Chapter eleven : Library trip

While Daniel was busy digging his holes Steve had made his way to the city library taking a short twenty minute bus ride down town where the library was situated between two aging brick buildings. Fortunatly for Steve there was a large selection of books to read about Canteoupe county and its history.

Steve read up on the subject most of the day and not just because Daniel had asked him to but because he got wrapped up in the material. It was intriguing and after a little while Steve longed for the chance to go with Daniel but he already had goals for himself and would rather read about it than go gallivanting across the state.

Steve arrived back at the orphanage right when the sun was setting. He walked up to across the field to where Daniel was finishing the second hole.

The sun shone at their back and cast long shadows on the ground as Daniel shoveled out the last bit of dirt.

"So did you find anything?" asked Daniel."I found a lot," said Steve. "I’ve got it all written down in my note book. This Mr. Davidson was an interesting character. He…"

"You can tell me about it after I get a shower and change into some clean clothes," Daniel interrupted. "Why don’t you do to your room. I’ll meet you there after I tell Mr. Hedges that I’m done."

Steve went up to his room and Daniel checked in with Mr. Hedges. He didn’t have to check the holes because Daniel always finished his punishment. It was about the only think he could trust him to do.

With the little energy Daniel had left he ran to the showers, hosed off and then changed into some fresh clothes in his room. The shower made him feel better almost like a normal person.

"So what do you have for me?" Daniel asked as he walked into Steve’s room.

"Well I got a lot," said Steve. "I photo copied maps for you, wrote down some simple directions for you."

"Well what is the land like?" asked Daniel excitedly.

"Well it’s pretty heavily wooded," said Steve. "The property itself is 500 acres like you had said but the area around it is empty and heavily wooded as well. All you have to do is follow route 20 out of town going east for about forever and then go north on interstate 19 for 30 miles before you hit the property. From the maps I saw there is a little dirt road that runs somewhere. It’s pretty hilly but there is a pretty big stream that runs through it so you can probably find some fish."

"Well that’s good. I guess I’ll need to eat won’t I," said Daniel.

"I also found out a lot about this Mr. Davidson guy," said Steve.

"Like what? He’s just an old guy that died. What could be so special about him?" Daniel said.

"Well the thing is that no one in the town there knew how he got his money," said Steve. "People think he made moonshine or that he was a gangster but it seems that most believed that he had a gold mine. Apparently he would come into town once a month or so and get a whole bunch of food, tools and supplies of different kinds but he didn’t have any kind of job that anyone could see."

"If he had money and no one knew where he got it wouldn’t the government come snooping around wondering what he was doing?" asked Daniel.

"That is true but if he paid his taxes they wouldn’t really care as long as he wasn’t doing anything illegal. The thing is people did go snooping around his property looking for how he made his money but nobody ever found anything, or if they did they never told anybody how he did it."

"That’s really cool but I don’t really care," said Daniel. "I just want to get out of here."

"I just thought you would like to know," said Steve. "So what is the next step? There is only a few more days until you said you were going to leave."

"I know but I want to get that paperwork from Mr. Hedges," said Daniel. "If I hide out long enough when I’m eighteen I’m going to want to be able to prove that it’s mine."

"Good point," Steve said.

"Well what else do you think I should do?" asked Daniel.

"Well first of all you should probably do some reading on surviving in the wild. I don’t know I guess that might be a good," said Steve sarcastically.

"Well how am I supposed to do that smart ass?" asked Daniel.

"Well lucky for you there library actually has a pretty good selection it thanks to Mr. Roberts," answered Steve.

"Is the library still open?" asked Daniel.

"Nope it closed about I don’t know yesterday," said Steve.

"Why are you being such a dick?" asked Daniel.

"Because you made me miss my movie," Steve shot back.

"I said I’d make sure you see it didn’t I?" Daniel said.

"How are you going to do that?" Steve asked.

"Mr. Hedges said I could leave the orphanage for the day tomorrow," said Steve. "We’ll go to the movies together. I’ll even pay for it."

"How are you going to do that?" asked Steve.

"I’ve got a job you know. I can pay for it," said Daniel.

"Digging holes is not a job Daniel," said Steve.

"Shut up," Daniel said.

"So you’re going to pay for it?" Steve asked.

"Yeah I’m going to pay for it," said Daniel. "Now tell me about some of this camping stuff. You’re a boy scout so you should know some stuff."

For the rest of the night until it was late, Steve taught Daniel all about making a survival shelter, starting fires without matches, what plants are edible and how to make a more permanent dwelling if the situation requires it. Daniel listened carefully as Steve broke down the basics and shared with him what he knew.