“I want venison stew for supper.Will you make sure to cut some of the venison into small pieces for me?I always ask Everett, but he makes them about three times the size I want.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Maggie replied, wrapping her scarf around her neck.
When she got out to the cold house, the men were inside cutting the meat from the deer into chunks.“I need one big piece to cut up for stew.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Everett said.
“Belle asked me to do it, and she’s done so much for me, I don’t want to disappoint her.”Maggie hoped Everett would believe her because she didn’t want to tell him that Belle didn’t like the way he did it.
Everett shook his head and gave her a piece of meat, and she painstakingly cut it into small bite-sized pieces.“Aren’t those too small?”Everett asked.
Maggie shook her head.“No, they’re easier to work with when they’re this size.”There.She’d told him he was doing it wrong without admitting she knew he was doing it wrong.Surely that would save his male pride.
“I’ll have to change the way I do things then,” Everett said.
“Do you like them that small for stew?”James asked.
Maggie nodded.“Yes, then I don’t have to cut them even more when it’s time to make them for a meal.”
“I suppose you’re right,” James said, seeming a bit confused about the whole thing.
“How was Belle feeling when you were inside?”Everett asked.
“Poorly.I made her some tea with ginger and dry toast.It seems to ease her stomach when she’s feeling this way.”
“I never would have thought of that,” Everett said.“I guess that’s why she needed you around.”
“Katie would have told you to do the same thing.”
Everett nodded.“I guess she would.She’s going to deliver the baby, you know.”
“I do.I’d like to be there to help as well.”
“Good.I’d prefer to hide somewhere while it’s happening.”
Maggie laughed.“You do that.You can hide at our place with James.Or at work.You could go to work if that made you happy.”
James shrugged.“I have no intention of being anywhere close when any baby is born.Perhaps the two of us should make a pact to always hide somewhere together when a baby is coming—mine or yours.”
“Sounds good to me,” Everett replied.“I am excited to hold him for the first time.”
“What if he’s a she?”Maggie asked as she carefully wrapped the meat she’d cut into brown paper.
“Then I’ll be happy to hold her.Either way.I’m sure this won’t be our only child.”
“Belle and I always talked about our children growing up and marrying.Maybe that will happen.”
James shook his head.“Our first child isn’t even conceived yet, and you’re planning its future?I’m not sure that’s the right thing to do.”
“I’m sure it is,” Maggie responded with a grin.
Belle opened the door and stepped inside.“The tea and toast helped a lot.I think I can help with the meat now.”
“I just finished some stew meat for you,” Maggie said.“Do you want to work on the mallards while the men finish up with the buck?”
“That would be good.Let’s cut the mallards into small pieces too.It’ll be nice to have them already cut for my dumplings.”
The four of them worked well together.Belle and Maggie cut the mallards carefully, and they made several packages of them, dividing them up between families and putting them on opposite sides of the cold house.They’d decided the east side was for Maggie and James while the west side was for Belle and Everett.It made things much easier that way.
