Chapter One #2
Naomi immediately decided to forfeit the idea and return to the hunter’s cabin, which upset Wendy even more. She was difficult to console that day, but that wasn’t the only problem.
They’d also used up all of the stacked dried firewood.
Naomi had already gone and cut fresh logs to get a bit of a head start, but unfortunately, the new cuts did not have enough time to cure properly and were still too wet.
When she had to use it to make a fire with it in the small stone fireplace, it smoked out the entire cabin, which forced them to open up all the windows and doors, which wasn’t great in such cold weather conditions.
It was also snowing that day, which added to the aggravation.
Worst of all, today was the day they finally ran out of food. Completely.
From the start, this had been Naomi’s main concern, and even though she’d been lucky enough to find a fishing rod hidden in the rafters and she’d successfully caught several fish down by the river during the first week, her last catch had been several days ago.
Those fish had provided them with valuable meals as well as smoke-dried meat, but for some reason, they had stopped biting.
Maybe it was the temperature change, Naomi had no idea.
All of their other supplies were used up, and for tonight, Naomi only had the fish bones left to make a watery broth. Both of them weren’t looking forward to it.
Naomi was desperate. If she couldn’t come up with a solution quickly, they would starve to death. It was snowing almost every day now, and it would only get colder. They were in dire need for sustenance.
It was a gloomy day with heavy-looking clouds promising yet another load of snow, and the wind was whipping and icy cold, piling up snow drifts everywhere, which could be treacherous to navigate. Naomi had been nervously watching it all morning, and by noon, she finally made a decision.
She’d never left her daughter alone before, but today would be the first day she had to. She just couldn’t risk getting snowed in without any supplies. She had to try.
“Listen to me, Sweetheart,” she started gently, while Wendy was lying on her cot with her back turned to her. She didn’t want to talk. “I have to go find a job,” she said. Wendy ignored her.
“We are out of food. I want to go to the ranch and ask if they need somebody to help out.” Wendy still didn’t react, but by the looks of it, she’d tilted her head a little to hear what Naomi was saying.
“It’s not far, you can see the house there on the horizon,” she said to Wendy. “It shouldn’t take too long to walk there and back, but I cannot take you with me.” That got her daughter’s attention. Wendy sat up straight, and her eyes went wide with shock.
“I’m coming with you!” she declared with such a stern look on her face, it almost broke Naomi’s resolve. She kneeled in front of her child and grabbed her daughter’s shoulders with both hands to make her look at her.
“You can’t come with me,” Naomi’s voice nearly broke.
“I need you to be a good girl right now. It’s too cold out there, and I can’t have you outside for too long in these conditions.
Not today. I will need to go there fast, but I can’t do that if you’re coming with me.
” Wendy didn’t look convinced. She shook her head.
“We will starve to death if I don’t go!” Naomi exclaimed helplessly. It was a little too loudly and caused Wendy’s eyes to fill with tears. “I’m sorry, Sweetheart, but we have no other choice. Will you be a good girl and let me do that?”
Wendy stared at her, not yet crying, but she eventually nodded. Naomi pulled her into a tight hug.
“I promise you, things will get better!” Naomi whispered to her. “I promise!”
She hurried to make a small fire with a couple of thin boards she’d broken off from one of the cots, because it was dry and wouldn’t smoke while she was gone. Then she wrapped her daughter inside all of their blankets to make sure that she’d stay warm.
Dear God, please, please, please keep my daughter safe! she prayed inwardly.
“Why don’t you sleep for a bit?” Naomi suggested then, as she wrapped her thick woolen shawl around herself. “I will be back before you know it.” Wendy laid down inside her blanket cocoon, but her worried eyes were still as wide saucers.
“God will protect you and watch over you while I’m gone,” she told her reassuringly. “I promise you I will go as fast as I can.
Closing the door from the outside while Wendy stared at her from the inside with big, fearful eyes was the hardest thing Naomi had ever done, but as much as it worried her to do that, she had no other choice.
If anything, it put an extra pep in her step to walk faster, just so she could return quicker.
The howling wind was horrendous and reaffirmed Naomi’s decision to go alone with every step that followed, and just as she’d anticipated, some of the snowdrifts had piled up well over her knees, which turned the short walk into a grueling march.
She had no idea how long it took her to reach the first outbuildings, but when she did, she was completely out of breath and needed to lean against one of the back walls to catch her breath.
If her plan worked out, they might even offer her staff accommodation, which would make everything so much easier.
Naomi couldn’t help but feel hopeful. If only the wind would let up a bit.
It seemed as if it had increased significantly, and on top of that, snow had started to fall, which turned the wind into a full-blown blizzard.
Stepping out from behind the back wall, it nearly blew her over, so she fought her way to the next building, and from there to another, slowly making her way toward the main house.
Naomi’s hope started to fizzle out quickly when she suddenly found herself in near whiteout conditions. It was getting harder and harder to see. A slight fear crept into her mind. Had she made a mistake going out in this dangerous weather?
Pushing with all her might against the blustery gusts, she managed to reach the last small building, thinking that she would just walk across to the back corner of the main house.
Naomi’s plan was foiled when she reached the front, but coming around the corner, too much snow blew into her already frozen face, and she thought she wouldn’t be able to breathe.
Blinded and disoriented, she lost her footing and slammed her back against the outside wall, which suddenly gave way, and Naomi tumbled backward.
Much to her shock, she’d fallen into the building.
Her first reaction was to jump onto her feet and close the door—which was easier said than done—but once she’d managed it, she was initially surrounded by almost complete darkness.
It was surreal because the howling wind was still trying to push the door open, but Naomi pressed her back against it as hard as she could.
There were two tiny windows opposite each other, which let in the smallest amount of light, but once Naomi’s eyes had adjusted to the dimness inside, she could make out faint shapes and tall shelves lining all of the walls.
She was curious to find out what was stored in this building, but first she needed to block the door from blowing open.
There was a large rock next to the entrance near her foot, and she managed to push it close enough against the bottom corner of the door that it would keep it mostly shut.
The slit let in more light—and much more snow—and Naomi discovered a small oil lamp on a shelf right inside.
She couldn’t believe her luck when she found a box of matches right next to it. What were the chances?
Pulling off her gloves, Naomi blew into her fingers to warm them up and lit the oil lamp without a problem, since it had enough fuel inside of it.
Below the shelf stood a small ladder, which Naomi used to prop it up against the door as well, just in case the rock wouldn’t hold it shut.
Then she took the lamp, raised the wick ever so slightly to increase the flame, lifted the light high up, and turned around.
She almost dropped it. The small building she’d fallen into was a storage room, but not just any storage room.
The shelves were lined with food crates and bags, neatly stacked on top of each other.
There were rows and rows of glasses filled with fermented vegetables and fruit, and bottles with colorful liquids in them.
From hooks screwed into the ceiling beams dangled big chunks of cured hams and sausages, pheasants, chickens, and ducks—still all with their feathers on.
When Naomi touched one of the birds, she saw that they were solidly frozen.
Naomi weighed the odds—trying to ask for a job, or feed her daughter.
She didn’t waste another second. Real hunger was a powerful driver.
Snatching one of the empty sacks laying on the side, she started to pick several items and filled the bag with as many things as she could.
She stuffed all of her pockets with glasses and bottles, and she even took one of the pheasants hanging from the low rafters.
Her coat got so heavy, she had no idea if she’d be able to walk all the way back.
She’d give it her best shot because her little angel daughter was waiting inside that cabin for her, and she would do all she could to make sure that Wendy would have something other than fishy bone broth to eat tonight.