Page 8 of Mail Order Mukluks (Brides of Alaska #1 | Brides of Beckham #68)

T he service the following morning was unlike any Belle had ever attended.

They sang a hymn, said a prayer, and read over one chapter in the book of John.

They discussed the chapter verse by verse, and when they were finished, they sang another hymn and said another prayer.

Then they all spent a little time talking to one another before they were finished for the week.

Belle and Everett were the last two people at the Johnsons’ house, and Katie asked them if they’d like to stay for lunch. Belle readily agreed. She had planned to make sandwiches for lunch, but it would be good to spend time with another couple.

Belle and Katie worked together in the kitchen to get the roast Katie had in the oven ready for the table.

There were carrots and oddly shaped potatoes.

At least Katie said they were potatoes. “They’re a potato native to Alaska that you can forage around here.

I grow other potatoes in the garden, but these are what the natives eat. ”

“Then I will surely try them.” Belle had never been a picky eater, so she was certain she would enjoy the food, even if it did look strange.

Belle carried a bowl filled with potatoes and carrots to the table where the men were already sitting, and Katie carried in the roast. “I’m also serving a loaf of Belle’s bread that I hid from the men yesterday,” Katie said with a twinkle in her eye.

Belle laughed. “I’m surprised you were able to hide one!”

“I am as well,” Katie said, shaking her head. “The men all but pounced on your baked goods.”

Mr. Johnson asked Everett to pray over their meal. After the blessing, Katie smiled at Belle. “Would you be willing to go foraging for berries very early in the morning? Bernard has his day planned and watching the store is not part of the day he expects to have.”

Belle smiled. “I can go whenever you would like.”

“Let’s say six then. That’ll give us three hours before the store opens.”

“And what will we forage for tomorrow?” Belle asked. “What type of berries?”

“We’ll get some wild strawberries. I’ll also be looking for cow parsnip and Eskimo potatoes. The kind I fixed for this meal.”

“Well, I’ll plan to look for those as well. I’m sure Everett would appreciate all the variety I can bring to the table.”

“I would,” Everett said with a nod. “I prefer traditional potatoes, but I will happily eat Eskimo potatoes.”

“That sounds as if I can make it happen. How do you feel about strawberry shortcake?”

“I will eat any sweet you want to feed me,” Everett said, grinning at her. “I don’t know why I waited so long to get a wife.”

Katie laughed. “The man loves to eat.”

“Don’t they all?” Belle asked.

After lunch, Belle helped Katie with the dishes, and then she and Everett took a walk through the woods. “I thought you’d want to see my operation,” he said.

“I’d love to! Then I know where to find you if I need to.”

He took her to a sawmill and led her into the attached office. “This is where I spend most of my days. I work at the sawmill as well as do the books. So, if I’m not out there, I’m in here.”

She looked around the small room, noting the scarred desk and the old chair. “Looks like your furniture here has seen better days.”

“It has.” He shrugged. “It’s got everything I need. Maybe not all I want, but there’s no point in paying the expensive shipping expenses to get it from the states. Hopefully, a carpenter will move into town soon, and I’ll get him to build me a new desk. This will work until that happens.”

“Are you caught up on your work from being away?” she asked.

Everett sighed. “There’s some more paperwork to do. We had a big order this week, and I was working on that instead of doing paperwork. I’d much rather be in the sawmill.”

“And this land...Is all of it going to be harvested?” she asked, thinking about how sad it was the trees were being cut down.

“Not at all. I put an x on the trees to cut. We only take one out of every four trees, leaving enough that the forest will renew itself.”

“That’s wonderful!” Belle said.

He smiled. “I wouldn’t want to live in Alaska if it wasn’t so beautiful.”

“And the trees are definitely part of the beauty.”

As they walked away, he led her to a large clearing. “I don’t know why this spot never grew trees, but it’s a good place for strawberries.”

She looked around, seeing some. “I wish I’d brought along a pail for the berries.”

“If Mrs. Johnson doesn’t bring you here tomorrow, I’ll bring you back next Sunday. Then you can pick all the berries you want. These aren’t quite ripe anyway.”

By the time they reached the cabin, she needed to start supper.

While he sat at the table with a block of wood, carefully coaxing something only he could see from it, she filled the air of the cabin with the delicious smells of ham and navy beans.

She was happy they had a variety of beans to cook with.

Maybe she had to use them for meals more than she would like, but at least there were enough they didn’t feel like they were eating the same meal every day.

When she placed the meal in front of him, he inhaled appreciatively. “I could make the same meals you do, but mine were never half as good. You must have some magic in your fingers.”

She laughed, shaking her head. “I’ve just learned to use spices, and I brought some with me.”

“I wouldn’t even know what to put into something...”

“And that’s why my cooking is magic, and yours isn’t.”

*****

B ELLE WAS UP EARLY the following morning, surprised the sun had beaten her awake, until she remembered how early the sun rose in the summers there.

She fixed breakfast, leaving Everett’s covered on the stove for when he woke, milked the cow, and gathered eggs.

She was at the store at precisely six, ready for her day berry picking.

She had two pails with her, and she intended to use the egg basket after she had given the eggs to Katie.

Katie had her hair tied back in a kerchief, and Belle laughed upon seeing her, because for the first time since she’d come to Alaska, her hair was also in a kerchief.

Katie grinned, understanding Belle’s amusement. “I’ve heard that great minds think alike...”

“Apparently so!” Belle placed the eggs on the store counter, and Katie quickly took them from the basket and added the amount to Belle’s credit balance.

“I thought we’d start with strawberries, and we’ll see what we can find in the way of wild celery and Eskimo potatoes. We should find some ripe berries, but many won’t be ripe for another week or two.”

“I appreciate you taking me with you,” Belle said, following Katie out the door.

Katie and Belle walked for a while before Katie pointed to a clearing. “Berries are usually ripe there first. It gets more sun than other areas.”

Belle looked around, smiling as she saw that some of the fruit was bright red and ready to be harvested. “Aren’t you going to get any strawberries?” Belle asked as she started to fill her pail.

“Strawberries make me break out in hives. I’ll let you pick them.”

Belle stopped what she was doing. “Will it hurt you if I bring strawberry preserves for you to sell?”

“Not if you wash the jars. And truthfully, I’ll have you put them on the shelves for me, and I won’t touch them ever. The men will set them on the counter and take them with them. It’s the worst for me when I eat them, but even touching them can cause a reaction.”

“Then I will be careful not to ever touch you after touching the berries.”

“Thank you for being so considerate,” Katie said.

Belle filled her pail with berries, and then they moved onto the other forage that Katie was more interested in. “Should I leave the wild celery and Eskimo potatoes for you?”

Katie laughed. “This is just the first area. I don’t think we could pick it all if we tried.”

“Thank you for sharing with me.”

Belle didn’t return to the cabin until well past noon. She stayed out a little longer than Katie, wanting to get as much as she could into her cellar. Perhaps she couldn’t start a kitchen garden this late in the year, but she could certainly fill her cellar anyway.

As she put the strange-looking potatoes into a basket in the cellar, she looked around, pleased with all she’d accomplished since arriving a week before.

She had a pail full of strawberries that she would make jam and strawberry shortcake from, and she had a feeling the jam would sell well. Katie certainly seemed to think so.

She was a little sad that Katie couldn’t have strawberries because she’d planned to make extra as a gift for Katie and Mr. Johnson. That wouldn’t be happening now.

After putting everything away, she went to the store to buy canning supplies.

Katie had mentioned having what she needed in stock, and it would be good to have everything so she could start preserving as soon as she was ready.

She even had a thought to boil the potatoes with some of the celery, and can the mixture. It would make good soup for the winter.

At the store, Katie put what she wanted on her account, knowing that Belle would be selling enough to cover it.

“The men were disappointed that we didn’t have fresh baked goods today.”

Belle smiled. “I hope you told them to come back tomorrow!”

“Of course I did!”

“I’ll do my baking first thing in the morning, and then I’ll go foraging again. Now that I know what to look for, I think I can gather what I need on my own. If I could find more potatoes or celery than I need, could you sell it?”

Katie laughed. “If there’s food, it will sell. The men are always happy to have anything that’s not beans.”

“Then I’ll see how much I can find.”

Belle felt elated to know how to find what they would need for the year. It felt as if she was in a race against winter, and she’d already been told that winter would start early.

That evening, she made a pot of beans with some of the celery mixed in. She’d never eaten anything of the sort, but she would need to be creative with what she could forage or buy. Thankfully, Everett didn’t seem fussy.

After supper that night, they talked about her plans for the week, and he seemed thrilled to know she was throwing herself into winter preparations the way she was.

“You don’t have to always provide baked goods for the store,” he said when she mentioned that was her plan for the following morning.

“I know. But I enjoy baking, and I don’t think you could eat as much as I’d like to bake.”

He laughed. “You are something else, Belle Thompson.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” she said.

“It was certainly meant as one.”

“What would you like to have tomorrow?” she asked. “Cornbread or wheat bread?”

“I have to choose?” he asked, pretending dismay. “What if I want both?”

“I’ll do one type tomorrow, and one type the next day,” Belle told him. “I want to be able to forage more in the afternoon. The more berries I can put up, the more jam you’ll have to see you through the winter.”

“All right. I choose cornbread for tomorrow then. And I’ll look forward to all the jam I’ll be eating this winter.”

“Smart man.” She moved to sit on his lap and kiss him, wondering if he would be upset by her boldness. To her relief, he put his arms around her and kissed her passionately.

“Marrying you was the best decision I ever made,” he said when they came up for air.

“I feel exactly the same way.”

*****

F OR THE REST OF THE week, Belle baked in the mornings, always baking bread and alternating between cake and cookies for a sweet treat.

Then in the afternoons, she foraged. On Friday afternoon, she saw a deer grazing in the clearing where she did most of her strawberry picking, and she wished she had her rifle. Fresh meat would be a blessing.

Everett promised he would hunt as soon as he had the time, but it hadn’t happened yet.

Perhaps she could spend her Saturday afternoon with a rifle instead of a berry pail.

She also needed to take a day to put up strawberry preserves.

The berries were lasting in the cellar for now, but they wouldn’t keep forever.

“Monday,” she said aloud. “I’ll make jam on Monday. ”

When she arrived home with all of her forage that afternoon, she decided to take a basket of celery and a basket of Eskimo potatoes to the store. She knew they had enough to last them, and there was no point of going to all the work of foraging if she was going to let the food go bad.

When she arrived at the store, there were a few men at the counter, all asking for more sweets. Katie was shaking her head. “I’m sorry. I’ve sold all I had for today.”

Belle bit her lip. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to apologize for not making more or laugh that the men were so excited by her baking. So, she did neither.

She placed her basket on the counter, saying nothing to the men. Katie looked in the basket and smiled. “I do have fresh Eskimo potatoes and celery.”

One of the men looked at Belle. “Can I make a request for snickerdoodles? They’re my favorite, and yours are even better than my ma’s.”

Belle nodded. “As long as Mrs. Johnson keeps me in supplies, I’ll bake whatever you men want.”

“I want strawberry shortcake,” another man said. “Everett bragged to us about your strawberry shortcake, but there hasn’t been any here at the store.” The huge, lumbering man actually pouted that he hadn’t received a taste of the sweet treat.

Belle laughed. “I’ll make snickerdoodles tomorrow, and on Monday, at ten in the morning, I’ll bring in strawberry shortcake. Mrs. Johnson can provide individual servings to anyone who brings in their own plate.”

The man grinned at her. “I think we like it that the bossman has a wife now. I’ll be here.”

Belle waited until the men had left before purchasing more flour, sugar, and cinnamon. “I think I could bake full time and never make the men around here happy.”

“Oh, you’re certainly right about that.” Katie marked everything down on her ledger as Belle left the store.

Belle smiled as she made the short stroll home. She’d worried she would be bored, but that wasn’t the case. Alaska was where she wanted to be.