Finding Home (17 page)

“
I was, but she got the
better of me,” Nat said.

“
Good girl, Gyp,” Marissa
praised.

“
Hey, don’t encourage her,”
Nat said.

Marissa placed Nat’s eggs on her plate
and then cooked two for Gyp. Then she joined them at the table and
ate a biscuit and some bacon as she watched Gyp devour the meal.
“This cold weather is good for her appetite.”

“
Was there something wrong
with it before?” Nat asked.

“
Maybe she has just gotten
used to my cooking,” Marissa teased.

“
Well, it is better than
what we eat in the woods,” Nat admitted.

“
Maybe I need to fatten you
both up some this winter then.”

“
Gyp maybe, but I need to be
able to fit in my clothes,” Nat said.

“
Not to worry, after all my
good food, you haven’t gained an ounce.”

“
That could be because you
work it off of me,” Nat said with a mischievous grin.

Marissa blushed at Nat’s suggestion. “I
think I will start carrying some water in,” she said, as she left
the table.

Nat finished her meal and took a bucket
to assist Marissa in carrying water to fill the tub.

“
Undress and let me have
those clothes to drop in the wash pot,” Marissa
instructed.

“
Yes ma’am,” Nat said as she
began to remove her clothing.

Marissa took the clothes and said, “Get
started on your bath and I will join you shortly.”

Nat climbed into the bath tub and began
by washing her hair. It had grown well beyond her shoulders and Nat
considered asking Marissa to cut it shorter for her as she bathed
her body. When Marissa walked into the room carrying fresh clothes
for Nat and began to undress, Nat forgot all about the length of
her hair.

When they had bathed and dressed, Nat
suggested they walk into town and stop by the store to purchase a
pound of coffee.

“
We still have coffee,”
Marissa said.

“
It is not for us,” Nat
said. “We should take it and maybe some sugar as a gift for the
meal we are about to eat.”

“
Good idea.”

“
You know it is a shame, but
I don’t even know the woman’s name,” Nat said.

“
It is Maggie Lightfoot,”
Marissa said.

“
That is a nice strong
name,” Nat said.

“
She has been living there
at the edge of town ever since I can remember.”

“
Besides her stitchery, what
other services does she provide to maintain her
sustenance?”

“
She gets quite a bit of
business from the trappers, but she also does some baking and
canning of vegetables she grows for the hotel,” Marissa
said.

“
So let’s add a pound of
flour also,” Nat said.

“
You really have a soft spot
for this woman, don’t you?” Marissa said.

“
She charged me a fifth of
the price she should have for those breeches,” Nat said. “I would
have had to pay much more for them anywhere else.”

“
Toss in a couple of spools
of thread too then,” Marissa said. “She collects scraps of fabric
from old clothing and makes some of the warmest down quilts in the
area.”

“
Any more and we will
probably hurt her feelings,” Nat said.

“
We will stop there then,”
Marissa said, as she finished dressing.

Nat pulled on her boots then reached
for her range coat, sliding her arms through the warm coat. She
handed Marissa the coat she had bought for her and then wrapped a
warm scarf around her neck. “Stay warm,” she said as she opened the
door and they were met by a light snowfall.

They made their purchases at the store
and walked the short distance to Maggie’s house. Nat knocked
lightly on the door and they waited.

Maggie opened the door and smiled as
the three of them entered. Gyp shook the flakes from her coat and
made a bee line for the fireplace.

“
Welcome my friends, let me
take your coats,” Maggie said.

Maggie placed their coats on hooks
behind the door to dry while they visited. She looked at the
package in Nat’s hands.

“
We brought a few small
gifts,” Nat said as she handed the package to Maggie.

Maggie took the package and placed it
on the table to open it up. She smiled when she saw the coffee,
sugar, flour and thread. “Thank you,” she said for her
gifts.

“
Thank you, for the dinner
invitation,” Nat said.

“
You made that possible, by
bringing back the clams,” Maggie said. “Are you hungry?”

Nat looked at Marissa. “I am always
hungry,” she said with a sheepish grin.

“
You work very hard, so you
work up a good appetite,” Maggie said. “That is very good for you.”
She took her coffee pot and poured water and some of the ground
coffee into it and placed it on the fire. “We will have coffee with
dessert,” she said with a smile. “Have a seat and I will bring the
meal.”

“
Is there anything I can
help with?” Marissa said.

“
You can fill four bowls
with the chowder while I get the fry bread,” Maggie
said.

Marissa filled three of the bowls to
the rim and the fourth she left some room. She took the water
pitcher and poured a small amount of water in it to cool the
chowder.

Maggie had torn up a piece of the fry
bread. “Here, drop this in there as well to help it
cool.”

Marissa took the bread and dropped it
into the steamy soup and used a spoon to stir the mixture as Gyp
sat and watched, licking her lips in anticipation.

“
Better wait a few minutes
yet,” Nat said, as she took a seat at the table.

Nat looked at the creamy chowder and it
smelled wonderful.

“
It is very hot, so be
careful you don’t burn your mouth,” Maggie said.

Nat lifted a spoonful and blew softly
on it to help it cool. When she placed the mixture in her mouth she
moaned with appreciation. “This is very tasty,” she
said.

“
I hope you like it,” Maggie
said with a smile. “I used the clams that you brought back, and
added diced potatoes and some corn.”

“
This is really good,”
Marissa said.

Maggie dunked a piece of the bread into
her chowder and took a bite of it after tasting a spoonful of the
chowder.

Nat ate heartily of two bowls and three
slices of the fry bread.

“
Save room for some apple
pie,” Maggie said.

Nat placed her spoon in the bowl and
grinned at Maggie. “I forgot you mentioned dessert, but that
chowder was so delicious.”

“
I am glad you enjoyed it,”
Maggie said.

“
I will definitely be
bringing back more clams the next time I go to the ocean,” Nat
said.

“
They are a great deal of
work for such small portions of meat, but the meat is very rich and
will give you energy,” Maggie said.

“
Nat used your instructions
for cooking the shrimp last night and they were very tasty too,”
Marissa said.

“
I had the last of mine for
lunch today,” Maggie said. “They were a very pleasant
surprise.”

“
I still can’t get over the
bounty of ocean life trapped in the rock pools,” Nat said
remembering how simple it was to catch the shrimp.

“
Maybe I could join you on
your next trip and help harvest some of them,” Maggie said. “Did
you see large brown colored shelled creatures with long feelers and
claws for hands?” Maggie asked.

“
Yes, there were many, but I
had no idea what they were,” Nat said.

“
Those are called lobsters,”
Maggie said. “It is a very sweet, tender meat, that when boiled and
dipped in melted butter, is like tasting heaven.”

“
That description makes me
want to ride out and get some now,” Nat said.

“
They have more than likely
taken to deeper, warmer waters for the winter, but they will be
plentiful again in the spring.” She smiled at Nat. “We could
probably sell all that we can carry back alive to the
hotel.”

“
I think the owner would
jump at that opportunity,” Marissa said, “but I will be sure to ask
just the same.”

“
You have a mule don’t you?”
Maggie said.

“
A very stubborn one,” Nat
said.

“
I have a small wagon out
back and for a small price we could buy a couple of those large
pickle barrels and bring back quite a haul,” Maggie
said.

“
I will check on the barrels
tomorrow,” Nat said. “When the winter breaks, we will go to the
ocean and bring back what we can.”

“
I will look forward to
that,” Maggie said.

Maggie got up then and served pie and
coffee. After they finished dessert, she sent them home with two
large jars of the chowder.

As they stepped out onto the small
porch, Nat noticed the very small pile of chopped wood Maggie had
and made a mental note. The snow had begun to fall again in earnest
as she took Marissa’s hand and they rushed home.

That was the first of the many snows
that would besiege them that winter. By the end of the first month,
the drifts had accumulated to over three feet. Nat and Gyp would
walk into town with Marissa on the days she had to work and Nat
frequently found herself spending her days with Smithy, assisting
him in evaluating the late season furs that trappers brought in as
they took refuge from the bitter winter storms. She enjoyed
spending time with the big man and in some ways she reminded him of
Nathan with his gentle ways. He was ferocious when it came to
trading, but always treated his customers generously and
professionally.

During that winter, he taught Nat a
great deal of knowledge of what furs and products sold best in the
market. As he had explained to her when she first returned to town,
any bear products sold for excellent money, but mounted heads were
also a big market item.

While he was not encouraging her to
hunt for bear, he did say he could move any bear item she was to
bring in next year. “Buck heads and ram’s heads are also much
sought after items,” he had told her after one customer had left
the store. “The man that just left is the owner of the saloon and
livery and will buy any decent mounted piece to hang in the saloon.
He loves to spin wild tales of his hunting adventures to inflate
his sense of masculinity,” Smithy said with a chuckle. “To be
honest, I don’t know if the man would even know how to load a
weapon.”

“
What do you know about
whales?” Nat asked.

“
They are huge creatures
that the Inuit hunt as their main source of food and heating oil,”
Smithy said. “Why do you ask?”

“
When I went to the ocean a
few weeks back, I found the remains of what I believe to be one of
those creatures in a cave.”

“
If you journey back there,”
Smithy said, “bring back some of those rib bones.” He smiled at
Nat. “I bet some of these Green Horns would buy them, they seem to
buy anything wild.”

“
I do hope to go back that
way, once this weather breaks,” Nat said. “I saw a huge buck on my
way home that I plan to go get,” she said.

Smithy chuckled. “You are always on the
hunt aren’t you?”

“
I guess I am,” Nat said
with a grin.

“
Have you decided on what
you will do this spring?” Smithy asked.

“
No, not yet,” Nat
said.

“
You will have a job here if
you want it,” Smithy said.

“
Thanks Smithy, I am not
sure what I will do,” Nat said.

“
I know you will make the
right decision when the time comes,” he said.

Nat left his store to meet Marissa for
the walk home.

Every few weeks Nat would wake early
and hitch Quincy to a small sling and bring in a pile of chopped
wood for Maggie’s porch and be home by the time Marissa had
breakfast on the table. Nat never saw Maggie during her deliveries,
but Maggie would be there, behind the curtains watching Nat as she
stacked the wood close to the door.