Chapter Six
That evening, Agnesfried some of the salmon for their supper, planning to serve the smoked salmon to everyone the following day at lunch.She was thrilled Sally had told her she would need to feed everyone, so she would be prepared.She also made a large gingerbread cake to share with all of them.
When Jasper arrived home from work, he sniffed deeply.“Something smells delicious.”
Agnes smiled.“I made fresh salmon for supper and a gingerbread cake for everyone tomorrow.I’m excited to get the smokehouse and nets for the salmon ready.Sally showed me how to catch, clean, and smoke the fish today.I feel like my head is bigger because my brain is bulging with knowledge.Does it look bigger to you?”She set supper on the table.
He laughed.“I can’t believe you said all that in one breath!No, your head looks exactly as I left it, and I hope it remains as it is.I happen to like it exactly the way it is.”He leaned down and kissed her before washing his hands.
“It was a remarkable day,” she told him.
“I can tell.Did you get the goats ordered?Should we build the barn first?”
“Yes, I ordered the goats, but it will be ten days before they arrive.I went with adults, so we’ll get milk sooner.I can’t wait to taste the fresh goat milk our nanny goats will produce.”
He chuckled.“You sound so excited about all the work you’re taking on.I hope you’re not biting off more than you can chew.”
She scoffed.“I spent years at that horrible hotel working twelve-hour days.This won’t be nearly as bad.At least that’s what Sally tells me.She said it’s so much better working for your own future and not making some rich man even richer.”
“I agree with that.I’m excited as well.Just a bit concerned you’ll try to do too much.”
She shrugged.“I’ll be fine.I promise!”As they sat down to eat, she talked to him about the smokehouse Sally had.“I think I want it to be much bigger.She can only hang about ten fish per day.I’d like to be able to do at least thirty or forty.It sounds like fish is one of the main things to eat during the winter here.”
He shrugged.“I don’t really know.I’ve always just eaten—”
“Jerky and hardtack,” she finished for him.“Sally said her Tom was the same way.And as I’m learning, there may be a couple of nights of jerky and hardtack, but the thought makes me ill.There were far too many days of jerky and hardtack.”
“The journey would have been much longer and harder for you if we’d taken time to fish or hunt and forage along the way.We did what was smart, even though it wasn’t as palatable as your cooking always is.”
Agnes shook her head.“Oh, no.I’m not complaining about it.I simply wish things could have been different, and I have no desire to eat those things again.”
“I promise I won’t bring it up again, though you brought it up this time, and not me.”
She laughed.“I suppose I did.I had a wonderful afternoon with Sally, and I got to meet Herbert, who will be the father of the bacon we eat in the future.”
“Herbert?Tom has mentioned how Sally has that pig following her all around.”
“Sally also loaned me a book on homesteading, so I’ll at least have an idea of how to care for the goats before they arrive.I’ll start work in earnest this week with the fishing, and by the time I feel like I have that down, we’ll have goats!”Agnes sighed happily.“Just think of the baby goats.Don’t you love baby farm animals?”
Jasper couldn’t help but smile.“It sounds like you had a wonderful day.Did you see the other ladies?”
Agnes nodded.“It seems we all eat lunch together every day.Then we can let the others know if we need help with something.Maggie wasn’t up to her usual foraging today as her babe was active all night, and she got no sleep.So, after I worked with Sally, I did some foraging.I didn’t find nearly as much as yesterday, but you are eating Eskimo potatoes I found all by myself.”
“They’re delicious.”As she kept talking about her wonderful day, he watched her, never having imagined her being so animated about work.She was a good woman, and he appreciated her willingness to buy the goats with her own savings.
When she took a pause for air, he asked, “Do I get a piece of that delicious smelling gingerbread tonight?”
She shook her head.“I made us a smaller gingerbread cake for just the two of us.I didn’t think you’d be able to resist if you could smell it, and I’m sure there’s nothing else to smell.”
He grinned.“Is there more fish?”
“There is.And more potatoes as well.I helped clean these fish after we pulled them from a net.I think I want my nets set up just like Sally’s, but I want more of them.Four at least.”She stood and got him more food.“Sally told me that we ladies will make the nets while you men build the smokehouse but then you’ll set up the nets for me.”
“If that’s how they did it for her, I’m certain we’ll do the same.”Jasper was sincerely surprised at how much she’d talked since he’d gotten home.It was like the promise of hard work had given her new life.
“I wish you’d helped with the other projects, so you’d know what we’re getting ourselves into tomorrow, but at least I’ll be able to pass on how things went to the next girl who comes.”
“If I’d been certain I’d have a wife who would want to work as hard as the others, I would have gotten involved more.But for all I knew, I’d sent for a ne’er-do-well.”
