk with no leaves, with round “heads” of flowers. Like an allium but with multiple “balls” from the same stalk. The balls are either blue or yellow, and I saw one that has a ball of mainly blue but some individual flowers being yellow. It looks really cool.

The grass in the “meadow” is fairly long, but only knee-high so it is not too bad to walk through. I went to the forest wall and peeked in. Saw a lot of fern-like things, some green, some purplish, all mostly short. I found some pods on the ground, though not sure where they came from. They are a dark brown, round and have a fairly thin shell — I accidentally stepped on one and it cracked right open. Inside were these little beads that must have been seeds. I picked another one up and shook it, and you can hear all the beads moving around. It makes a neat sound, and might make a good rattle.

Unfortunately, the suns started to set so I had to head back to camp, eager to see more yet fulfilled at the same time. What a great feeling.

I was just leaving the sleeping tent just after dawn on Day 0:2 not that I had been doing much of that lately the last few nights since we had landed especially. God knows I deserved every bit of it and Sally had ten years worth saved up but, no matter how deserved a constant flow made you want to go back to your uncaring self. Seeing one face I did not want to deal with I turned down towards the river.

“Kellerman halt,” barked the cold southern drawl of Ash Andrews. Grimacing I turned slowly around to see a face that looked more haggard and drawn than mine did.

“How would yall like a chance for redemption?”

I know my jaw dropped off my boot tops, “What are you talking about you are the last person I would expect to give me a break!”

“What, you were an asshole I told you so to your face; shoved it up your nose if I remember correctly. Anybody with an ear knows Sally’s been shoving it up your behind ever since. Guess what, I been called an asshole before also, I’m still here! And this is simple, right up your alley and bound to get you a pass from a few people especially Andy. And believe me that be one Ace you want in your hand bubba.”

I was more than a little stunned, “What is it I need to do?”

“You are going to be working in the Lab; all you have to do is run a comparison between a control DNA sample and one taken on the ship. When you find what you find I have a third file for you to see!”

“But we only have eight control samples and three of those are dead. Whose sample are you talking about and why?”

“Mariana’s and when you find what I am sure you are going to find, you won’t have to ask. By the by, I plan to be out of thrown object range when Andy finds out. He might just destroy wherever He’s at.”

“What in the hell do you think I am going to find and what’s in that third file?”

“You find the medical result you find and if I am right. The file is proof of how the UNWG altered her medical records!”

“Dear God, how?”

“I not gonna give yall a lead Yankee, if yall ain’t good enough to find it. No damn redemption in sight bubba!”

“Where are you going,” I asked.

“Landing Field, I gotta slay my own damn Dragon!” With that, he turned and left!

     “Should we pick up our things and follow?”  I asked Jules as we saw the first group head away from the Galileo, north towards the point where the beach merged with the higher ground.
     “That’s a good idea, dear.  Let’s see how much luggage we can manage” Jules replied, picking up two of our suitcases. 
     I grabbed a couple of smaller bags, casting a wary eye at our two robots, R. SirTom [named after Sir Thomas More] and R. Maggie Thatcher.  We left them behind to help load and move one of the 4-wheel cars under JJ’s supervision.  Neither of us felt very comfortable with them around.  I felt like I was under a microscope as they examined and recorded our every move.  They were learning our mannerisms.  Now I’m pleased enough to have technology serve us, but I don’t want to end up serving it.  I sure don’t want those robots to end up running my world.  When I told Junior, he just laughed and said we were “old-fashioned” and would get used to it.  He said “You have to train the dog who’s the boss.”
     “We shall see” I called over my shoulder as Jules and I started following the others, who were slowly pulling ahead.  As we climbed the gradual slope the ground became less sandy and it was a much easier walk.  We had gone two-thirds of the way and those ahead of us were now out of view.
     Jules said, “Hanna… Let’s take a break.”
     “Of course, dear.  Glad you suggested it.”  As always, I was concerned about his heart condition.  It was difficult to gauge how he was fairing in the new environment, with the time change, etc.  His breathing was just a bit labored, but he appeared fine and even seemed relaxed.

     We sat down on a small rock ledge which pushed up through reddish brown soil and made a natural bench that faced the river, which was a good hundred feet below us.  The plants were somewhat similar to earth’s but different.  The grass was about mid-calf and had scalloped edges.  Colorful wild flowers of varying heights and sizes poked through the grass in small little pockets here and there.  To our one side were occasional clusters of fern-like plants with deep olive fronds sprouting from purplish-brown central stalks.  And along the river’s edge rising 15 feet or more, dense plantings reminded me vaguely of elephant grass.
     The view was marvelous.  We were silently drinking it in, and as Jules gently slipped my hand into his, “Sweetheart…” he began, “…Dark browns and greens, and a deep blue sky with cotton candy clouds drifting above.  We left our home so far far away.  But I will never leave you, Love. No, I will never leave you.”
     “Why Jules, that sounds like a love song!” I exclaimed, as I blushed and gazed affectionately into his eyes.
     “Could be” he replied with a warm twinkle.  Before the mood could linger we were startled by a rustling sound, and saw a “thing” no further than 15 feet away crossing the path and heading towards the river.  I hastily grabbed Jules’ arm and thought of the saying “If snakes had hips,” because this one did!  It had about six sets of ‘legs’ that raised it almost a foot above the ground.  Fortunately Jules quickly used vidcam to capture its image.  To our surprise, we later saw that it had a total of ten legs, in five slightly staggered pairs.  And rather than being directly in line with each other, the leg on the opposite side was about two inches further back on the body.  The creature was nearly four feet long with a slightly ovoid-shaped body that was about two inches high and an inch and a-half wide.  It had three slit eyes, high up on each side of its triangular head.  The head extended out about six inches from its first set of legs.  Long forked tongue – 8 inches long, and pointed teeth with two front fangs about an inch long.  Not poisonous, I hoped.  The Tail extended about a foot behind the last legs.  It looked our way, paused briefly, and then apparently unconcerned continued on its way.  Its coloration was mottled and blended in with the vegetation; maybe like a chameleon it would change.  We watched it weave its way downwards about 30 feet before we lost it from view.
     “What shall we call it, dear” Jules asked me.     

      After a moment’s thought I said “Let’s call it a Slizard – a cross between a snake and lizard.”
      Now refreshed, we grabbed our things and continued up the last little way.  Some of the first group was coming back towards us and as we reached the tent site Junior and Linda caught up to us.  Just in time!
     Junior directed the robots in unloading the tents from the cart, and he began gathering small rocks to mark off where the tents should be erected.   He had a rough plan in mind.  Trip followed trip bringing up supplies and belongings, while Jules and I stayed at the camp site and arranged them, taking short breaks when necessary. 
     While some of the younger folk started pitching the tents, Jules and I began to sort out what we would need for our first meal on planet.  Helping hands came from everywhere, and in no time at all, the stoves and tables were set up in the common tent.   
      Janie came into camp with R. Madame Curie.  How attractive I thought, meaning its appearance.  Now is that dumb or what, to compliment a robot of all things.  They had  piled cut up branches and small logs onto one of the carts, which R. Madame Curie was unloading near a bare depression not far from the tents.  Jules and I went over to watch, and to confirm that the wood was at our disposal.  We needed a fire for cooking, and  Janie said she could hardly wait for whatever came off the grill.  She had worked up quite an appetite.  As she turned to go back the woods west of us, we began preparations for the fire.