Epilogue
It was mid-September, and all the crops were finally harvested. Maggie had her little baby—a girl she named Gertrude and they all called her Trudie. Maggie and Belle kept laughing as they talked about the wedding their children would have.
Agnes and Sally were spending their afternoons foraging because Maggie wasn’t yet up for it. They all met at Maggie’s every day for lunch, and one day, Belle said, “Aaron’s back with his new wife.”
“Who is it?” Agnes asked. She knew there were four possibilities, but wasn’t sure which one was right.
“Everett didn’t know, but he told me that the new wife has a surprise for us. We’re supposed to meet her at the store at ten tomorrow morning.”
Agnes frowned. “That’s odd. I’ll be there, though.”
Maggie sighed. “I’ll be there too. Trudie won’t much like it, but Trudie doesn’t like much other than sleeping and nursing. I feel like you should be milking me instead of the goats, Agnes.”
“Of course we’ll all be there!” Sally said. “We need occasional breaks from our work, and it will be good to have another lady join us on our path. If she does. We never know, do we?”
“We don’t. I hope she does though. I wish I knew which of the ladies was here, so we could decide what we need from her,” Belle said, shaking her head. “I suppose we could make a list of all the tasks that still need to be accomplished and see if she wants one.”
“Let’s do that while we’re all together,” Agnes said.
“The foraging can wait for another few minutes, and my goats and fish are taken care of for the day. Most of the salmon are gone. We won’t get many more, but I think I’ve built up a good amount.
And I’m still catching what I can. Katie says there will still be at least a few coho salmon in October, but the rest will be gone by the end of this month. ”
“We’re going to have to start thinking about our winter plans,” Belle said. “But I’m still going to be hunting as often as I can. Maggie is watching Bertie in the afternoons until she feels well enough to forage again.”
“I could do it now,” Maggie protested.
“Katie says at least six weeks, and it’s only been two,” Belle argued. “We’re listening to Katie.”
“All right then,” Maggie said with a pout.
“All right, let’s make our list of chores so we’re ready when we see whoever we’re supposed to see tomorrow. I wonder what the surprise could be?” Sally said.
“I guess we’ll find out in the morning,” Agnes replied. She was dying to know, but there was no point asking. The others knew as much as she did.
So, they made their lists and talked of their plans for winter, each of them wondering who would be joining them.