Chapter Five
It was many hours later that Sally became aware of a weight holding her down in the bed. It took a moment before she realized it was Tom’s arm. He’d held her in her sleep, and she’d loved every moment of it.
She slipped out from under his arm and pulled her nightgown back over her head. It had been discarded during their lovemaking, and she’d had to find it. His nightshirt was on the floor as well.
When she thought about what they’d done together the night before, she couldn’t help but smile. Her mother had been right. Lovemaking was wonderful.
Hurrying into the kitchen, she grabbed the egg basket and went outside to collect the eggs from the hens. He had six of them, which was a good amount for each of them in the mornings.
She mixed up the dough for a loaf of bread, and while she waited for it to rise, she fried the eggs with a little bacon which she’d purchased from the store the day before.
She wondered if raising pigs would be a good idea and decided to ask someone later.
It would be pointless to try if they’d freeze to death in the winters.
As soon as their simple breakfast was ready, Sally woke Tom. To her surprise, he pulled her down atop him, kissing her passionately. “Breakfast is ready,” she said softly when he broke the kiss.
He sighed. “I guess there’s really no time to make love before work. I’m not letting you out of bed until noon tomorrow.”
She giggled. “Sounds good to me. As long as we get land for my garden cleared.”
“You shouldn’t be practical when all I want to do is keep you in bed all day.”
She rolled off him. “I made eggs and bacon. I hope that’s all right. I wish we had a goat for milk.”
“Oh, we do. I just let her wander in the spring. She’ll be back in an hour or two to be milked.”
“Did you milk her yesterday?” Sally asked, worried about the poor goat.
He nodded. “I did it. My friend Jasper did it while I was gone. He was thrilled to have fresh milk for a while.”
“Tell me about Jasper. I have a friend back in Massachusetts who is thinking of coming here. Would Jasper be interested in a mail-order bride?”
“I don’t know. I can talk to him about it today, if you’d like.”
“That would be great. He works with you?”
Tom nodded, getting out of bed and stretching, not at all ashamed of his nudity. “He does. He’s a good friend. A little older than me. Good man.”
After breakfast, Tom carried water to the cabin so Sally could bathe again, remembering what she’d said the night before. Sally took the bread out of the oven and made three bacon sandwiches for his lunch before Tom left.
After he was gone, she undressed and got into the tub, planning to use the water to do the small amount of laundry that needed to be done that morning. She washed the sheets along with the clothes she’d worn the day before.
When she’d finished, she walked to the store to talk to Katie about raising pigs. She had no idea if there was a local pig farmer, but she knew she’d have cheaper bacon if she raised pigs herself. She could live on bacon.
Katie told her there was no pig farmer in the area.
“I’ve looked into it myself,” Katie told her.
“The pig enclosure would need to be surrounded with hay to keep the pigs warm in the winter, but I don’t think that would be difficult.
I pay a lot of money to have bacon and salt pork shipped in.
I could order a few piglets if that’s what you want to do. ”
“I’ll talk to Tom about it this evening. What about food? Can I grow corn for them here?”
“You can grow corn here, but from what I read, it would be better to feed them softening root vegetables or let them have forage. Any part of an animal that will go to waste. Fish heads. Table scraps. Anything of that nature. You can mix corn into it, and the pigs will thrive.”
“All right. I think I can do that! I’ll let you know what Tom says by Monday.”
“I’ll look into costs for you. When I considered it, it was many years ago, and I’m certain things will be more expensive now.”
Sally nodded. “Thank you, Katie. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge with me.”
When Sally turned around, she wasn’t surprised to see Maggie standing behind her. Maggie had two large baskets, each covered with a towel. “If you wait, we can walk to Belle’s together and talk some more about what we discussed yesterday.”
“That would be wonderful,” Sally said. She stepped out of the way so Maggie could conduct her business with Katie, and then the two of them headed to Belle’s.
“Did you talk to your husband about our proposition?” Maggie asked.
Sally nodded. “I did, and he really likes the idea. He’s going to help me clear a large section of land this weekend.”
“And you’re thinking of raising pigs?” Maggie asked.
“I am! I think it would fit nicely into our little operation, don’t you?”
“I do! But I think those profits should be kept just for you, as we’ve evenly divided our tasks already.”
“You’re probably right. I think I’d feel bad if I didn’t share though.”
“Share the meat with us when you butcher then. But if you sell anything to the store, keep that money. The bacon at the store is so pricey that I hate spending that much. Perhaps you can help mitigate that cost for us.”
Sally smiled. “And if you have anything starting to go bad or table scraps, I could feed them to the pigs. I probably wouldn’t butcher any the first year, but I’ll order a book on the best way to take care of them. I have a basic idea because my father was a pig farmer.”
“I didn’t know that! How old were you when he died?”
“Twelve,” Sally said. “My mother was never the same after he died.”
Maggie knocked once on Belle’s door and then went inside. “Sally’s going to take us up on our business idea, but she’s going to add more if Mr. Harlan agrees.”
“What more?” Belle asked, looking up from little Bertie, whom she was nursing.
“I want to raise pigs,” Sally said. “My father was a pig farmer, and I just got some great advice about raising them from Katie. Wouldn’t it be nice to have bacon more often?”
Belle grinned. “Bacon sounds wonderful. But you can’t share those profits with us. It wouldn’t be fair.”
“That’s what I told her,” Maggie said. “But I did say we would love a share of the meat.”
“As would we,” Belle said. “We’ll find a way to even everything up.”
“Who’s watching the baby today?” Sally asked. “I can’t work unless it’s fishing. We will be clearing the land this weekend.”
Maggie and Belle exchanged a look. “We’ll all come clear your land. It’s too big of a job for only two people. I have a basket the baby sleeps in when we’re out.”
“Wonderful!” Sally said. “I’ll plan to feed everyone for helping.”
“I will always take an excuse not to cook!” Belle said. “Let me give you some of our venison. A big pot of venison stew would easily feed all of us.”
“That sounds good. So, do you want me to take care of the baby today, or should I fish?” Sally had always enjoyed the quiet involved with fishing.
She’d find a quiet spot and catch whatever came along.
If she could keep the fish heads, they would be good for the pigs later.
Perhaps Belle would allow her to use a corner of the cold house.
Maggie frowned for a moment. “The baby is fussy today, so Belle wants to stay with him. Why don’t I show you the good foraging spots?
I’m not sure we’ll find anything good this early in the season, but at least you’ll know where to go when you want to do some foraging yourself.
I’ve found some Eskimo potatoes and green onions already.
..and some lingonberries left over from last year.
They are rather tart, but we can make them into jam. ”
“Sounds like a plan. Do we not want me to fish as part of our little business venture?”
“I hate fish,” Belle said, wrinkling her nose. “I will only eat it if there’s nothing else around. If you want to fish for yourself, I would recommend doing it in the mornings or on the weekends with your husband.”
“The fish will be great mixed with corn for the pigs. If Tom agrees with getting them, of course. I’m getting ahead of myself.”
Maggie smiled, squeezing Sally’s hand. “That’s what we love most about you.”
“I have some bread and some eggs. I’ll make egg sandwiches before you go. Remember, I get some of the forage!” Belle said.
After lunch, Maggie and Sally went to a meadow, and Maggie showed Sally what Eskimo potatoes looked like. “You’ve had some now, right?”
Sally nodded. “I prefer russet or red potatoes, but from what I read they don’t grow well here, so I’m going to grow early rose and Irish cobbler potatoes.
I don’t know if I like them, but I bought seeds, and we’re all going to try them.
I’ll grow a variety of things for us all. I can’t wait to put my garden in!”
“I’m excited to have more foods available. I grow tired of the things we can forage, but we don’t go hungry.”
They passed the afternoon foraging. Sally soaked up all the information her friend had gleaned in her eight months in Alaska. The sun was still high in the sky when Maggie called a halt and said it was time to go home.
“But it’s still so early!” Sally said.
Maggie shook her head. “We can’t rely on the sun for time here. Winter is almost total darkness. Summer is almost total light. I bought myself a watch so I know when it’s time to go home.”
“I should probably do that as well,” Sally said. She’d heard about the midnight sun in Alaska but hadn’t truly believed it.
Their baskets were full as they walked back toward town. “I think I’m going to make lingonberry jam,” Sally looked into the basket she carried.
“This is still from the fall harvest of lingonberry,” Maggie said. “It will be a great deal more tart, and you’ll want to add lots of sugar. Make sure to taste it to get the flavor you’d like.”
“Is this something I could sell at the store?” Sally asked.
“You could, but I’d keep it on hand for putting on bread or toast. There will be money going into your account regularly. You don’t need to worry about selling jam.”
“All right. That’s just what I’ll do then.”
As they parted ways, Sally realized she’d learned more from a day of foraging with Maggie than she had from all the books she’d read about what she could grow in Alaska. The next few months would be challenging. But it would all be worth it because she had Tom.
*****
THE OTHERS ARRIVED early on Saturday, and Sally was ready for them. She had a large pot of venison stew on the stove, and it would simmer all morning while they worked.
The baby went down for his morning nap easily, and they put him on the porch, covered by a blanket. They would be able to hear him if he cried.
Tom had agreed to the pigs, and the men made a plan to get together the following weekend to build a pigpen. They would worry about the hay before winter, but it would be warm enough until then.
Sally and the other ladies worked on clearing anything on the ground while the men chopped the trees and make a large area for Sally to plant. “Should we all plant together on Monday afternoon?” Maggie asked as she saw just how much land would need planting.
Sally shook her head. “No need. I’m so happy to do it, and you ladies have other tasks.” She tilted her head to one side, thinking as she stood with her hoe in hand. “I will probably need at least three days to plant.”
“We expected that,” Maggie said. “When you’re finished planting, we’ll start our baby rotation.
” Maggie pulled a huge clump of weeds and tossed it onto their pile.
Sally would let the weeds pile up and use it to fertilize the soil in the fall, so the land would be ready to plant again in the spring.
“What are you planning on planting this week?”
“I have to do everything in stages,” Sally said. “My book says that the best plants for mid-May are radishes, turnips, peas, spinach, and kale. So, I’ll put those in. Then I have made lists for early June, early July, and when everything should be ready to harvest.”
“If you need help harvesting, let me know. I may be too big for that then, but if I am, Belle can help, and I can be on baby duty every day.”
“I plan to do it all myself. Or have Tom help me. I don’t want to shirk my part of the work.”
Belle finished feeding the baby and walked over to hear the last sentence Sally had said. “No one would ever accuse you of shirking, Sally. We have all worked together long enough to know each other's work ethic.”
Sally smiled at that. “I appreciate all the help today getting the land ready. I don’t know how I thought Tom and I could do it on our own.”
They decided it was time for lunch then, and the women went inside to set the table and serve. “I made two loaves of bread this morning. I hope it’s enough,” Sally said, pursing her lips.
“It’ll be fine,” Belle said. “That pot of stew and two loaves of bread should leave everyone satisfied.”
Soon, the six of them sat around the table, feasting on the stew. As Sally looked around her, she realized these people would be the core of her friends in Alaska. She was so happy she’d decided to marry Tom and move there. She knew life would always be this perfect.