We took turns pushing and pulling the deer cart. Some times it took two of us.
My sweet Becky lay on it, half sitting up on the V-shaped device. Her breath came in rasping gasps. Her injuries had left her with possible fractured ribs, and the wounds in her arms and on her head seeped blood through the strips of white shirt that served as bandages.
As we climbed higher up the weed-grown path through the mountains, we had to stop and rest more frequently. My hunting buddy, Bob, and his family had piled their emergency rations and other gear on a deer cart, also. The older kids carried back packs.
We used to argue the relative merits of his brand over mine, but right now we were glad to have them both. The cart was balanced and so was the load; there was little or no weight on the handle. It was still hard to haul so I was grateful that my boys were old enough and strong enough to take turns pulling the cart along the narrow path. Our two-wheeled cart would not go easily through some of the narrow places and it sometimes took two or three of us.
My oldest boy, Jacob, was pulling the cart and I asked him to stop. I walked forward to check on my wife. "Rebecca, how are you doing? Can I get you some water?" She nodded weakly and gave me a wan smile. I looked at her as I lifted the Boy Scout canteen to her lips.
She was so pale. Oh, God she was so pale. I kissed her blood-stained face gently and whispered, "I love you." I turned away quickly with tears in my eyes. She mustn't see me all worried. Gotta try to cheer her up.
-*-*-*-
We buried her under a gnarled old pine tree overlooking the mountain valley of our destination.
So near, it broke my heart. Almost to safety, maybe even to medical help.
We sang "Abide With Me," her favorite hymn. We lowered her blanket -wrapped body into the grave we had dug. I could hardly talk, so my friend Bob said a prayer over her. I regained my composure enough to dedicate the grave.
After filling it in, we marked her grave with the biggest boulders we could roll to the site and Jacob chipped her name into the biggest one with a chisel we had planned to use for very different jobs. We would return later to place a better marker.
