Belle nodded.“That’s why I was so careful when I sliced into him.”
“What will we do with it?”Lula asked, never having been around bears or their hides.
“I sell them to Katie, and she handles everything from there,” Belle replied.“I suppose we could use them to make coats and thick mittens, but I don’t want to have to learn how.I think we do quite enough.”
“But won’t we get bored in the winter?”Lula asked.
“We knit and crochet and quilt in the winters,” Belle said with a smile.“It will be a lot more fun this year with all the new ladies who have arrived.I’m actually looking forward to winter.”
“We won’t hunt atallin winter?”
Belle shrugged.“Most of the animals we would hunt will either fly south for the winter or hibernate.Of course, if you want to brave the cold to hunt, you’re welcome to do so.”
“I’ll see how I feel,” Lula said.She couldn’t imagine being happy when all she had to do was sit indoors working on sewing or knitting, but she’d have to see just how cold it really was.
They packed all the meat they could into bags and carried it down to the river and loaded it onto the canoe.They carefully used the rope Ella had tied to the canoe to float it down the river to Belle’s cabin.It took several trips to get the meat into the canoe and then to get it to Belle’s cold house.
“Do you want me to help you from here?”Lula asked.
“No, I can take it from here.Everett is always willing to be pressed into service.”Belle picked up something wrapped in brown paper from the counter.“Venison.It’s been thawing all day, so should be ready to cook.”
“Thank you!”
“You’ll probably have some vegetables at home.Usually, when the foraging is finished, it’s divided and dropped off for each family.”
“Thanks again!”
Belle grinned.“It’s fun having a hunting buddy.”
“I agree.I’ve never hunted with anyone else before.”For a moment, Lula thought of the dog she and Bill had during their brief marriage.Pepper had followed her everywhere, and he’d been a good hunting companion.She hadn’t been allowed to take him to the hotel with her, so she’d given him to the child of a neighbor.
“I’ll see you at Maggie’s tomorrow!”Belle said.“I think we’re going to hunt for moose tomorrow.”
“Sounds good to me.”Lula and Sebastian left to go to their cabin.
“It’s an unusual arrangement you have with the other ladies, but it seems good for us.I love having meat all the time,” Sebastian said.
“I do too!And I love hunting.”She wasn’t as fond of household chores, but she didn’t tell him that.Instead, she talked about the hunt, and how they’d gone about killing a brown bear.
“I’m impressed.I see a brown bear, and all I can think about is running.And you go looking for one.You should have been named Skadi.She’s the Norwegian goddess of the hunt.”
“Really?I didn’t even know therewasa Norwegian goddess of the hunt.”
“Oh, yes.My family is Christian, but we remember the old ways.My father loved to tell us about the Norse gods as bedtime stories.”
“That sounds fascinating.I want you to tell me all the stories.And we’ll pass them down to our children.”
Sebastian smiled.“We’ll do that.”
“Supper is going to be late tonight.I hope that’s all right with you.”
“You shot a bear today!I should be cooking supper.”
“No, I want to make a venison stew.It will take a while to cook, but it will be delicious.”
He frowned.“I’m not sure I can eat that late.Perhaps you can make the venison tomorrow, and we can do some oatmeal tonight.”
She grinned.“You really do want to cook supper, don’t you?”
