A/N:

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Chapter 20

Its just a puddle

Piper helped as much as she could considering her missing finger and Phoebe did what she could. Paige and Prue went out to gather wood as Ted went hunting for dinner. The one thing in the swamp was the abundance of food but it bites back and getting it was always dangerous. Piper was cleaning the cabin as Phoebe got some laundry ready to be washed. She had to cover her nose on occasion as apparently some of the garments have not been cleaned in sometime. "Please don't let there be underwear, please," she said as she could only imagine the state they would be in.

"We should be getting paid for this," Piper said while using a somewhat clean towel to wipe the shelf's.

"I'm starting to think the only reason he wants is here is to do the woman's work," Phoebe said while making quotes with her fingers."We need to see if he knows a way out."

"He might have a boat," Piper said while putting the jars of pickled food back on the shelves.

"That would be way to good to be true," Phoebe said as it seemed to easy.

"Yeah the elders would probably send some swamp monster to swallow us whole," Piper said and sat down while cradling her hand.

"You ok?"

"Yeah it just hurts on occasion," Piper replied and took a drink of water.

"I wonder how Paige and Prue are getting along, considering the butt heads at home," Phoebe said as she came across the one thing she was trying to avoid. "Oh come on," she said as she tossed the undergarments into the pile and then had to shake her hands out as Piper laughed.

"I thought you like big mountain men," Piper said.

"Only in the movies and clean, I like them clean," Phoebe replied and tried to stretch out her body but the injury made it very clear it was not ready for that, she cringed and grabbed her chest.

"Phoebe you ok?"

"Yeah it just hurts on occasion," she replied.

Paige and Prue were walking and looking for any wood that was not to wet to use. They came to a opening where two directions could be chosen. They both stopped and Paige started going one way as Prue went the other.

"Hay where are you going?" Prue asks.

"This way it looks easier," Paige replied.

"There is more wood on the ground over here," Prue said as they both remained unmoving.

"Okay but this path is clearer and yours we would have to climb over things," Paige said as she pointed to the various fallen trees and stumps that usually came to a sharp point in the swamp.

"If we go your way we will need to cut off branches instead of just picking them up off the ground," Prue said as she pointed to the lack of accessible firewood.

"Which by the way because we are in a swamp is usually soaked, so we're going to have to cut anyway," Paige said while putting her hands on her hips.

"Paige I don't want to argue but I sure the hell don't want to exult more energy than we need too," Prue said and folded her arms.

"Oh because climbing over stuff and worrying about being impaled is not exulting energy?" Paige asks as her logic seemed better then her older sister.

Prue closed her eyes and took in a deep breath as she just wanted to get the job done," Fine we go your way but if we don't find any wood then we go mine," Prue said and Paige nodded as Prue could see that little sign of victory that Paige gives in the way she tilts her head slightly usually followed by the victory grin.

They started walking down the path and came across a puddle and Paige stopped in her tracks.

"Paige its just a puddle," Prue said but Paige was fixated on the muddy mixture as she began to have flashbacks. "Paige its ok, look," she said and jumped into it and then disappeared from sight.

"Oh my god, Prue!" Paige yelled as the top of the puddle was bubbling, she was just about to reach her hand down when Prue emerged and took in a deep breath.

"What the fuck," Prue said as she took Paige's hand and was helped out of the insidious puddle that apparently was quite deep. After she was clear they both sat on the ground while Prue was now wide-eyed and still trying to recover from the shock.

"It's just a little puddle," Paige said as she was not sure to laugh or cry.

"I hate this place," Prue said while getting to her feet.

"Avoid puddles at all cost," Paige said as she too got to her feet.

Ted arrived back at the cabin with their dinner. It was a adolescent alligator that he had slung over his shoulder. "I have dinner," he said proudly as normally he cannot share his hunting achievements with others.

"Nice," Piper said while clearing the table off so he had somewhere to put it. To her the only good alligator was a dead one especially after the incident in the Amazon and with Prue.

He sat down to relax and looked around the cabin. "It looks nice, thank you," he said.

"Your welcome but where do we clean your clothes?" Piper asks.

"There is a creek that's not too far from here," he replied.

"Wait I don't like being close to water," Phoebe said.

"Its ok I protected it, I mean I would not go skinny-dipping, unless you fill the urge," he said and smiled at them both.

"I can honestly say that will not happen," Piper said and grabbed the knife off the shelf she just cleaned.

"Do you know how to gut this?" he asks.

"Unfortunately yes," Piper replied and with her good hand attempted to pull it off the table and take it outside. Even though was an adolescent is still felt like 70 pounds and she was struggling as her other hand was injured.

"Piper let me help," Phoebe said but every movement was painful to her chest and she too was struggling. Ted was leaning back in his chair and wanted to see if they were going to be able to get outside.

"No its ok Ted we got it," Piper said through grunts as she pulled on its tail. He rolled his eyes and picked up the head so it would be easier. He helped them hang it up from a tree branch so Piper could gut it. Phoebe who was a vegetarian decided not to see the gruesome sight and went back into the cabin to gather laundry that was in a basket made of twigs.

Prue and Paige emerged from the swamp carrying wood and put it on the pile just outside the cabin.

"What happened to you?" Piper asks noticing how soaked and muddy Prue was.

"Puddle," she replied and looked at the alligator hanging from the tree.

"Did you wallow around in it?" Piper asks as the earlier answer was vague.

"No just jump right into it," Paige replied as Prue just shook her head slightly. Piper was too tired to even asks and started the process of preparing the alligator.

"You guys did well, so when are you getting the rest?" Ted asks.

"What?" Paige asks.

Ted walked over to his pile and pointed towards the top of the cabin. "It needs to go all the way to the top, that's about a months worth," he replied and Paige looked at the huge absence of fire wood.

"Well maybe you should not wait to last-minute," she said and was not about to go gather more as she was covered in cuts from trying to get to the driest wood on the ground.

"Fire is life out here so I use a lot," he said while going to get one started to cook the meet from the tail Piper just got ready. All of then knew he was right as their struggles in the Amazon made that very clear, but they were exhausted and need to gather enough strength to move on.

"They just need to eat Ted, but do you have a boat or no a way to civilization?" Piper asks.

"I have one but its not exactly water ready, I have not had time to work on it, but if you know how to make it watertight you can have it," he replied.

Both Paige and Prue's body slumped as neither one of them had no idea how to do that. They knew how to make a raft out of logs or bamboo, but not a aluminum boat.

"Where is it?" Piper asks in hopes it was a easy fix.

"Near the creek," he replied as he put the tail just above the fire.

"Well we need to do laundry anyway, so we could look at it then," Piper said and looked at her two sisters as it may be their only hope.

"We are running out of daylight so we should go now," Prue said as the sun was lowering in the horizon.

"I will have your dinner ready when you get back, oh and maybe you guys should clean up a bit, starting to stink," Ted said.

"Coming from a man wearing a dead rodent on his head," Piper said while looking at his hat that was either made out of a squirrel or something else furry.

"Fine we will clean up and look at the boat," Prue said wanting to see the condition of their potential way to civilization.

Paige carried the laundry basket as Phoebe could not put anything to her chest and Piper's injury made it hard for her to carry anything. They all arrived at the creek and could see large sticks sticking out in a circle with sharp points. They were placed extremely close to each other and hopefully was a deterrent to keep out large predators. All of them just stared at the murky water as none of them wanted to get close enough for something to jump out and grab them. Prue grabbed a long stick and started poking around from land where there was a opening just big enough for two people to step into the water.

"He is right we are starting to stink," Paige said as she got a good smell of herself.

"Okay someone needs to keep a lookout while we do this, I will check the boat," Piper said and walked over to the small John boat that was on its side. Phoebe handed at the dirty laundry to Prue as Paige looked for any bubbles that would indicate something under the surface. Piper could see a four-inch diameter hole on the bottom of the boat and ran her good hand through her tangled and moist hair as the humidity made all of them sweat. Prue would quickly put the clothing in the water and pressed the soap into it and started scrubbing. She would then tip it back into the water to finish it off.

"Piper how bad is it?" Prue asks.

"Bad," Piper replied as she had no idea on how to fix the whole.

"Maybe he has duck-tape, don't they always have duck-tape?" Phoebe asks.

"Leo thinks it can be used for anything, he even suggested it when I broke a heel on my favorite shoes," Piper replied.

"It could work as long as the surface is dry," Prue said while continuing the process of washing the clothes. Phoebe would put the clean ones back into the basket.

"Ok but it will not stay that way once we are in the water," Piper said as she walked back over to them.

"It may work long enough, we cannot be that far from civilization, this isn't the Amazon," Paige said.

"Do you have any idea how many branches of waterways, we could end up going in circles," Prue said as the swamp would play tricks on what direction you think you were going. Also the water would rise at certain times creating the illusion of a river but in reality it was just more swamp land.

"We asked him what direction we need to go and we stay the course," Phoebe said as the heat was making the water look very tempting to just jump into.

"At least this is done," Prue said as she put the last of the laundry into the basket. "Now we clean up," she said and started to take off her pants.

"Prue what are you doing?" Piper asks as she began to look around as though they were in a public venue.

"Piper there is no one here and you guys have seen me in my underwear," Prue replied and continued but they all looked away as it was still awkward. "Oh no, I am about to go into this water and the last thing I want is backs turned," she said and they all turned back around to keep an eye on her. The water was cooling but not refreshing as it still was muddy and slightly stagnant. "Why did he call this a creek when its just part of the swamp?" she asks while using the soap to clean off her legs. She was about waist high and felt completely unsafe and uncomfortable.

"I don't know but could you hurry," Piper said as it too made her uneasy. Prue did everything extremely quickly and the last part she had to take off her shirt so it would not get wet. She wanted to clean her clothing as well, but with nothing else to wear she had to put the dirty ones back on. They all followed suit but Phoebe was not about to get that dirty water on her chest and Piper had to be careful not to get her bad hand wet. Even though they felt better and now smelled clean, it did not help them feel like humans again as their clothing was still dirty and they were still in the middle of nowhere.

They went back to the cabin as night was falling fast and Ted had plates ready for them on the table. Prue put the wet laundry outside and was going to hang it after she ate so it would dry.

"You smell better," he said as they sat down. The food on their plates was a mixture of alligator tail and some vegetables that he grew. Piper was astonished at how good it all looked and smelled. She took a bite of alligator tail that was season and smoked, it melted in her mouth and now understood why it was so well loved in Louisiana. It was the best tasting meat she has ever had. It was fresh, no preservatives and never been frozen. Even Phoebe who was vegetarian enjoyed the taste but she loved the vegetables as they were steamed.

"Ted this is delicious," Piper said.

"Thank you, its a recipe from my father," he said while eating.

"Piper you need to add this to your restaurant menu," Prue said while enjoying every bite.

"Yeah alligators not very common in California but if you would not mind, I would like the recipe the for the seasoning," Piper asks.

"Sure," he said and continued eating.

Prue was looking around the cabin and saw a frame with a diploma on the wall. It was hard to read as the paper has faded over the years and the glass was suffering the humidity and the endless assault of nature.

"You went to Harvard?" Prue asks a little astonished.

"Yes," he replied as he continued eating.

"Why would you be out here, you could pretty much work anywhere and make good money?" Piper asks.

"I did and then I left everything," he replied.

Prue could see that he did not want to talk about it and decided to change the subject. "We saw the boat and were wondering if you had any duck-tape?" she asks.

"I might, its kind of a staple for survivalist," he replied and Prue went back to eating.

Paige did the dishes as Prue and Phoebe hanged up the wet laundry outside. There was a string running from the cabin to a tree and they used homemade clothespins. They were just pieces of wood with a notch cut out. Prue smiled a bit at how well they worked and how much the concept has not changed over the years. They only thing that's been added is the spring which if you cut the notches correctly would not need. Piper took the recipe from Ted that he wrote down and tried to find a safe place to put it and her back pocket was the only option.

Prue looked up into the night sky and could see the white beacon in the distance. She put down three sticks and made a arrow pointing in the direction of the true way home. Ted could not see the magical phenomenon but the sisters could. It was time for bed and their bellies were full and they were somewhat clean. Prue had Piper sleep with Phoebe as they both were suffering injuries and she wanted them to get a good nights rest for once. Paige and Prue used a couple of blankets to soften the hard floor as Ted used a hammock outside with mosquito netting around it. Prue was worried that something would drag him off in the middle of the night and she would periodically check as she did the same with her sisters. It was something she could not just turn off, her protective nature. The next day was going to be a long one, as they would begin the process of preparing the boat. Fixing the whole with duck-tape and making their way up to either the beacon or civilization.

To be continued...