Kiamichi Refuge Read Free Page B

almost looks like they started it in the wrong spot and ran out of room in the back.”
    “I wondered about that myself, but who knows? The back of the lodge actually touches the rocks. It isn’t like that on the other side, where the mountain curves away from the lodge. There’s a patio on that end, with a deck above it, off the second floor. The part that touches the mountain is the pantry. My guess is that whoever build it didn’t measure it correctly.” Erin scratched her jaw, then led them all around to the patio. “I want to get a new table and some chairs out here so I can sit outside to work when the weather is pretty. That old table might last a little longer, but the chairs need to be replaced. The cushions are torn and moldy.”
    Entering through the mudroom, they hung their jackets on the hall tree, then went through to the living room and practically collapsed on the sofa and chairs.
    “I wonder how far we walked today. My leg muscles hurt,” Valerie moaned.
    Sarah laughed. “If you didn’t sit at a desk all day, crunching numbers, you wouldn’t be so sore now.”
    “What’s for dinner?” Jen’s tummy growled as if on cue. “I’m getting hungry.”
    Erin snorted. “You’re always hungry. I planned to make my world-famous rigatoni tonight, but I’m beat. The little deli in the grocery store has great pizza. How’s that sound?”
    Sarah raised her hand. “I volunteer to go get it, if someone will go with me. Pizza sounds great.”
    “I’ll go with you.” Valerie stood up and poked Sarah playfully. “You might get lost without my unerring sense of direction.”
    “While you’re gone, we’ll throw a salad together. Come on, Jen. You can cut up the tomatoes and mushrooms.”
    While the others were gone, Erin and Jen chatted about mutual acquaintances and made a big bowl of greens, tomatoes, mushrooms, radishes, carrot slices, red cabbage, boiled eggs, and croutons. Jen caught Erin up on the latest antics of the “Martin Menaces,” Jen’s younger brothers David and Price. They were only a year apart in age, and were infamous for their pranks. They were students at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, and would be returning home for the summer in a few weeks.
    Valerie and Sarah made it back with the pizzas, and the aroma made them all eager to dig in. They laughed and talked until after midnight, then went to bed exhausted, but happy.
     
     
    The next two days flew by. Erin and her friends visited a few of the antique shops in the tiny town, drove around the area a bit to admire the scenery, and talked almost non-stop. Then on Sunday afternoon, Erin stood on the front porch, waving goodbye as her guests drove away, headed back to Tulsa.
    So what do I do now? Erin wondered. I’m almost finished with Uncle Ernie’s book and the lodge is clean. Wandering around in the forest alone might not be a good idea, with spring starting. I don’t want to become dinner for a bear or a big cat. I know something I can do. I’ll find out more about the local fauna and their habits. Not knowing could be dangerous.
    Erin filled her days with research about the area. Everything she found led her to something else, so she wound up learning about how black bears were migrating into Oklahoma from the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas, increasing the bear population in the Kiamichis.  She discovered that the Kiamichis were part of the Ouachita Range and were believed to be older than the Rockies. She read about the settlement of the Kiamichis by the Choctaw people, and also found out that the Choctaw nation had been the first of the Five Civilized Tribes to be forced onto a Trail of Tears, and that the tribe had provided code-talkers for the European Theater in World War II.
    She measured the windows and ordered some colorful curtains for the lodge, then rearranged the furniture downstairs. She cleaned out a small flowerbed in front of the house. She also spent some time in town, getting to know a few of