“Indian women squat in the bushes, have their babies, and go back to work,” Maggie replied.“I can do anything they can.”
“I believe that with all my heart,” Belle said.“But I’ll still wait and see if you say the same thing after your bundle of joy has been delivered.”
Maggie nodded.“I wonder what I’ll be saying then.I suppose I could change everything I believe about myself in one day.”
“You could,” Belle said, smiling and squeezing Maggie’s hand.
Agnes made her exit with Sally, and they headed for Sally’s cabin.“I can’t wait to see what you have to show me!”Agnes said.“I want to learn as much as I can as quickly as I can.”
“First you have to meet Herbert and the girls.”
“Who is Herbert?Isn’t your husband named Tom?”
“Yes, Tom is my husband.Herbert is our only male pig.He’s going to be the father of a long line of piglets.”
“Oh!”Agnes said.“I see.I haven’t really been around pigs, but you were raised on a pig farm, right?”
“I was.Good memory.I wasn’t even certain that I’d told you about that.It’s been such a joy to me having pigs again.If I let Herbert out of his pen, he follows me all around.His favorite thing is when I clean the fish because I often toss him a fish head or some fish guts.He loves them!”
Agnes laughed.“I wasn’t aware pigs ate those things!”
“They do.I’ll show you the parts of the fish I want you to save for the pigs when we clean the fish that were caught in the net today.”Sally nodded toward a cabin with a large garden in front of them.“This is our place.”
“Oh, it’s glorious!”Agnes said.“I want to eat a pod of peas straight from the plant.”
“There are some ripe.I’ll make sure you get a few before we say goodbye for the afternoon.”Sally paused for a moment.“Did you think to get meat for our lunch tomorrow?We’ll all eat together because the men will be working on the smokehouse.”
“I didn’t.It never occurred to me.I suppose I could go back to Belle’s...”
“No need.You can take some of the salmon.Whether you prefer fresh or smoked, we’ll have more than enough for tomorrow’s lunch.Though between the four couples, we could use at least four times what I’ve been able to catch and smoke.”
“That’s why my fishing operation will be larger than yours.It’ll take more time, but I won’t have a large garden like you do.Just the goats.”
“Oh, you will enjoy the goats so much!”
“I hope so.”Agnes followed Sally to a large barn on one side of her property.“I can certainly smell the pigs.”
Sally laughed.“It took Tom a little while to adjust to the constant smell.For me it was almost like a homecoming.”She stopped walking for a moment.“Oh, I want you to save the goat manure.It’ll be good for my crops come spring.If you leave it in with the hay, it will be even better when we get it out in the spring.”
“The goats won’t mind living in it?”
“Not one bit.I can’t use the pig manure because it burns crops without being aged just right.Goat manure is so much better for the soil.”
“I’ll save it then.I’ll help in any way I can.”
“When I plant this spring, we’ll be glad to have it.”Sally started walking again, hurrying to the pig pen.She pointed to the largest of the pigs.“That’s Herbert.And his girls are the other pigs.I can tell you all their names, but no one remembers but me.They think they are too alike, but the spots are different on different pigs.”
Agnes looked at the animal.“I thought he’d be tiny.How old is he?”
“Four and a half months.At this age, he’s around eighty or ninety pounds.The girls are slightly smaller, but they should be.You may not be able to tell because you’re less familiar with piglets than I am.”
“I’m fascinated by all of this.I hope I’ll soon be as knowledgeable about goats as you are about pigs.”
Sally smiled.“You will be.Did you order a book about them from Katie?”
Agnes nodded.“I ordered a book and six goats.I’m starting with full-grown so we’ll have a steady milk supply sooner.I hope to make cheese, but I’ve never done it.”
“I have some information on cheese making in my homesteading book.I’ll loan it to you, but I know I’ll want it back.”
