by Ali Spooner
“Shrimp,” she said. I haven’t seen those in ages,” she said, her eyes shining brightly.
“There are a dozen or so in there with your clams,” Nat said.
“Wonderful,” the woman said and hugged Nat’s neck as she took the sack she offered.
“What is the best way to cook those?” Nat asked. “I tried grilling them on the camp fire, but they were very bland.”
“Remove the head and outer shell and then dip them in a whipped egg and then some seasoned flour and fry them in some light grease,” the woman said.
“Sounds easy enough,” Nat said.
“When they turn a golden brown, take them from the grease and let them cool.”
“I will try that tonight,” Nat said.
“If you and Marissa will come by tomorrow night we will have some fresh clam chowder,” the woman said with a warm smile.
“You have a deal,” Nat promised and turned to walk back to Hardy.
“Wait just a minute,” she said.
Nat stopped and turned back to the woman.
“I have something for you,” she said and took the sack inside and reappeared moments later with two pair of breeches tied up with a string.
“You are done already?” Nat asked.
“When you get to be my age, you don’t sleep as well as you did when you were young,” she said, as she handed Nat the package. “Try those on later and let me know if any changes are needed.”
“Thank you, my friend,” Nat said as she reached for Hardy’s reins and they walked to the hotel.
The sun was starting to set and Nat knew it wouldn’t be long before Marissa finished her shift. She left Hardy tied to a hitching post and told Gyp, “stay” as she entered the hotel. When she stepped inside Marissa looked up to see Nat enter and her smile lit the entire room.
Marissa rushed over and hugged her tightly. “You are home early,” she said.
“I missed you,” Nat admitted with a smile. “How much longer until you are done here?” she asked.
“Just a few more minutes,” Marissa said.
“We will wait for you on the porch and walk you home then,” Nat said.
“I will be right there,” Marissa said as she turned to walk back into the kitchen.
Nat walked back onto the porch and sat in a chair with Gyp beside her as she waited for Marissa.
Marissa finished up the last of the dishes and then joined Nat for the walk home. “I am so glad to see you,” she said as they walked from town and she reached for Nat’s hand.
“The ocean was beautiful and we saw some unique creatures, but we decided we missed your cooking and warm bed,” Nat admitted.
“Are you saying I am spoiling you?” Marissa teased.
“Yes, that is it exactly,” Nat said with a grin. “Tonight I have a treat for you though. I am going to cook dinner for you. ”
“Oh goody, what are we having?” Marissa asked.
“I am frying shrimp for you,” Nat said proudly.
“I haven’t had fresh shrimp in years,” Marissa said.
“Tonight you will. I just caught them this morning,” she said. “As soon as I take care of Hardy I will be over to cook for you,” Nat said when they reached her cabin.
“I look forward to that,” Marissa said as she stood facing Nat.
Nat leaned down and kissed Marissa softly. “I will see you soon.”
Marissa walked on to her cabin as Nat led Hardy into the small barn and removed the saddle from his body. She wiped down his body and filled his feed bin before leaving the barn. She took her bedroll and rifle back inside her cabin and then walked to Marissa’s.
Nat took her coat off and hung it behind Marissa’s door. Marissa had brought out a frying pan and was heating it by the fire while she waited on Nat. Nat peeled and removed the heads from the shrimp as Marissa watched her closely. “Can you pour some flour in a bowl for me?” she asked.
“Yes, I will,” Marissa said.
Nat took a small grate and placed it above the coals in the fireplace. She also put a large portion of lard in the heated frying pan and placed it on the grate to heat up. Next, Nat took two eggs and cracked them emptying them into a bowl and used a fork to scramble them. Nat shook salt and pepper into the flour and shook the mixture, blending it together. Marissa watched as Nat picked up a shrimp and dunked it into the egg and then coated it with the flour. She repeated the process with a dozen of the shrimp and then carried the plate holding them over to the fireplace and placed them in the bubbling grease.
She returned the plate to the counter and breaded the remaining shrimp as the first batch began to cook. Nat took a clean plate and a long metal fork and sat on the hearth as she watched the shrimp cooking. Marissa took the shrimp shells out in the bucket and dumped them in the fire and rinsed out the bucket.
Nat turned the shrimp in the grease and smiled when she saw them beginning to turn a golden brown. Marissa placed plates and forks on the table and poured glasses of cool water for them as Nat cooked.
The first batch was cooked and Nat took them from the grease. She placed them on a plate to cool as she cooked the next batch with Marissa watching her carefully. “You handle that frying pan well,” she said with a smile to Nat.
“I can cook, it’s just that I am limited to what I can cook,” Nat said. “Most of my experience has come in the woods, where we eat what we have killed.”
“Well those smell wonderful and I can’t wait to taste them,” Marissa said. “How was your trip?”
“It was good to finally see the ocean. Gyp woke me the first night, to get up and see the Northern Lights,” she said.
“Good girl, Gyp,” Marissa said, and Gyp lifted her head.
“They were a beautiful swirling green and we watched them until the sun rose. Later that morning, we found a small rock pool that was teaming with ocean life that had been stranded by the receding tide. ”
“That sounds interesting,” Marissa said.
“I was amazed by how plentiful the food was, just swimming there in the pool, waiting to be harvested,” Nat said. “I was surprised that no one had settled close with the plentiful food supply,” she said.
“I am sure someone will settle close in the coming years, as the towns continue to swell,” Marissa said. “I have heard that the winter storms on the coast can be brutal, which may discourage settlers from moving in.”
“It was much cooler there than here,” Nat said. “We were lucky when we found a nice cave to take shelter in.” She looked at Gyp, lying between them. “We saw some strange creatures in the ocean, didn’t we girl.”
“How were they strange?” Marissa asked.
“They were huge fish like creatures, but every few minutes they would come to the surface and blow water out of their bodies through a hole on the top of her head.”
“Those are called whales,” Marissa said. “The natives hunt them for their meat and for the blubber that the animals store to help them maintain their warmth in the frozen waters up north.”
“In the back of the cave we found paintings of the creatures and others I have never seen before,” Nat said as she turned the shrimp in the pan. “There was also a skeleton of one of those whales and I brought this back with me,” Nat said as she pulled the tooth from inside her shirt. “This was one of many inside the huge jaws of those creatures,” she explained.
Marissa had never seen a whale, but had heard many tales of the giant creatures. She took the tooth in her hand and examined it closely. “You would think it would be sharp and not flat like a human’s tooth,” she observed.
“That is what I thought, when I saw the size of the creatures,” Nat said. She took another batch of shrimp out and dropped the last few in the seasoned grease. “Why don’t we start with these while the last of them cook?” she said.
Marissa followed Nat to the table and watched as she cut several shrimp into bite sized pieces for Gyp and placed them in her bowl. Then she took several of the shrimp a
nd placed them on her plate, cutting a bite for herself. She bit into the crunchy morsel and smiled at Gyp. “These are much better fried than roasted,” she said with a chuckle.
“These are tasty,” Marissa said, as she took a bite.
“I roasted some over the campfire last night and they were terrible,” Nat said.
“Well, you didn’t have the luxuries of home, so there wasn’t much else you could do, but roast them,” Marissa said.
“That is true, but the fish I cooked was excellent, so we filled our bellies with that,” Nat said, as she placed Gyp’s bowl on the floor.
“She will eat anything you do, won’t she?” Marissa asked.
“So far, but I think I was pressing my luck with those shrimp,” Nat said.
“She seems to be doing just fine with these,” Marissa said, as they watched Gyp eat.
Nat stood and walked to the fire to turn the shrimp still cooking. She was very pleased with how well they had turned out and Marissa seemed to be enjoying them.
“We have been invited to town tomorrow night for clam chowder,” Nat said as she turned and walked back to the table. “The old woman was surprise when I brought her some of these shrimp and gave me the secret to cooking them,” Nat admitted.
“You did an excellent job and I will look forward to the chowder. I have never had it, but I have heard of it from travelers,” she said.
“I think the next time I journey to the ocean I will take Quincy with me,” Nat said. “I could have taken a nice buck on the journey home, but would not have been able to transport the carcass,” she said. “I bet some of those fish would taste great smoked too.”
“Maybe next time I will travel with you,” Marissa said.
“I would like that,” Nat said with a warm smile. She walked to the fire and took the remainder of the shrimp from the grease and placed the pan on the hearth to cool.
She and Marissa ate their fill and then Nat cut up the remaining shrimp and dropped them into Gyp’s bowl. Gyp stood and ate the rest of the food and then let out a soft burp.
Marissa and Nat laughed at the dog as she cocked her head to the side.
“My feelings exactly,” Nat said as she patted her full stomach.
Marissa cleaned the dishes while Nat took the frying pan outside and poured the grease over the wood in the fire pit. Unlike bacon grease, that she saved to season other foods, the grease from the shrimp smelled too pungent and Nat doubted it would be good for seasoning. She then took the pan to the well and rinsed it thoroughly.
Marissa was wiping down the table when Nat returned inside the house. “It is a bit cool, but it’s beautiful out tonight,” she said. “Would you like to sit outside with me for a while?”
“Just let me get my jacket,” Marissa said.
Nat and Marissa sat on the front porch steps and looked up into the beautiful night sky. Nat wrapped her arm around Marissa and held her close, sharing her warmth with her. She pointed out the different constellations and told Marissa the stories her father had shared with her as a child.
“You really miss living outdoors, don’t you?” Marissa asked.
“It is so beautiful, but I have to admit after sleeping in a bed, the ground was a lot less comfortable.” Nat followed up her statement with a long yawn.
“Comfortable maybe, but lonesome without you,” Marissa said.
“So you missed me too?”
“You could say that,” Marissa said.
Nat felt her shiver beneath her arm. “Why don’t we go warm that bed up,” she said.
“That is fine with me,” Marissa said as she stood and took Nat’s hand.
“Let’s go Gyp,” Nat said and Gyp came bounding up the steps racing for the door. “Are we set for firewood in the bedroom?”
“Yes, I stocked up before I left this morning.”
Nat blew out the lantern in the kitchen and then followed Marissa into the bedroom. She placed several pieces of wood on the fire and then began to undress. Marissa offered her a night shirt, but Nat shook her head. “Tonight I want to feel your skin next to mine.”
Marissa stripped down and climbed between the sheets, while she waited for Nat.
Nat joined her in the bed and pressed her body close to Marissa. “I missed you so much.”
“I missed you too,” Marissa said.
“Will you roll over onto your side and let me hold you tonight?” Nat asked.
Marissa was disappointed that Nat was ready for sleep but understood her weariness from traveling. “Of course I will,” she said, as she turned her back to Nat.
Nat snuggled in close and placed her hand between Marissa’s warm breasts. She fell asleep breathing in the fragrance of Marissa’s skin.
PART ELEVEN
When Nat woke the next morning, she found Marissa’s head lying on her shoulder as her fingers toyed with the bear claw around her neck. When she realized Nat was awake she looked into her lover’s eyes and said, “Tell me about your father.”
“Nathan and Nanya were my parents,” Nat started. “My mother was full blooded Mohican and died many years ago from influenza, so Nathan pretty much raised me on his own.”
“Have you spent all of your life in the woods?” Marissa asked.
“With the exception of a few months each year when we would take shelter for the winter months,” Nat said. “Before the war broke out, we would winter with my mother’s tribe. Once the war started Nathan felt it would be best if we traveled west. ”
“You have never had any formal education, yet you read and write?” Marissa said.
“Father was a well-educated man and at night he would teach me reading, writing, math and history.” Nat smiled with the memory of her father. “During the day he taught me everything he knew about tracking, trapping and harvesting the valuable furs that were so plentiful along the border with Canada.”
Nat fell silent for a few minutes as sadness seemed to hang around her like a mist. “I don’t have many memories of Nanya,” Nat said somewhat saddened. “I do remember though, how beautiful she was and how my father looked at her.”
“How was that?” Marissa asked.
Nat smiled. “The way you are looking at me now,” she said, “With love and adoration.”
Marissa blushed at Nat’s words. “I understand the way he must have felt about your mother.”
Nat rolled onto her side, facing Marissa as her eyes searched Marissa’s face. Her fingers caressed her cheek. “I love you too,” Nat whispered before kissing Marissa’s lips.
They spent the morning making love under the warm covers oblivious to the falling snow that was blanketing their world. When they finally crept from the bed, Gyp raced to the front door, ready to go out to relieve her bladder. Nat opened the door and sighed. “Would you look at this?” she said.
Marissa walked to her side and looked out the door at the yard covered in at least six inches of snow. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Very much so,” Nat said as they watched Gyp romp playfully in the snow. “I think Gyp likes it too,” she said with a chuckle.