Finding Home (18 page)

One morning when it was time for Nat to
make a delivery, she found a package with her name on it wrapped in
string. She stacked the wood and picked up the package before she
started home. She cared for Quincy and walked into the kitchen as
Marissa was placing biscuits on the table.

“
What do you have there?”
Marissa asked.

“
A gift from Maggie
apparently,” Nat said. “I found it sitting on the porch this
morning when I dropped off the wood.”

“
Open it,” Marissa
urged.

Nat untied the string and peeled back
the paper. Maggie had sewn a quilt, the most beautiful she had ever
seen.

“
That is beautiful,” Marissa
said, as Nat lifted the quilt and opened it to reveal the bold
pattern Maggie had sewn for her. “We will need that on the bed if
the temperature keeps dropping like it has,” Marissa
said

“
Have you been getting cold
during the night?” Nat asked.

“
A little, yes,” Marissa
said.

“
I have the remedy for
that,” Nat said. “Take this and place it on the bed and I will be
right back.”

Marissa took the quilt and spread it
across her bed, then waited for Nat’s return.

Nat walked back to her cabin and went
to the bedroom. For the last several weeks, she had been working on
the bear skin and had finally managed to clean all of the wild
smell from it. If she placed the skin over the new quilt, Marissa
would not be cold again at night, she thought as she took the pelt
in her arms.

She carried it back to Marissa’s cabin
and walked to the bed and spread it on top of the quilt. “Now you
won’t get cold again,” Nat promised.

That night after they entered the bed,
Nat pulled the covers over their bodies and they slept the night
away wrapped in the toasty warmth of one another’s body.

PART TWELVE

Nat sat on the front porch while taking
a break from splitting wood. The afternoon was fading quickly and
Marissa would be home soon. She sat with one booted foot on the
porch railing and watched the dripping of water from the roof line.
Winter was almost over and the snow that had packed the roof for
months was beginning to melt and Nat thought about the future as
she was mesmerized by the falling droplets.

Earlier in the day, she had delivered
the pickle barrels to Maggie’s home and placed them securely on the
small cart they would use to go to the ocean. She also fashioned a
small bench seat for Maggie to sit on while they
traveled.

If the weather continued to warm over
the next few days, they would leave for the ocean that weekend. She
and Maggie made preparations for the trip, including proper pots
and pans to do real cooking in the cave where they would shelter
during the trip.

Nat also made a stop at the general
store to purchase dungarees and warmer clothes for Marissa to
travel in. There would be no comfort in dresses on this
trip.

Gyp bounded off the front porch and ran
to the road to greet Marissa who was returning home.

“
Hello, Gyp,” she said as
she knelt down to stroke the dog’s head.

Gyp walked with her until she came into
contact with the cabin and saw Nat sitting on the porch waiting for
her to arrive. Marissa carried a small bucket filled with chicken
and biscuits she had prepared for their dinner.

“
Hello, my love,” Nat said
when Marissa stepped onto the porch.

“
Hello, Nat, I hope you have
had a good day,” Marissa said.

“
I have at that,” Nat said.
“I spent the morning preparing for our trip.”

“
Is there anything I need to
do?” Marissa asked.

“
Other than try on your new
outfit, no, I think we are set,” Nat said.

“
What new outfit?” Marissa
asked.

“
I bought you some proper
traveling clothes,” Nat said.

She followed Marissa into the cabin and
sat down at the table as Marissa sat down the bucket and opened the
package sitting on the table. Marissa held the dungarees next to
her body and then took out a long sleeved undershirt and then a
thick work shirt to wear on top.

“
Let’s see how well you did
on the sizes,” Marissa said as she disappeared into the bedroom to
change.

Nat had actually done very well on
selecting the correct sizes. Marissa slipped on the dungarees and
then the undershirt, tucking it into the dungarees. She then
slipped the work shirt over the undershirt and other than the
sleeves being a little long, it fit her quite well. She put her
leather boots back on and went to model the outfit for
Nat.

“
What do you think?” she
asked as she stepped back into the room and made a slow circle for
Nat.

“
I think, you look like a
proper out of doors woman now,” Nat said. “The fit looks good and
should be ample to keep you warm during our journey.”

“
It feels so odd to not be
wearing a dress,” Marissa said.

“
Have you never owned
dungarees before?” Nat asked.

“
Never,” Marissa
said.

“
So, this is another first
for you,” Nat said with a warm smile.

“
Yes it is, my love,”
Marissa said as she sat in Nat’s lap and wrapped her arms around
her neck.

“
I have prepared our
bedrolls for the trip also,” Nat said.

“
I am so excited, I can
barely wait,” Marissa said.

“
We will leave soon, my
love,” Nat promised.

For the next two days, Nat made the
final preparations for their trip. She took Quincy into town to
have his hooves filed and she hooked him up to the small cart and
pulled it home. Nat intended to take a small load of split wood to
use in the cave which would burn longer and hotter than the dried
driftwood. She would load the wood the morning that they
departed.

She also took Hardy and Buck into town
to see the blacksmith for new shoes. While she waited on them to be
shod, Nat went to the general store to buy several pounds of salt
and a new box of cartridges for her rifle. They would camp at the
small river on the return trip home while Nat hunted for the large
buck she had seen. If she was successful in her hunt, she and
Maggie would split the meat and coat it with heavy salt until they
arrived home. Then they would smoke the fresh meat. She and Marissa
still had a bounty of meat in the smoke house, so Nat intended the
majority of the venison would be smoked for Maggie. She would also
take the pelt and the head would be sold to Smithy along with
several of the whale ribs if they were still present in the
cave.

It would be a fun trip for them as well
as a profitable one, if their plans worked out.

The night before they were due to
depart, Marissa was overcome with excitement. She baked biscuits
and a fresh pie to take with them on the trip. Nat was worried she
would not sleep that night as she bustled around the kitchen, but
when she curled up in Nat’s arms later that evening, she slept
soundly throughout the night.

Nat woke before the sun rose and
dressed in her breeches and travel clothes. She slipped quietly
from the house and hitched Quincy to the cart, filling the back of
it with the split wood she intended to take with them. She also
loaded the axe and a small rake into the back of the
cart.

She went inside to wake Marissa. She
sat down on the side of the bed and leaned down to kiss Marissa.
“It is time to wake, my love,” she softly whispered.

Marissa stretched and turned toward
Nat. “Good morning, love,” she said with a sweet smile.

“
It is time to be up and
moving about,” Nat said. “I have Quincy hitched and will take him
into town to load Maggie’s supplies and bring her here.”

“
I will be ready when you
return my love. I will cook some bacon to go with the biscuits and
then douse both fireplaces,” Marissa said.

“
I will saddle the horses
when I return and we will be ready to depart,” Nat said. She leaned
down to kiss Marissa. “I love you.”

“
I love you too,” Marissa
said as she threw her arms around Nat’s neck and hugged her
close.

Gyp and Nat walked Quincy into town.
Maggie had her bundles ready and they loaded them into the cart.
“All set?” Nat asked.

“
I think I have everything
we need,” Maggie said.

“
Let’s be off then,” Nat
said.

Maggie walked beside Nat and Quincy,
choosing to walk the short distance. She led Quincy the last way to
Marissa’s while Nat stopped off to saddle Hardy and Buck for the
trip. Maggie and Marissa were sitting on the porch eating a bacon
filled biscuit when Nat led the two horses into the
yard.

Nat ate a biscuit with them and then
walked back inside the cabin to get the rifle and her range coat
which she tied across her bedroll. She handed Marissa her coat as
she tied it across her bedroll as well. The sun had risen and was
shining down on them as they prepared to leave.

Nat helped Marissa into the saddle and
then mounted Hardy. Maggie walked beside Quincy preferring to
stretch her city legs for most of the morning. They made good time
and by the time the sun was overhead they stopped at the small
river.

“
We will camp here on the
return home as this is where I plan to take that buck,” Nat
said.

“
I saw his tracks a small
way back and he is huge,” Maggie said.

“
He will provide enough meat
to feed you through next winter,” Nat said with a grin.

Maggie smiled back at her. “How much
further?” she asked.

“
We will arrive by
midafternoon,” Nat said. “We should water the animals here and fill
our flasks as fresh water is rare once we get to the
ocean.”

After the animals were watered and
flasks filled, the travelers continued on their journey. In another
hour of travel, Nat could begin to smell the scent of salt on the
breeze and she knew that they were coming close.

“
Can you smell the ocean on
the air?” she asked Marissa who was riding beside her.

“
Faintly, yes,” Marissa
said. “Will we be there soon?”

“
Very soon,” Nat
said.

As they approached the final hilltop,
Nat could hear the roar of the water and she knew they had arrived.
“Here we are,” Nat said as they crested the hill and looked down
onto the beach.

Nat dismounted Hardy and handed her
reins to Marissa, then took Quincy’s halter and led him down to the
beach and up the narrow path to the cave. Maggie and Marissa
followed closely behind. “Let’s set up camp and then we can go
explore those pools,” she said to her friends.

Nat carried the wood into the back of
the cave as Maggie lit a fire and she and Marissa carried their
supplies inside. Nat unsaddled the horses and placed the saddles
deep in the cave and watched as Hardy and Buck ran down to the
water’s edge. Nat then unhitched Quincy, propping the arms of the
cart on a large bolder to keep it upright. She then watched as
Quincy joined his larger friends, rushing to them in his fastest
speed, a slow trot.

She watched the three animals down at
the water’s edge and then moved inside to see how the camp was
coming. Marissa was looking at the painted walls with great
curiosity as Maggie interpreted the meaning of each painting for
her. Nat looked into the rear corner and saw that the whale bones
were still tucked away in the shadows.

“
Are we ready to walk down
to the pools?” Nat asked.

Both Maggie and Marissa nodded their
heads and followed Nat to the mouth of the cave. Nat stopped to
take the rifle from her saddle and then led her friends to the rock
pools.

She watched as Maggie and Marissa
walked around the pools pointing out various types of ocean life,
but also taking inventory. “I have counted twenty-five lobsters,”
Marissa said excitedly.

“
Wait here and I will bring
one of the barrels and we can begin the harvest,” Nat
said.

Maggie had already removed her boots
and was rolling the legs of her breeches up as Nat made her
comment. Marissa followed suit and within minutes, Nat returned
with a barrel.