Chapter 62 To Skin a Rabbit
The next morning it was snowing so hard that we decided we weren’t going anywhere.
“What can we do to help?” I asked.
“Whatever you like. I’m butchering a brace of rabbits that Aisling caught this morning for stew. I think, Alina, what are you doing?” Magdala asked.
Alina held up a pair of trousers. “Mending clothes.”
Aisling was going to chop wood. Rupert and Sean were going hunting, and Mavis was washing clothes.
I offered to help Magdala—it seemed like it would be a good idea to learn how to clean and gut a rabbit.
Thornhold opted to help Mavis. Reggie and Ray decided to go hunting with Rupert and Sean, and Brynn joined Aisling out at the woodpile.
Magdala motioned for me to follow her. “We have a shed and smokehouse out back. That’s where we do our butchering, so as to keep the house clean. Bundle up. There’s a stove in the shed, but it’s still icy.”
I slid my cloak over my shoulders and followed her out to the back. The yard was covered with snow, but I could see what looked like raised beds beneath some of the lower drifts. And a nearby stand of trees all had spiles in them.
“You gather sap from those trees? What kind are they?”
Magdala frowned. “I told those boys to remove the spiles for the winter. I’ll have to get after them later about it.
And yes, those are hagarna trees. We boil down the sap for syrup and use it as a sweetener.
The trees are remarkably productive during the late spring and summer, and we usually manage to refine a good barrel full each year just from our stand of them.
Hagarna syrup is full of nutrition as well, and provides an incredible amount of energy. ”
Magdala placed the rabbits on the butcher’s table and gave me a long look. “Where are you from that you don’t know how to prepare a rabbit for cooking?”
I thought quickly. “We don’t have many rabbits where I come from. And my family mostly ate beef and pork. It was man’s work to butcher the meat.”
Magdala laughed, shaking her head. “Never trust that you’ll have a man around to help you. Learn to do everything you can on your own, my dear.”
I nodded. “Good advice. So, what’s the first step?”
“First step is we skin the creatures.” She began with cuts on the legs, then showed me how to pull the skin down, as though she were undressing the bunny.
It was hard for me to watch—I liked rabbits and felt bad for them—but I also knew that, should we be stuck here for good, it was a skill I needed to know.
She handed me a knife and motioned to the other rabbit.
“Go ahead, follow my lead,” she said.
I tried to mimic her movements, faltering several times. She corrected my form, and we moved on. Finally, I was at the point where I needed to cut its head off and I stopped, tears welling up. Feeling odd—I hadn’t felt this way when I hunted the deer—I blushed and turned away.
“What’s wrong, my dear?” Magdala asked.
“I just feel awkward. I know where my meat comes from; it’s not that, but facing the reality of how to get it… It’s just difficult for me,” I said.
“The first time is always hard,” she said.
“You’re doing fine. And think—this rabbit gave its life so that we could continue ours.
We’ll give it proper thanks at our meal.
We always thank the spirits of the animals we hunt.
Without them, we would die. So they deserve the acknowledgement that our lives rely on their deaths. ”
Feeling a little better—acknowledging where the meat came from helped me feel less guilty—I followed her lead again, and within another few minutes, we were gutting the rabbits and then washing them clean.
Magdala showed me how to prepare the hides for tanning, and then we carried the meat back into the kitchen, where we cut it into pieces and tossed it into a big cauldron.
Magdala filled it with water, then we cut up carrots, onions, potatoes to go into the stewpot, and then added a selection of dried herbs.
“I have an herb garden,” Magdala said. “Life here is simple, and so is the food, so we grow herbs to change out the monotony. Now, that will stew until dinner. Our lunch consists of bread and cheese and smoked ham.”
I nodded, looking around. Everyone else was out of sight. “What can I help you with next?”
Magdala thought for a moment. “You could help me by sweeping the living room floor while I wash the dishes from breakfast.”
The rest of the afternoon was spent on household tasks.
At one point, I peeked out the window to see Aisling and Brynn talking, standing by a pile of freshly cut firewood.
They looked deep in discussion and I wondered what was going on.
Brynn had a boyfriend back home, but we’d been here for weeks now, and there had been no word from the game devs.
I was beginning to wonder if they’d somehow just neglected to tell anybody about what happened so they wouldn’t get sued.
By late afternoon, the rabbit stew smelled incredible, and the house was spotless.
Mavis and Thornhold had finished all the washing, and the clothes were hanging on a line on the enclosed back porch, sheltered from the snow and wind by the shutters that closed against the storms. Aisling and Brynn brought in a load of wood and stacked it next to the woodstove and the fireplace.
And shortly before dinner, the men returned from the hunt.
Rupert had a worried look on his face as he entered the house, and the others mirrored his expression. “We found something out there besides elk,” he said.
“What?” Magdala asked.
“I think something’s moved into the area. I think we caught the trail of an ice giant.”
Magdala froze. “What do you mean? They don’t come down this low.”
“I know that,” Rupert said, “but still…I think there’s an ice giant prowling around the woods. We have to be on guard, just in case it stumbles into the village.”
Magdala thought for a moment. “Well, come and eat dinner, and we’ll talk about it afterward. Did you catch anything?”
“Three deer and one elk,” Sean said.
And with that, we shelved the discussion about the ice giant and gathered around the table for rabbit stew.