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Usually getting something to eat wasn't much of a problem. Goniff was extremely adept at pilfering from food stalls if they were in a town and if they were in the country they could generally just 'liberate' what they needed as they moved through an area and they'd use that to supplement anything Chief was able to hunt. This was different. The district they were in had been hit hard by the Allies, 'saturation bombing' they called it. Devastation is what it looked like. The homes were damaged, the fields destroyed, the businesses shut. The little that had survived the bombings had been appropriated by the Germans. No one had enough, and it showed. The few people they'd been unable to avoid were too thin. They were wary of strangers, unwilling to smile or even make eye contact for fear they might be asked to share what little they had.
Chief showed Goniff what to look for and they'd been foraging alongside the path and in the meadows. There were things even the locals didn't realize were edible. And even if it wasn't too appetizing it would fill an empty belly. Some of the stuff could be eaten raw and they'd been nibbling at it but the bulk of the items needed to be boiled or roasted. When they found a clearing near a stream late in the afternoon they stopped and built a small fire and settled in to prepare their meager meal.
They spotted the little girl as they were making the fire. Just a bit of a skirt and a dirty bare foot disappearing around the trunk of a tree. They knew she was still hiding there because there was an open area between her tree and the next bit of cover and she hadn't crossed it. Chief's sharp ears picked out more, four or five he thought, hiding in the brush to the north.
Chief built up the fire and then collected stones which he carefully rested in the flames to heat. He cut and split a green branch from one of the trees growing near the water and fashioned a set of wooden tongs. Cutting another branch, he trimmed it into a 'Y' and then found tough green reeds to weave across the two short forks. Bringing a heavy hooked stick back with him he started to dig out a hole in the firm dirt between the stream and the fire with it.
Chief sent Goniff off to look for the largest greenest leaves he could find while he gathered moss off the trees at the edge of the clearing. After he sorted through Goniff's pile for the leaves he wanted they combined them with the mosses to line the bottom of the hole he'd dug out. He set back on his heels and watched as water seeped in, filtered up through the moss and filled the depression.
When the hole was filled with water they layered in their collection of roots and stems and tender leaves. Chief capped that off with another layer of moss and large leaves before he carefully transferred the first set of heated rocks into the water with the tongs. While they heated the water, he rolled more stones into the fire. He scooped the spent stones out of the 'pot' with the forked stick, settled them in the flames with a steaming hiss, and transferred another set of heating rocks into the water. After he learned the technique Goniff was set the task of bringing the water to the boil and Chief took a decaying branch he'd found to the water's edge a few steps away from their 'kitchen' to see if he could lure some fish in with the grubs eating their way through the wood.
Goniff licked his lips in anticipation and divided his attention between the vegetation stewing in the steaming water and his teammate's attempts at catching fish by hand. With the girl hiding behind the tree and her friends off in the bushes he couldn't risk shouting out encouragement but he could laugh and clap like the fool he was playing when the scout's quick hands dipped in and flipped a fish out onto the bank.
Chief dashed the fish's head against a rock and then gutted it. He chopped the entrails on a flat stone and used them to bait the victim's relatives in close where he could catch them too. Within ten minutes or so he had four fish for their meal. The rustling in the bushes had stopped but he knew he was still being watched.
Returning to the fire he tested the items in the water with the tip of his blade and judged that they were near enough done that he could make better use of the rocks heating in the fire. He moved them to the other side of the coals and dusted them clean with a branch full of green leaves. When he laid the fish out on top of the hot rocks they made a satisfying sizzle. Soon the aroma of seared fish flesh was added to the smell of boiled greens.
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They caught sight of the little girl peeping around the tree at them but when Goniff smiled and waved to her she disappeared again. The two men ate silently and continued to watch the tree. After several minutes they were rewarded by the sight of the small bare foot as the little girl edged around the trunk. She took her time but was soon leaning against the tree staring at them. There were several uncomfortable rustles in the brush behind her. Goniff smiled again and lifting what was left of the fish he'd been eating he beckoned to her to come and join them. She started away from the tree towards them but a hiss from the underbrush caused a quick retreat back into hiding. She might have been out of sight but she wasn't out of 'ear-shot'. They could hear her sniffling … and there was a brief whining complaint from the underbrush before it was soundly 'shushed'.
Goniff sighed and picked at what was left of the fish he'd been eating. Chief finished the one he had in his hand but rather than pick out another he got up and went back over to the stream and retrieved the little grub-filled log. He managed to catch four more fish without too much trouble. Goniff fell in with what the younger man was up to and rolled the rocks back into the coals to heat them up again.
Chief gutted and cooked the fish as he had done with the first four. He and Goniff collected more moss off the nearby trees and made a thick bed of it near the fire. They fished the greens out of their ground pot and laid them out and then piled the six cooked fish up next to the greens before dusting off their hands and walking up into the trees to the south of the little clearing. When they were out of view they turned and waited to see what would happen.
It was the little girl who made the first move. She dashed out from behind her tree and ran to the bed of moss laden with fish. Snatching one up she raced for the brush that was hiding her fellows. After an excited bit of babble six skinny little urchins crept out of cover and cautiously made their way to the fire. At first they caste furtive glances towards the place where they'd seen the two strangers disappear but once they'd sampled the fish and then the offerings of greens they gave themselves over to enjoying their bountiful feast.
When he was finished with his portion of the banquet and his fingers were sucked clean the oldest boy in the group investigated the tools Chief had made. It took him a try or two before he successfully picked up a stone with the tongs and dropped it into the cooling water. After accepting the accolades of his friends, he wandered over to the streamside and picked up the piece of wood Chief had pried the grubs from. Pricking a fat white grub out with a dried twig he let it wriggle on his palm a moment before he tossed it, experimentally, into the water lapping at his toes. The surface of the stream roiled with fish fighting over the prize. Expecting instant success the boy made a lunge for them but ended up face first in the stream with nothing in his hands but water.
For a moment the little fisherman sat scowling down into the water flowing around him as the laughter and chatter of his friends died away. When he got up he marched straight up the bank for the grub filled log. He pricked several of the insects out with his twig and filled his pockets and then walked back into the water. Leaning out over the water he dropped a wriggling grub in and waited. After a moment he lowered in another and kept his hands in the water. After several more anxious seconds there was a flurry of splashing and the youngster was, again, sitting in the stream. But this time he held a thrashing fish tightly to his chest.
Chief tapped Goniff on the arm with the back of his hand. They shared a grin and then turned and quietly went on their way.
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It wasn't quite raining when they finally found shelter in a collection of large rocks at the base of a cliff. They'd left the stream behind and, with it, the meager selection of wild foods Chief had been able to forage earlier in the day. Chief dealt with hunger by not thinking about it, Goniff took the opposite approach. He wistfully discussed what they might find in the cupboards of the mansion if they were back in England and he pondered what Winnie might fix them if they were home. He kept it up until Chief finally reminded him they'd probably be sent straight back to prison if they ever managed to make their way back across the channel to England. Prison might mean regular meals, but they wouldn't be anything to talk about.