Chapter Four
By the end of the afternoon, they had each picked entire baskets of berries.“Does it matter what kind of berry everyone gets?”Agnes asked, looking down at the colorful array of berries in her baskets.
“Not at all.I like to just give everyone a mixture.Mixed berry jam is delicious, and the men in the area love mixed berry pies.”Maggie’s baskets weren’t quite as full, but she was moving slowly, due to her advanced pregnancy.
“That’s what I’ll do as well then.It won’t hurt feelings if I bake a few extra pies for the store?”Agnes asked.
“Not at all.I’ll talk to Belle, but you’ll probably keep the pie money for yourself because it’s more than what you’ve agreed to do.”
“No.Because you are all giving me what I need to make it through the winter, and I’m only helping for a short time.”
Maggie frowned, thinking about it.“I guess that’s all right.It does make sense.”
“So, what do we do now?”
“I usually head to Belle’s first and drop off her share.Then I go to Sally’s with less in my baskets and take whatever produce she has set aside for me.”
“And what do we do in winter?”Agnes asked.
“We continue to bake for the store.We all gather at one of the cabins, and we quilt together.Or we work on our own projects, but we tend to do it all together.It makes it easier to not feel isolated.The weather is bad enough that we can’t get out for days at a time, so we make the most of the days we can leave our homes.”Maggie looked down at her stomach.“I’ll be taking care of my little one, so most gatherings will be at my cabin.The baby will be too little to take out in the snow much.Bertie will do better than little Bob.”
“Bob?”
“We haven’t decided on names yet, but James is hoping for a boy we’ll name after his father.So, we’ve started calling him or her Bob until we know what we’ll truly name it.”
“That sounds like a smart way to do things.What would you name a girl?”
“We’re talking about Charlotte, but we’re not sure yet.We’d probably call her Lottie.”
“I like that.Lottie or Bob.”Agnes smiled.“The idea of a baby is so far off for me.I want children, but I feel like I’ve only been married a day or two.”
“I understand.I think James and I would have both preferred a little more time before the babies started coming, but we’re also pleased it happened quickly.The emotions are very mixed.”Maggie stopped in front of a cabin and knocked once before entering.“We brought berries!”
“Ooo...I see some pies in my future.”
“And jam,” Agnes said.
“If you make a lot of jam, don’t immediately sell it to the store.We don’t know if anyone else will be joining us this year, and if someone does, they’ll want jam.”Belle turned from the stove where she was stirring a large pot.She quickly dried her hands on her apron and walked to the table where she had a large bowl waiting for the berries.
“Oh, we do know!”Agnes said.“I got a letter today from Josie.She, Mary, and Theresa have already left to come here.They’re traveling together.”
Belle smiled.“That’s wonderful!We’ll come up with other things for them to do.”
“Another person foraging would be nice,” Maggie said.“And maybe one more growing crops.”
“And the third...”Agnes was trying to think of what to have the third person do.
“Maybe one person could bake.If we had someone always baking, we could make a lot more money,” Belle said.
“Not a bad idea,” Agnes said.“I can certainly add baking to what I’m going to do.”
Belle shrugged.“Maybe until the goats come in.”
“I did talk to Katie about pricing today.She said she could get me yearlings, so I wouldn’t have to start from scratch,” Agnes said.“I’ll have to rotate out my billy goat every year to avoid inbreeding, but it definitely sounds doable.”
“And will you butcher all the billys that come from your farm?”Maggie asked.
“I guess I’d have to.”
