Though they might all have different colour hair, the boys had definitely inherited their Uncle Jake’s curls! Ben quite liked that. As the twins grew up, he had a bit more time on his hands, and he’d made some new furniture for them.
“It’s a bit rough and ready – I’m a carpenter, really, not a joiner – but it’s all right, isn’t it?”
“It’s lovely,” Astrid had said, kissing him.
The wine trading had worked! Jacob had found a ship, the Windrunner, and the captain and crew were prepared to make Salk Island West a regular port of call.
“Once a year,” the captain had said. “But the war’s affected production in both Istria and Sautach, so there’s a market, and we can make Salk Island West a re-watering stop at the same time.” And the first cargo had paid for windows with glass in them – at least on one side of the house. They’d also built an upper storey – the first one on the island.
The actual upstairs room was still pretty bare, and only contained the boys’ beds, and Thorold and Perdita’s old bed, but one day they’d split it up into two rooms – and put some more windows in too!
Jon was teaching his brothers to fish – and remembering Thorold teaching him, with a slight pang.
Sal came round to see her brother – and to tell him that she was pregnant!
Ben was delighted – as well as being a father, he was going to be an uncle. And each new child arriving on the island made their future seem a little brighter, a little more certain. Jon would have to do a re-count soon.
Astrid got the cots out of the roofspace to pass on to Sal.
“You’d better have both of them – after all, you never know!” She laughed as she thought about her own unexpected twins. “The other one’s fallen apart though – even Ben couldn’t mend it. I think Jon bounced in it one too many times.”
But the two cots that Lars had made were still sturdy, and Anders would be so pleased to be putting his child into a cot his father had made.
Sal really appreciated Astrid’s support and advice during her pregnancy too. Jacob and Ade were coming to the island soon, but they had to pack, sort out what they were bringing with them, make Waverider over to Jake – they hoped to be there for the birth, but it wasn’t a certainty. The sisters-in-law grew much closer during that time.
Jon, Toby and Barney loved to explore the island, loved the freedom that they had. Today they’d gone up to the woods near the graveyard.
It was Toby who noticed how the ground was scarred and scraped from all the tree-felling that had been going on recently.
“I like the woods on the other side of the island better. I know it’s further, but shall we go there tomorrow. This is boring – there’s no animals or insects or birds to watch.”
“You were right, Toby,” Jon said the next day. “This is way more fun. Give me a count of a hundred, and I’ll bet you two can’t find me, and that I can sneak back here without you tagging me.”
They ended the day fishing in the same pool where Bella and Cecelia had learnt to fish.
“Bet I catch the most!”
“Bet you don’t, Barney. Toby’s pretty good now, you know!”
“Bet we’ll be popular if we take some fish back home with us.”
Ben and Astrid’s house wasn’t the only one getting glass in its windows! Jacob and Ade had finally arrived on the island, for the last time. They’d brought with them a large and well-planned cargo of useful things.
A by-now-very-pregnant Sal was really happy to have her mother there. She was also pretty pleased with the wood-burning stove – it made a very nice change from cooking outside all the time. Ben had made them some cupboards, and she’d put away the plates that Ade had brought with her, touching each one with a kind of amazement.
Really, really pleased that her mother was there! When she went into labour a few weeks later, at least her mother didn’t panic. Unlike everyone else…
Jacob laid his grand-daughter Rachel down in her crib. Sometimes he missed the lift of Waverider’s deck beneath his feet, the smell of the wind changing, and the cry of the gulls. But this wasn’t too bad an alternative – in fact it had quite a lot to recommend it!
Anders was so grateful to Sal for giving him Rachel as well. Sometimes he felt like everyone he loved was getting old – Janet was beginning to show her age now, and Petranella was complaining about her joints aching. But then he looked at his young and lovely wife, and his even younger daughter, and his hopes for his future were happier than they had been since Penny died.
And the next big surprise was one of Windrunner’s crew falling in love with Bella! Patrick Fletcher wasn’t a seaman born and bred – he’d joined Windrunner to avoid being dragged into the war.
“Fletcher by name, and fletcher by trade. And both armies were going around picking up any armourers, fletchers, blacksmiths or whatever that they could find. So, being neither Sautach nor Istrian, I thought I’d get away from their paths. I could turn my hand to most things, so I turned it to trading. But I can turn it to farming and fishing as well.”
And not long afterwards there was another wedding, another frantic house-building session (the crew of the Windrunner helped!), another two-storey house on the island, and another house with glass in the windows.
And given how hard Bella and Patrick found it to keep their hands off each other, there was probably going to be another baby as well!
Jon was following in his father’s rather squishy footsteps, and enjoying it!
Astrid was finally beginning to get the quality of vines that they needed. The vineyard was looking a bit sparse at the moment, but the vines were producing good wine-making grapes. Ben had to agree with Astrid – they might have a lean year next year, but the wine was improving in quality by leaps and bounds. And Windrunner’s captain agreed too: he was getting a better price for it with each cargo he took for them.
They invested their latest profits in another wine-maker: now Jon was learning from his father, and Ben was still learning from experience! And as soon as Toby and Barney were old enough, they were going to be learning too, from both parents. Astrid wanted the extra help in the vineyard.
Sal was pregnant again – and very happy too! Astrid shared Sal’s pleasure; Sal’s previous pregnancy had brought them so close, and this one was going to be exactly the same, they could both tell.
It seemed no time at all afterwards that Sal was laying little Sarah down in her crib.
And outside, Anders was teaching Rachel to walk, encouraging her to take her first rather doubtful steps towards him. In the background, Janet and Petranella had finished work on the garden for the day, and Janet was earnestly telling Petranella about something she wanted to do.
“Before I get too old to be able to do it and enjoy it.”
Just as everyone had predicted, Bella was pregnant! Apart from Astrid’s twins, there had never been two babies on the island at one time. This was breaking new ground with a vengeance!
“How are you finding things? Better, I suppose, now you’ve stopped being sick!”
“Oh, it’s fine. But…”
“Go on,” Sal said.
“It’s Cecelia – she’s finding it really hard, me being married and pregnant. And we always used to be so close. And the house feels too small, even with the new floor.”
“That’s really hard. And I’ve no helpful suggestions at all, I’m afraid – it’s never happened to me.”
Janet did what she wanted to do – went up to The Hut for one last time, with Joshua and Petranella.
“Do you remember the night of the great storm?”
“I don’t remember it!” Petranella said.
“You were still a toddler. I’m not surprised you don’t remember it!”
“I do,” said Joshua. “It was really scary. We had everything inside The Hut, didn’t we – the metal fire pit, the tents, everything. It was a bit crowded. I remember Nell hugging me and telling me it would be all right, and not to be scared. But I was. And then when the knocking came on the door…”
“And I stayed in The Hut with you two, while everyone else went out into that windy night. I remember hugging Petranella so close, feeling her little heart beating against mine. And then Brigit and Thorold wer found and we put them to sleep on the floor – but no-one else came back in at all that night.”
“And now Brigit and I have two children, and a grandchild on the way. Such a long time ago, that night…”
The Hut had been well-built, and it was still standing. David had patched up the roof where a tile or two had slipped, when he’d been up – it made no sense to let rain in. Nell’s garden was gone though, apart from the fruit trees – David had taken the last of the plants.
They went down to the beach that Nell, Jon and Penny had been washed up on, all those years ago.
“I remember this so well,” Janet said. “All the time we spent fishing here.”
“Yes,” Joshua said a bit drily, “trying to get enough to eat all the time.” Then he relented. “But you’re right – it was a good childhood, even if it was busy.”
“Is that such a bad thing anyway, being busy?” Petranella asked.
They fished together again, as the sun set, enjoying each other’s company and their shared memories.
Then they lit a fire in the fire pit – there was still plenty of wood around – and roasted their catch, still talking about their past.
“I remember teaching Brigit to fish – she’d not done land fishing before.”
“Brigit was always special to you, wasn’t she? Right from the start, you looked after her.”
“Yes.”
“I remember Perdita’s wedding,” Petranella said. “It was so amazing, so unlike anything else that had ever happened to me.”
“And all that sewing, all that clothes making!”
“They’ve worn well,” Joshua said. “You did a great job on them – we’re still wearing some of them now.”
“Well, when you only wear things for special occasions, they last. And that was special.”
“Nell and Jon would be pleased if they could see us now, wouldn’t they?” Petranella’s voice was thoughtful, but Joshua’s reply was very definite.
“Yes.”
They sat and talked until darkness fell. Eventually they stopped reminiscing and talked of things that were happening now. Joshua told them of their problems with Cecelia, and Petranella did have something useful to suggest.
“Send her to live with David and Ingrid. I know how hard I found it at times, with you and Penny and Perdita all having children – but I had Janet for company.” She smiled very lovingly at her older sister.
“Cecelia’s got no-one. And she’s lost Bella – I don’t want to be mean about her, but Bella and Patrick do practically wear each other at times. No wonder she’s feeling left out.”
“Are you sure about this Cecelia? It’s going to be really hard work, and nowhere near as comfortable as your house.”
Cecelia looked at her cousin.
“Yes. Anything is better than being there, watching Bella get ever bigger, and knowing that it probably won’t ever happen for me. And she won’t miss me – not now she’s got Patrick and the baby coming. And you know I’ve always been so fond of you and Ingrid – all my life. I’d like to help you both.”
“Well, we’ll be glad of the help!”
