Time slipped by on the island. The early struggles to simply find enough food, and to keep warm and dry had faded into the background. Four generations of children had been born since Jon and Nell were shipwrecked on Salk Island West, half their possessions washed overboard in the storm that had driven them into that dangerous current, the Western Rip, that had claimed the lives and ships of better sailors than themselves. Salk Island West had once been inhabited, until an earthquake and tidal wave had swept most of the inhabitants to their deaths. The remaining few had left, abandoning the copper mine and vineyards that had given the island its income.
Now there was a thriving, though small, community on the island once more. Another storm had swept another family to the place, and from the tragedy of their shipwreck, new life and new hope had come to Nell, Jon and their five children.
Once again, the island was a stop-off for ships on a trading route, needing to re-water and to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. Re-opening the copper mine hadn’t promised any profit, but with time, patience and hard work, Jon and Nell’s heirs had re-stocked the vineyards and the island now had a steady income from the wine they produced.
Jon and Nell were long dead, and so were their children. And of the following generation, only one was still alive, and Cecelia was old now. When she died, there would be no-one on the island who had known Jon and Nell any more. But their memory remained. Their grand-daughter, Astrid, had written a history of the island before she died, while there were still people to ask about it. And the tradition had grown up that the eldest child in the family was always named either Jon or Nell.
It was winter again. Outdoor work was impossible – in fact, getting very far from the house was hard – and the family were all in one room, by the fire.
They were making the most of their chance to sit down with a book and read something! Spring, Summer and Autumn were all far too full of things to do for there to be time to read. There were more books on the island now: the half dozen or so trading ships that called during the year knew that they could always sell books to them in exchange for fresh food.
Bianca had made more furniture – another evening, the children were sitting at the table playing a game together.
Carla sat there, the firelight warm on her face and a deep contentment in her heart. She still missed Astrid dreadfully, missed her second chance to know the love of a mother, but this loss was balanced by her gratitude for the kindness Astrid had shown her. And very soon, she would be seeing her own children growing up – and then probably getting married in their turn.
Presently Jon got up and went down into the cellars to check on this year’s vintage. Once the winter was over, and the trade routes were open again, they’d be selling this. Maybe this year they’d make enough to think about building and stocking a library for the whole island to enjoy. He wasn’t sure, but he knew he’d do his best to make his father’s dream come true. And after all, the island had a school now, and a teacher, for Brede had returned from her time away with the Waverider cousins on the mainland, ready to be the teacher for the island.
Above Jon’s head, in the kitchen Maria was learning to cook, in the same way her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother had cooked. And she was getting good at it as well!
She was suitably proud of the results when she put them on the table for everyone to enjoy. And as the snow continued to fall outside the windows, they all agreed that, yes, this was good food, and she was becoming a good cook.
“Your turn soon,” Carla promised Thorold and Jacob. “When you’re tall enough.”
Finally, Spring arrived in earnest. Jon took his two sons out fishing – fresh fish would be a welcome change from salted. It was Jacob’s first time fishing, and he was concentrating hard and copying Thorold, who knew just what he was doing.
Nell, too, was out for a walk, enjoying the fresh air and the chance to stretch her legs a bit. She came across someone else doing exactly the same.
“Andre! I hardly recognised you!”
“Well, I hardly recognised you either, Nell. You look so grown up now.”
“It’s having my hair up, I think. And the new clothes – Luisa got inspired by the new materials Brede brought back with her. And there was nothing wearable left in the hand-me-down chest! Isn’t it lovely to be able to get out and about again?”
“You are so right! That was a long winter. Have you got time to come for a walk with me now?”
“I’d love to. There’s nothing urgent back at home, and since school hasn’t re-started yet, Maria’s there anyway. Brede’s airing the schoolhouse all this week, to get the winter damp out of it, and next week, lessons will start again in the mornings.”
They set off for the lake at the head of the island, partly to see how the fish stocks have done over the winter. “After all,” Andre said, laughing, “that would be really useful to know, and very responsible of us.”
On the way there, Nell paused as they walked through their third clearing.
“You know, we’ve cleared a lot of forest here. This looks ugly. And what’s going to happen if we cut down every tree on the island, to build our houses and fuel our cooking?”
Andre looked round at his surroundings instead of at Nell – which was a bit of an effort – and had to agree with her.
“We need to do something about this. Let’s talk to our parents.”
They reached the lake and walked round it – ostensibly inspecting the fish stocks, but in reality talking to each other. About what they wanted to do next, how long the winter had been, how the rest of their families were doing, how much Andre’s youngest sister, Katherine, was looking forward to going to school…and all the time, in the back of their minds was the thought, “How much you’ve changed. And how much I like what I see in you.”
The sun was setting when Andre reluctantly said he supposed they should head back to their respective homes. “I’ve really enjoyed this, Nell. Can we do it again some time?”
“I’d like that.”
While Jon was fishing with Thorold and Jacob, and Nell was out walking with Andre, Maria and her mother were clearing up the winter debris, ready for the spring planting.
“These dead leaves will be good for compost. Thank you for the help, Maria.”
Maria smiled. “It’s good to be outside again. And it’s nice to have you all to myself.”
Carla laughed outright. “I know what you mean. After all that time mostly stuck inside, and all together all the time…You were all very good though – you hardly squabbled at all.”
“Well, Nell and I are a bit past that stage now. And Thorold’s so easy-going – it’s only really Jacob who stirs things up.”
“It’s hard being the youngest sometimes – especially when you’re the youngest by a long way. Nell’s all grown up, you’ll only have a couple of years in school…” “School!” Maria’s face lit up. “I love it! I love having the chance to learn a bit more than I can from just our books at home. Thorold and Jacob are lucky – they’ll get longer than Nell and I had.”
Carla paused and thought for a moment, then said, “You know, you could go and stay with the Waverider cousins like Brede did, and study some more if you want…”
“No, I don’t want to do that. But I would be happy if we could do what Grandfather wanted, and build and stock a library here.”
As Spring went on, Nell was spending more time than ever over at Andre’s house. She liked the family atmosphere there – like at home, the family got on well together, but Andre’s family were noisier and teased each other more.
And Gil’s “I am still completely bowled over by you” relationship with Rachel was rather sweet too. Benjamin just raised his eyebrows as his mother kissed his father in front of Nell.
Andre came in damp from the rain and hugged her warmly. But how warmly? Nell was beginning to want to know exactly how Andre felt about her!
Nell stayed and ate with them, and thought again: it’s not just Andre, is it? I like the whole family – all of them. Gil’s warm and exuberant personality had brought something new to the island – and later, when he made music for them all, she liked it even more. Enough to wonder if she could learn to play as well.
Jon agreed to them buying an instrument when they could get one. Although he really wanted to fulfil his father’s dream of a library, he didn’t want to do that at the expense of his own family’s happiness. And that wasn’t what Ben would have wanted either. To Nell’s disappointment, her gifts didn’t lie that way – but Maria took to it like a duck to water, and practised whenever she could.
Carla watched her, both proud of her daughter’s skills and slightly amazed at the same time. And the whole family enjoyed the sound of music floating round the house whenever Maria could find the time to play.
The children were piling into the classroom again at the moment. Jacob had decided he liked Brede – she always had time to answer his questions. Which was more than could be said for the rest of his family, on occasions!
Thorold was no longer sitting with the younger children! It felt odd, moving over to the table where Maria sat – and where Nell had sat too, before she was too old for school. And Maria wouldn’t be here for much longer either – her time was nearly up too. School was mornings only, as they were all needed to help in the fields in the afternoons (or to go fishing!), and a bit intermittent, depending on the weather and the point they were at in the growing season, but they all enjoyed it. It was interesting, learning about something more than just their day-to-day life – and Thorold had discovered his passion, which was for painting. For the first time in his life, he’d found something that was his and his alone.
Jon was busy planting grapes – in a third vineyard! With three children able to help now, he and Carla had decided that they could extend yet further. They were hoping for a record crop this year – and so far, the weather had favoured them too.
“And maybe this year we can build the library! Maybe not, but we’ll see. And if not this year, then next!”
Nell smiled – she loved her mother’s enthusiasm for this particular dream.
Jon looked down the table, and his heart filled with happiness and pride. Nell had grown up into a lovely confident and capable young woman, and Maria wasn’t far behind her. Thorold was shooting up now, and would be able to help hugely in the vineyards and garden. And even Jacob was becoming calmer – he thought that Brede’s schoolroom had made a big difference there.
Jon’s eyes softened as they rested on his wife. The years had dealt kindly with her, and to him she was still as beautiful as she’d been when he’d rescued her all those years ago from her war-torn village. He knew that sometimes she still had bad dreams – he’d wake and hear her crying softly – but they were few and far between now. The island had been kind to her.
Carla and Jon’s judgment had been right – with three older children to help them, a third vineyard wasn’t too much effort. Jon was seriously thinking they could do with a third winepress as well, else they’d never get the extra crops made into wine.
Jacob was out fishing, on his own. It felt a bit odd, not having any of the rest of the family with him, but it was quite nice to know that they thought he was old enough and sensible enough to do this by himself.
Jon’s children weren’t the only ones growing up. His younger brother, Barnabas, couldn’t believe that he and Bianca only had one child left – Marco had nearly reached manhood, and Pietro was matching him for height, if not age.
They were all outside the building that Jon wanted to make into a library.
“You know what?” young David said to his father. “This doesn’t look much like a library yet. I don’t believe it will ever be one.”
Marco overheard him, and threw back his head, laughing.
“He’s got a point! Maybe we could all help Uncle Jon – spend a day clearing up perhaps? What do you think, men?”
Barnabas thought about it. They could spare a day – and if a few others could spare some time as well, they could make a big difference.
And the next day saw them all there again – along with the entire Bouleau family, from Gil down to Katherine, who had insisted she could be useful too!
By the afternoon, they’d cleared away a huge amount! They’d cut down most of the self-seeded birch saplings that choked the site, and there was a huge stack of firewood for anyone who wanted it.
“We must take some to Brede,” Marco said, knowing that this sort of heavy work was hard for her to do on her own.
The younger children were making the most of the newly cleared space, chasing each other round the building.
When Jon or Nell trod the grapes, it looked easy. But Nell wasn’t so sure about it!
Maybe she should have tied her hair back after all….
And then it was Thorold’s turn to learn how to make wine. He wished he hadn’t laughed at Maria quite so much when she fell over – he could hear both her and Nell laughing right back at him. And he couldn’t really complain about it either!
Nell had gone over to visit Andre – again! And when he saw her coming, his heart leapt for joy within him. The rest of the family were pleased to see her too, but for Andre it was more than just pleasure. When Nell was around, he felt complete. He couldn’t wait any longer – he had to tell her how he felt about her.
Andre extracted Nell from the rest of his family, and proposed a walk. A long walk, he hoped.
“I thought we’d visit our history,” he said. “This was where the first Jon and Nell lived when they landed here. Look – the rosebush that Jon found for Nell is still growing here. Or an offshoot of it…”
“You’ve been reading Astrid’s history of the island!” Nell laughed at him. “But I can’t imagine how they survived – just the two of them, and a small child. Penny wasn’t much more than a baby. They were so brave! And now – there’s so many of us! Almost a town full.”
“More of a village really,” Andre said absently. His father had told him about life on the mainland, and how many people lived in one place. Andre had found it hard to believe.
He took a deep breath.
“But I know one of the secrets of their survival. Nell, it was because they loved each other. And I love you too.”
He took her hands in his, and gazed at her, hoping that she loved him too. He thought she did – but he needed to know.
When they eventually came up for air, he knew the answer!
After her brothers and sister had gone to bed that night, Nell finally got a chance to tell Carla her news.
Her mother was delighted! And said so, in no uncertain terms.
Carla and Jon sat by the fire for a while, thinking about Nell’s news.
“Our first child – and she’s going to be married presently.” Carla’s eyes were dreamy with happiness, and Jon was pretty pleased too.
He moved closer to his wife, and put his arm around her.
“If they’re half as happy as I’ve been with you, they’ll have a very good life together.”
Carla smiled contentedly and nestled against him.
“But where will they live when they’re married? Jon, we’re going to have to decide who will be our heir, before the wedding, aren’t we?”
“You’re right,” said Jon. “And any one of our children would make a good job of it. So who should be our heir?”
Should it be Jacob – endlessly inquisitive and interested in the world around him?
Or Nell – calm, sensible, loving the outdoors, and with a definite green thumb?
Then there’s Thorold – hard-working, with that surprising artistic streak in him from Carla’s side of the family.
And what about Maria, with her passion for, and skill at making, music?
Vote here for the generation 5 heir or heiress.
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