Black Market Merchant

It ended up being a sleepless and rough night for Lisa and Sadie. They had to share the two cramped couches in the cold office room. It was especially uncomfortable since they didn't know each other all too well yet.

That morning the two woke up feeling groggy. They went down to the river above the dam to wash up. Sadie had brought shampoo and was nice enough to share. Lisa could tell that her black hair was getting so oily that she felt it was putting a crow’s feather’s sheen to shame.

"Sorry that my place isn't all that put together and uncomfortable." Lisa said while sinking deeper into the river water. "I only just moved in here a few days ago. All I have is what you have seen."

"It's alright we can fix that overtime." Sadie replied sitting on a half-submerged rock washing herself off as quickly as she could. "This river water is freezing cold!" She shivered and dunked herself fully under the water once. She immediately popped back up gasping for air and started wadding through the water back to shore. "Way t-to c-cold!"

Lisa chuckled watching her go. "You will get used to it. At least until I get the hot water working. Then again this whole place needs a lot of work done to it.”

Sadie was too busy drying off with a towel to hear her. She quickly got dressed and sat on the brown grassy bank to try and warm up as Lisa finished up. Looking around, she couldn't help but sit in awe of the beautiful scenery.

The dam made lake rippled gently in the early morning breeze as it danced swirling patterns on its tea-colored surface. The gentle sea of green evergreens and poplars stood tall and noble on either side of the dark river. Above was the clear azure sky signaling that today was going to be a beautiful day. The suns warmth on her wet skin was most refreshing and being added with the beautiful scenery almost made last night’s discomfort melt away.

Looking down at Lisa, Sadie couldn't help but wonder why she was here? This tall, beautiful woman washing in the lake was dangerous, yet kind, but most of all mysterious. She remembered that when she first met her in Jackson's office that Lisa had said that she wanted to fight the Mad Dogs boss, Martinez. Why?

"So, uh, Lisa?" Sadie asked a bit hesitantly. "We should probably work on getting your Match Fighter Form paperwork filled out. I need to submit a copy to the Association as soon as I can."

"That's fine." Lisa replied looking back at Sadie while scrubbing the shampoo deeper into her coal black hair. Her soft pale skin made her black hair and grey eyes all the more pretty. "Can you fill that out as we go get breakfast?"

"Sure, that shouldn't be an issue. Where are we going to eat?" Sadie asked while crossing her foot over the other.

Lisa gave a casual reply while turning to look away and pointing with a sudsy hand at the forest on the far side of the river. "Over there."

"Uh, is there a restaurant or something over there?" Sadie asked a bit confused. As far as she could tell everything in that direction was just wilderness.

Lisa chuckled and ducked under the frigid water. She scrubbed furiously at her scalp trying to rid herself of all the gunk and sweat in her hair.

"Honestly, how could I let myself go like this?" Lisa thought while underwater. "It's just been a few weeks since my last real bath in Salt Lake City. I need to take care of myself better."

Popping out of the water she flicked her head backwards sending a cascade of water off her head. The water droplets dazzled in the morning light as they flew away in an arc. Brushing water out of her eyes she turned to leave the lake. She looked up to see Sadie watching her intently.

"What is it?" Lisa asked her.

"N-nothing!" Sadie squeaked and quickly looked away. "Don't mind me."

"Whatever." Lisa sighed as she climbed onto a rock to get out of the water. "Toss me my towel, please."

"Sure." Sadie said fumbling at the pile of clothing next to her. She then handed Lisa the towel and went back to looking the other way.

The view this way was just as surreal. The dam overlooking the sleepy gray town had its own charms and splendor. Sadie could hardly believe that all this was outside the gangsters’ compound. Why she had spent all her time working in there, even she didn't know why.

"We are getting some food on the other side. Hopefully, I caught something." Lisa said while changing into dry clothes.

Sadie turned back to look at Lisa and saw a nasty scar running across her back. However, she decided not to say anything for the moment and asked aloud, "Caught? What do you mean?"

"You'll see in a little bit. Come on and let hurry before the morning is over. My stomach is rumbling." Lisa said as she started for the dam road.

Hurrying to catch up, Sadie stuffed all their old clothes and bath things into a blue backpack she had on. It wasn't long until they entered the forest. The night’s cool air was still nestled into the trees and it felt rather chilly, even if there was no breeze.

"Try to be as quiet as you can." Lisa whispered to Sadie.

Unsure as to why Sadie only nodded and continued to follow Lisa. They headed along the old, crumbling road for a few meters before Lisa stopped next to a large pine. Looking over Lisa's shoulder Sadie saw that she was fiddling with a long wire tied in a loop.

"Is that a snare?" Sadie asked in a hushed voice.

"Yes. Let's check to others." Lisa said adjusting the snare some.

They went next into an area with tall, thigh high grass. Sadie was following closely behind Lisa as they cut through it and her only though was whether or not they might get ticks walking through here. Suddenly, Lisa stopped and motioned for Sadie to come closer. Sadie came up next to Lisa and pushed back a bunch of grass in her way.

Sitting motionless, nearly invisible as it blended in with the brown grass, was a large rabbit. Its ears were laid back flat against its body and its fathomless black eyes stared unblinkingly up at them. Its little pink nose twitched rapidly as did its sides while breathing.

"How cute!" Sadie whispered.

The rabbit must have heard her because it suddenly jumped away from them. Yet it didn't get far. One of its hind legs went ridged, stopping its movements and Sadie could see that something thin was wrapped around the leg.

"Oh, is that your snare?" Sadie said covering her mouth with one hand. "It looks like it got stuck in it. The poor thing."

Lisa sighed and started to go closer to the fluffy creature. "It was supposed to get caught in the snare. That's why I put it there."

Suddenly, Sadie recalled what Lisa had said earlier. "You don't mean that the rabbit is our…" she couldn't finish her sentence but gulped worriedly.

"Of course, it’s going to be our breakfast. What else did you expect?" Lisa said with a faint smile on her lips. She grabbed the wire that was attached to the rabbit’s leg and the rabbit freaked out. It struggled to get away, tugging at the wire as it tried to jump away, but Lisa casually pulled it closer to herself. Then she grabbed it behind the ears, and the rabbit kicked at her a few times, but its effort was of no use.

At this moment Sadie couldn't see the rabbit in Lisa's hands, because she was facing away from Sadie. She saw Lisa reach at the rabbit with her free hand to, presumably, hold it by its head. Lisa then made a quick jerking motion with both hands before turning around. The rabbit now sat motionless in her hands; eyes closed.

"Alright, let's go check the other snares." Lisa said walking past Sadie who had just realized why the rabbit was still.

"Did you just kill it?!" Sadie asked with a shocked expression.

"Ya, if you want breakfast and maybe lunch later, you can't eat it alive." Lisa replied rather frankly. "Here, you can hold onto it. Just in case there are others in the next snares."

Lisa held out the limp rabbit to Sadie. Unsure what to do, Sadie reached out and gently grabbed the rabbit. Its soft fluffy fur felt pleasing to the touch. She could even feel the warmth still radiating from the rabbit.

"I-I had eaten rabbit stew before, but never like this." Sadie whispered following slowly after Lisa. She couldn't look away from the small dead creature in her hands.

"Well, you are in for a treat. The fresher the catch the better the taste!" Lisa whispered in reply while pushing back a bush limb and the two ladies got back on the old road.

They checked the remaining snares Lisa had set up, but they were all empty. Lisa reset a few of them and moved some others to newer locations. After about an hour the two arrived back at the Powerhouse building.

In a few minutes Lisa got a fire going from the ashes left in the parking lots firepit. Then she got out the pot from the room upstairs and put it over the fire to hang on a stand she had built from old frame parts. Filling up the pot with river water using a bucket she waited for the water to boil.

Sadie was still cuddling the rabbit in her hands when Lisa asked for it. Grudgingly Sadie handed over the stiffening rabbit. Lisa took it and placed it onto a flat broad wooden board. She then started to skin it with her long knife. Sadie sat and watched curiously next Lisa. Sadie has never skinned an animal before, so this was fascinating to watch.

Lisa carefully first cut at the skin and fur on the middle of the rabbits back. Then reaching inside that cut she pulled apart the rabbit’s skin revealing the shiny red and white meat inside. The motion itself was rather quick and simple. Though slightly unnerved, Sadie was interested in this type of wild outdoors cooking.

Once the skin was removed from the body and legs, she twisted the head a few times decapitating it. Then she took the knife and removed its feet from just below the knee joint with one concise chop. Next, she laid it on its back and taking the knife again, she cut the area around the white cotton tail to removed it.

Then pressing the knife into the area just below the rib cage, she sliced carefully down towards the cut at the tail. As she made this cut the grey and red intestines and liver appeared. Reaching into the rabbit Lisa scooped out the intestines with her hand. To Sadie it looked rather disgusting to touch but she held off voicing her comments.

Placing them aside, Lisa spoke. "We can use those later to try and catch catfish in the river."

Sadie, who was covering her mouth with both hands, nodded silently, and continued to watch wide eyed.

Next, Lisa cut apart the rib cage revealing the heart and lungs. Again, she cleanly scooped them out and placed them with the intestines. There was a small amount of deep red blood pooling in the cavity left behind where the heart was. So, Lisa took the rest of the water left in the bucket and rinsed as much blood away as she could.

Once that was done it was time to harvest the meat. Taking the knife, she lifted the front leg of the rabbit, exposing the shoulder blade. Putting the knife under the shoulder blade she skillfully sliced off the legs without hitting any bone or tearing the meat. Then for the back legs she cut the meat down to the bone and then popped the hip joint dislocating it. Lastly, she stuck the blade under the dislocation and finished the cut.

The final step was to cut the back meat off the rabbit. Holding the knife at an angle Lisa cut at the top of the hip bone and sliced towards the area below the rib cage. Then she cut horizontally along the spine and carved out the back meat on each side of the spine separately. This cut was to separate the rabbit backstraps from the bones and still keep as much meat as possible.

Lastly, she tossed the harvested meat into the now boiling water. Mary and Joan were kind enough to give the two ladies some more vegetables the night before. So, Lisa ended up diced them and tossed them in with the meat.

After a while, the smell of the stew made the two ladies mouths water. It smelled so good! Once the stew was done, the two ate their fill of the tasty meal. The rabbit meat very tender and was practically dripping off the bone.

"That was very interesting to watch." Sadie said sipping at the broth. "Next time I want to try it, that is if you kill the creature. I couldn't do that part on my own."

"That's fine. I would be glad to teach you." Lisa replied giving a smile. Then she recalled something. "Sadie weren't you going to start filling out the Fighter Form?"

"Oh no! I totally forgot." Sadie said reaching for her blue backpack that had the papers in it.

Lisa chuckled seeing this and thought to herself. "She's such a scatter brain."