They tied off the boat and carried the groceries up the slope and put them away. The children introduced the kittens to their campsite, and the puppy gamboled about, smelling everything and peeing at will. The female dog followed them closely, almost as though she feared they would abandon her on this island with the children. Marion and Barbara carried the heavy bags of cement up to the meadow, one by one, and quickly put them away under the tarp, so they wouldn’t get wet. The storm was coming from the east and looked to be a doozy with its dark black, ominous clouds. They made several trips until all the heavy bags were put away and then, Marion checked the ties of the boat as Barbara made sure it was well covered, so no more water would get inside the boat. They wrapped everything up tight, piling the pallets under the trees.
“Whew, that was a workout,” Marion complained good-naturedly, stretching her tired muscles, pleased with their day. She hadn’t planned on the animals, but maybe Barbara was right about that. The children certainly were happy about them. Those bags of cement had been heavy, and Barbara didn’t even seem winded.
“We’ll sleep well tonight,” Barbara answered, nearly tripping over the female dog, who was following them very closely. “What’s the matter, old girl?” she addressed her. “I’m sorry he got rid of you, but I’m glad you’re with us now. You seem like a nice girl.” They’d actually paid less for her than the pup since the farmer considered her too old to breed. The pup, unrelated to her, was a male and should grow up bigger than her. She was very pretty with the long feathers of hair on her.
“I bet she misses her home,” Marion said sadly, feeling bad for the dog, as they trudged up the slope one more time.
“Well, this will be home soon. We’ll have to go over some names tonight.”
They’d picked up a camp stove and fired that up to make their dinner of scrambled eggs and fresh toast since they now had bread again. They’d picked up food for the animals as well and fed them in their own bowls.
“No, no,” Marion warned the pup, who tried to eat the kitten’s food.
“We have to put that food up in those bear containers, so that pup doesn’t get it all. He’s a glutton.” Barbara laughed at the pup’s antics even if they were annoying.
“What’s a glutton?” Richard asked, trying to finish his own food.
“Someone or something that eats it all or is greedy.”
“They usually refer to a wolverine as a glutton,” Marion further clarified. She was so happy they had these educational opportunities. She had read through the children’s reader for the boys just the other night, knowing Brenda could keep up with the children’s lessons, no problem. She was going to be giving them that information in the coming days and then have them go through their own readers.
The rain started right after dinner, and they retreated to the safety of the tent. The kittens snuggled down, but the pup was up and down all night, waking the two adults with his antics. The female dog had decided that Barbara was her person and wanted to lay with her. She tried a couple of names to see if the dog would respond. Coming up with Feathers hadn’t been hard, but now, the dog had a name and seemed grateful for it.
The other dog they had decided to name Barkley because of his propensity for barking. The kittens, which were escape artists but came back frequently as they explored their surroundings, they named Grey and Tiger, not very original but apt.
“I should be jealous of the dog,” Marion whispered as Feathers crawled up on Barbara’s sleeping bag to snuggle in.
“I’d rather it was you,” Barbara mouthed back, barely whispering. They’d had no time alone and both desperately wanted some. The children were around all the time, and there simply was no way to express their desire for each other. They were both young, healthy, and in the prime of their lives, and both wanted to make love to one another.
Theirs was an uneasy sleep as every ‘larger than normal’ raindrop seemed to get the pup up. Occasionally, he would growl, and once or twice, he barked. Barbara used Feathers as her gauge, and nothing seemed to bother the older dog.
The rain was gone the next morning, but it was cold. They could see their breath in the chill of the morning air. Barbara was anxious to use their new wedge, but instead, they decided to mix the concrete and put the rocks in the basement. Trying to find sand proved impossible, even after they carefully drove the boat around the island looking for a sandy beach.
“Where in the world do you think it is?” Marion asked, becoming alarmed at how long it was taking to find sand. They had reluctantly left the children on their own beach with the pets but hurried back to tie off the boat and cover it up again when they didn’t find the necessary sand.
Barbara slipped on the gravel-strewn beach, going down hard and laughing at herself. She realized what a fortuitous fall it was when her boot pushed aside some gravel and uncovered the very sand they had been looking for. “Look at this!” she said, showing Marion what she had uncovered.
“And we wasted how much time and gas looking for it? It was here all the time!” she exclaimed, grabbing one of the buckets and shovels they had taken to fill.
As they dug down, they realized it would fill with water soon and decided to see if there was more sand farther up the beach. Sure enough, the entire beach was covered with sand that was hidden by heavier and larger stones. All they had to was pull aside the stones to find the sand they needed. They carried their heavy pails up the trail they were making to the meadow, followed closely by Feathers. It was difficult traveling as the trail was slippery in several places, but they were relieved to finally see the children and the pets.
The children liked the idea of mixing the cement and were eager to help keep it mixed. They were even willing to fetch heavy water pails to make the mix. Slowly, the women put rocks on top of the mix in the basement, building their walls. Using a board to keep the rocks held tightly against the dirt until the cement had a chance to dry and take hold, they built up one wall at a time, one layer at a time. One of the walls sagged, and they quickly learned not to mix the mortar so weakly. Instead, they created a paste to smear between the stones. Once the walls started going up, a ladder had to be used as the two adults couldn’t hop easily in and out of the hole. The children eagerly handed down the heavy stones, some as big as their heads. More than one of the stones smashed down on their hard granite base.
“At least we don’t have to pour the floor,” Barbara said optimistically as the work progressed. She was anxious to start cutting trees. Washing up every night in their water supply had resulted in a second basin away from their drinking supply. Using the last of the cement, Barbara made a better set of dams for their drinking water and wash basins.
“Aren’t you clever?” Marion teased with a smile, proud of the idea and looking forward to what else they would be able to do together.
“I need a bath,” Barbara admitted. While the water was cold and refreshing, washing up wasn’t the same as soaking in a tub. They added a tub to the growing list of things they wanted for their cabin, having no idea how to install the plumbing. They did have a book, ‘Plumbing for Beginners,’ that they had both read but didn’t quite understand without the diagrams. Putting it into practice would be a whole new experience for them both as they learned.
“How are we going to get the water from here,” she indicated the spring, “to there?” she gestured towards the other end of the meadow where they were building their cabin under the large maple trees.
“We’ll figure it out,” Barbara dismissed, not willing to worry about it when they were just finally finishing the basement.
They ended up bailing water out of their basement the next day when the rains returned, hard and lashing. Spending the day in the tent with smelly, wet dogs and fidgeting kids was not fun. The dogs were worse than the kids about going in and out, and as a result, the bottom of the tent was covered with tracked-in mud and grass.
“No, you can’t go out. You’ve already been out,” was heard repeatedly.
>
The rain lasted three days, and by then, they were all ready to kill each other. Bailing out the basement required a lot of work, but Barbara had a pump among their supplies, and they managed to keep it going while the children played with the pup and kittens.
“Something is going to get those kittens, if we aren’t careful,” Marion worried until she saw how adroitly they climbed trees.
“Well, a mink won’t hesitate to kill if it can,” Barbara reminded her of that day long ago when they saw the furry creature.
The children, when not restricted to staying indoors, were having a fun time with no regimented school time or bath time and plenty of outdoor fun. Now, with the puppy and kittens to play with, they were having a ball. Both Marion and Barbara wanted them to help as much as they were able but didn’t want them too exhausted from helping. They wore themselves out quite well by playing. The women were relieved that everyone was out of their hair, so they could get things done. They’d have to wash their bedclothes and string them up on the first clear day. Getting the mud out of the tent would be harder. They had to let that air out as well. Five people, two canines, and two kittens tended to create a lot of body odors and not all of them were pleasant.
“We came out too early,” Marion decided as they determined which trees to fell, looking for the seasoned trees as Barbara had suggested.
“Well, be that as it may, we’re here, and we have to make do with what we have.”
Felling that first tree, they thought they would have it made. It was more difficult than either of them anticipated, and once it was down, they had to remove the branches and cut it into useful lengths. This first one was over twenty feet long and heavy because it was seasoned, hard, and solid. Getting it up the slope using tackle was nearly impossible. Finally, they had it in the meadow, and Barbara, in an attempt at humor said, “Well, that’s one.” The look she got from Marion could have killed her on the spot. One day and only one tree was not the schedule either wanted to keep. Still, they managed to hook up the splitting apparatus, and after altering its original intent, managed to start the wedges down the middle of the tree, twisting the cable until it pulled the wedge up the crack they were making. It took until evening to get that one log split.
“Oh, my God. I didn’t think we’d ever get it done,” Marion gasped as the two pieces fell apart.
“Do you want to try to get it over the basement?” Barbara asked, knowing this was going to be a big cross piece.
“No, I want to bring up that other piece we cut, so we have a post in the middle to support it.”
“It’s getting dark,” Barbara warned unnecessarily, watching the children endlessly running around the meadow before they would come in to eat and sleep later.
“I know it’s getting dark.” Marion’s shoulders sagged, defeated. This was just so hard, and she hadn’t expected...Building it all on their own had seemed like such a wonderful idea. Her hands were blistered, and they hadn’t even started digging up the garden yet, much less planted anything. The cabin was way behind schedule. “You’re right. We should eat dinner and do it in the morning.”
Barbara got up from where she was untangling the cables of the log splitter, so they could use it again when they had another log. She put her hand on her girlfriend’s shoulder and said, “It will get there.”
“I know it will. It’s just taking so much time. Maybe we bit off more than we can chew?”
“Yes, we did, but here we are, and we’ll make it.”
They washed up at the dam, the water stinging their blistered hands, and then they started dinner. When the food was ready, they brought the children and puppy in to wash up. The puppy just drank as much water as he could as he panted happily.
“What are you doing?” Barbara asked the boys, who both had their pants down and were peeing at each other into their water supply.
“Crossing swords,” Brian answered, laughing.
“What in the world?” Marion gasped. “You stop that right now!” she yelled at her son. “Pull up your pants,” she told them both.
“You do not expose yourself in public like that. Furthermore, not in front of your sister!” Barbara told them, amused but not willing to show it.
“She’s not my sister,” Richard tried to argue.
“That’s worse!” his mother told him. “Are you going to drink that water now that you’ve peed into it?”
Startled, both boys looked at the water in the dam and shook their heads.
“You were told to pee over by that tree we designated as the latrine, so no one would step in anything they shouldn’t,” Marion continued the lecture, furious at what they had done in front of Brenda.
“But Barkley pees everywhere...” Brian tried to argue.
“He’s a dog!” his mother retorted. “He doesn’t know any better, but you should. You don’t do that in public where anyone could see you, and you certainly do not do that in front of your sister.”
Both boys, worried that they would have to drink from the water now that they were made aware of it, looked ashamed.
“I have some water in my tub for you to use. Go wash up, and I don’t want you to ever pee in our water supply again. You use the latrine!” Barbara told them angrily. “If I catch you doing something like that again, I’m going to cut a switch and use it on your behinds!”
“You wash up too, Brenda,” Marion told the little girl, who had been ready to pull down her pants too but was distracted watching the two boys have their ‘sword’ fight. “What are we going to do with them?” Marion turned to ask her partner, who she could see was amused and disgusted at the same time.
“We are going to make them bail out this dam and that dam and the pools tonight while we finish dinner,” Barbara told her. “All we can do is address things like this as they occur. I would never have thought to talk to them before this happened. Who’d have thought they would do something like this?” She chuckled and shook her head.
Marion tried to find the humor but was more mortified. She knew she was tired and needed a good night’s sleep. They headed back to camp to inform the boys to take buckets and bail out the two pools, so they would have clean, fresh water in them tomorrow.
“Where should we pour the buckets?” Brian asked, looking concerned at the amount of work they had just been assigned and worried about his dinner.
“On the grass outside the pools. Pour away from the pool, so it doesn’t drain back in,” Barbara told him.
“It’s getting dark.” Richard was apprehensive. His stomach growled, and he looked to where the food was laid out waiting for them to eat.
“Then, you better hurry up and get them both bailed out before it gets dark, or you’ll have to do it again tomorrow until I’m satisfied that the water is all new from the spring and not tainted with your pee!”
CHAPTER TEN
Barbara thought about the incident the following day as they slowly moved the logs closer to the cabin site. They couldn’t watch the children all the time, and while the island was relatively safe, it was remote, and they were alone. She knew worrying about every little thing would drive her crazy, and in the rush of work they were trying to accomplish, she couldn’t let it overwhelm her.
Marion was having similar thoughts and worried that her children were influencing Richard or vice versa. Who was the culprit coming up with these ideas? Then she calmed herself, realizing that any of the children could come up with mischief on their own. Laying blame would do nothing but cause a schism between her and Barbara, and she didn’t want that. They had a lot of work to do and building their cabin or home was the least of those worries.
They erected a sturdy stump in the middle of the basement that was seven and a half feet long and at least two feet thick. They carefully sawed it even before they put the heavy crossbeams over it. While lowering it into the basement, they lost some of their carefully constructed wall and had to redo it. Getting the stump on end and level took some real time and effort. They laid
cut timbers over the stones at each end of the cabin, using more cement to hold it in place and make a seal. They used the window they had found on the beach in one wall to provide extra light in their basement and carefully placed a log across its frame. They left another hole on the opposite side of the basement for another window to let in more light, when they acquired it. Finally, they placed the heavy crossbeam, which was now flat on the post in the middle and the two sides. Using hand drills seemed to take forever to go through each end and into the wood below the log, but they finally managed to sink bolts through it. Now, they were ready to lay a floor, but they didn’t know how to lay a floor. They also needed a stairwell, but they didn’t know which to do first. At least the cross beam and the higher sides kept the tarp up, so they didn’t get water in the basement anymore.
“Let’s use the pallets to make a stairway. Neither one of us wants to use a ladder into the basement, and you know, we’ll worry about the children falling,” Marion finally decided. They pulled apart the pallets, carefully saving those nails they could reuse through the thick wood. Because different pallet manufacturers used different wood and nails, they had a variety, but they managed to build their staircase and used two planks they salvaged from their own beach. Cutting Vs in the planks after they measured, they put the cross pieces from the pallets and built the staircase against one wall. The children loved it as they hadn’t been able to go into the basement before, but when the kittens and pup were included, the adults put an end to that.
“We better go to town to check for more of these,” Marion said as they used up the last of the pallets on the frame of the chicken coop they were making. She used her front teeth to delicately pull a sliver from her finger.
“Could you go while I continue chopping down trees?” Barbara asked, eager to have some alone time.
“Me?” she squeaked, surprised. She liked driving the boat, but the thought of driving it across that open water scared her. Still, it wouldn’t do for Barbara to make an unnecessary trip, and she was better at cutting down trees, her immense strength utilized in this simple way. They could also use some paint for the chicken coop and a few other things they’d realized they needed.
An Island Between Us Page 10