First Bite: Steven Becker Starter Library by Steven Becker

Author:Steven Becker [Becker, Steven]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The White Marlin Press
Published: 2016-12-14T00:00:00+00:00

73

I regained my balance and looked around the dark water, not sure if I had been asleep. There was a small moon hanging in the east, but it provided little light. My first thought had been that we were under attack, but I soon saw that we had just hit a cypress stump. Its gnarly head stuck from the water, and I realized how the features of the river had changed. It was narrow and shallow here, not like the wide and deep river we had entered. Moss hung from the trees just above our heads dropping the occasional insect as we brushed it.

The other long boat in front of us was also having trouble moving through the cluttered river, but the canoe manned by the other men was having no trouble navigating. The pole was able to pick its way around the obstructions, where the oars extending from the long boats were unable to gain purchase on the water.

“Pull to the side,” I called to the boats surprised by how easily my voice carried in the night. It was past time to abandon the worthless oars, and I slid over the side. As we neared the bank, the bottom sucked at my feet, but as I pulled the boat to the beach the footing became more secure. Behind me, Red was also in the water pulling the other longboat ashore. The brush came within a few feet of us, and we had to fight to beach the boats. “We’ll never get through with these. It’s time to abandon them,” I said and looked at the river.

“The boats?” Red asked.

“We’ve got the canoes. That’s what they’re made for.” I peered inland knowing we would have to drag the longboats out of sight to ditch them. Several sets of eyes glowed from the darkness and I wondered what lived in these woods. We had seen deer and gators along the bank and heard larger animals. There were rumors of big cats called panthers, as well as bears. “Pull everything out of the longboats and hide those canoes out of sight,”

The darkness was broken as the sun climbed above the horizon. I grabbed my cutlass from the boat and checked that the dagger was still secure in my belt. As I entered the woods, I extended the blade of the sword in front of me to move the hanging moss aside and to cut away the tangles of berry bushes.

The sun started to light the area in front of me as I moved through the dense brush lining the river. Ten feet in, the bank rose a few feet to its high water mark and the brush thinned as I climbed from the river bed. Cypress trees were scattered about, but the thorny berry bushes were gone, and the palmettos were in clumps making the walking easier. Slashing several tree trunks as I went to mark the path for my return, I searched for any sign that men traveled along these shores. The flora thinned further as I walked making it easier to see the landscape.

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