Chapter Twenty-Four - Rain Watching
-Summer-
The salt marsh was much as it was last time, briney-smelling and populated by incredibly tall grasses. A part of Belbet worried that snakes might be an issue, but honestly she had no way of deterring them at this point. The grasses were varied, and she spotted a few that reminded her of jewelweed and common threesquare grass. She made a mental note to collect some of that.
In the meantime, she gathered her children close and grinned, “Alright kiddoes, we’re going to be looking for seeds, specifically. If you can get things like crawfish or crabs, feel free, but be careful not to get pinched or hurt, okay? Stay where you can see us. Mama’s going to be digging in the water over there, so keep that in mind, and if you need ANYTHING, or you get scared, blow your whistles.” She pointed at the little whistles she’d whittled during the downtime for them. They were tied with thick grass-chord around their throats so they wouldn’t get lost.
The little ones nodded and then scrambled in various directions with their baskets. Of course, Mohniit almost immediately got distracted by the croaking of a frog, but it was worth it just to get him out and exploring the world around them. Belbet turned then to Kaion and gave him a winning smile. “I’ll be gathering some more saltwater to try and make enough to salt our food for winter. If you could, look around for anything edible, and keep track of what you find where, okay?”
Kaion nodded, “Alright. Be safe, and… try to avoid those clawed things.” He said, making a face. Belbet couldn’t help but choke back a laugh as she remembered his unfortunate meeting with the last crabs they tried to bring back. The poor man, she still wasn’t sure where exactly he’d been pinched.
“I’ll do my best.” She laughed, turning to go dig about in the mud. It was a good thing her job wasn’t as intensive mentally as anything else, because soon, Dahnei was bringing her things, starting with a cluster of bright red berries about the size of a thumb-knuckle, connected to at wig with three-toed leaves on it. The almost oak-like leaves intrigued her, and Belbet set aside her little hollow of water to look them over for a moment. Recognition struck Victoria almost instantly when she ran her fingers over the outside of the red berries.
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“Hawthorns! Oh, this is lovely. Do me a favor, Dahnei, pick as many of these as you can. I’ll have a treat for you two tonight!” She grinned, settling the branch Dahnei had brought to her into the basket. The little girl nodded seriously, her mouse ears swivelling to the north. She turned and looked, but upon realizing it must have been a bird or something, she turned back to her task.
Belbet’s eyes followed her for a moment, before turning back to her work. Only for her digging to be interrupted again a few minutes later with Mohniit holding up a frog. She blinked, both amused and concerned. How had he managed to catch such a quick, slippery thing? “Good job, Mohniit, that’s a frog.”
“Fahg!” Mohniit declared, shaking his poor catch as the thing squirmed in his hands.
“F-RRRR-og.” She enunciated the r, so that Mohniit wouldn’t run around with bad pronunciation. The boy copied her, and after a few times of correction, he seemed to have gotten it down. “Yep, that’s a Frog. It’s edible. If you can trap it in your basket and keep it, we can have some for dinner tonight. Or, if you want, you can play with it for a while?”
There was a risk of losing the frog meat, but honestly, Belbet was a bit tired of all of the things they collected going to either food or shelter. Why not let the boy play a little? And if the frog got away, who cared, because they still had a metric fuck-ton of snake left anyway. She went back to digging as her little boy shrieked in joy, the frog indeed slipping from his grasp so that he could chase it.
She pulled the heavy mud to the side over and over, so that the water that was filled with salt would pool in the middle. She waited until the water trickled in enough for her to scoop it up with a small wooden scoop that Eefim had carved for her a few days ago. She used it to slop the mud-water into the cistern she’d brought specifically for this purpose.
Her hands stung with the scrapes the rocks and roots took as price for the salty brine. The salt itself definitely wasn’t helping. While waiting for the water to refill, she herself started cutting down some of the tall Threesquare grasses. They were perfect for basket weaving, and the seeds were fully heavy and brown. A thought crossed her mind, and she went digging in Victoria’s memories.
Threesquare grass was used by native americans for basket weaving… but also for other things. What was it… The seeds….A mental image of a young woman grinding seeds into flour burst into Victoria’s mind, and she gasped, remembering. These were like the Amaranth! They could make flour! She cast a glance at her hole and calculated that she had a few moments before it would be full enough to scoop again, so she started cutting the heavy seed-heads off of the plants and piling them in her own basket.
Mini Character List
Victoria/Belbet - Our Main Character, 21 yr old pregnant Mom. - Come ON! THINK! WHat-
Dahnei - 5 year old paleolithic child. Daughter of Belbet. Jerboa Mouse-Spirited. - I'm so dizzy, everything hurts! Mama! Help me, Mama! I didn't eat any, I swear, Mama it hurts!
Mohniit - 2 year old paleolithic child. Son of Belbet. Rabbit Spirited. - What's happening?! Why is Sissy so sick! This is scary!
Unborn Baby - Oh great, more stress.
Deenat - 25 year old paleolithic gatherer - Ermine Spirited. - Ugh, these sweet potatoes are so frickin' heavy.
Eefim - 11 year old paleolithic hunter-in-training - Raw Sweet potato for lunch... when is Auntie coming back, I want something tasty to eat.
Kaion - 26 year old man. Ram Spirited. - Shit, Shit shit, okay, the kid's sick, or dying... fuck, Keep calm, Kaion, we don't need panic here!
Wolf - ...my food is very late.
