——F IEW ORL “Tie book was written forall those readers of Hiaschet and ‘Tee River who wrote (I received as many as two hundred letters a day) to tell me they fle Brian Robeson’s story was Jefe unfinished by his early cescue before, they ssid, “it ‘became really hard going.” They asked: “What would hap- pen if Bran hada’t been rescued, if he had had to survive fn the wintes” Since my life has been one of survival in ‘winter-—running two Tditarods, hunting and trapping 2s ¢ boy and young man—the challenge became interesting, and so I researched and wrote Brian's Winter, showing. ‘what could and perhaps would have happened bad Brian aot been rescued. For the purpose ofthis story tt is necessary to shift the fdea left by Hacer and suppose that although Brian did retseve the survival pack ftom che plane, he did no: tigger a radio signal and did not get rescued. Oxher chan that I hhope Ihave remained true tothe story in Hoteher and that eesthis book will answer the question of Brisn's winter sure vival 1 is important to note, however, that his previous knowledge was vital—he had to know summer survival to attempt living i winter. Had he been dropped in the win, ter with no previous knowledge of hunting, surviving, ao «ducation gtined in the school of hard knocks duting che ‘summer, Brian probably would have died no matter what his luck or abilities,Chapter (it all came on with a sofiness, so that Brian didn’t realize ‘what was in store—a hatd-spined north woods winter— ‘until it was nearly 100 late "Hic had never thought he would be here ths long. After ‘the plane crash that marooned him in dhe wildemess he hha lived day by day fr ity four days, until he had found the survival pack in the plane. Then another thirty-five days through the northern summer, somehow living the same day-to-day pattern he had started just after the crash. "To be sure he was very busy. The emergency pack on the plane ad given him a gun with fity shells—a survival 22 | Tifte—a hurting knife wit s compass in the handle, cook: ing pots and pans, a fork, spoon and Knife, matches, Wo ‘butane lighters, a sleeping bag and foam pad, a first-aid kit swith scissors, a cap that said CESSNA, fishing line, lures, Fhooks and sinkers, and several packets of freeze-dried food. He wried to tation the food out but found it impossible, and within two weeks he had eaten itall, even the package of dried pranes—something he'd ated in his oldie, They tase like candy and were so good he ate the whole pack- age in one sitting, The results were nearly as bad a8 when he'd glued on the gut cherries when he first landed. His 5stomach tied in 2 knot and he spent more than an hour his ltrine hole, ruth he fel relieved when the food was gone. Te had softened him, made him want more and more, and hhe could tll that he was moving mentally away from the ‘woods, his situation. He started to eink in terms ofthe city again, of hamburgers and malts, and his dreams changed. Jn the days, weeks and months since the plane had crashed he had dreamed many times, At fist all the deeams had been of food—Food he had eaten, food he wished he had eaten and food he wanted 0 eat, But as time pro gressed the food dreams seemed to. phase oat and he reamed of other things—of fends, of his parents (always of their worry, how they wanted to sce him; sometimes ‘thae chey were back together) and more and more of gids As with food he dreamed of girls he knew, gis he wished hhe had known and gils he wanted to know. ‘But withthe supplies from the plane his dreams changed back to food and when it was gone—in what seemed a very, shore rime—a lind of wanting hunger returned that he had not felt since the frst week. For a week or two he was in Torment, never satisfied; even when he had plenty of fish and rabbit or folbird to est he thought ofthe things he stidn’s have. Tt somehow was never enough and he seemed to be angry all the time, so angry that he wasted a/whole ay juse slamming things around and swearing at his luck. ‘When it finaly ended—wore away, was more like ithe felta great sense of relief. It was as if somebody he didn’t 6 a eon iting Rd Sal gone ee Pete ely noted te cl * ret something hecoul sl He sha aa atc when he send the change He had “heey ou ee i a all 9 a ce ny mang and pt may to oF ree roid, He lew on the cols foun the fre the right ee ny wed eae sone 89 E> br ie cnc eae rm ote ra " et, Not that he’ he,” be i pings hor ate ‘ See te ohetng tearing =o a eae anny made te doy ease fo saree hin ee ein pan a mong. A sped be ee Gh netic andthe eth ee oe Seika eae mae tng, the ews sn Be elt ‘ take he fe exe wth iro kcp the cos weet ‘ound ny movement extn ed WS ey cona touch ao kis on is eck, Teas picked up the rifle and moved into the woos. iewas the same morning, but it the same ar, clferent, so changed that he stopped and raised bis hand tw his cheek and touched where the coolness had brushed him,“Why ist differens?” he whispered. “What smell . But it wasn'ta smell so much asa feeling, a newness in ‘he air chill ‘There and gone, a brush of new-cool air on hs cheek, and he should have known what it meant but jst then be saw a rabbit and raised the litle rife, pulled the tigger and heard only a click. He recocked the bolt, ‘mace certain there was a cartsidge in the chamber and simed again—the rabbit’ had remained sitting all this time—and pulled the trigger once more. Click He cleared the barrel and tamed the rifle up ta the dawn light. Ar fist he couldn'e see anything different. He hed ‘ome to know the rifle well. Akkough he sill didn’ like i ‘musch—the noise of the small gu seemed tertibly out of place and scared game away—he had to admit it made the shooting of game easier, quicker. He had a limited number of shells and realized they would not lst forever, but he still ad come to depend on the rife, Finally, ashe pulled the bolt back to get che light down inthe acian, ke saw i ‘The fing pin—a raised pare of the bolt—was broken cleanly away. Worse, it could not be sepaired without spe- ial tools, which he did not have. That made the site ‘worthless, atleast as far as being a gun was concerned, end he swore and started back to the camp to get his bow and ‘rows and in the movement of things compleely ignored ‘the warning nature had put on his cheek just before he tied to shoot the rabbit In camp he set the tifle asde—it might have some ase later as a tool—and picked up the how, He had come to depend too mich on the rifle and for a mo: od fro ei 0 vce ws vey orn he ap He Meher ine mo act hammock The fie abe Sone by wo fan eso hi Bead Toca eth bing nck Oe te snd fe Toke athe target to he are der an el coral scone the seco dt bumpand nen eee he hein sm he ds a se machine thecene of np. He fnew whee sow el ovine bf ee i oc sat re eee Tank From ay bin he hough, om my tin gh my acm te ow nd ough log eso fst al be one, td ital ov hee mow tins hesot an the srs doen he ctf anmecnte Te ete comp aps, prt eo ter mae ore ti fd wince on ght le a wad fouls, yung hing id he he ceo he buck fab acral chp lh Tran o0 os sht an guy ved Hy snd fore bes nomen tere moving cor HE ferned mich om the woot, om mies, sod te thing he'd cone to know av at ane gonked “tat Gorin now, evs ans be lk aay move soya of Sec ova yan ewok tonto he eng the bah cavers movement os nes no mow than cn et fem eb °Ht drew the bow aimed ithe center ofthe rabbit and released when he fee che arrow would fy right Tet00h the rabbit almost exactly inthe cer ofits chest and drove though clean, kilingi most insanely sai WE otal ei len, the land he ws gre fal. He had not grown accustomed to kill rite of ‘how much of it he had done. * He had leaned this Nothing that lived, nothing that val 7 ‘or crawled or flew or swam of slithered or oazed-— ‘nothing, not one thing on God’s earth wanted to die. No ‘matter what people thought of std about chickens os fsh or catle—they all wanted to live But Brian had become ps of nature, had become a predator, to-egged wo, And there was a physi to i a basic fact, almost a law: Fe , had to die. And for Brian to ws a machine ‘wolfto lve, something else lve twas he same, His body t needed food, needed calories, and for that to happen something ha to de. Bat sometines td not go well Sometimes the atrow did not hit vied Place—did not hit the heart of langs—and the rabbi ot ‘rouse ded! more sow, The fist ime this had happens 8 kind of panic had taken him, He had shot 2 rabbit through the middle, the stomach and it had aad tied to run ad lopped around and he hal shot the rabbit again and again, pounding arrows into the poor 1 ‘had at last died and when he'd cooked it and eaten it~ as hunger forced him to do—the rabbit had tasted i and made him so sick he neatly dew up It was the only thing he had liked about th thing ke wood It 10 tulled quickly, cused a kind of wound shock thar suunned as it killed ‘Bur he was once more with the bow now and the silence of broght him back to being more a part ofthe woods and he moved easily as he carried the dead rabbit back to camp. Tr was affernoon by and had set to cleani since he had retrieved the survival pack f had a bunting knife now, and that made cleaning game mock easier and faster. He still wasted nothing. He used the knife t0 split the rabbit down the middle of the belly an skinned it earefilly be time he had the fire rekindled the rabbit. Much had changed wn the plane. He o clean out and then gutted it, using the curve of the kit the cavity. The head and lungs and intestines and stomach and liver he set aside for fish bait and food, as well as the heart, Thea he ext the body up into pieces, carving iat the joints, and put them in a pot with fresh lake wat which he set on the fire to boil, He bad found it best to boil everything, Intally he had cooked meat over the fre ‘on asticksomething he had seen in movies and on televi- sion_—but it was the wrong way t0 cook. The flame heated the meat and all the juices—all the vitamins and nuts cents dripped into the fie, Everything was wasted. But by boiling the meat he made a stew and when he drank the juice-broth he not only had a rich soup but something to sip 35 wel He leaned back against the rock wall next to his sbelter ‘opening. and took 2 minute to think while the meat uuthrough the opening it did not feel uncomfortable. He snuggled down into the bag and felt glad for its warmth, and the thought that this was the ist time he'd felt glad for heat this season—ehat it was growing. hhow eluded him \der—x Hie closed his eyes and went to sleep like a baby.