Chapter Two
To Josie’s surprise, she woke the following morning with the top half of her on Jack. It was not something she’d imagined could happen. She’d started the night so close to the opposite side of the bed from him that she had been afraid of falling off.
She quickly got out of bed and pulled her nightgown—which had somehow ended up around her waist—down. Once she’d finished blushing, she hurried to the kitchen to see what he had on hand that she would be able to cook.
The cabinets were bare. Not one sign of food. Did he think she could cook without any ingredients? Myrtle probably could, but she didn’t have the kitchen abilities of her friend.
She heard footsteps coming up behind her. “Good morning, Jack.”
His arms came around her from behind, settling at her waist. “I didn’t think you’d be here quite this soon. I only have hardtack and jerky, and a bit of coffee.”
“Well, there’s not much I can do with that. I’ll make coffee.”
He opened a trap door in the floor and walked down into what she could only assume was the cellar. When he returned, he had exactly what she’d promised herself she would never eat again. Her stomach rolled just thinking about it.
“This will work for this morning. You’re going to meet up with friends this morning, right?”
She nodded. “And I’ll do some shopping if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind at all. I have an account at the store. Just put whatever you think we need on the account.”
She turned to look at him. “Are you certain? I do have some money.”
“I’ve been working overtime so I could provide what was needed when you arrived. I will provide.”
She frowned. “I do plan to work with my friends. Will that be a problem?”
Jack shook his head. “Of course not. You just don’t need to finance it with your own money. Unless you plan to open your own store of something, I can afford to help you.”
Josie pursed her lips, thinking about it. It would help to start out with his money, depending on what she planned to do. But she had no idea what that was. “Thank you,” she finally said, but in her mind, she vowed she wouldn’t spend his money on more than the necessities.
“You’re my wife. It’s my job to provide.”
She nodded. “All right.”
She served the coffee and put some of the jerky and hardtack on a plate, carried it to the table, and set it down.
“We need two plates,” he said, reaching up into the cupboard for another.
“I’m not hungry this morning,” she fibbed.
His eyes narrowed, but he wasn’t going to force-feed her. “I don’t like the idea of you going hungry.”
“I cannot eat another meal of jerky and hardtack. The mere thought of it makes my stomach churn.”
“All right. Make sure you grab food you’ll eat from the store.”
She nodded, thankful he wasn’t pushing the issue. “I will. What are your favorite foods?”
“I’ll eat just about anything,” he said. “In the winter I really like soups and stews. In the summer, I’m happy with sandwiches. I won’t be difficult to feed,” Jack promised.
“Glad to hear it. It’s going to take a little while for me to learn how to cook better.
I’m not a bad baker, though I don’t enjoy it.
I think my friend Myrtle is going to ask to be the baker for all of us, though.
She can bake anything. I’ve seen her throw random ingredients onto a pie crust, and the result was wonderful! ”
“Make sure you get her to bake bread every day for us, and if she could make an occasional dessert, I’d be very happy.”
“I’ll talk to her then! I’ll see her in an hour or two at the store. Though I think I’ll head to town and do my shopping before we meet up with the others.”
“Sounds good.” He finished his food and pushed his plate away. “I’m heading to work. Don’t expect me before dark.”
She nodded. “I’ll expect you when I see you.”
He leaned down to kiss her goodbye, and she couldn’t help flinching away. Despite sleeping in his arms the night before, she was still very afraid. Hopefully, she would get over it soon, but she wasn’t certain that was possible.
He had a hurt look on his face when he stood after kissing her on the cheek. “I would never hurt you, Josie.”
“I...I’ll try to keep that in mind.”
As soon as he was gone, she put water onto boil and hauled the tin tub that was hanging on the outside of the house in. She was going to take a bath if it killed her.
While she waited for the water to heat up, she swept the floor and pulled the sheets and quilt off the bed. She had to get laundry done, as well as meet with her friends. It would be a busy day.
After her bath, she dumped the water out, and walked into town. She wasn’t certain what time the store opened, but she planned to be there when it did.
Seeing that the store was open when she arrived, she looked over the shelves, trying to decide what to buy.
When she took potatoes from the shelf, Katie walked up behind her.
“Your friends will be sharing the food they’ve worked for all summer if you plan on working with them.
I think you should wait on produce and meat.
Just pick up essentials like flour, sugar, and coffee. ”
Josie turned, a bit startled that someone was so close behind her. “Absolutely. Thank you so much for the advice. I just wanted to start getting the cabin organized before I met with the others. I’m sure it’ll be fine to get a few essentials then.”
She stacked sugar, flour, coffee, salt, baking powder, yeast cakes, rice, oatmeal, and cornmeal onto the counter. “Do you have a pattern for making boots for the winter? I noticed my husband’s are worn through.”
“I can get you a mukluk pattern. That’s what most of the men wear here. You’ll use animal hide and fur. Most people use rabbit fur in this area.”
“That would be wonderful!” Josie said. She’d never made boots or any sort of shoe, but she could learn, and she knew her efforts would be appreciated. Jack seemed like a kind man. She hoped his kindness was truthful and not a facade.
Katie hurried away and came back with three things. First, she gave Josie the pattern for the boots. “You’re going to need these as well,” Katie said, adding navy beans and tea to her pile.
“Oh, this is perfect! Do you have a book of receipts? I’m not much of a cook.”
Katie pulled a book out from under the counter. “This is a very basic cookbook put together by a homestead wife in Tanana. I think it will be very useful. I bought a copy myself, and I’ve made several things from it.”
“Oh, thank you!” Josie took out some cash to pay, even though Jack had told her not to. It didn’t seem fair that he had to pay for everything.
Katie shook her head. “I’ll start an account for you. I know Mr. Blake has one, but most of your friends have started their own accounts, and they pay for everything with it. Then when I sell something for you, I’ll be able to add it to your account.”
“That sounds wonderful if it’s not too much work for you.”
“It’s not. I’m just going to treat you the exact same way I treat the other ladies.”
“That sounds good. Thank you so much, Mrs. Johnson.”
“Katie. Please, call me Katie.”
“All right...Katie.”
“Would you like me to have Mr. Johnson deliver this to your cabin?” Katie asked. “It would be difficult to carry it all.”
“That would be wonderful if you really don’t mind.”
“It’s good for him to get out and do some physical work. With more people coming, he’s spending more and more time working on what he’s going to teach on Sundays.” Katie shook her head. “We can’t let him go soft!”
Josie laughed. “No, we can’t. When will it be delivered?
” she asked, picking up the pattern and cookbook from the stack.
She wanted to learn as much as possible as quickly as she could.
Of course, that day would be spent with her friends and cleaning her new home.
But after that? She wanted to have the cookbook for her rest times.
“This afternoon. Will you be home?”
“I’m not sure.”
“I can have Mr. Johnson put everything on your table if that will help you.”
“That would be wonderful!” Josie left the store with a smile on her face. She wasn’t certain what it would be, but she knew she’d find her niche soon.
When she arrived home, she immediately went to work, carrying buckets of water inside to do the laundry. She should have done it as soon as Jack left for work, but she felt accomplished with what she’d done.
Watching the time slowed down her progress a bit, but by the time she needed to walk to the store to meet her friends, she had the laundry on the line. As soon as she hung up the last shirt, she hurried to town. She couldn’t wait to see friends she hadn’t seen in months...and a year in some cases.
When she reached the store, she spotted Myrtle speaking with Belle, Maggie, Agnes, and Sally. As she walked up behind Agnes, she heard her ask, “I heard something about a surprise?”
She tapped Agnes on the shoulder. “Are you my surprise?” Agnes asked, embracing her.
“Well, her and me too,” Lula said.
“And me,” Ella said.
“Four of you came together?” Belle asked, embracing each of them in turn.
“We did. We probably shouldn’t have, but we did.” Josie grinned. “I can’t wait to find out what you need me to do.”
“There are always options,” Belle said. “We’ll go over them when we get to Maggie’s for lunch.”
Josie took the baby Belle was holding. “Oh, he’s a handsome boy!”
Belle smiled. “He gets that from his father.”
Soon after, they all walked to Maggie’s cabin. Belle waited until they were all seated before explaining exactly how their little operation worked. It was quickly decided that Lula would join Belle every morning hunting.
When Sally asked if anyone was available to forage with her, Josie volunteered for the task. “You’ll need to tell me what to do.”
Sally smiled. “I can be bossy when I need to be.”
Maggie served a meal that had nothing to do with hardtack or jerky, so Josie was thrilled. She shouldn’t have skipped breakfast that morning, but she really didn’t think she could choke down more hardtack.
As soon as they were finished eating, Maggie took Belle’s son and shooed them all out the door. “Get us some more meat!” Maggie called after Belle and Lula.
Sally looked at Josie. “Let’s go do this.
Maggie’s a better forager than I am, but I’ve learned a lot in the past few weeks.
We’ll be able to find Eskimo potatoes and there are still some berries.
Today, we’re looking for onions, Eskimo potatoes, blueberries, low bush cranberries, highland cranberries, and crowberries. ”
Sally handed Josie a basket. “We want to find as many as we can. What we’re foraging for now will need to last through the winter for all eight couples. Plus, it’s nice to have some to make into pie filling and jam to sell at the store. Do you bake?”
Josie shook her head. “I’m useless in the kitchen. I mean, I can clean one like no one else, but actually cooking or baking are beyond me. I bought a book of receipts from Katie today. I hope it helps me.”
“I’m sure once we’ve finished our foraging, you can get cooking lessons from any one of us. I’d love to teach you if you would like!”
“Thank you! I think I would like to learn to bake from Myrtle because she’s incredible, but I’ll learn anything that any of you are willing to teach me.”
“Let’s concentrate on finding food first,” Sally said with a smile.
They had reached a clearing, and Josie already saw berries to be picked.
“The berries are easy to spot.” Sally squatted down, touching a fern-like plant with yellow leaves.
There were several brown pods hanging from it, making Josie think of peas.
“These are Eskimo potatoes. At least that’s what they’re called.
They’re not really potatoes at all.” Sally removed one of the pods and opened it, showing Josie what was inside. “This is the part that’s edible.”
“So, there are no real potatoes?” Josie asked. She would miss them.
“Only the ones I grew in my garden. I grew a lot of potatoes. I’ll have Tom bring over a big bag for you later.” Sally smiled. “I love to garden, so that’s become my special skill to help our group. Do you have any idea what yours will be?”
Josie shook her head. “No, not really. I can knit and sew, but I’m not sure if I want to do just those things. I mean, in winter, I think it would be practical, but I want to be able to help with food somehow. Just probably not cooking it!”
Sally smiled. “I prefer gardening to cooking. We could certainly use another gardener.”
Josie nodded. “I’ll think about it. I’m not sure it’s what I want long term though.”
“You have plenty of time to figure it out.” Sally stood and pointed to another plant. “This is a wild onion. The Eskimo potatoes and the onions are real food, and we should focus on those first. Then we’ll pick berries after. Do you think you can identify the potatoes and onions?”
“I think I can.”
They spent two full hours foraging before it started to get too dark to continue. Sally finally said, “It’s getting too dark to continue. And it’s probably time to start supper for our men.”
Josie groaned. “I hope I can figure something out!”
“You’ll be able to. Let’s head to my place. We need to divide our forage into eight equal parts.”
“Will Belle and Lula do the same with whatever meat they get?”
“We share everything equally. Whatever is left, we sell to the store. Katie even buys some of it from us. She’s so happy to have other women in town!”
Josie smiled as she followed Sally to her cabin. “I think I’m going to like it here.”