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They took out exactly half of the cash in their checking accounts, hoping this would tide them over. They laid in their winter supplies, filling the boat with boxes of canned and dried goods as well as other necessities such as corn and grain for their animals. They wanted to do this before the bank took the funds, but they also didn’t want to raise any red flags by their actions. They were going to fight the bank, but it would take time. Already, they had received a second notice from the bank demanding they repay the funds they had used. Their official response letters had been ignored, and the banker had hidden behind his closed door when they went into the bank.
“We haven’t room for all this,” Marion complained good-naturedly as they hauled yet another flat of canned goods up to the cabin.
“Well, we don’t know that we can get to town in winter with the snow and bad weather, so we better be prepared,” Barbara told her, trying to maintain a good attitude, but she was worried. The bank issue was scaring her. There was no money to repay the loan, and no additional money would be coming in until next spring when they expected to get paid for their rentals. Meanwhile, they had to make do with what they already had.
Marion too had her worries. Another letter had been returned to her mother-in-law marked ‘addressee unknown.’ She knew the woman wouldn’t stand for it, at least not for long. She would eventually demand answers about where her grandchildren were.
“These can sit out here without getting damaged, can’t they?” Barbara asked, putting a flat down on the screened-in porch.
“I don’t know. Will the cans freeze? We don’t know how cold it will get up here,” Marion pointed out, looking around at the site of their cabin. The meadow was looking decidedly messy and not too inviting with the leaves falling. The sheep had eaten down in some spots, and the chickens made mud baths in certain areas. They’d kept the sheep off the meadow towards the end of the season as they needed the hay for their winter feed. They had cut what they could, but they also had grain and had been letting the sheep eat through the woods to forage for what they could find. Something had gotten a couple of their chickens. They didn’t know how or where; they were just gone. The guineas were trying their best to escape, but they used Grady’s advice to keep one in, and that was keeping the rest from going too far afield.
They ended up stacking the extra cans in the living room. It wasn’t attractive or neat, but at least it was safe. With the things they had stored down in the basement they hoped they were well-stocked and prepared for winter. They had both worried that they might get stuck on the island at some point and be unable to get enough supplies to tide them over.
“Whoops,” Barbara laughed as her head hit the onions hanging in the kitchen. She was pleased with how well they had grown in the soil in their garden. Next year, she hoped to double the space. They should have more time to take care of the garden than they had this year with all their building. The weeds had been terrible, but they’d been so determined to build their cabin that they hadn’t the time to bestow on the neglected patch. Still, the foods that had grown well were welcome. She looked at the beans they had in sacks, waiting to be shucked from their shells. She was hoping that the sheep, chickens, and guineas could benefit from those shells, so they wouldn’t go to waste.
“What’s for dinner, Mom?” Richard asked as he brought up half a flat in his arms. Brian followed with the other half, and Brenda carried a few other cans.
“Put those here until you bring up the casing,” Marion murmured, pointing to where the cans should go out of the way until they could put them neatly back in the flats.
“I thought you were going to catch me some fish,” she teased. “After the boat is empty,” she stopped them from rushing off to grab their poles. They all enjoyed fishing and many times they left multiple poles out on the beach. Their cove was an excellent source of food. They’d collected mussels too. They were known as blue mussels, and the meat supplemented their diet wonderfully. The crab meat was best mixed with other meat but still tasted delicious. Occasionally, they managed to get a lobster, but without the right traps this was a rare treat. Anything they could haul from the ocean and their cove was welcome...and free. It only required their time and hard work to obtain. It also gave them time off from the constant building and improvements to the island that had gone on their whole spring, summer, and well into fall.
The boys and Brenda spent their fall days after homework fishing and crabbing as well as hunting mussels. Using larger branches they had cut into usable lengths, they built up several woodpiles for their winter consumption. They also cut up dead or damaged trees that they hadn’t been able to use on the cabins. The weather became quite brisk as they stocked up, not knowing how much they would need or when.
The first snowfall was pretty, and they had chicken for Thanksgiving—not because they wanted to, but because something got into the chicken coop and killed several of their birds. Using pallet wood, they enforced the chicken wire, hoping to keep any future wild animals from getting in.