The Last Kitchen, Part 7 of 26. Gerzsi and friends are made up; the gear is real and independently tested. This post contains affiliate links (disclosure).
Previously: The masked stranger was Reggie the raccoon, the first victim of his own gadgets, who had tried to warn the crew. Chef Tamás gave him a simple leave-in thermometer. Then Reggie said the voice knew the river, and knew Tamás’s name. Missed it? Read Part 6 · All parts
Otis the mountain goat came down from the ridge at dawn, which he never did, and he didn’t look calm, which he always did.
“Something grew on my hill,” he said. “Silver. Tall. It hums. Every time the ring flashes, the tower flashes back.”
Chef Tamás understood first. “A relay. The ring is too high to talk to every kitchen on its own. The tower passes the orders along. If we stop the tower, we stop the orders on this river.”
So they climbed. Otis went first, hopping from rock to rock like the trail was a staircase built just for him. Gerzsi went second. Tamás went third, with two crooked branches he had picked up at the bottom as walking sticks.
Halfway up, it started to rain. The trail turned to mud. One branch snapped. The other sank. Chef Tamás, who in twenty-five years of professional kitchens had never once dropped a pot, slid ten feet down the hill on his back, laughing the whole way because there was nothing else to do.
Otis looked down at him for a long time. Then he pulled a pair of folding trekking poles out of his little backpack and dropped them.
“Four legs,” said Otis, pointing at himself. “Two legs,” pointing at Tamás. “You need the difference.”
On the way up, Tamás worked out why they helped, because he can’t help working things out. Two poles turn two points of contact into four. On a steep downhill they take some of the weight off your knees with every step. On mud they let you test the ground before you trust it. “Same as a kitchen,” he said. “You never carry a hot stockpot without a free hand to catch yourself.”
At the top the rain stopped. The tower stood against the gray sky, humming. And around it, in a slow circle, flew a dozen small silver drones.
They were shaped exactly like spatulas.
Next: Part 8, tomorrow. A cold night on the ridge.
🛒 Gear from this part
Trekking poles for beginners. Hikers tested five beginner poles on real trails, from a well-known premium pair to a budget one. Otis’s picks are in our guide.
Can’t wait for tomorrow’s part?
Gerzsi can’t either. While Chef Tamás’s stock bubbles for four hours, he puts on a sci-fi audiobook and listens with both ears flat against the pot lid (he says it helps). If you’re new to Audible, the free trial is an easy way to start one for the slow-cooking hours.
Free trial for eligible new members; Amazon sets the terms on the sign-up page. Affiliate link: Gerzsi may earn a commission.
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