I had the branch cleared out and was cutting it to size, once more creating a wood stack that we could fetch later, when he finally got to me. He shut down the noisy gas tool, and took a breather.
“Sorry it’s turning into a working vacation,” he said, looking over the work I’d done.
“You should be saying sorry to Jack, if you left him behind for those girls to tease the shit out of him,” I laughed.
“Naw, I put him to work with the Round-up, spraying my buffer area. If he finishes that, he’s supposed to work on the broken window shutter, doing what he can to repair it. I told him worse comes to worse, just nail it shut. Anyway, the girls were busy airing out the cushions and mattresses on the front porch. Quite a sight that, three naked girls fighting with a queen sized mattress.”
We talked for a while, and I walked with him, wielding the machete while he did the weed whacking. We talked about what he could do to make the cabin more secure. He was looking for low tech answers, better shutters, warning signs, locking the interior better. I had to tell him I thought that a determined person could probably get in no matter what. And with the place out in the middle of nowhere, it’d be hard to stop them. My idea was more in line with my technical skills. I thought we could put cameras on the outside, and alarms on the windows and doors that would set off a cellular call to his phone. If anyone did break in, he’d at least know about it, and chances are, he could make the drive up to the cabin in just a few hours and still probably catch the perpetrators. At least he could take care of any damage.
We discussed a few different possibilities and made it as far as the big tree I’d cut down.
“Shit!” He looked over the logs carefully stacked on the side. “I should have known that sucker would fall some day. It had been leaning badly ever since I started coming up here over four years ago. That was a lot of work, I bet.” He laughed, giving me a slug. “Better you than me!”
“I didn’t mind,” I admitted. “I kind of enjoyed it. I like working outdoors. This may sound stupid, but I feel great after all the work today.”
“I know what you mean. Robin gives me crap for spending most of our outings up here working on the place, but I love to see the results. There’s something really fulfilling about it.”
We turned around at the tree. The sun was getting low, and he was afraid if we took much longer, we’d be in the dark before we got back. He was probably right, but we were saved from finding out when Jack showed up to shuttle us back on his bike. He gave Dan a ride back, taking the tools with him, and I decided to jog back to my bike, and head back on my own. It was a tough run, with the mud and pools of water, but I made it before too long, and was able to ride back while the sun was still a good bit above the horizon.
As part of our provisions, we’d brought an entire beef tenderloin with us, and Dan had pulled out an old Weber and was cooking it up by the time I got back. I put the axe away, stripped, and jogged down to the water without even checking in with the others. I felt sweaty and grubby, and wanted to rinse off and cool off before dinner.