Running the River: Secrets of the Sabine

Part III

Part฀III ฀Ferguson_Book฀1.indb฀฀฀83 11/1/13฀฀฀10:21฀AM ฀Ferguson_Book฀1.indb฀฀฀84 11/1/13฀฀฀10:21฀AM ฀ 85 r The฀Final฀Journey When฀jacob฀and฀i฀finally arrived฀at฀the฀boat฀ramp฀for฀our฀grand฀river฀ adventure,฀the฀old฀river฀rat฀nearly฀talked฀us฀out฀of฀our฀trip.฀Then฀the฀ turtle฀shooter฀nearly฀hit฀us฀with฀a฀shot฀from฀his฀.22฀rifle. After฀Jacob’s฀father,฀ Henry,฀collected฀his฀piece฀of฀concrete,฀we฀set฀off฀from฀the฀highway฀bridge฀in฀ the฀community฀of฀Bon฀Wier,฀crossed฀below฀a฀creaky฀wooden฀railroad฀trestle,฀ and฀settled฀on฀a฀camping฀spot฀a฀little฀farther฀down฀the฀river. ฀ Our฀home฀for฀the฀night฀was฀a฀white฀sandbar฀crisscrossed฀by฀raccoon฀and฀ armadillo฀tracks.฀As฀soon฀as฀we฀unloaded฀our฀tent,฀sleeping฀bag,฀and฀cooking ฀supplies,฀I฀peeled฀off฀my฀soggy฀boots฀and฀socks฀and฀lay฀them฀out฀to฀dry.฀ Much฀of฀my฀afternoon฀had฀been฀spent฀slogging฀through฀the฀water,฀dragging฀ our฀boat฀through฀the฀shallow฀places.฀Now฀I฀dug฀my฀wrinkled฀toes฀into฀the฀ sand,฀and฀it฀felt฀good฀to฀be฀on฀dry฀ground฀again. ฀ Jacob฀tended฀the฀camp฀and฀heated฀a฀can฀of฀beef฀stew฀for฀our฀dinner.฀While฀ Tracks ฀Ferguson_Book฀1.indb฀฀฀85 11/1/13฀฀฀10:21฀AM 86฀ part฀11i he฀was฀working,฀I฀consulted฀a฀stack฀of฀maps฀given฀to฀us฀by฀the฀Sabine฀River฀ Authority฀of฀Texas,฀the฀state฀agency฀that฀manages฀the฀river.฀The฀best฀I฀could฀ figure, we฀had฀traveled฀around฀twelve฀or฀fourteen฀miles,฀and฀we฀had฀passed฀ several฀oxbow฀lakes฀as฀well฀as฀a฀handful฀of฀tributaries฀with฀inhospitable฀ names฀like฀Lost฀Creek฀and฀Quicksand฀Creek.฀The฀river฀would฀be฀leading฀ into฀even฀more฀remote฀territory฀over฀the฀next฀couple฀of฀days.฀The฀satellite฀ images฀on฀the฀maps฀showed฀a฀winding฀river฀studded฀by฀sandbars฀and฀surrounded ฀by฀forests฀and฀swamps—and฀almost฀no฀signs฀of฀human฀life. ฀ “We’re฀in฀the฀middle฀of฀nowhere,”฀I฀said.฀“It’ll฀be฀fifty miles฀before฀we฀see฀ another฀town.” ฀ Jacob฀and฀I฀ate฀our฀beef฀stew฀in฀the฀dark.฀Armadillos฀crashed฀through฀ the฀ underbrush฀ behind฀ us,฀ and฀ we฀ discussed฀ age-appropriate฀ things฀ like฀ job฀prospects,฀cholesterol฀levels,฀and฀marriage—an฀exchange฀that฀must฀have฀ bored฀the฀armadillos฀to฀tears.฀We฀also฀reminisced฀about฀our฀first journey฀ on฀the฀Sabine,฀along฀the฀upper฀river.฀It฀was฀a฀conversation฀that฀Jacob฀and฀I฀ liked฀having฀nearly฀every฀time฀we฀saw฀each฀other.฀We฀talked฀about฀the฀river฀ rats฀we฀met฀along฀the฀way,฀people฀like฀an฀old฀trapper฀named฀Elton฀Woodall,฀ and฀the฀muddy฀seductress฀who฀took฀a฀fancy฀to฀Jacob’s฀green฀eyes฀and฀dark฀ beard฀that฀evening฀at฀Yellow฀Dog.฀As฀we฀settled฀in฀for฀the฀night฀on฀our฀sandbar ,฀we฀watched฀the฀stars฀glistening฀through฀the฀narrow฀sky฀above฀our฀heads.฀ We฀listened฀to฀the฀long,฀unbounded฀silence฀of฀the฀river,฀and฀we฀wondered฀ about฀the฀surprises฀that฀awaited฀downstream. ฀ I฀woke฀up฀first and฀stumbled฀out฀of฀the฀tent.฀Fog฀drifted฀across฀the฀river:฀a฀ ghostly฀dance฀of฀cool฀night฀air฀on฀the฀warmer฀water.฀The฀Sabine฀had฀fallen฀at฀ least฀a฀foot฀and฀a฀half฀in฀the฀night,฀marooning฀our฀boat฀on฀the฀sandbar฀south฀ of฀Bon฀Wier.฀After฀a฀breakfast฀of฀coffee฀and฀grits,฀we฀coaxed฀the฀boat฀into฀ the฀water,฀and฀we฀set฀off฀through฀the฀fog.฀Soon฀we฀were฀drifting฀through฀a฀ graveyard฀of฀fallen฀trees.฀Logs฀jutted฀from฀the฀water฀and฀would฀have฀blocked฀ our฀course฀if฀earlier฀boatsmen฀hadn’t฀blazed฀the฀path฀with฀chainsaws. ฀ Soon฀we฀came฀to฀a฀wooden฀cabin฀on฀the฀Louisiana฀bank,฀partially฀hidden฀ by฀a฀stand฀of฀young฀hardwoods.฀A฀man฀on฀the฀porch฀returned฀our฀greeting.฀ Captive฀to฀the฀unbroken฀solitude,฀I฀wanted฀nothing฀more฀than฀to฀keep฀moving ,฀but฀Jacob฀knew฀we฀should฀stop฀and฀talk฀to฀him.฀A฀steep,฀weedy฀gully฀ led฀up฀to฀the฀cabin.฀There,฀Larry฀Karr,฀a฀retired฀pharmacist฀from฀Merryville,฀ Louisiana,฀was฀watching฀the฀river฀while฀his฀brother฀hunted฀deer฀on฀their฀ lease฀farther฀downstream.฀Karr฀wore฀a฀camo฀hat,฀camo฀shirt,฀and฀camo฀sus- ฀Ferguson_Book฀1.indb฀฀฀86 11/1/13฀฀฀10:21฀AM penders,฀but฀he฀was฀not฀planning฀to฀do฀any฀hunting.฀He฀intended฀to฀sit฀on฀his฀ porch฀and฀watch฀the฀river฀fl w฀past฀until฀it฀was฀time฀to฀put฀lunch฀on฀the฀grill. ฀ Mounted฀on฀the฀wall฀behind฀him฀were฀more฀pairs...