Jared the Paramedic III Chapter 444
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Jared the Paramedic III ~ Redemption
Copyright © 2018-2019 Snowblind. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 44: Youth Camping Trip
THIS STORY IS COPYRIGHT © 2018-2019 BY SNOWBLIND. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. DISTRIBUTION FOR COMMERCIAL GAIN, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, POSTING ON SITES OR NEWSGROUPS, DISTRIBUTION AS PARTS OR IN BOOK FORM (EITHER AS A WHOLE OR PART OF A COMPILATION) WITH OR WITHOUT A FEE, OR DISTRIBUTION ON CD, DVD, OR ANY OTHER ELECTRONIC MEDIA WITH OR WITHOUT A FEE, IS EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED WITHOUT THE AUTHOR'S WRITTEN CONSENT. YOU MAY DOWNLOAD ONE (1) COPY OF THIS STORY FOR PERSONAL USE; ANY AND ALL COMMERCIAL USE EXCEPTING EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS REQUIRES THE AUTHOR'S WRITTEN CONSENT. THE AUTHOR MAY BE CONTACTED AT: snowblind94@yahoo.ca
The freighter canoes were in the water, loaded up with the equipment. There were five big canoes with four people in three and five people in two. It was easy, two of the experienced brothers each having two of the youth group members with them. Shadow was in the canoe with Jared and Liam. They pushed off from the shore and began to paddle down the river. The youth group members were yakking back and forth between the canoes, obviously enjoying what they were doing.
Tyler and Troy's canoe was closest to Jared's. "Hey, what's with the snoring over there, Liam?" Troy asked.
Liam looked over his shoulder to see what the noise was. What he saw was Shadow laying on his back in the sun, four feet up in the air, snoring as he slept. "It's Shadow," Liam chuckled. "He sleeps 16 or 18 hours a day. How do I get that job?"
Luke was in Troy's canoe and said, "Is that his feet sticking up over the side thingy of the canoe?"
Jared laughed, "Sorry, I just had a memory of the one trip we were on with our little brothers. Conner was in the middle with Mark in Darren and Josh's canoe. They were both facing the water, paddling opposite directions and not going anywhere. Those two called it the steering thingy and bow end thingy."
Troy was chuckling as well, "I remember our little brother's yelling they were going to die as they were holding onto the gunnels."
Luke was smiling as he replied, "So the side thingy is the gunnel."
"Correct," replied Tyler.
Troy was in the stern, "Luke, have you never been in a canoe before?"
"Never, but I've always wanted to do this."
"Tell me about yourself, if you don't mind," Tyler asked.
"Sure. There's not much to tell. I just turned 16 and going into grade 11, maybe."
That caught Tyler's attention, "Why maybe?"
"Well, Logan and I are living in the Centre, we don't have a home. I don't know how it works for us going to school without a real home or address. We're hoping to get jobs to make some money, support ourselves so we can finish high school."
"How long have you two been together?"
Luke looked up at Troy in the bow, "We've known each other since forever.
Tyler asked, "What school are you going to?"
"Central High," replied Logan.
Tyler froze for a moment, "That's where Patrick just graduated from."
"Yeah," Logan replied carefully. "Tyler, can I say something?"
Tyler took a deep breath, "Go ahead, Logan."
Logan stopped paddling for a moment as he thought, "I asked to be in your canoe. We were at the school that day, and I really didn't like the way the news was lying to everyone about what happened. I listened to the news conference with all of you, and I just want you to know that Luke and I support you. We were witnesses. We both wished we had parents like you."
Tyler stopped paddling for a moment as it sank in. He turned to face the two young men, "When we get to shore, I want to hug you both. Thank you not only for being honest but speaking from the heart. I appreciate it guys, I really do." Neither one of them missed the tear which escaped from Tyler's eye before he turned forward again. The two young men looked at Troy who promptly gave them both a thumbs up.
Troy was thinking about the two young men, and their needing a place to live to finish school. He would have to talk to Tyler and his brothers about it.
Patrick was in the bow paddling while Adam was in the stern. They had the two youngest youth group members with them. Grayson and Travis were both 16 years old, but just barely.
"What do you two think about the trip so far?" asked Adam.
"Pretty cool," Travis answered real quick.
"Yeah, I love it," added Grayson.
"How did you guys do last night? Any problems we should know about?" asked Patrick.
Grayson and Travis both blushed. "Well, we sort of got scared so we put our sleeping bags together so we could be close to each other," Grayson said slowly as if he was scared, to be honest.
Patrick turned around to look at the young men, "That was a great idea you two. Did it solve the problem?"
Travis smiled, "Actually, we were both still a little scared. Shadow suddenly appeared, walked in between us and laid down. We hugged him, falling asleep pretty quick. He came to help us."
Grayson was smiling too, "I didn't realize how big he really was until he laid down between us so we could both hold onto him."
"He's a bit of pillow hog though," Travis added. That got everyone in the canoe laughing.
"I just looked into Shadow's eyes and something inside of me said I was safe. I still feel that way," explained Grayson.
Travis quickly added, "Me too. I don't know what it was but his eyes were so calming."
"That's our Shadow guys," replied Troy. "The protection of the wolf is not just a verbal promise, it's real."
The group was paddling around a curve when Jared raised his paddle over his head to get everyone's attention. He then held a finger up to his lips indicating for everyone to be quiet. He pointed to the shore where a small herd of elk were eating grass near the water. There were three young ones, bouncing, jumping, and chasing each other in the shallow shore water. The young elk 'chirped' at each other as they splashed and frolicked in the water. A cow elk, probably the mother of one of them moved close to the river and gave a 'mew' to the calves. One of them bounced over, sniffed noses with her, and moved to begin feeding. The other two continued to play. The canoes drifted down the river past the elk. The youth in each canoe began talking about what they had seen, even asking some questions to learn more about the animals.
They began paddling again, following Jared towards a curve in the river. The south bank of the river on the inside of the curve had a large exposed area made of smooth granite sheets. They all pulled up to the bank, allowing everyone to get out and stretch after being in the canoe for an hour. Shadow bounced out of the canoe, quickly walking knee-deep into the river for a drink. He splashed out of the river, ran over to a patch of sand on the flat grey granite rock and began to mark his territory by using all four feet one at a time to throw sand behind him. After doing that for a moment, Shadow trotted to the edge of the forest and disappeared.
Grayson asked Jared, "Where did he go? He won't get lost, will he?"
"No fears. He's going to take a dump in the forest. He never does it anywhere near his family, he's really good that way. You never find it unless he's trying to send you a message."
"You got that right. He can sure send a message," added Liam.
Tyler started laughing, "You still mad about that?"
"He took a shit on my running shoes outside on the porch at the cabin," Liam stated clearly.
Grayson and Travis lost it in laughter.
"It's not funny. It was the biggest dog turd pile I've ever seen. It's was almost like a human..." Liam didn't finish his sentence as he began to think for a moment. He slowly turned to Tyler, "It was the dog who did it, right? Not you or Troy?"
"That is a terrible accusation to make of your brother Liam," Tyler said with conviction. Then he said quickly, "Hey, what's Shadow got in his mouth over there," as he pointed. Everyone turning quickly looked towards the tree line but saw nothing so they turned back to where Tyler had been. Neither Troy nor Tyler were standing there anymore as they had run to the far end of the shore area.
Liam raised his voice, "Running away you cowards!"
Grayson was laughing, but asked Jared, "Is the relationship Liam has with Shadow the same type of relationship he has with everyone? Adversarial and competitive?"
Jesse walked by at that moment, "This kid is bright. It didn't take him long to figure Liam out."
"Grayson, don't mind them," Conner said. "Now to the important stuff. Where're the snacks?"
His request was backed up by Mark, "Hey guys, we're wasting away to nothing here."
Patrick and Adam were digging out a Rubbermaid tub which contained a pile of sandwiches and vegetable snacks. Everyone began lining up to grab some of each. Liam had put his sandwich down on the rock for a moment when a furry snout grabbed it. Shadow ate it on the run.
"Ha, I fooled you Shadow," Liam yelled at the wolf. "I got that one for you. I still have mine."
"I thought you got that one for me," Jared said as he took a bite out of the sandwich.
"I don't who is worse, you or your puppy," Liam said with a sulk. He got up, stomped over to get another sandwich, thought about it and grabbed three altogether. He sat down on the rock next to Jared, handed him one of the sandwiches. Liam then held another one out to the other side. It only took a moment before Shadow took it gently from his hand, laying down on the ground to eat it. It was gone in a couple of bites. Shadow sat on his haunches, leaned over and licked Liam's ear.
"Yuch, wolf spit. I love you too," grumbled Liam as he ate his sandwich.
Jared put his arm around his husband, pulling him into him tightly, "That was nice what you did for your little brother."
Liam just mumbled as he put another carrot stick in his mouth.
Conner, Mark and Nikita were standing along the edge of the river, skipping stones across the water. They were teaching Trey and a couple of others how to do it. Any time people get together and begin skipping stones, it turns into a competition. This time was no different, except in the way it was being done. The group were encouraging each other to try and do their best at the task.
The two young guests who had been interested in the plants along the shore the previous night were both now looking at the way some plants were growing from small pockets of sand on the sides of the granite rocks. Adam joined them, answering questions both based on his memories and what Grandfather Tom had taught him.
Wyatt and Trey approached Patrick. Trey asked, "Patrick, is there a toilet or outhouse nearby?"
Patrick realized neither one had a clue what to do, and probably had to really go if they were asking. "No, come on. Wyatt, please grab a small shovel from Tyler's canoe and I'll take you guys out to explain how you do it in the wilderness." Patrick went to his canoe, opened a Rubbermaid tub, and extracted two rolls of toilet paper. He led the two young men to the edge of the tree line. It only took a moment before he found a medium-sized spruce tree which had fallen over. "Well guys, there's a couple of ways to do this. If you're taking a piss, just do it away from a path or where we're camping. Not too far, though. We don't want anyone to get lost."
"Ok, but I need to take a shit," Trey said quietly.
"In that case, you dig a hole, squat over top of it, and let it go. When you're finished wiping, you bury it " Patrick explained. "You just need to make sure your ass is over the hole in the ground, and not over your pants around your ankles."
Trey looked concerned, "I don't know if I have the balance for that."
"Me either," said Patrick. "Another way is to dig a hole on the other side of this horizontal tree, drop your pants and then sit on the tree with your ass hanging over the edge. If you miss the hole, no problem, just bury it after."
"Where can I do it?" asked Wyatt.
"It's a long tree, you can either do it at the same time or one after the other," replied Patrick. The two young men stared at Patrick like deer caught in headlights at night. Patrick moved to the tree, dropped his pants, sat down and adjusted himself with his ass hanging over the edge. "I prefer the drop and dig technique myself. I wait till I've shit, then dig a hole to flip it into."
Trey felt awkward, "But people will see you taking a dump. That's a pretty private thing."
"Trey, if you want to watch me take a shit, the Newfies say it best. 'Fill ya boots der buy'. There isn't anyone here wanting to watch anyone take a shit. Plus, we all skinny dip together so whatever you have has already been out for show anyway."
Trey stood there for a moment, then dropped his pants. He assumed the same position hanging over the log Patrick had. Wyatt did the same.
They had all been sitting there for a moment when Patrick asked Trey a question on his mind. "Trey, I've noticed you've changed your style of clothing in the last little while. I like it, makes you look much better."
"I appreciate your comment. It's in part to your being right when you gave me shit at the meeting. I was dressing and even acting like a slut. That's the way people were treating me too. We've been attending family counselling, and I guess it was time to quit acting like a spoiled little slut."
Patrick was stunned by the words Trey had just said. "I'm very impressed at the changes you've made in your life. The honesty you just spoke surprises me, but again I'm impressed. If you need help, we're all here for you."
"That's why I'm here. It's nice to have some friends that are about friendship, not sex or partying. You were also right about me advertising my ass. I accept that I was degrading myself. Thank you for being honest, even when I didn't want to hear it."
"Your welcome. You'll find that all of us will do anything we can to help you."
"It's hard to believe, but I do. You guys ask for nothing in return. That's rare."
"Hopefully it will spread and everyone will do it that way someday." Trey gave him a strange look. "But, I'm not delusional about it either. I can hope."
"It blows my mind who Jesse really is too. I have to be honest, on the way home, my dad couldn't believe it was his actual boss he had insulted. But, that's when he realized he made a mistake at work, and with his parenting. I had taken advantage of it too. That was the closest I'd ever come to actually getting a lickin' from dad since I was five years old. Jesse seems like such a great guy now that I'm getting to know him. All of you, brothers, pretty cool."
"You have someone, most of us don't, Trey. I have a mom, but most of the others have no family anymore. Some were killed, others were disowned when they came out. You have a family who accepts you. That's worth more than all the brothers on the planet."
"When you put it that way, yeah. I hadn't thought of it like that before."
"Let's get finished up, and head back. They'll be wanting to get back out on the water pretty quick. Oh, and Wyatt, you're sitting on poison ivy."
The young man just about jumped straight off the log until Patrick started laughing, it was then Wyatt realized there was nothing more than a spruce tree under his ass. Wyatt smiled, gave Patrick the finger, and said, "Asshole."
Patrick smiled back at him, "So?"
The group was paddling along when Jared indicated it was time for another short break. This time they stopped on a sandy beach. Jared led them over the sand and into a previously burnt out area. "Gentlemen, this was the site of a forest fire about 10 years ago. The fire burnt everything to the ground, giving mother nature a chance to begin again from the start. We stopped here for a couple of reasons." All of the youth group members were staring at Jared, waiting for him to finish. Adam was already leading the brothers over to the right places. "This is a prime blackberry, blueberry and raspberry picking area. Now, let's get started and have a snack."
"Don't bears like these berries, too? Logan asked. "Are there any bears around here?"
"Don't worry about the bears, there are no big ones around here," Liam yelled over. "Now, quick yakking and get picking."
"Wait, you said no big ones."
"Yeah, it's just the 3 or 400 pounders around here. The big ones are closer to where we're going to be camping," Liam replied with a straight face.
The slap to the back of his head was so quick it even startled Liam. That slap was followed by Jared grabbing his husband by the underwear, and lifting it straight up until Liam was on his tippy toes. "Husband, tell the very nice naive young ones over there the truth."
In a high pitched voice, Liam exclaimed, "There are no bears here at all, but we'll keep watch for them. No worries."
Jared lifted a little higher, "And where we'll be camping?"
It's an island, they don't go there."
"Apologize to the nice young man, Liam."
"I'm sorry Logan, and I'm going commando for the rest of the trip."
Jared dropped his husband, pulled him into his arms, and patted his butt. "Don't want to damage anything, do we. Might need it later."
Liam mumbled something. Jared's response was a quick slap to his husband's ass, "Be good, or I'll make you sit timeout in the canoe with the wolf supervising."
Liam dropped his chin to his chest, "I'll be good, Dad."
They showed the young people how to pick the ripe fruit, and they caught on quickly. None of the youth group had ever seen any of these berries actually on the plant. They began to appreciate the people who had to pick them for the stores a lot more after doing it for themselves for a half hour. From the juice of the various berries, everyone had blue and red hands, which matched their mouths and faces. They found it was easier to sit on their asses while picking the fruit. Everyone chatted freely while picking and eating.
One of the youth found a pile of bear shit. Adam used a stick to explain the contents he could identify. "Rose hips, lots of blueberries, grass, bones from a small animal, and some squishy stuff I can't tell. During this time of the year, their scat looks like hot asphalt piles from all the blueberries."
"How do you know that?" asked one of the youth.
"That's easy," Adam replied. Using his right hand, he reached down and stuck a finger into it. He then brought his hand up to mouth, licking a finger. "Yup, blueberries and some raspberries too."
The youth were all coughing and gagging at what they had just seen. Adam just stood with a big smile on his face, watching the reaction. Once he got everyone's attention, Adam explained. "You need to fine tune your sight, and to thoroughly process what you see." Raising his left hand, Adam continued with, "You have to watch closely as I stuck my baby finger into the bear scat, and licked my index finger." Adam now licked the baby finger on his left hand. That action got a series of reactions from the youth once again, except Grayson. Adam smiled at youth, "What's wrong, Gray?"
"You used your right hand to stick your baby finger in the bear shit. You just licked the baby finger of the left hand."
"Very good. That's what I mean about making sure you see everything when you look, and to process the information. Now, back to berry eating."
They were all focused on picking berries and when a few grouse took to the air from out of the bushes in the distance, it startled the younger ones. The last one into the air didn't make it as Shadow jumped, catching it with his teeth. The wolf shook his head, snapping the bird's neck quickly. Very proudly, after retrieving it he strutted by everyone with the spruce grouse hanging from his mouth. Shadow disappeared over the hill towards the canoes. When everyone had enough berries, they headed back to the canoes. Along the path, they passed an area which had some blood splatters and feathers laying around on the ground. They found Shadow laying in the sun next to the canoes, sleeping after his snack.
The rest of the afternoon, they paddled, stopped for breaks, had a couple of water fights between canoes until they arrived at the island where they had rescued the lost group earlier in the season. Upon arrival, Shadow had taken off to sniff the island, making sure it was safe for his human pack. It didn't take long for them to set up the lean-to. The poles had all been piled up from the shelters which had been built for the rescued group. That made it easier without having to cut down or locate deadfall to be used. The youth group members were tired, so it took a bit of nudging to get them to build the shelters as well as to stow their gear away.
Supper was planned over a couple of times to eat. The first meal would be a quick snack to keep the teenagers from dying from hunger. Anyone who is a parent or works with teenagers knows if they don't have food every hour the whining, dramatics, and hissy fits befit of an Academy Award level of acting. As soon as they could, everyone had a stick to roast a smokie or a piece of kielbasa on a bun. It didn't take long before everyone had eaten a couple each, which had an immediate effect upon the attitude of the group. They were all given some free time to explore the island for a couple of hours, lie in the sun, or have a snooze.
The youth took their canoe partner brothers with them to walk, and explore. Being on an island, no one could get lost. Two of the young people spoke Ukrainian and Russian. They were chatting away with Nikita and Jesse, enjoying the chance to speak with someone other than a family member in their first language. Trevor and Zane were at the camp, working on getting supper ready. After chopping up potatoes, carrots, and onions they mixed them together with garlic. The mixture was then split up into a dozen piles, wrapped in tinfoil and buried in the coals of the fire. There was still a lot of raw precut vegetables for everyone to eat, so those were laid out on a Rubbermaid lid. There was also lots of butter, salt and pepper for the potatoes. Next, they pulled out three large beef roasts. Zane covered them in onion soup mix, wrapped them in tin foil, and then packed clay mud all the way around them before they were put into the fire to cook as well. Tyler and Troy showed up to help with whatever needed to be done.
Troy was interested in the cooking technique. "That's really a different way to cook a roast."
"It's a very traditional way actually. It's used a lot with fresh game birds and ducks or geese. You gut them, then pack them in the clay mud. The mud heats and dries out, almost becoming the same consistency as clay pottery from a kiln. When you crack it open, the feathers all stick to the cooked clay. So when you pull the clay off, it takes all the feathers too. The clay also absorbs excess grease from the birds. As the water in the clay drys, it becomes steam inside, almost like a pressure cooker, making the meat absolutely tender. Sandhill cranes are great done this way. If you don't, they are like chewing on a rubber dog chew."
"Pretty smart cooking."
"It's really hard to overcook something this way, it can be done but it's harder. Also, there's no grease flare-up fires or anything like that."
"No pots, pans or roasters to wash after eating either. I wonder if this works at home in an oven?"
Zane gave him a strange look, then smiled. "Really? You hate doing the dishes that much?"
"Not at all, just leaves for time for sex."
Trevor stuck fingers in both of his ears and started saying, "Nanananananan. I can't hear you. I'm not listening to old people talking about sex." Tyler pinched his ass, causing him to jump and yip at the same time. "Bastard."
"So, what do you two think of Luke and Logan?" asked Tyler.
Zane turned to face his friend, "Tyler, that's an out of the blue question."
"I'm sorry, Troy and I talked about doing something, but we have to talk to everyone before we make up our minds."
Trevor may be shy at times, but when he has something to say, he's very clear. "Are you two going to adopt them?"
Zane's neck just about snapped as he twisted to look at Trevor. "Trev, where did you..."
Troy cut Zane off, "He's right, Zane. That's what we'd been discussing together."
Tyler chuckled, "You are a hell of a lot more perceptive than I give you credit for, Trevor. How did you come up with that idea?"
Trevor looked at his feet, then at Zane with water forming in his eyes. "You won't be mad at me?"
Zane put his hands on both shoulders of the young man to look him straight in the eyes, "How could I ever be mad at someone who likes to eat hamburger helper Chezy Shells with Jesse and me?"
Trevor smiled a bit, then spoke. "I overheard them talking" was the reply with a big smile.
Zane smiled, put him into a headlock while giving him a noogie. "You brat."
Zane, when he'd finished with Trevor, turned to Tyler and Troy, "So you two are thinking about helping Luke and Logan out?"
"Well, if they are as decent of kids as they seem, and everyone agrees to it of course," said Tyler. "After all, they would be staying with us in the house at the village."
"They both really seem to be decent young men from all the interactions I've had with them around the centre," Zane explained. "Now that they are out of school for the summer, they've been trying to find a job but are helping out with the staff all the time. They are both very scared they'll get thrown out of the centre before they can save enough money for an apartment. Luke is really scared about them not being able to finish high school."
"I heard him last night worried about the cost of the trip," Troy commented. "The emotion he had associated behind his words just about made me cry. I really wasn't ready for all the fear and emotions when the wolf senses locked onto him as he spoke."
"I hear you, buddy. Trevor, do you know any more about their story?" asked Tyler.
"I don't like to gossip," Trevor replied seriously.
"That's pretty obvious the way you didn't spread around what you overheard us saying," added Troy.
"This isn't gossip, Trev," Tyler said with a gentle voice. "It's just us talking, and trying to figure out if we are going to sponsor them into our home."
"Ok, they've talked to me while we were putting new donations of food into the bins. Luke and Logan knew each other since they were really young. Their parents had suspected at one point there was more than just a friendship, but waited patiently for their sons to tell them. Both of them had older sisters who did not approve when they did come out to their families a year ago. The one sister is living with a guy in an apartment near the university and the other one is married and lives across town.
The parents tried to keep the peace between the siblings, and an arrangement regarding family visits around Christmas was made. It's unfortunate they never got to try the arrangements out as both sets of parents had gone to watch 'Les Miserables' in the city and were involved in a single vehicle rollover. The weather was bad, the van slid off the road and into a dugout. They broke through the ice and drowned in ice cold water.
The sisters were both reasonable until shortly after the funeral. They had known everyone would be watching closely up to the funeral, but people would move onto the next tragedy in life fairly quickly after it. That's when the sisters kicked both of the boys out of the houses, making sure anyone and everyone knew they were gay. Neither of the boys believes their parents didn't look out for them in their wills, but the sisters have refused to discuss it. They don't have any money for a lawyer, and no clue how to fight it. They are just 16 after all. They have been couch surfing since and staying with some of their friends. Neither of them wanted to stay very long at the houses, both were worried about wearing out their welcome. They managed to finish the semester at school and maintain their excellent marks too. That's about all I know."
"By any chance did you suggest they speak with Jesse when he's around the centre about the will?" asked Tyler.
"I did, but I left it up to them to do. They want to handle everything on their own, like adults."
"Thanks, Trevor," Tyler said with a broken voice.
Zane quickly added, "That helps us to fill in some of the gaps."
Tyler thought for a moment before he said, "Jesse will probably want to help these two as well. It rings of some common history between them and him; both having lost their parents at the same time."
"I just realized that as you were saying it. I know Jesse would be interested in helping, but I'll have to watch my boyfriend for adverse reactions as well."
"By the way, have you seen Shadow around?" asked Trevor.
Troy chuckled. "Not for a while, last I heard he was out exploring the island and doing wolf things."
Tyler looked at his boyfriend, "Wolf things? You really have been hanging around Liam too much."
Zane laughed loudly. "I remember the day Jared and Liam met Jesse at the old centre. Liam announced 'Jared, we better get going and go do ambulance things.' Jared had looked at us and replied to his boyfriend, 'Ambulance things? Ambulance things? He went to school for 2½ years to be a Critical Care Paramedic and says let's go do ambulance things?'"
Troy was laughing now as well, "Yeah, Shadow does wolf things. You know, just like you pissing on things or people to mark territory."
Tyler threw his arms up in the air, "You know, George Carlin said it best. You can prick your finger all throughout your life without any problems. But, finger your prick once and you're labelled. I was only going to piss on one guy, and boy you think I was caught trying screw a goat. Just one guy I was going to do it on, man give me a break," as he gave a fake pout.
"Oh, like stop it. Let's go find Shadow and go for a run together," suggested Troy as he rolled his eyes at his boyfriend's drama attempt.
Tyler liked that idea, he immediately let loose with a wolf's howl. A moment later, a wolf howl was heard back. Tyler smirked, "He said he'll be right here."
Trevor was confused, "Do you guys really talk with Shadow? I mean, it seems like you talk with him like another human and vice-versa."
"We do understand each other quite clearly Trevor," replied Tyler. Shadow came bounding out of the treeline, across the landing and sat next to Tyler. He looked into the eyes of Tyler and Troy with anticipation of a child waiting to go to the park to play.
It was Troy who said, "Let's go" as he started to run back to the treeline. Shadow and Tyler followed him, disappearing from sight quickly.
Trevor was laughing aloud, "And they say I'm ADD and chasing squirrels all the time. I'm a couch potato compared to those two."
"Trevor, that's more accurate than you'll ever know."
The meal was a big hit with everyone, eating all the vegetables, potatoes and 30lbs of beef fed the 24 men along with one wolf. The youth group members cleaned up the dishes and restocked the firewood supply for the night and breakfast. It was around 8:00 pm when Jared led them to the shallow area on the island for a swim or just to wash up. The group who had been bashful last night weren't that way tonight. They stripped off and ran into the water.
After washing up, the men sat on some sheets of pink granite which overlooked the shallow swimming areas where the young ones were playing keep away with Shadow. Tyler brought up Luke and Logan and the possibility of having them move into the house at the village with them. As expected, when Tyler explained the loss of both sets of parents together in an accident, Jesse made it clear he would help. The men approved of the idea, but only after Jared along with Grandfather had spoken with both of them. There was no critical time frame for quick decision as they were living in a stable environment at the centre, but it would be done soon.
That night, everyone was sitting around the campfire. Jared got his guitar out, and some joined him to sing campfire songs. Trey surprised everyone when he played a couple of numbers on the guitar, singing as well. It was quite impressive, earning him a round of applause. After a snack, everyone headed off to bed. When Shadow went to Grayson and Travis, they both patted the spot between them for him to crawl onto for the night.
At 07:00 am, the sound of a jet boat approaching was quite distinct. Jared met both grandfathers at the shore as he came in for a beaching. Conner, Mark and Nikita offloaded the fresh food supplies while Tom and Mathew went looking for a cup of coffee. The rest of the campers began to get up as the eggs, pancakes and ham started to cook. The smell of good food is much more effective than a shrill alarm Grandfather Tom stated with a chuckle.
After breakfast, Grandfather Tom brought everyone together back of the camping area where the sand was soft, and there were logs to sit on. With all the youth group sitting up front, they waited in anticipation of what activity he had planned. Tom opened a Rubbermaid tub in front of the group while explaining they were going to make their own moccasins, the traditional way. He pulled out a pair of simple deerskin moccasins and slipped them on. That got everyone's attention quickly. Using Grayson, he had the young man stand in his socks on a piece of leather. He then used a pencil to outline the young man's foot, then added an inch to the measurement and outlined the shape again.
The concentration by all the youth group members was incredible to watch as they all did the same thing with the help of their canoe big brothers. Once everyone had cut out the outlines, Tom used a precut piece of leather to outline and cut out tongues, or the top of the moccasins. Next, they needed a long, narrow piece cut which was sewn in between the tongue and the bottom part of the moccasin. This piece is necessary between all pieces of leather when sewn to provide not only strength but for waterproofing the seam.
They explained that the old ones used bone needles or flint with small hammers and sinew from deer or moose to sew the leather together. Starting at the front of the moccasin, he showed them how to use the modern glover's needle and strong polyester thread to sew the two pieces together. The glover's needle has a sharp point as well as sharp sides, but it didn't take long for everyone to learn to be careful. Bandages fixed the people who learned the hard way. Many of the young men had never done any sewing before, but in a short time, they were getting quite good at it.
Many of them needed gentle encouragement to work on the task; it was something new, out of their comfort zone, and some of them did have some self-confidence issues. Between Tom and the canoe big brothers, there was lots of positive reinforcement to go around. After everyone was finished that stage, Tom showed them how to sew the heel of the moccasin. They flipped the moccasins inside out, which gave them more of the typical moccasin look. To make the bottom of the sole stronger, Tom brought out some moose hide. This is a tougher, thicker and very strong type of leather and commonly used on moccasins or mukluks soles. After cutting the shapes from the template of a foot-shape, everyone sewed them into place as well.
Finally, Tom showed them how to finish the part around the ankle by flipping the leather into a roll and tacking it into place with the needle and thread. Many had finished by lunchtime, and all were done by early afternoon. As they finished, Tom showed them how to rub beeswax along the stitching lines, filling any gaps and holes. He then demonstrated how to rub mink oil into the leather to keep it soft and reasonably water repellent. That afternoon, all of the youth were wearing the moccasins, made by themselves, with pride. It surprised them all when Tom brought out a box of leather tools, including stamps of shapes, letters, designs and symbols. If anyone wanted, they could use the tools along with the hammer to make a design for the top of their moccasins. The level of cooperation and assistance the youth group members were showing to each other by the end of the day was amazing, and exactly what Grandfather Tom had hoped for.
Just as they were finishing the moccasins, Grandfather Mathew brought out different leather. The youth group members all sat and listened to the two elders telling stories about the history of footwear and clothing. None of the youth had noticed the family all head up to the lean-to, and get changed into their loincloths. When Grandfather Mathew asked if they would like to make a loincloth. One of the crowd asked what a loincloth looked like. Mathew told them to turn around, where they found all of their canoe brothers all standing in their loincloths. Everyone had their own loincloth, made by mid-afternoon. The rest of the afternoon was spent playing volleyball, laying in the sun or swimming. They all looked cute in their loincloths and felt like they were all floating on air because they had made them and their footwear themselves.
After supper, grandfather Tom brought out a final Rubbermaid tub, calling everyone over to take a seat around him as a group. Tom looked at all of the youth group's beaming faces, each one of them trying to anticipate what they would do next. "One part of the Indigenous culture is our brothers and sisters, the Metis. These were the people who were of mixed races, usually a First Nations women and a French trader or explorer. Over time, it became more generalized as Europeans and First Nations people. But, being Metis refers to possessing a singular cultural heritage of dual ancestry or origins. In other words, a unique culture was born from the union of two ancestries, European and First Nations. In the old days, these were the 'courier des bois', or the runners of the woods. They would gather the furs, and take them to the trading posts to sell. These 'courier des bois' were some of the toughest men in the world, and are a proud heritage. They are identified by a multicolour sash which they originally developed to help them carry their furs through the forest."
Grandfather Tom brought out an example of the traditional Metis sash, showing them how it is wrapped around the person's waist snuggly in the middle with the fringes hanging down. "The sash is about 3 meters long, made of woven fibres, each having a meaning which we'll discuss in a moment. Some people wear it over one shoulder to the opposite hip, with the fringes hanging down."
Grandfather Tom demonstrated while he explained the sash was used to carry personal items, as a belt or to keep a coat closed. During the winter, it was an effective scarf to protect the face and head from the cold. Very often it was used as a trumpline as well.
"Whats a trumpline?" asked Logan.
"A trumpline was used when the men were carrying a heavy backpack. The sash was wrapped around the furs, and the forehead of the man, making it easier to carry. Sometimes it was used to pull loads when no ropes were available. If you had to carry your canoe at a portage, you could use it to lash your paddles to make it easier to carry on your shoulders. They've been used as a tourniquet, or to steady a broken limb in splints. Even as a marker on a kill which had to be left behind so others wouldn't take it."
"Wow, it was used for everything," Logan said.
"The base colour of the sash is red and represents the lives lost and their blood which has been washed away by rain. The Metis survived, so red also represents strength. There are green threads throughout the sash which represent fertility. The fertility of the womb for children, and the fertility of the land to feed us. The gold signifies prosperity and the resilience of the people. The resilience includes passing on the culture to the future generation. The blue flecks in the sash represent spirituality, connections to each other, and the strength of family relations. The white in the sash represents the connection to the Creator, the land, sky, and water. All essential to a good life. The black represents colonization, the loss of culture and the way of life. But, the black thread is small in the entire sash. There are some different groups who have slightly different colours in their sashes, they have personal meaning to the history of that group."
Grandfather Tom reached into the Rubbermaid tub and lifted out another sash, except this one was multicoloured in the colours of the rainbow flag. "Does anyone recognize the colours of this sash?"
Grayson spoke first, "Those are the same colours as our LGBTQ2 flag."
Grandfather Tom smiled, "Very good young man." The old man pointed at another one of the youth group. "Can you tell me something about the flag?"
He was a little hesitant at first but finally spoke with some gentle encouragement from Mark. "The man who created it just died, maybe a year ago. He was from San Francisco and it was made as a statement about gay rights. I think his names was Mr. Baker."
Zane smiled, "Very good, Dakota. His name was Gilbert Baker and he did die just last March in 2017." The young man smiled at the recognition. With a nod from Tom, Zane continued by asking, "How many colours were in the original flag?"
Trey raised his hand, "It started out as eight, but now it's six."
"That's correct, Trey. The flags we see now were weaved with high-speed machines whereas the first flags were all hand dyed and hand stitched together. After sewing your moccasins today, do you appreciate how much work it would've been for them to make the first flags?"
Luke looked at his fingers, "I have deep dents in my fingertips from the needle, along with lots of little pokes too." The young man smiled with pride as he said, "I wish they would never leave me so I won't ever forget what we did today, and on this trip." His boyfriend put his arm around him, pulling him tight.
"That's great, Luke." Zane looked into the eyes of every youth group member before he spoke. "It's our hope that this trip will make an impression on you in some way. Remember what Grandfather Mathew said yesterday. We want you to enjoy the trip and learn some new skills but have fun. It's important to have friends, and learn to rely on each other."
"I told Patrick yesterday this was the first time I've ever met people who didn't expect something back from me," Trey said proudly. "It will take a while to get over being suspicious of people, but I'm not suspicious of this group." Jesse leaned forward and used his hand to mess Trey's hair. The young smiled a cute smile at the gesture.
"Pretty cool Trey. Can anyone tell us the original colours?"
They all called out pink, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue and purple.
"What are the six colours?" asked Zane.
The young people called out red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.
"That's great guys. They call it lilac, but purple is cool too. Currently, there are many flags representing various groups of the LGBTQ2 community, but there is only one with the six colours."
"Without sounding like a total jerk, I've seen one with black and brown stripes on it. What does that mean?" asked Maverick.
It was the first time the really shy Maverick had spoken out, Zane was impressed. "Mav, you're Metis, right?"
"Yeah, I am."
"Well, as I understand it, the flag with the extra stripes came out of Philidelphia to represent the black and brown people of the LGBTQ2 community," explained Zane. "I am not going to comment on it any further because other than I remember reading a brief article on the web about it, I really don't know much about it."
"I'll have to do some reading on it. I'll google it at home. Thanks, Zane," Maverick replied.
"Just like the Metis sash, the rainbow flag colours each mean something. Red means life, Orange is healing, Yellow is sunlight so LGBTQ2 people don't hide in the shadows anymore. Green is nature, blue is serenity, and the lilac colour is for spirit."
Grandfather Tom took the sash and wrapped it around Zane's waist. "Just like the courier des bois of old, we have a rainbow sash for each of you so the power of the rainbow is always with you. Come on up, and Grandfather Mathew and I will wrap you in your sash, and bless each of you individually."
Once everyone received their sash, Tom had everyone group together for some pictures. He took some photo's of the group, and some candid ones while the youth were showing each other their sashes. Grandfather Tom had one more presentation. He called Maverick and two others up to the front of the group. He presented each of them with an official Metis sash. The three young men embraced the old man tightly in return for his gift to them. They carefully packed their Metis sashes away in their luggage, choosing to wear the rainbow one like everyone else.
The grandfather's both took their leave of the group after getting a hug from every person there. The jetboat backed up, turned its spotlights on and took off up the river towards the cabin.
Wood was piled onto the fire, and everyone began to cook bannock and s'mores as a snack. Once again, Jared brought his guitar out to play around the campfire. After singing songs for an hour, and a snack, the youth were all worn out from the day's activities. The big brothers packed them all into their lean-to and bed. Shadow joined his two little friends, sleeping between them as usual.
The brothers were all sitting around the fire in pairs. Nikita was sitting behind Trevor, his arms wrapped around his boyfriend. "Thank you for bringing us on this trip. It means so much to me to have done something like this," the young Russian said. "And sharing it with my little Canadian made it perfect."
Trevor leaned his head backwards, kissing his little Russian. "Ditto."
The rest of the group started laughing at Trevor's answer. Nikita put his hands on his hips, "Ditto? Ditto? Ditto?"
"Don't you remember how romantic it was when Patrick Swayze said that in the movie?"
Nikita thought for a moment, then said, "Oh yeah. I remember now." He smirked, "Let's go reenact some of the other scenes from the movie down by the swimming area."
Trevor played dumb for a moment, "What, the subway scene?"
Nikita hung his head forward while muttering something in Russian, Trevor was smirking. Nik whispered something into Trevor's ear, he nodded, they both stood and ran towards the swimming area. The remaining brothers all began laughing at them.
Patrick had his arms around Adam who was sitting in front of him. Actually, he had his hands gently massaging his boyfriend's crotch. Adam stood, pointed up a pathway and said, "We're going that way." Mark pulled Conner to his feet, "We'll be right behind you but to the left." Tyler and Troy were on the move, as were Jesse and Zane.
That left Liam and Jared all alone in front of the fire. They were sitting beside each other, arms over the other's shoulders. Liam stretched, yawned and said, "Well, time to crawl into the old farts' sack. You coming to bed?" He started to stand, but Jared pulled him down, onto his lap.
"Seriously? Go to bed after you waved that ass at me all day."
Liam smirked, "Oh, was I?"
"It's a big beach, let go."
"I'll beat you there, old man." Jared got one slap on Liam's ass before he was out of reach.
The next day, after breakfast, the camp was cleaned up and packed into the canoes. With four people paddling the canoes, they easily covered the distance to the cabin in spite of all the breaks for food, water fights and stopping to observe nature along the way. At the cabin, the two teepee's had been put up already, so everyone piled into them to place their gear. The two grandfathers, Melanie and Ryan had prepared a huge meal for the campers' last night. They had BBQ elk steak, deer sausage, moose roast as well as piles of salad and potatoes. The final night, everyone was enjoying themselves around the campfire singing with Trey playing the guitar. The group headed off to bed, most falling asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow. Shadow headed into the cabin, making himself comfortable on the bed in Liam and Jared's bedroom while they slept outside.
After a huge breakfast in the morning, the bus picked everyone up to return them to the city. There were a lot of tears shed by the youth group members, but they felt happier when Jared promised they could come back out again. Grayson and Travis were both shedding tears as they hugged Shadow to the last minute, and were the last two on the bus. They ran to the back of the bus, holding each other as they both waved to their wolf friend. As the youth were leaving on the bus, Shadow gave a howl as a sign of respect.
Grandfather Mathew and Grandfather Tom had both linked with Logan and Luke, probing the boys' memories. They each gave their blessing to Tyler and Troy's idea of taking them into their home at the village. The only condition he applied to it happening was that they must join a sweat, and learn about the family they were going to be living with.
Melanie and Ryan were staying another night at the cabin and waved goodbye as everyone else headed back to the village, and work the next day.
End of Chapter Forty-Four
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