Page 28 of Hollow Valley
Boden thought on it and nodded.“Okay.I can do that.When we bed down this evening, I’ll head out and see if I can scrounge up a few hares or something.”Then he looked to Edie beside me.“You in?”
“You can always count on me,” Edie agreed with a laugh.
“If you’re going out hunting tonight, I’ll be happy to go with you,” Leandro offered.
“If you guys get something good, I could make up a little feast,” Oakley added.“Or even if you don’t get anything good, I can probably work a little magic.”
“You don’t have to go to too much trouble,” I tried again to decline.
“Come on, now, we all need a little magic,” Dougal said.
That finally quieted my protests, and I accepted my fate with a grateful smile.
In the late afternoon, we came across an abandoned cabin.It wasn’t exactly habitable, with part of the roof and one wall missing, but it was still safer than sleeping out in the open forest.The floor plan was quite small, occupied by a rectangular living room, rustic galley kitchen, and a bedroom with an open loft area above it, so it would make cozy sleeping for the eleven of us tonight.
After we decided to set up camp in the cabin, Boden, Edie, and Leandro went out on a hunt.The rest of us stayed back to scare out the field mice, clean out the cobwebs, and put a tarp over the gaping hole in the bedroom wall to keep the bugs out.
Since the space inside the cabin was so tight, Oakley focused on creating a nice firepit in front of it.He used a few logs, rocks, and even a couple of “recovered” half-rotted canvas lawn chairs to create a quaint sitting area around it.
Fortunately, we had finished by the time the intrepid hunters returned.Boden led the way, proudly carrying ten pounds of racoon meat.
“I know it’s not thebestmeat, but it is definitely fresh,” Boden explained, as if I would ever denigrate his gift of food.
Honestly, my mouth started salivating the moment I caught a whiff of the tangy, metallic scent of fresh blood.I didn’t say that, though, because I didn’t want the others to know about the gruesome intensity of my cravings.
Oakley got to work with practiced hands, butchering the animal and preparing it for the roasting spit.The raccoon meat was tough and gamey, but he handled it with a kind of reverent expertise.He even brought out his satchel of what he called his “tactical spices,” and they scented the air with bold garlic, bright ginger, and woodsy juniper berries, orAllium sativum,Zingiber officinale, andJuniperus communis.
“Don’t cook it too long,” I told him as I stood transfixed, watching the flesh sizzle and pop over the flame.
Oakley looked over at me, startled and a little disgusted.“What?It’s raccoon.”
“I know.But…” I had to swallow to keep from drooling, and as emphatically as I could, I tried to explain, “I like my meat on therareside.Even raccoon.”
“You’ve eaten it that way before?”Oakley asked, growing even more dumbfounded.
“Many, many times,” Boden confirmed wearily.
Oakley glanced between the two of us, then shrugged and grabbed his cooking knives.“Normally, I don’t let anyone tell me how to cook, but since it’s your birthday, I will give you a rare cut.”
He sliced off a few tender strips of the backstraps, his blade sliding easily through the crispy mahogany flesh and the juicy pinkish meat underneath.It smelled and looked so delicious, I wanted to grab it from him and eat it with my bare hands, devouring it in rabid bites.
That would likely alarm my travelling companions, so I used all my restraint to wait until after Oakley had nicely plated it with a side of foraged vegetables and biscuits lathered in lard.
But as soon as I took my first bite, I couldn’t help myself.I let out a euphoric groan.“Mmmm.That is so delicious.”
“Oh, is it?”Dougal asked, sounding utterly intrigued.“Can I have a go at it while it’s a bit underdone?”
“I wouldn’t recommend it,” Oakley replied.
“Ah, sure, a little bit won’t do any harm,” Dougal insisted.
Oakley sighed and set to making up a serving for Dougal on a tinware plate.Dougal sat down beside me and excitedly dove in.
“It’s good, yeah.”He equivocated, turning his head this way and that as he chewed.“Not saying a word against you, Oakley, it is a fine thing.But I do believe that Stella may have exaggerated with her deliriousmmmmm.”
“It wasn’t delirious, and I wasn’t exaggerating,” I insisted through a mouthful of food.
“You’d know well enough by now, dear brother, that taste’s a fickle beast,” Fergus said with a smirk.“Mind you, I’ll not be lifting a fork till the chef gives his blessing.”