Chapter Eight
After finishing herbaking on Saturday, Belle followed through with her plan and took Everett’s rifle with her to the store.She’d baked the normal amount of bread for the day, but she made double the amount of cookies she normally would.To her surprise, there were several men in the store waiting for her to drop off her treats.
All of them had different things they wanted, and Belle listened intently.She felt a bit overwhelmed by all the men wanted, but she would simply do what she could.
As she walked along the river, she saw a grouping of ducks, and when they didn’t fly away as she approached, she put the rifle to her shoulder and carefully aimed.She shot three times and hit three ducks.
The others had scattered by that point, but three was plenty.Instead of her favorite meal of chicken and dumplings, she’d make a huge pot of ducks and dumplings for supper.Hopefully Everett would enjoy it as much as she was certain she would.
Once home, she plucked the feathers and prepared the mallards for the pot.As soon as she had cut them into manageable pieces, she put them into the pot to boil.She could already taste the meal.
She added celery and made the dumplings, carefully rolling them out on the table.It had been years since she’d cooked the meal, but it came back easily.One of her first memories was helping her mother make chicken and dumplings.She felt a pang as she thought of her mother, and she couldn’t help but wonder how her younger siblings were doing.
For dessert, she made strawberry shortcake.The strawberries wouldn’t be fresh for long, and while they were, she’d take advantage and make one of her favorite desserts.
By the time Everett was home, the entire cabin smelled of the dumplings.The strawberry shortcake was on the counter, ready to be served, and the table was set.
Everett washed his hands and sat down.“Supper smells good.Did you kill one of the chickens?”he asked.
“Oh, no.Of course not.You said to wait on the chickens until fall.I did some hunting and shot a few ducks.I hope you don’t mind that I used your rifle.”
“Of course not!”he said.“I’m glad you left the chickens alone though.”
“I listen,” Belle said with a grin.She served up two large bowls full of the duck and dumplings.“I’ve been missing chicken and dumplings.When I spotted the ducks, I thought they might make a good substitute for the way I’ve usually made the meal.”
“Did you learn to make it at the hotel?”he asked.
“No, my mother showed me.It was always my favorite, so we had it often.And then I cooked it for my siblings.For some reason, it was never on the menu at the hotel.”
“So, you’ve really missed this!I’m always happy to eat chicken and dumplings.I’ll let you know what I think about duck and dumplings when I’ve had a few bites.”
“Well, if you don’t like it, I’ll make something else for you,” she said, smiling.“And of course, you’ll have strawberry shortcake for dessert.”
She sat down at the table with him and when she’d taken her first bite, she grinned.“It’s not exactly the same, but it’s good!”
He took a bite and nodded.“I think I prefer chicken and dumplings, but I’ll take duck and dumplings any day.What kind of duck did you get?”
“Mallard.They’re so beautiful, I felt guilty shooting them, but fresh meat was a must.I don’t know why I wanted it so badly, but I did.”
“This fall, we’ll slaughter Melba’s calf.When it’s a female, I sell it, but when the calf is male, I slaughter.The Johnsons have a bull they let me use to breed Melba.And they have a heifer as well.”
“There aren’t a lot of farm animals in this area,” she said.
“It’s a logging town.That’s why it was built.The Johnsons built the store to help us all out, but there aren’t many farmers close enough to buy from.”
“We’ll just have to get some more farm animals ourselves.Where does the bacon come from?Is it shipped in from Washington?”
He nodded.“Almost everything the store carries comes from the mainland.”
“Would there be a way to get piglets in the spring?”she asked, thinking of all the meals she could make if they had their own pigs.
He sighed.“You’re intent on turning this place into a farm, aren’t you?”
She shrugged, feeling sheepish.“I grew up in a farming community.It’s what I know.”
“I’ll look into your piglets, but I can’t make any promises.I wouldn’t mind fresh pork myself.”
While they ate, she told him about the special requests she’d had for certain baked goods.“I promised to have strawberry shortcake at the store at ten on Monday.Katie is going to sell individual servings.”
