The Salk Island West Legacy, Gen. 3, Ch. 1

It was a long time before the crew of the Waverider returned. Anders was no longer a child, and Penny’s hair was going grey.
Anders often thought about the Waverider crew as he worked in the garden. He missed them a lot. It was funny to think that Sal and Jake would be growing up too – he still thought of Sal as a little girl with plaits.
Brigit, it turned out, was feeling sick in the mornings – again!
This time it was Penny’s turn to produce a cot – Bella was nowhere near ready to be in a bed yet.
“Your father made this for Anders to sleep in. I think he’d like to know that his grandchild was sleeping in it as well. He put a lot of love into the making.”
Little Bella was learning to walk, and Cecelia had been born, and still the Waverider hadn’t returned. But there had been a message – another ship had put in to re-water, and had passed on the news that Thorold’s claim for the loss of his ship was going through, though slowly – the war between Istria and Sautach was slowing things down a bit.
With two small children, Brigit and Joshua were struggling to manage. But they didn’t like to complain – they wanted to prove that they could make a go of it themselves.
Then Astrid came round one day and listened to Joshua telling Anders about his days. He was making a funny story of it, but Astrid listened to what was happening between the lines of the story.
“Joshua, why don’t you borrow Ingrid and David for a while? I think we can cope without them, and if we really need them, they can come over for a day or two. Running yourselves ragged is just silly.”
“Would you mind?” Brigit still wasn’t quite sure if she was asking too much.
“No, not at all.” Ingrid was so cheerful about it that Brigit had to believe her. “I’d really enjoy it – and it would be fun to get to know Bella and Cecelia better.”
And David was saying much the same to Joshua.
“Plus, it would be good for me to learn from someone else as well as my father. You’ll have different things to teach me.”
Brigit hadn’t realised how hard she was finding things. But the relief that swept over her when David and Ingrid said they’d come and stay was almost shocking in its intensity. She was hard pushed not to cry.
“You’d better bring your beds with you, unless you want to sleep on the floor – we’ll organise a work party!”
A while later they had two lots of good news at once! The vines had finally taken and, even better still, they were beginning to get a crop from them. Astrid was so proud of what she’d achieved – for the vines had very much been her project from the start.
And Waverider was back! Over her shoulder, Astrid could see Ben helping to pick the fruit from the trees.
“I told you I’d return.” Like herself, Ben had grown up – he was taller, stronger, but still as dear to her as he ever had been.
“Astrid – will you marry me?”
It was Astrid’s turn to wear the wedding dress that three others had worn before her, and to watch her family assemble round her to share in her happiness.
It wasn’t just her family either. There was Jacob and Jake, both in Waverider colours, as well as the traditional blue for wedding guests.
She couldn’t tell if it was just coincidence that had Sal Waverider looking at Anders so often, but Sal definitely seemed to be having trouble keeping her eyes off him. Sal had grown up too – the little girl with plaits had been replaced by someone fast becoming a confident young woman.
Maybe it wasn’t just coincidence, Sal gazing at Anders. He seemed to be finding it hard to take his eyes off Sal!
It was the biggest and best family gathering they had ever had. For once, they had all managed to take a holiday, and the wedding was in the morning, instead of at the end of the day when all the tasks were finished. Bella and Cecelia both fell asleep after the ceremony, and were tucked up in bed together inside – the long walk over had tired them both out. It was a wonder that the noise they all made didn’t wake them though!
Despite the crowd of people around them, Sal and Anders only seemed to have eyes for each other though…this did not go un-noticed. Jacob thought, rather ruefully, that he’d probably be losing another crew member in a while.
Joshua was up at dawn, tending the garden, and reflecting on how much help Ingrid and David had been – without them, most of this would have been a weed-ridden wasteland once again. Ben and Astrid’s wedding was now a distant memory, and the Waverider crew had sailed again, but, as always, the promise to return was there.
Even though the sun was only just rising, Bella and Cecelia were up too – and reminding him that they were going to learn to fish today! They were seriously excited by this prospect. The two of them were so close in age that they looked like twins, though it was Cecelia who was as fair as he was.
And presently, the girls were doing just that – learning to fish, under the careful eye of their cousins, Ingrid and David.
Astrid, meanwhile, was harvesting grapes again, and this time she was rather hoping that they had enough to be able to make some wine.
Ben had banned her from treading the grapes in her present condition – they didn’t want to make the baby drunk on the fumes did they?
Instead, he did it – Astrid reckoned that he was enjoying it far too much, though.
The fearsome looking contraption had come with Waverider, when they had returned for the first time, along with a stove too! As soon as Ben had some time, he was going to start making them some basic furniture as well, and they could finally stop living half inside, half outside.
Perdita came over to see how Ben was getting on.
“Feel the baby kick – I think it’s going to be a real wine connoisseur.”
Perdita put her hands on Astrid’s bump, and laughed out loud at the activity that was going on in there.
“You’re right,” Ben said. “He’s jumping all over the place!”
“It might be a she,” Astrid said, laughing in her turn.
“No. That’s a boy – bet you!”
Later, when they were all busy in the garden, Perdita stood for a moment, leaning on the stick she needed to use now from time to time. She was definitely beginning to feel her age, she thought! And it was time to make it official, that Astrid was going to be the one to inherit this place. David and Ingrid wouldn’t be surprised – they had commented on how much Astrid had put into it more than once. Astrid and Ben would be the ones to take the wine-making forward as well, and that might just provide the island with a source of trade, which would be badly needed if they were to make this a viable colony. This time it was Brigit’s turn to be handing over the cots and the baby toys. She was a bit sorry to be saying goodbye to them, but pleased at the thought of another child arriving on the island.
Ben arrived as they were working in the garden – once again, the girls had begged to be allowed to go fishing with their cousins.
“Are you feeling ready for this?”
“No! But I’m definitely a bit on the over-excited side! And we’ve got Thorold and Perdita to help us as well.”
But even as he said that, they both knew that Thorold and Perdita might not be around for that much of the new baby’s life. Perdita in particular was beginning to feel less than well nowadays. And it wasn’t as if they could sit back and take life easy in their old age either.
The crib was up in the bedroom, ready for the new arrival, whenever it decided to put in an appearance. They’d picked a name – Nell for a girl, and Jon for a boy.
“Jon it’ll be then,” Ben said, teasing her. But Astrid looked at the crib and thought: my grandfather made that. We’re beginning to have a history now.
And Ben had found the time to make a table and some chairs – a bit rough and ready, but they worked and were comfortable enough. They needed to clean up the old walls, and find some way of painting the new render as well. He was trying to work out how to make a decent base to take a pigment.
Ben’s panic was as impressive as any ever seen on the island – especially as Astrid went into labour in the vineyard.
“But I was only looking at the vines! I wasn’t doing anything strenuous!”
“Well, your daddy was right. You are a boy! Hello, Jon, and welcome to the island.”