Florida Keys’ Watercolor Kapers
No Name Key, (Part 5)
In this part, Joe is putting our two guys, Manuel and Hector, through M-1 rifle training:
“First, make sure it’s on safety. Pop out the clip, like this. Eject the chamber round. Put the round back in the magazine. You can easily field strip this carbine. Like this: the three basic parts are the receiver and trigger group, barrel, and stock. You’ll find the cleaning tools, rags and oil here in the stock. Brush it off, clean the barrel with this tool. A little oil on the rag. Wipe all metal down with the oil rag. Lightly! Put it all back together in this order: Snap! Crack! Click! If you practice this, you should be able to field strip, clean and reassemble in a couple of minutes in the dark.”
“Now, I’m not going to put the clip in. But here’s how to load and fire.”
“Wow! You really know your stuff. You military?” Hector questioned.
“Drafted in ‘46. Korean War. Civilian now,” Joe stated. “We’ll let you shoot a couple tomorrow. For now each of you break it down, and go through the motions of cleaning.”
He left the M-1 on the table, took the clip and went into the next room…
Roy and Joe came back into the rear room.
“How you guys coming?” Roy asked.
“We have each been through it a couple of times. It will take more practice to go through it in the dark in a couple of minutes.”
“You’re right there! Joe is going to need his carbine.”
Joe picked it up, checked it, snapped in the magazine, and checked the safety.
“I’ll check with Slim and get ready sir.”
“OK Joe,” Roy said,
Then Joe went out.
“Guys, we’re going to shove off. You each get a rucksack. I hope you don’t mind, but you two need the practice. We’ll leave the sleeping bags here. We’ve got plastic tarps and three lightweight mosquito nets in the packs. You’ll have to share one of the nets. Each net is big enough to get two people under. Let’s go!”
It was 2:30 exactly when Joe met them at the house and they headed back towards the trail which was Highway 4-A. Joe was out front with Roy following, and Manuel and Hector behind him lugging the rucksacks. Just back of them a short distance, Slim brought up the rear.
When they got to the 4-A they headed back the way Hector and Manuel had come in. After about a quarter of a mile Joe up ahead was pointing to the south. As they came up to him he went into the brush on what appeared to be a faint animal trail. Most likely Key deer, Manuel thought. Roy held them for a few minutes, and then they went in the same way as Joe. Manuel noticed that Slim waited until they were all started before he then took up the rear.
Thirty minutes later they broke out into an open area of brush with an occasional small pine. They could see Joe up ahead, crouched down rifle at the ready. That’s when they realized they were training for war!
Roy held up his hand and dropped down. They both followed his example. Looking over his shoulder Manuel could see Slim stopped in the rear. He, too, had his rifle at the ready.
Roy scanned the area, waved his hand forward and then moved forward with a stooped profile. They were soon back in a thicket following another faint trail. The thicket gave way to a small clearing. They stopped at the edge.
Roy said very softly, “This is the old Matcovich homestead area. He settled here in the late 1800’s. Occasionally you will find an old gnarled fruit tree. The cabin was in this clearing. Nothing is left now. But the depression left from the old well has fresh water.”
They moved over to the center of the clearing to a small limestone depression in the ground with water in it. Manuel noticed again that neither Joe nor Slim had moved into the center with them. He figured they were at the edges of the clearing, both front and rear.
“We’ll fill those four canteens in the packs with water. Now if this is too dark or looks bad, you put a couple of these chlorine tablets in each canteen and shake. In thirty minutes you can drink. Here, you guys can have this bottle of tablets. It’s almost full. We’ve got more in the rucksacks and in the car.”
Manuel and Hector did as they were told. The water was crystal clear.
“We’ll set up camp in the trees over there.”
Roy went about showing them how to select high and dry areas to sleep on. They would be using small plastic tarps to sleep on and cover with. The mosquito nets had one quarter inch diameter cord sewed to them so they could be tied to the nearby trees or bushes.
“Slim, will take you two and check the traps for rabbits. When you get back, Joe will walk you over to the beach area to look for edible marine life.”
They found the traps, but they were empty. One had been sprung and they reset it. The marine life search was a little more fruitful, with a couple of land crabs, a few sea crabs, and a few small fish.
When they got back, Roy said, “Slim will do a fast boil of all this stuff.”
As Manuel and Hector worked on the fire, Slim cautioned, “Use only dry wood, small stuff. We don’t want any tell-tale smoke to give away our position.”
After all the marine life was boiled, Slim took what appeared to be a bayonet and cut everything up. Scales, shells, bones and all! Whack! Whack! Then he divided it into five parts..
Roy said, “Eat what you can. If you were in a real life or death situation, this would be a feast to you! Now you can get a taste of the real thing.”
Roy then commanded, “We’ll each do watch on two-hour shifts: Slim, Hector, Joe, Manuel and myself, in that order. We’ll sleep starting right now. Up at 4 AM, move out at 5 after a U. S. Army cold K-ration* breakfast. You guys ever have K-rations?”
“No,” the guys answered in unison.
“You’ve got something to experience.”
Manuel felt someone nudge him. “Your turn,” Joe said.
He rubbed his eyes, and Joe pointed to the place at the edge of the camp he was to sit and look out for two hours.
As he sat there he thought it was sure strange being out in the middle of nowhere. Then as the night sounds enveloped him he heard crickets, the slight breeze stirring leaves, and the rhythmic beating of the waves on the distance beach.
From the Author:
My second full-length book , Florida Keys’ Watercolor Kapers is composed of 336 pages. There are 12 stories running from 6 pages to as many as 72 pages. It is fully illustrated with 88 watercolors and sketches. The watercolors I made roaming around Key West after I finished my 750 mile hike from Georgia to Key West. (See book or Don Browne’s SouthWest Florida News records, A Walk Across Florida.) As you read these stories you will experience Key West, the Keys, and the Caribbean. These stories span the time of the early 1800’s to 1969. bkranich.wixsite.com/bobkranich
