Chapter Four
After a few minutes, Maggie took Sally to see Belle and the baby.Though Sally was excited to see her friend, she worried a bit about the housework that wasn’t getting done while she visited with her friends.
“You look like something is on your mind,” Belle finally said as she put the baby down for a nap.
Sally nodded.“We got in late last night, and I need to clean and get started gardening.I want a full garden in by the end of next week, and I know I need to do laundry today.Neither of us has clean clothes after that journey.I want to stay with the two of you and talk all day, but that would be selfish of me.”
Maggie shook her head.“You don’t have a selfish bone in your body.”
“I think today, I have many lazy bones, though.So, I’m going to go home and get some laundry done.I plan to start a garden this week as well.Will the two of you have gardens this summer?”
Maggie and Belle exchanged a look.“There’s so much forage here.Perhaps one of us can hunt, one can forage, and one can have a garden,” Belle suggested.“And I really think it’s time for one of us to bake bread every day and only bake bread, while the other makes the treats.”
Maggie nodded.“You like baking treats better than I do, and we know you’re the huntress.I’ll bake bread and forage, Belle hunts, and Sally, you can grow your garden.We’ll share in everything.”
“How would that work?”Sally asked, confused.
“We make money from the store.So, when I make preserves and take in my forage, we have Katie put a third of the credit on each of our accounts.The same when I bake the bread.”
“And I’ll have her divide my egg money between the three of us because we rarely take her our game.That is divided between us.”
“And the crops I grow?How will that work?”Sally asked.“And we have a few chickens.Should that be added to the egg money or can we keep the eggs?”
“Keep your eggs,” Belle replied.“You’ll need them for cooking.I have several dozen chickens, who lay several dozen eggs every day.And then I butcher some in the fall so we’ll have chicken for the winter.”She went on to explain about the cold house Everett had built for her.“We put large chunks of ice in there for the summer.It should work just like an icehouse, but this is our first year.”
“So do you think I’ll be doing my share simply by growing crops?”Sally asked, a bit surprised.
“There’ll be a little more than that,” Maggie said.“We’ll take turns with the baby.He’s on a great schedule, so Belle will feed him after her lunch, and one of us will stay with him.So, you’ll do your gardening for two days, then one day with little Bertie.Belle will spend two days hunting, and then one day with little Bertie.And I’ll forage for two days and then take my turn with the baby.”
“You two have been thinking about how to work this for a while.What if I hadn’t liked gardening?”Sally asked.
Maggie shrugged.“Then you could forage, and I would garden.Or you could hunt.We may switch up what we work on from year to year.This fall, my baby will be here, and we’ll have to rethink everything anyway.Are there any other girls from the hotel planning to join us?”
“All the girls are thinking about it,” Sally said.“I think the next will be Agnes, though.She’s been working in the kitchen, and she’s ready to go.Chef Alexander is not easy to work for.”
“What happened to the last chef?”Belle asked.“I worked with him.”
“He was offered a position at a fancy hotel in Boston, and he jumped at the chance.If you’ll remember, Alexander was his sous chef, and he’s particularly unpleasant.”
“Well, then I hope Agnes joins us soon,” Maggie said.
“She’s already been in contact with Mrs.Tandy.It won’t be long,” Sally replied, standing.“I’ll be here tomorrow morning around ten.We’ll decide what schedule we want then.”
“That sounds good,” Maggie said, walking Sally to the door.
Sally said her goodbyes and hurried home, knowing she had a lot of work to do to get the laundry finished before Tom returned from work.She also wanted her home clean before he arrived.
As she walked, she rolled up her sleeves, ready to take on the tasks that were involved in being a good wife.
*****
WHEN TOM RETURNED FROMwork a few hours later, the laundry was on the line, the cabin was clean, and supper was on the table.Sally even had hot water boiling on the stove for his bath after their meal.
Tom walked to the basin and washed his hands as he looked around the cabin.“You got a lot done today!”
Sally nodded.“I even took some time to visit with Belle and Maggie.”
She put the food on the table, sitting down in the spot across from where he’d sat at breakfast that morning.
