Gabriel's Tale - Chapter 7: Into the Woods

Chapter 7 – Into the Woods

The next morning Gabriel awoke to sounds of chirping birds and running water.  He slipped out of the log, stretched, then looked around for where the sound of the water was coming from.

I’m thirsty.  He was hungry, too, so on his way to the stream he looked for a berry bush and anything else that might be edible.

That’s when he saw, poking out from the dead leaves, something bushy and red.  It was a squirrel’s tail--and it wasn’t moving.  Suddenly, the squirrel lifted its head out of the pile of leaves.  Gabriel jumped back two feet!  “Golly, gee!” Gabriel exclaimed.  “You shouldn’t scare the living daylights out of a poor fellow like that!”

The squirrel looked dazed.  Gabriel then noticed the gash along his neck and approached slowly.  “Are you all right little guy?  You don’t look so good.”

The squirrel struggled to say he’d been caught by an owl and dropped into the pile of leaves when a branch, blowing wildly in the wind, hit the owl, causing him to let go of him.  Gabriel asked, “Is there anything I can do?”

“Can you help me down to the stream so I can get a drink of water?”

So this is what Gabriel did. He also packed some mud on the wound to help stop the bleeding.  After the squirrel rested for a while Gabriel took him back to the hollow log.  “You better stay here until your wound heals,” Gabriel told him as he gathered acorns and laid them in the log.  Then he dug a hole and lined it with leaves, filling it with water he’d carried over from the stream in an old tin can he’d found.  The squirrel thanked him several times before falling asleep.  Gabriel quietly slipped away to look for the road that would take him north.

It was still early in the day.  Gabriel followed the stream northward until he found a fallen tree that lay in the water and used it to cross to the other side of the stream.  Off in the distance he could see patches of sunlight and he wondered if there might be a road in the clearing.  Carefully placing one paw in front of the other, he crossed.  He dared not look down because he was afraid he’d get scared and lose his balance!

The road was more of a path than a road and was paved with gravel.  Gabriel kept to the side where it was grassy and softer on his paws.  He did not expect to be so lucky as to hitch another ride like he had been doing.  He knew he had to conserve his energy and rest his legs often (they were quite short).  His stomach was also telling him how hungry he was.  The sun’s warm rays felt good on his back.  He was finally drying out from the day-before’s rain and the night in the hollow log.  I wonder how far I have to go before I get to Scotland?

By now he’d been walking for hours so he felt a surge of excitement when he came upon a signpost where the path split, but then realized he didn’t know how to read the words.  Which way should I go?  Gabriel thought as he looked up to the sky and saw the sun dipping below the hills in front of him.  He’d learned something about directions when he was on the ship with Harry.  He’d heard him talking about the sun and the stars that sailors used to navigate the seas.  Gabriel knew he needed to turn starboard, or right, if he wanted to head north toward Scotland, so that’s what he did.

It was growing darker so Gabriel thought he should look for a good place to spend the night.  Off in the distance he heard barking and wondered if there might be a farmhouse nearby and headed through the trees in that direction.

Sure enough he saw a barn.  He hoped the dog would be friendly and allow him to bed down there for the night.

“Sal…ly,” the woman called.  “Come and get your dinner!”  Sally, a small, mixed-breed terrier, came running to the back door as the woman went back into the house.  Gabriel stood near the entrance of the barn longing for a scrap of food, but thought he’d better take this chance, instead, to find a place to hide in the barn for the night.

©CathyGilleylenSchultz

Chapter 8:  A New Day