THE SMALL RANGERS

Episode 12 — The Season Log

The last patrol of the season began at the east dock.

Walt was already there, WATCHFUL’S winter cover folded back, the stern locker open. Ellis checked the morning thermometer. Thirty-one degrees. He wrote the number in the field notebook, then set it aside and lifted the season log. It was the same book he had carried every Tuesday since the first week of April.

Forty-one entries. The cover had warped slightly from moisture. The first pages were written in a lighter pencil than the last. They had finished one pencil in June and opened another without remark.

Ellis turned the pages slowly. Fishing line. Marker Four. Reed Crossing. Carolina wrens. Seven ducklings. First ice. Forty-one entries. He closed the book.

Walt had finished fastening the repaired canvas seam along WATCHFUL’S cover. Ellis noticed the neat strip of tape. He opened the equipment log. The repair wasn’t there. The push-pole bracket had been tightened sometime after the seat board replacement. That wasn’t there either.

Ellis rested one hand on the closed cover of the log for a moment. Then he slid it into the tin beneath the forward seat.

Walt pulled the starter cord. The motor started on the second pull. They made one last circuit of Pine Lake.

The reeds along the east channel had straightened. They brushed softly against WATCHFUL as the boat drifted past. At Reed Crossing, the cedar planks held firm beneath their feet. Nothing shifted.

At the north trailhead, Ellis opened the map box. Fresh trail maps. Two sharpened pencils. He closed the little wooden door. It rested squarely against the frame.

They returned to the east dock before noon. Walt worked quietly through the winter routine. Fuel. Locker. Cover. Bow line. Ellis watched only long enough to know nothing had changed.

At the main dock he wrote one last notice.

Notice

Pine Lake Ranger District remains open through the winter.

Trails are marked and passable.

The ranger patrol season resumes in April.

— The Small Rangers

Pine Lake Ranger District

Ellis opened the season log one last time. Forty-two entries. Season complete. He closed the cover.

Walt settled WATCHFUL’S cover into place and fastened the last strap. Neither of them hurried.

At the north trailhead, the map box door closed easily. The reeds along the east channel moved with the morning breeze. Water passed beneath Reed Crossing as it always had.