Thad nodded as he shook some sort of spice onto the patties of meat as they dripped fat into the flames. “Oh yeah. This ain’t nothing.”
“You need anything?”
He shook his head. “No, looks like I got everything I need.”
Miss Kay came over as I was walking away, “You go swim, Morgan. We got this.”
I smiled, “Just let me know if you need anything.”
I waded back out into the water and sat down, resting on my ass with my feet coming up to the surface. Mel swam up to me and took up the same position. “This is really nice.”
I nodded as I worked my arms through the water to hold myself upright. “Yes, it is. I wish we lived here. Could you imagine being able to come here every day?”
“That’d be nice. But I ain’t moving out here.”
As we discussed how nice it would be to have unlimited access to the spring, Miss Kay called out that lunch was ready. An afternoon of swimming had created intense appetites, and everyone was immediately headed for shore. We gathered under the shade of the big trees, sitting on blankets or beach towels.
Enormous burgers were passed out and Kay surprised everyone with a batch of homemade mayo. It was a huge hit, adding a new taste to what would have otherwise been a pretty bland meal. As we ate, the old man kept his radio at hand. I was sure he‘d been keeping in touch with the guys as they lay in whatever hide they’d found or made overlooking the commies. I thought of those guys, what they were doing while we were here carrying on as if we didn’t have a care in the world.
Thad and Mary sat close together, laughing and talking. Aric lay on the ground, his head in Fred’s lap. Mel and I sat with the girls on a blanket she’d brought. The kids ate quickly, wanting to get back into the water. The scene was interrupted by the sound of a machine. A big one.
I and many others rose to our feet as the sound grew louder. We were all looking to the south, over the trees. Something was flying our direction.
“What is that?” Fred asked.
“It ain’t one of ours,” Sarge replied.
In the distance, it came into view. A very large helicopter slowly came over the horizon. Sarge was shielding his eyes with a hand and announced, “Everyone stay still!”
“What is that?” Thad asked.
“It’s a Russian MI-24 attack helicopter, a Hind.”
Aric snatched up his rifle and raised it. Sarge slapped it down. “Don’t even think about shooting at that damn thing! You out of your mind? That thing is heavily armored. Your rifle wouldn’t even crack the glass.”
The big helicopter turned lazily in the sky south of us, headed to the south. Sarge picked the radio and called Sheffield in Eustis. Sheffield said they could see it, that it came from south of them and was heading back towards town. They stayed on the radio as the copter flew directly over Bay Street and out of town. Ted came over the radio and said they didn’t see the bird but would keep their eyes open for it.
“This can’t be good,” Sarge said as he put the radio aside. I’m really glad we hid the MRAP under the trees; if they had seen it, they probably would have attacked.
“Should we leave?” Miss Kay asked.
“I don’t think so,” Sarge said. “They didn’t do anything. I’m surprised they didn’t shoot up Eustis. Kind of worries me, actually.”
Seeing the menacing Russian helicopter put a damper on things for a while. But it didn’t last too long, and soon we were all back in the water. I’d brought a couple of fishing poles and spent some time casting a line. The lack of people in the area for so long had brought the fish back into the spring and the fishing was good.
Thad and I were fishing along the bank, where the spring discharges to form the river that runs through the forest to eventually reach the St Johns. We were catching blue gills and small bass and having a grand time.
Thad was reeling in a large bass and laughing. “This is the best fishing I’ve had in a long time!”
“It’s the only fishing we’ve had in a long time!” I replied as I got a solid strike and set the hook on a blue gill so fat I couldn’t wrap my hand around it.
Tossing the fish into the cooler we’d brought the burgers in, I said, “Looks like we’ve got about all we can carry home.”
Thad lifted his bass out of the water. It was at least three pounds; and as he removed the treble hook on the Rapala plug, he said, “Yeah, this one won’t even fit in. I can’t close the top!”
“Looks like we’ll have a hell of a fish fry.”
“Fresh fish will be nice.”
Thad lifted the cooler with a grunt. “Damn, this is heavy!”
I slapped him on the back, “It’s been a good day, buddy.” I looked up into the sky. The sun was starting to drop, and the heat was finally letting up. Down by the water, it was cool and the scenery pleasant to the eye. “A damn fine day.”
Thad nudged me with an elbow, nearly knocking me over. “It sure was. We need to do this more often.” His mood shifted slightly, and he added, “There’s more to life than just surviving. You got to take time to live too or there’s no sense in surviving.”
“You couldn’t be more right, my friend.” I looked at him and smiled, “We need to remember that. Let’s do this sort of thing more often. Next time, let’s go to the wayside on Juniper Run.”
“Where’s that?”
“Straight up nineteen, north of forty. It’s a nice wide place in the river. Most
