Chapter Eight
The following morning, Agnes went to her nets as soon as the breakfast dishes were done, and she’d kissed Jasper goodbye as he went off to work.
She only hauled in one net because she wanted to take some fresh salmon as a gift for the Johnsons.
She put the fish into her basket and dropped the net back where it belonged.
Then she went inside and took each of the wrapped gingerbread cakes and put them in a basket. She chose the two largest salmon and put them in another basket, and then she was off to the store. She’d clean the remaining fish when she’d finished her short errand.
At the store, she surprised Katie with the salmon and gave her the gingerbread. “I hope it will sell,” Agnes said.
Katie gushed over the salmon. “I can’t wait to make this for supper tonight.
I want to close the shop and cook it up right now!
And there will be no trouble selling the gingerbread.
The men will be excited about a new sweet.
And you made small cakes out of it, which is perfect.
Now does this go on your account or should I split the profits? ”
Agnes thought about the question for a moment.
Technically, she was supposed to get the profits from anything she baked, but she knew she’d be getting more than she’d contribute that year at least. The others had already worked so hard all summer long, and she’d gotten benefits from it. “Split it, please.”
Katie nodded, smiling. “I thought you’d say that.”
“Will the others be able to tell?”
“Not at all. No one questions how much they make because it would take away from work time. I am careful with the numbers, and the girls understand that and trust me.”
“Oh, good. I don’t want them to know. But they’ve already done so much for me, and I’ve only been here a few days.”
“You’ll be doing just as much for them with salmon. Belle won’t have to hunt quite as much, and with little Bertie, that’ll be a good thing.”
“I think so too. More hands make for lighter work.”
“You girls exhaust me with the amount of work you all do. I know I’m in the store for long hours, but I have a place to sit when there’s a chance.” Katie shook her head. “Don’t wear yourself out.”
“I won’t!” Agnes said as she waved and left the store.
From there, she went to Belle’s cabin, where she would eat lunch with the other women. “What have you been up to this morning?” Belle asked.
“I took some salmon to Katie to thank her for having us to lunch yesterday, and I took a few small gingerbread cakes to see how they do.”
Belle smirked. “They’ll be gone before the men’s lunch hour is over. They really do love their sweets.” She stirred the stew she had cooking on the stove. “The others should be here any minute. Are you excited for your first real day as a fisherwoman?”
“I am. I do love fried salmon, so I have a feeling that will be what I cook. After cleaning all the fish from the nets and starting the smoking process, of course.” Agnes felt a tad bit overwhelmed at the idea of how much she had left to do, but she wasn’t going to miss the lunch with her friends.
If she didn’t have their companionship, she knew being in Alaska would be much harder.
“Remember, you’re always welcome to select a different meat from our cold house.”
“I appreciate that, and I know I’ll take you up on it soon.”
Sally came in then, a basket full of greens and peas in one arm. “I’ve got our daily harvest.”
Belle looked into the basket. “I’ll wash these greens to go with our stew for lunch.”
Maggie was there a moment later. She also carried a basket. “Lots of berries today. Jams and pies are going to be abundant this year.”
Agnes smiled. She really did like how their system worked.
Soon, they were all sharing their lunch and talking about their plans for the day. “I’ve hauled in one net, but haven’t cleaned any fish yet. That will be my afternoon. Yesterday, Jasper helped, but today I’m on my own.”
“I’d offer to help, but I want to get more berries while they’re still in season,” Maggie said.
“If you find it’s too much, let me know,” Belle said. “I’m staying home with Bertie today, and I’d be happy to help.”
“I’ll keep that in mind!” Agnes said, but she knew she wouldn’t ask for help. She had to learn to do it efficiently on her own.
“I have my nets to haul in and a few more crops to harvest,” Sally said. “I’d offer to help, but I’m busy as well.”
“No need,” Agnes said confidently. “I need to learn how to get it all done.”
“There’s no doubt in my mind you will,” Sally replied.
When they were finished eating, Agnes immediately started clearing the table, but Belle stopped her. “No, you have a great deal to get done this afternoon. Let me get the dishes.”
“Are you certain?” Agnes asked.
“Yes. It’s how I do my share when I can’t be out hunting.”
“I’ll take my leave then. There’s so much to do!” Agnes was excited now, ready to tackle all the fish on her own. She wanted to show the other ladies—as well as Jasper—that she could get it all done.
On her way home, she decided to process each net separately. It wouldn’t feel quite as overwhelming that way.
By the end of the day, her hands felt as if they were frozen from handling the cold fish, but the work was done.
She had just enough time to make supper.
She used some of the greens she’d gotten that morning, a few of the Eskimo potatoes, and made a pie as well.
There were ripe blueberries, and there was nothing she liked more than blueberry pie.
She promised herself she would take some time to make a blueberry pie filling and can it so she could have pie throughout the winter.
When Jasper arrived home, she was exhausted but feeling very proud of all she’d accomplished that day. There were new strings of fish in the smokehouse, supper was ready, and the pie smelled delicious.
Jasper looked around the room, as if he were expecting to see something he didn’t. “Did you really get all those fish processed?” he asked, sounding impressed.
She nodded. “And I took gingerbread cake to sell, and I gave two salmon to Mrs. Johnson to thank her for lunch yesterday.”
“You did well. I was questioning whether you could actually do it all, but I see you can.”
“It’s certainly not easy, but it is possible,” she replied, walking to him to kiss him. “Supper’s ready. I’ll serve it while you wash up.”
As they ate, she asked him about his day. He sighed. “I was in the sawmill all day. Sometimes it’s nice, but I actually missed chopping down trees while we were traveling.”
She grinned. “You love your work. I’m glad! I worried I was doing all the work that was enjoyable while you were toiling away at something you hate.”
“No, it might seem silly to you, but I enjoy my job a great deal. Not as much as I enjoy coming home to you, but I’m not sure anything would be better than the feeling I get when we’re together.”
She smiled, touched by his words. “I must confess. I feel the same when you come home from work.”
“Did you get a good amount of fish today?” he asked.
She nodded. “About the same as yesterday. I hope you don’t mind that I fixed salmon for supper. It was much easier than having to search for something else to cook. I know Belle’s cold house is full, but I feel a little guilty for taking anything from it before I’ve contributed.”
“I can understand that. I will say that with the volume of fish you’re pulling in, you’re doing more than your share. And you’ll provide everyone with milk, butter, and cheese.”
“That’s true. I’ll probably even churn the butter myself and gift them the resulting balls. We’ll see how my time works out. I can’t wait for the goats to arrive.”
“Don’t be in a big hurry,” he said. “We still have to build the barn for them.”
“That’s this weekend, right?”
He nodded. “And Everett is once again donating the wood. We’re going to need to stack hay all around the walls for them to stay warm throughout the winter.”
“Where will we get the hay?” she asked, not having thought of that.
“Oh, at the end of summer, before the freeze, we’ll go out with scythes and get as much hay as we can. Sally will need some for her pigs as well. We talked about it last weekend. We want the grass to get taller first, though.”
“Is there enough grass to get them through the winter? I can’t believe I never thought of that.” Agnes worried that raising goats would be too difficult without enough hay.
He nodded. “There’s so much along the riverbanks, and there’s so much river here that no one lives near.
Even when someone does live on the river, they will most likely be happy for us to remove some of the excess grass.
We’ll probably do that the weekend after we build the barn.
We may build the cold house in between, but I think that will wait better than the grass.
It needs to dry in the sun before it’s truly usable. ”
“All right. I’m glad you know more about the subject than I do.
” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I didn’t take the time to read anything else about goats today.
I need to make sure I put in some time every day learning what I can.
Today was about proving to myself I could handle all the fish on my own. ”
“And you did,” he said, covering her hand with his. “We’ll learn together.”
“I suppose we will.”
“And I plan on milking the goats at least once per day, so you won’t have that full burden. We’ll see if it works out better for me in the mornings or the evenings when the time comes.”
“I don’t want you to have to help!”
“And I don’t want you to have to do everything yourself. I will benefit from the goats as much as you will.”
Agnes thought about what he said for a moment and reluctantly nodded. “I suppose that’s fair.”
“What do you plan to cook for the barn raising this weekend?” he asked.
“I thought I’d make a thick venison stew. Belle said she has more venison than any other meat.”
“That sounds good. Maybe some warm bread to go with it?”
“I can certainly make that happen. We won’t be making nets this weekend, so there should be plenty of time to make a few loaves of bread.”
“I do love to eat bread with stew.”
“I will keep that in mind.” She got up then and came back with clean plates and the blueberry pie. “I hope you like blueberries.”
“Love them. Truly, I’m like the other men in town. It’s been so long since I’ve had sweets, I find that anything with sugar in it makes me happy.”
He took his first bite and smiled. “This is delicious. Don’t sell any blueberry pie. I want them all for myself.”
She laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
While she did the dishes that evening, Jasper went out and checked the fish she’d processed that day to see if everything was getting enough of the smoke.
When he came back inside, he said, “I moved a few of the strings, so the smoke would be distributed more evenly. I think you’ll be happy when you see it. ”
“Thank you for the help. I appreciate it so much!”
He laughed. “I expected to completely support us both when I sent for you. Thank you for working so hard so our lives will be better.”
She dried and put the last dish away. “I think I’m going to read up on goats for a few minutes. I feel bad I didn’t get that done.”
“Don’t worry about that,” he said. “I can occupy myself for a while.”
So while she read, he carried bucket after bucket of water inside. “I’m going to get a bath,” he said. “Would you like me to carry in extra water for you?”
She shook her head. “No, I bathed just a few days ago. I’ll just get this reading done.”
As she tried to focus on her book, she couldn’t help but peek at him taking his clothes off. It was strange how sensual it seemed to her. She did her best to keep her mind on the goats, but it was harder than she’d thought it would be.
She finished the section she was reading and slipped a piece of paper between the pages so she wouldn’t lose her spot.
The reading was dry, and she felt the need to remember as many details as possible, so she closed her eyes and thought through the information, committing it to memory.
Raising goats wouldn’t be the easiest thing in the world, but she could do it. She was sure of it.
“So, what did you learn?” Jasper asked, putting on his nightshirt.
“I was reading about the process for making butter out of goat cream. It’s possible, but it is much harder than it is to make butter from cow’s cream. I’m not sure it will be worth my time to make butter.”
He nodded. “It’s your decision. I can certainly live without butter.”
“I’ll talk to the others about it tomorrow.
We may decide to all make it together, but the process is painstaking, and you need a great deal more milk than you would if you were making butter from a cow.
Goats don’t produce as much cream, which I didn’t know until just now.
I may only be able to make cheese.” She sighed. “I do love butter...”
“Whatever you decide is fine with me. Ask the others and decide together.”
She nodded, getting to her feet and carefully laying the book on the table. “At least I now know all that goes into it.”
Jasper smiled, pulling her toward him. “It’s all going to work out. Are you ready for bed?” he asked.
“I just need to change into my nightgown.”
“I have a feeling you’re not going to need it tonight,” he said, lowering his mouth to hers.