Let Us Be Brave
Page 15
Helen decided to just let them do all the work. It was obvious that they could take care of everything. She rolled over in the bed, waited until her head stopped spinning, and took a nap. Ah, the bed was glorious after so many days of sleeping on hard ground.
When she woke up, Lillian was flipping small pancakes on the stovetop. The eggs were all cooked. They had added dried onion, pepper, and bits of bacon to the eggs to make them taste great. There was a platter of fried bacon in the warming oven of the stove along with the eggs. A large platter covered with pancakes sat on the cookstove. The stack was growing by the minute. Sam and Nicholi had returned with all the bags, and Patrick was sitting in his chair by the table. The boys looked like they were as hungry as wolves before the kill. They paced around the kitchen area.
“Come on, there’s enough,” whined Nicholi.
“Yeah, I agree,” said Marie. “Let’s eat now. We can cook more pancakes after breakfast.”
Lillian said something quietly.
“Yes! She said we could eat!” said Nicholi with enthusiasm.
Soon the platters were all on the table along with a stack of plates and some forks. They filled up a plate for Helen, and she stayed in bed, resting but ready to feed herself.
Everyone served up their plates, making sure not to take too much. Even Nicholi could see there was plenty for everyone. They made sure Patrick had a plate and Lillian was ready to feed him.
“Ank oo Gd,” said Sam as he signed thanks to God for the food.
“Yes, thank God for this wonderful meal, fabulous cabin, and wonderful friends,” said Helen.
They all dug in. They took turns pouring canned maple syrup on their pancakes after slathering large chunks of real butter from the butter tins. All was quiet except for slurping, chewing, and swallowing sounds.
“Is this heaven?” asked Nicholi.
“Sure is,” said Patrick between bites that Lillian fed him.
After breakfast was finished, Lillian cooked the pancakes for lunch while Sam kept the fire going. Everyone else sat around, burping with pleasure. After that, they discussed a plan for cleanup. Sam and Nicholi would haul water from the creek using five-gallon buckets they found under the porch. Lillian would do the dishes, and Marie would start the laundry under Helen’s direction. No one understood the washing machine except Helen. After those chores were all done, they would start the steam. They needed to haul in twenty gallons of water and get the fire going. Nicholi and Lillian both loved their steam baths and would be in charge of that.
“I think you should take the washing machine outside to the porch to do the laundry. Then the water could just drain out the bottom and wouldn’t make a mess in the house,” said Helen.
“It would also be closer to the stream and easier to haul water,” said Marie. “Laundry is going to take days to do since there’s so much of it,” said Patrick.
“Might as well chain me to this machine,” said Marie.
“I ep” (I’ll help), said Sam.
Helen told them what to do. First they hauled water from the creek to the house and poured it into a twenty-five-gallon white plastic container with a faucet at the bottom. They also filled the top of a tall, three-gallon water purifier container on the counter. The water immediately started dripping slowly down through three large stone filters into the storage container below. It had a valve that could be opened to release water into a cup or pot as needed.
Sam and Marie carried all the clothes to the porch along with the lightweight aluminum, fiberglass, and wood machine.
Helen called out, “Sort the clothes, Marie!” She directed them to sort a load of underwear, which they would wash first, then shirts, and finally pants. Everyone needed at least one set of clean clothes to wear.
“Help me get outside please,” asked Helen. “There’s no point in taking a steam bath if we’re just going to get back into our fishy, muddy clothes again.”
“You’re right on that,” said her sister.
“Put this much detergent in the bottom of the tub,” said Helen, pointing to a one-eighth metal measuring cup that was attached with a cord to the side of the tub. “Then fill the tub with about this much water.” She illustrated about a foot in length with her hands.
“This much?” asked Marie, holding the cup for reassurance.
“Bring me the measuring cup and I’ll show you.” Marie carried it over, and Helen pointed to where the one-eighth mark was printed on the side. “Eight of these make a cup.”
“Why so little?”
“Too much soap and water will just splash out when you start working the lever. Plus you can always add soap, but rinsing it out is difficult if you start with too much.”
Marie and Sam did as directed and then added the underwear.
“Okay, now take the lever in your hand and pull it toward you and push it away like this.” She demonstrated the motion.
The clothes started to slush in the water. Marie did it for about two minutes and then Sam did two minutes. It was hard work, but after eight minutes of agitation, the first load was finished.
“Now take the clothes out one item at a time and put them through the wringer.”
Neither Sam nor Marie knew how to use it.
“The wringer. The wringer. You both don’t know . . . Oh, see the thing with the handle that is connected to the two pastry rollers?”
“This thing?” asked Marie.
“Put the clothes next to the edge on the side and turn the crank. The wringer will grab the clothes and pull them through.”
Marie tried and gave up, so Sam tried. He couldn’t figure it out either.
“Lillian, you’ve seen one of these. Show them.”
Lillian had been watching but hadn’t moved. She slowly got up, pushed one pair of underwear next to the wringer, and directed Sam to crank it. She pushed hard until a corner of the fabric caught. Sam turned the crank with both hands. Eventually the first pair of underwear came out on the other side and dropped into a basket on the porch.
“Oh, I get it. But why do we squish the water out now?” asked Marie.
“If you do it now, it saves you hauling so much water from the creek for each wash because you can wash the other loads in the same soapy water. Also, just think, the laundry is lighter when you carry it down to the creek to rinse it,” said Helen.
“Makes sense to me,” said Patrick.
“Whatever you say,” said Marie. She didn’t really understand, but maybe she would later.
The two took turns cranking the underwear through the wringer one at a time until the tub was finished. Then they dropped the shirts into the tub of soapy water, and after discussing it, added another bucket of water to replenish the tub. The water seemed soapy enough, so they didn’t add more detergent.
“Wash or rinse?” asked Marie.
“Osh” (wash), said Sam.
“I’ll take them down to the creek and rinse them there,” Marie said.
“Then just throw them over the line to drip. They’ll dry eventually,” said Helen.
Marie took the basket of underwear down to the creek. Patrick told her to use the big #3-size galvanized washtub he had seen hanging on the side of the house. It would be great to rinse in. She dipped a bucket in the creek to fill it and poured the water on the clothes, rinsing as she filled the tub. After swirling the clothes, she took them to the line and draped them over the line to drip dry. She returned to the porch to help Sam with the shirts and repeated the wring and rinse process with them.
By afternoon they had clean clothes drying on the line for everyone. The steam bath was all ready to light for an evening bath. Salmon sandwiches in pancakes were a big hit with everyone at lunch. The group felt they had time to go have a little fun, so Lillian, Nicholi, and Sam went down the hill to go fishing. They thought salmon chowder would be great for dinner. Patrick and Helen stayed in the cabin while Marie washed more clothes. She had it down to an art by that time and didn’t need much help after the boys
hauled her several buckets of water for the machine.
While resting between loads, the three sat on the porch, enjoying the day. It was bright and sunny when they had another jolt of an earthquake. The cabin gave a sudden, sharp shake and then kept swaying for a few more seconds before everything returned to normal. Patrick sat in his chair with his arms out to his sides and eyes wide with fear. Helen was surprised, but not too frightened once the cabin stopped creaking. Marie stood, holding the doorjamb of the cabin so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
“That was quite a shock wave,” said Patrick.
“I thought we were done with the volcano erupting,” said Marie.
“Doubt that, honey. Time will tell. Look at Augustine. It’s still smoking up there. It could do that for a couple of months or so.”
“At least the wind is away from us, and if it does erupt, it will go another direction,” said Patrick.
“There must be the threat of eruption, though, because there have been few planes flying over us today. They must be looking for our plane and it’s sunk in the inlet. I bet they think we‘ve died. They’ll look for at least two weeks, I’d think. Did any of you put out an S-O-S on the beach today?”
“How would we do that?”
“With logs, or anything would do if it was large enough.”
“I’d do it if my chair would work in the sand,” said Patrick.
“I would too if I wasn’t so dizzy.”
“I’m not leaving you and going down there alone,” said Marie.
“We need to make this a priority, Marie,” said Patrick.
By the time the three fisherman got back, it was time to cook dinner. The boys didn’t want to go down again because they were hungry, and the tide was coming in anyway. A sign would just wash away in an hour or so.
“We might as well cook our salmon chowder, take our badly needed baths, and do it tomorrow when the tide goes out,” said Marie.
“Okay then. Someone go light the fire in the steam bath,” said Helen. “By the time dinner is cooked, the steam should be warm enough for the first few people.”
Sam went out with Lillian to light the steam fire. Nicholi and Marie started building a fire in the cookstove. Marie was already becoming quite confident with the stove. It wasn’t as scary now for her.
Helen tried to get up to gut and split (filet) the freshly caught fish for dinner, but only lasted about thirty seconds before she was back on all fours crawling to her bed. “I’m better, but not good enough to help yet.”
Soon Lillian was back. Sam didn’t need her help and she figured out she was the best at splitting. She took the eight-pound red salmon, the knife, and the cutting board and went outside. Helen crawled out to the lounge chair on the porch to watch her with Patrick slowly following in his wheelchair. Lillian took the large butcher knife, and cut off the head behind the gills. She placed the knife just to the side of the backbone, neatly sliced down along the ribs, and carefully placed the meat on the side of the cutting board without completely disconnecting it from the rest of the fish. Then she put the knife carefully on the other side of the backbone and cut almost all the meat off the bones of the back and ribs on that side. Lastly she cut off the tail, which also freed the bones from the meat at once. After rinsing the fish and board off in the creek, she filleted the fish with its skin down and carefully removed it, trying to leave as much fat on the meat as possible.
“You never gutted that fish, Lillian,” said Helen.
“Fish clean good dis way,” she whispered.
Helen heard her clearly “When I feel better, I want you to coach me so I can do it like you.”
Lillian smiled and nodded.
Sam came in. “Ov ul” (stoves full), he said and sat down on the porch steps. Helen looked over at the steam bath building. The smoke coming out of the chimney had changed from thick grey to barely visible, meaning the stove was hot and working properly.
She stayed in her porch chair with her head leaning against the house logs and watched the clouds over the mountain. Sometimes they were white, and at other times they were various shades of grey. She felt like she was on a vacation now that they weren’t in the shelter. She relaxed in the chair and closed her eyes. She could hear all that was going on around her, and she felt safe for the first time.
Lillian, Marie, and Nicholi worked together on salmon chowder. They found lots of seasonings in one container. They didn’t know which to add, but Patrick interrupted and said, “I love basil, salt, and pepper best.” So they added that in. “How about dried onion, a can of tomatoes, some cooked bacon, and a can of corn too?” he suggested.
Marie got a skillet out and started frying the bacon. The longer they were in charge of cooking, the more interested everyone became. Lillian and Marie were the only ones that had cooked meals before the accident, but Sam, Patrick, and Nicholi loved to eat. All of them hung out around the wood stove and kitchen table as dinner was being created.
“Let’s open up a couple of cans of peaches for dessert,” suggested Patrick. “We need some fruit in our diet.”
“Sounds heavenly,” called Helen from the porch.
The cans were brought out and put beside a serving bowl.
“Don’t open them yet, or they’ll all be gone before dinner’s ready. You guys look like a bunch of hungry vultures,” said Patrick.
“E err” (We are), said Sam. “Oo me ars. Euf or iff.” (Too many bars. Enough for life.)
Later, after they were all full of dinner and stretched out relaxing around the house, Nicholi would occasionally come out on the porch, look at the mirror, and talk to it while rocking. Things were working out. The swallows were flying all the around the cabin, eagles were calling each other in the distance, sea gulls could be heard on the shore, and two black and white magpies were chasing each other around a spruce tree that grew next to the cabin. Helen was content for the moment, as were all of them. They were full and had clean clothes drying on the line to put on after their baths.
Chapter 25
Steam Bath Time
Before they went in the steam bath, Marie and Lillian checked the clothes on the line. The first batches were dry, so they brought them into the house and, after much discussion with Helen, got them sorted into a pile for each owner. They left the others hanging outside to drip for the night.
Lillian checked the steam and came in smiling.
“Steam must be ready,” said Helen. “Ladies first. Do you guys mind if we stay in as long as we want to?”
“Fine with me,” said Patrick. Sam was playing with his wood chunk trucks, and Nicholi was standing on the porch playing with the mirror and talking to himself. “Those guys won’t notice.”
“Oh, boy!” said Marie. “I’ll grab these towels and the soap stuff.”
“Lillian, would you please bring all our clean clothes?” asked Helen.
Lillian went to the piles and put all the girl clothes in a basket.
“If you two can get all that out there, the boys can help me walk, and we’ll soon be in steam bath heaven,” Helen said.
The steam bath was basically a long cabin with two rooms. The first one was painted white inside and had two long benches to sit on and hooks on the wall for clothes. The girls left their shoes on a shelf outside the door and went into the cool room with all their stuff. They stripped all their clothes off and threw them out the door in a muddy heap.
They opened the door to the hot room and found a barrel stove surrounded by rocks. On top of the stove there was a flat cast iron shelf with two tall, five-gallon, recycled metal gas cans full of hot water. The tops of the gas cans had been cut off, and strong wire handles had been attached for lifting the cans safely. On the floor were two more containers of cool water. There were three tiers of benches. Lillian and Marie helped Helen get in the second door and set her down on the bottom bench, then climbed up to the top row and sat quietly enjoying the hot steam. They started to sweat, and at the same time the sweat dried.
“Wow, that hurts!” screamed Marie as she quickly slid down to the bottom row of benches where it was cooler.
Lillian stayed on the top row, smiling and giggling at the other two girls with her hands over her mouth. Just to prove she was the toughest of them, she poured another ladle on, and it felt like the temperature went even higher. Helen dropped off the bench onto the floor, screaming with delight, and naked Marie bolted out the door to cool off. Lillian stayed there for about thirty seconds and then quickly joined Marie in the cool room, giggling also. The two were red from head to toe and their bodies were dripping with sweat. They sat on the benches in the outside room with the door open until they started to feel a little chilled and then returned to scrub up.
“About time you two chickens dared to come back and face a hot steam. I’m the winner,” said Helen as she moved back up to the bottom row again. “Any chance you could ladle me some water so I can scrub up?”
Marie ladled up a metal washbasin of water from the cold and hot metal pots by the fire. She made sure it wasn’t too hot or too cold, but just right for washing. Lillian handed her a washcloth and a bar of soap. Helen, still lying on her side so her head didn’t swim around too much, washed every inch of her very dirty body, swooning with delight at how good it felt. The other two also washed and scrubbed themselves. They took the water from their individual washbasins and rinsed off the soap as best they could. They poured water on their burning hot hair to cool it down and added shampoo. After they lathered up their hair, they helped each other by pouring water over each other to rinse.
Lillian tried to burn them out one more time before they did their last soap-down and rinse of their bodies. They finally decided it was time to share the luxury with the boys. With help, Helen moved into the cool room. She leaned her head against the wall as she sat exhausted and naked and cooled down to the point that she was a normal pink color again. Then they all got dressed, cleaned up the mess, and helped Helen to the cabin. They were all exhausted and dehydrated from the bath and sat around like zombies.