Brieanne's Mum looked very tired. When she
arrived, her mum was putting on some of the branches
that they had collected and had started to warm up a
pot of snow water to make their tea with for supper.
Her mum's cough was quite deep and it seems that her
cold still hadn't broken properly. Brieanne blamed the
dampness of their home for it. She could never
remember her mother ever being sick until they got up
here.
"Let me take that fish," her mum said. Brieanne
handed over the sack and her mom took the fish out.
"I'm glad you thought to take some back before the
boys arrive so we can have a nice supper tonight."
Her mum took the fish over to the rock she always used
to cut the fish up with and set it down. She took her
knife that she carried with her in her pocket and
opened it up. It never took her long to clean a fish.
She did it with such expertise. Without a thought she
had it completely cleaned. The kittens that they had
with them were feasting on the remains that her mum
tossed off the rock.
She decided to do the fish a bit differently tonight.
Rather than baking it, she cut it in three huge chunks
and put them into the old black frypan she had grabbed
when they'd fled. She added a bit of the fat that she
had saved from cooking the rabbit the week before and
added it to the pan. Fried fish. Bethany who hadn't
taken her eyes off her mother watched in delight as
her mum set it on the hot flat rock she kept by the
cooking fire She left for only a second going into
the entrance of their home to return with some fresh
chives they kept growing inside and some of the
bullrush tubers. Pulling out her knife once again,
she cut the tubers up and threw them around the fish.
She then added the shallots. The meal sizzled and the
smell of the fish began to wafer through the air. Her
mother added a bit more firewood and the fire danced
as it crackled. Bethany giggled thinking the fire was
ticklish too.
Brieanne could hear her giggles as she sat by the
ledge looking down upon the valley. She thought that
Bethany couldn't remember her dad and how he used to
horsey horsey them up the stairs to put them to bed.
And then he would always playing tickling spider and
whispering spider. One would whisper special secrets
and the other would tickle them into saying they'd go
to sleep! The house was always full of laughter. She
could remember her dad's strong hands pulling up the
heavy quilts on their beds making sure they wouldn't
be cold. He was always worried about that and mum
was always complaining that he was always taking out
her special guest blankets and putting them on the
childrens' beds too. She could remember Mum telling
Dad, "stop it.. You're going to make those children
sick by so many clothes," where he would retort, "I
don't want them getting sick and of course it's
always much more snuggly under heavy blankets."
She remembers her mum giggling too and thought that
dad had kissed her after saying it so that she would
drop the subject! They were always hugging one
another. You could just feel the love they had for
one another radiate off them.
The sun was dipping deeper into the west now and the
boys still hadn't returned. Brieanne always feared
the worst but more so since she'd heard those sounds.
"Brieanne, come and get your supper love," her mum
called. But she wasn't hungry. Her stomach had been
upset since earlier that day.
"Brieannnnnnne," her mother called once again.
"Coming mum" She rose from her perch and went back
over to where her mum was serving up their supper.
It really did look good and she knew if she'd been not
so upset, she would have gladly woofed it all down.
Not to upset her mum, she took the plateful of food
and they all went into their home. Bethany's eyes
were like saucers at the big piece of fish she had.
She was sooooo hungry from their long walk. As the
two girls seated themselves around the makeshift
table, their mother closed over the opening of the
dwelling with one of the quilts she had made long
and ever ago. "There we go. Now let's get ourselves
fed. I hope both of you girls are hungry."
The small fire that kept the dampness out, lit the
surroundings. The walls had been carved by glaciers
long ago. At the back of their home were quilts
laid upon pine branches to keep their bodies off the
cold of the stone. The light from the fire danced
off the walls and their shadows appeared larger than
life.
"Mum," Bethany asked, "We heard strange sounds today
when we were climbing up the path. It was like a big
crack and it really scared me. What was it?" Their
mum went white. She stammered a bit and said.. "Oh
nothing dear. It could have been a tree falling or
something."
"But mum, it sounded more than just a tree."
"Bethany, that's enough. It was probably nothing more
than just a silly tree falling ok." She glanced over
at Brieanne and knew from her expression, it was more
than that. "Now come on. I cooked this big supper
for us. Let's enjoy it. Brieanne, you'll do the dishes
won't you hon? I'm going to slip over to visit Mrs.
Davis after supper and Bethany, I want you in bed
early tonight. You keep rubbing your eyes so I know
you're tired. When your sister does the dishes, you
hop to it quick like a bunny."
"Yes mame," Bethany replied. She knew she was tired.
But she was going to eat all her dinner too because
she knew her mum would be handing out apples and that
was one thing Bethany loved. Their mum made small
talk to take the awkwardness out of dinner as she
was worried Bethany would feel the tension. She spoke
of what she'd done during the day and what they'd have
to do the next morning. "I think we have enough wood
for a couple of days so you girls can take it easy
tomorrow. Sleep in. You haven't been able to do it
in a while," she said. Bethany was excited. She
loved having the chance to sleep in. Brieanne knew it
was to keep her out of the way long enough so that
she wouldn't hear what might happen in the morning.
Bethany was far too young to understand.
Finishing up their dinner, Bethany put her hands
out... "Mum, I ate all my supper. Look!" Her mother
managed a smile, not the one Brieanne remembered but
one that was worn with time. She got up from the
table and went over to the sack that had a wonderful
aroma coming from it. The smell of fresh apples. She
picked out the biggest one she could find and handed
it to Bethany. "Thank you mum. I love you!" She
leaned forward to kiss her mum, then bounded from the
table and began to hum a kitchen waltz she seemed to
remember her father used to play. She did seem to
remember some things, but only happy times. Brieanne
wasn't sure if she was blocking out those other times.
To her, they seemed like yesterday. Picking up one of
the pudgy kittens, Bethany danced, hummed and stopped
only long enough to take bites of her apple. There
were no lyrics to the song but she thought it was much
happier than the one she hummed earlier with her
sister. She had forgotten she was as tired as she
was. Her mother returned to the table to finish her
dinner while Brieanne picked at hers. "You've got to
eat dear. If not you'll get weak. You have to be
strong. Now finish up your dinner." Brieanne complied.
Their mum got up from the table and Brieanne started
to clear the china and moved it over to the area that
they always did their dishes. She moved in and out of
her sister as she danced about. "Brieanne, can I have
your apple if you don't want it?" Brieanne couldn't
resist her smile. There was something about her
sister that always brightened everything.. That
innocence that could only be of a child. Her mother
nodded her permission and Brieanne went over to the
sack and picked her sister out an apple. Turning
around, Bethany was right on her heels... hands open
to receive the precious gift. "Thank you. I love you
too," as she gave her sister a kiss. She was never
short on showing her affection and love.
Their mum put on her shawl and went over to the chunk
of broken mirror that laid against the wall and
straightened her hair. She noticed how it was
beginning to turn grey in spots and how under her eyes
small wrinkles were beginning to appear. In her
younger days she was a very handsome woman. She had
many suitors try to court her but only one caught her
eye. The man to whom she bore her two lovely children
that now kept her going. "I'm going over to Mrs.
Davis' now and Bethany, remember early to bed once
your sister starts on the dishes," and with that she
gently went out through the door making sure to make
sure the quilt was in place behind her.
"Come on squirt. Finish up that apple. Mum wanted
you in bed early. I'm just going to slip out and get
that hot water and take it in here ok and you start to
get ready." Bethany snorted a yes to her with the
apple hanging out of her mouth. Brieanne went out
side and with a pot protector, she carried in the hot
water to the dishes. She took down a cup and poured
some of the water into it and added a bit of the pine
needles so that her sister could have her nice warm
drink and poured the rest of the water into the old
metal dish. She began to wash up the dished gently
drying them immediately and putting them away in their
special spots so they wouldn't get broken. She was
always worried about breaking those dishes. They'd
been given to her mum and dad as a wedding present and
she knew her mother treasured them. Getting to the
end of them, she took the frypan and put that in
hoping that the grime would come off easily.
While she was doing that Bethany began to get ready for
bed. Trying to climb out of her clothes, she realized
she couldn't do it with the apple still in her
mouth. She set it on the large rock next to their
bed and began hauling everything off. The chill of
the air and the wisps of heat made the delicate hair
on her arms stand on end and she broke out in goose
bumps. "Brieanne... Look.. I'm a goose.. Look at all
my bumps," she said giggling. She balled her clothes
up and threw them on the floor but noticing her
sister's look of disapproval, straightened them up
and folded them the best that she could. She took
her nightgown, a hand-me-down from her sister and
slipped it on. The flannel feeling cold at first
warmed up quickly against her body. The nightgown
was about 2 feet too long for her and dragged against
the ground. Picking up her apple to finish it, she
tried to get her sister's attention again. "Brieanne,
look ,look, I'm a princess in my special ball gown."
She swirled around and around until she was nearly
dizzy and fell down upon the bed. "Ouch!" she
squealed! Climbing under the covers, she began to
get all snuffly. "Brieanne, can I have my tea now?
And can you tell me a bedtime story. I want a
bedtime story!"
"OK squirt, just a minute and let me finish up these
dishes." As she dried the heavy frypan she thought
what story should she tell her. Her dad had told her
soooo many and she loved them all. She really missed
him telling her his stories. She just really missed
him. As she thought about it, she heard her sister
sigh heavily. "Ok squirt, I'm done." The pan was so
clean it nearly gleamed! She got up and finished
making the tea for her sister. As she walked over to
the bed, the kittens followed her. The dancing kitten
crawled up and laid by Bethany's head and started to
purr while the other two crawled under the covers to
nestle by her toes. Setting the glass on the rock
next to the bed, she sat down. "Now I wonder what
story I shall tell tonight."
If you want a bit more then... Go to chapter 3!
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