“Do ye have a spare digger on your magic belt?” He grinned when she laughed.
“No, but I will be certain to carry one next time I am ready to harvest.”
“Is this worth the trouble and mess?”
“It is, but I always wait until I get a few orders for them first. If I have got to go and dig in the mud, I want it to be for a good reason.”
“Tried one when we wandered through the area.” He shuddered. “Couldnae understand why anyone ate them.”
“Ever had chowder made with them?”
“Nay. What is it?”
“A creamy soup made with clams.”
“Cooked ones might be better.”
Belle laughed. “You don’t sound all that sure.” She noticed one of her baskets was full, and asked Geordie, “Could you take this basket down to the water and dip it in and out so the clams are cleaned off?”
“Aye.” He took off his shoes and socks and folded up the legs of his trousers. Then he studied the water. “The tide is coming in.”
“Yup. That is why I have to get to the next bed.”
Geordie stood up, picked up the basket, and began walking toward the water. He did not really like the feel of the mud under his feet, not like he had as a child. When he reached the water, he dunked the basket and swished it around several times. He then reached into the basket to turn the clams and swished it in the water again.
He headed back to Belle and smiled as she stood up and stretched, rubbing her back and smearing mud on the back of her dress. She was a bit of a mess. Pulling up her skirts had not saved them from getting a lot of mud on them. Despite having a tool to dig out the clams, she had mud covering her arms up to the elbow. As he got closer, he saw that she also had streaks of mud on her face. He reached her and took the other basket, now full of clams, while handing her the one he had dunked in the water.
“Maybe ye should come down to the water, too. Wash some of the mud off.” When she stared at him with narrowed eyes he shrugged and headed for the water. A moment later she was walking by his side. They walked to the water in silence and Geordie fought the urge to chuckle. He suspected that would truly annoy her.
“This is the one thing I hate about digging clams. We have a shower on the back porch, but by the time I get to it and get everything all set up and running, the mud has dried on me and that always feels horrible.”
“Ye have one of those shower baths?”
She sighed as she cleaned off her arms. “Yes. We also use it to rinse off after a swim. My father studied one, then made one. It took him a while because he had to get the water to it, but he did it. It is on the back porch because that’s where the water comes into the house, and he fixed it so it drains into the kitchen garden. Which leads us to the only drawback—no soap. You cannot use soap in the shower because it would harm the plants in the garden.”
“Test some soaps. There are ones made of stuff that isnae harmful.”
“I think my father did that with the soaps we use. But, it is a thought. Plant something and water it with the slightly soapy water and see what happens.” She picked up one of the full baskets. “Well, best to get these up to the house and sort out who gets what.”
“Who do you sell them to?” he asked as he fell into step beside her.
“Mostly just folk who want some to serve guests and a few people who need some for the foods they sell in their small cafés or at the market.”
“Do ye get a lot of visitors up here as the weather warms?”
“Enough that my rooms to let make a nice profit, as do others around here. And they come mostly from the bordering states. Bennet thinks that business is going to grow. Not sure I look forward to that. And I am not sure I understand why people from bordering states come. They have their own beaches and hills and all.”
“It is a change of scene, and some may come because they dinnae have the funds to go far and stay fancy.”
“Still don’t see the why of it, but it makes me enough money to stay here, so I guess I welcome the madness.”
He laughed as they reached the stairs and started up them. Although he would not say so, he rather agreed with her. After all, he had traveled a long way just to see the ocean, but there was nothing like it near his home.
When they reached the house, Geordie decided he had to try the shower. While Belle went into the kitchen to tend to the clams they had dug, he went out on the porch and prepared the shower. He drew the curtains draped around it and closely inspected it as he cleaned up. He had a passing thought that he could make one of these. It would take a lot of work, and a lot of cursing, but he was sure he could do it. When he finished washing, he reminded himself to make a few sketches of it to take home with him. Getting out and drying off, he wondered what they did with it when the weather turned cold. Then he quickly dressed and went inside to let Belle know it was free.
“Did you like it?” she asked as she collected up towels and her clothes in preparation for taking her own shower, then set them aside as she remembered something else she should do that would add to the dirt she wanted to rinse off.
“Immensely. I am going to make some drawings of it and all its works so I can show it to my brothers. Thinking we might be able to set one up. Maybe even inside the house. I can definitely see my brothers loving it.”
