The Salk Island West Legacy Gen. 5, Ch. 2

In the end, Jon didn’t say anything to Maria for another week. Nell and André moved into their tent among the brambles and began to try and restore the forest that had once been there. “I tell you what,” André said to his brand new wife. “I’m so grateful to your aunt Luisa and my aunt Sarah for making us these clothes. They were quite right about us needing something tougher to wear!” “I know! My arms would have been scratched to ribbons by these brambles. But don’t just stand there! Get planting…” “Maria,” Jon said. “There’s something I want to tell you…Your mother and I both agree that you should be the next heir.”
It was a bit blunt, he knew, but he’d never been one for beating round the bush. “Me? Haven’t you got this a bit wrong?”
Maria had never wanted that sort of responsibility! A nice quiet life – most probably with Michael Fletcher, she had to admit – time to make music, and maybe a baby or two. But run the vineyard? Why her? “Two reasons. One, you’ll be good at it. And two, your brothers want to travel, as you told me yourself. You can’t run a vineyard from the deck of a ship.” Maria was temporarily silenced. She had promised her brothers that she’d support them in their desire to travel. But she’d always assumed that someone else would be taking on the responsibility for the vineyard. Thorold or Jacob, when they came home. Or Nell. But not her.
“There’s a lot to learn. I need to start teaching you now. I can’t afford to wait a few more years before I chose a successor, Maria. I know you can do this, and do it well.” It was her. Bit by bit, Maria had to get used to the idea. And at the same time she was suddenly working harder than ever before. She’d always, helped, always done her fair share, but now Jon was pushing her to learn, to understand the tricks of the trade, the subtleties and the skills he’d acquired over the years, and learnt from his father too. To her surprise, she actually found that she was enjoying it! And Thorold, working away in the vineyard, was grateful to Maria. Jon and Carla had said that they needed him here for another year, while Maria found her feet, but that after that, he could go away on Waverider. Jacob, fishing by the pond, was content to know that it would be his turn after Thorold came back. In his heart of hearts, he knew he wasn’t old enough yet – though he would have loved to have gone away with Thorold, it had only really been a dream. He’d settle for what he could have. “So how’s it going?” Maria had hardly seen anything of Michael, she’d been so busy, but Jon had told her she’d earned a morning off, and to go and enjoy it with Michael.
“Frantic! I’m on the go from as soon as I get up until I fall asleep, shattered. And I’ve missed you so much.” “I’ve missed you too. A lot.” He reached for her hands. “Maria, I do wish I could be with you more. Do you think that, maybe, one day, perhaps…”
His voice tailed off. This could take forever, thought Maria, and I’ve only got the morning free. So she leant forward and kissed him. Enthusiasically. He got the message! The first person Maria told about her and Michael was her sister, Nell! And Nell was so happy for her. “So when do you think you’ll get married?”
“Not till next spring, at the earliest – there’s so much to do at the moment in the vineyards. But then, when Michael’s living with us, Thorold can go away, and we’ll still be able to cope with everything. Just!” Michael, meanwhile, was telling André the news – who was just as thrilled by it as his wife had been! “Um – I’ve got something to tell you all.” “Michael asked me to marry him!” Maria was nearly squealing with excitement, and Carla was pretty vocal about it too. Jacob grinned hugely, but Thorold, though he was genuinely happy for his sister, was shot through with a pang of loneliness. Would he find someone to love? And would they want to come and live on this little island? A lovely little island, true, but it wasn’t huge. “Once Michael and I are married, Thorold, you’ll be free to go. Michael can take over your work.”
“Does he know what he’s letting himself in for?” Thorold asked, smiling in spite of himself.
“No, I don’t think he does really, but he’ll find out. Thorold – it’s a big world out there. You’ll enjoy it, I’m sure.” “Springtime,” Maria said, in response to Jacob’s question. We’ll marry next spring – there’s no time before then! And I still have so much to learn!” “That’s not going to change any time soon,” her father said, laughing at her. “But at least you’ll have done one full year. And we’re planning to be around for a while to come.”
“Good! Because I’ve got a long, long way to go!” Thorold had gone to visit Nell and André at their campsite. Things were beginning to look different – slowly, they were clearing the brambles and planting saplings. “So how are you getting on?”
“Beautifully! The task is enormous, though! This is going to take our lifetime< I think. And maybe our children’s lifetime too – but we can make sure that we don’t make this mistake again. And it’s not too late to rescue these woods, thank goodness! How are you all doing?”
“So busy! Poor Michael doesn’t realise what he’s getting into – but I think he’ll cope, he’s so in love with Maria. And come the spring, after the wedding, I’ll be leaving for a while.”
“Will you come back?” Nell genuinely wasn’t sure.
“Of course! I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else – but I’d like to see somewhere else…And maybe meet someone else. But what if she doesn’t want to come back with me to this island?”
“Cross that bridge when you come to it, Thorold. Don’t worry about it in advance.”
And Thorold knew that his sister was right, but it was hard not to worry. It was Carla’s turn to have a morning off, and she’d gone to visit her sister Bianca. Partly, she wanted to talk to someone else with sons! She could tell that Thorold was half-excited, half-nervous about sailing away on Waverider. “Thorold’s right to go! He won’t find a wife here. Marco is rather fond of Anna – and she of him! – but Pietro? Who is there here for him? I think he, too, needs to travel. A shame they cannot go together.” “But could they?” Suddenly, Carla began to wonder if this would make things easier. “Could you manage without Pietro?”
Bianca paused and looked thoughtful.
“Do you know, I think we could. This might be possible….I know Pietro longs to go – he was saying last night how much he envied Thorold. It would be a spring voyage?” “Yes. After Maria’s wedding. Oh, Bianca, do you really think…?”
“I think yes, maybe. Let me talk to Barnabas, but yes, we could manage – David is growing up fast.”
“All the children are! Brede will be without anyone to teach soon.”
“Only for a while, though! I don’t think Maria’s will be the only wedding next year.” Maria had never worked so hard before in all her life! But when she and Jon stood in the cellar and looked at the fruits of their labours, she began to think it had been worth it.
“Do you know,” Jon said, “if we get the price I’m hoping we get for this lot, we might be able to build and stock that library.”
“Grandfather Ben’s dream? Make it happen?” “Maybe. And do you also know, without you this wouldn’t have been possible. I’m proud of you.”
Maria felt her eyes filling with tears as her father hugged her. That night, for the first time in ages, Maria had a chance to play again. The harvest was in, the wine was made, and winter was knocking at the door. And in the spring, she would be marrying Michael. The rest of the family, sitting reading by the fire, listened with pleasure as the music floated through the house, speaking of the promise that the future held. The winter was cold, but not bitter that year. Maria sat with her brothers, kept inside by the snow, playing dominoes with them, and dreaming of the spring to come.
“I miss Nell,” Jacob said.
“Me too! But she’s happy with André.”
“Oh, I know. But it’s still a bit odd sometimes, not having her here. I like their little house though.” For Sarah’s wish had come true, and her nephew was living next door to her. Bit by bit, the house was being rebuilt and the garden cleared for Nell and André. Come winter, it was too cold for them to stay out in the woods in their tent, and they’d moved back into the village to see the winter out in comfort. “My little sister’s getting married soon! It seems no time at all since she was a child.”
“She’s not one any longer, my love! Soon we won’t be the only newly-weds on the island.”
“Soon they won’t be either, if all I’ve heard is true.” Spring finally came, and with it Maria’s wedding. “This is something so new,” Maria thought, as Michael took her in his arms and kissed her. “This is the start of a whole new adventure.”
And the wedding guests all united in wishing her and Michael every possible happiness together. Then, just as she had done for her sister a year earlier, Maria played to entertain the guest at the wedding. As the sun set, they all sat, ate, talked, laughed – cried just a little in some cases – and generally came together to celebrate another new beginning, another family starting on the island.

The Salk Island West Legacy - Gen. 5, Ch. 1

Nell and Andre’s engagement was, naturally enough, the talk of the island for some time to come. Her aunt, Luisa – Carla’s youngest sister – was sitting and thinking about her niece’s forthcoming marriage, and about making a new wedding dress. The old one, that had been worn by all the brides on the island, was falling apart, despite all the care that had gone into looking after it.
She needed new fabrics too – none of the ones she’d taken out of her stores would do. There was a ship due any day now: she’d send a message out to all the traders and let them know what they wanted.
Sarah was thinking about the wedding too – but from her nephew’s point of view! She was wondering where they were going to live, and if they’d take on the ruined house next door to herself, Luisa and Siobhan. For one thing, it would be nice not to have to fight with next door’s weeds as well as her own – and for another, she’d enjoy seeing her great-nephews and nieces grow up next door to her.
Siobhan Fletcher was raking leaves, and thinking with pleasure about all that the three of them had achieved. Another house, soundly built, and some more land tidied. Siobhan was beginning to think that they could do more yet to make a proper village of their settlement here on the island. And Luisa’s sewing skills were providing most people with new clothes now. She and Sarah were quite competent with a needle themselves by now, but they couldn’t match Luisa for embroidery.
Luisa was going to have to find someone to pass her skills on to though, Siobhan reflected, as the leave rustled, crisp under the tines of her rake. Otherwise they’d be lost to the island, and that would be a huge shame. Who among the next generation would like to learn? She’d have to ask around.
They all ended up talking about the wedding though, as they ate. Luisa was full of ideas for a new wedding dress, but Sarah was thinking about something different.
“You know what? Our generation was really full of girls. But Andre and Nell’s generation – there’s only five girls to ten boys. And so many of that generation are cousins – Jon and Barnabas married your two sisters, Luisa. And Tobias is Barnabas’s twin. And that’s eight of the fifteen of them, who shouldn’t really be marrying each other.”
“So?” said Siobhan.
“So those boys are going to have to look elsewhere for their wives, most of them.”
“How?” asked Luisa.
She’d only been little when Carlo and Maria had escaped the war that had claimed the lives of her parents, and had brought their grand-daughters to this island, and she didn’t consciously remember much about that time. But the experiences they had all gone through were stamped deep in her heart, and to her this island was a place of refuge, of safety, where they had all learnt to laugh and love again, and she didn’t ever want to leave it.
“Waverider, of course,” said Sarah, as though Luisa was being particularly dumb. “The Waverider cousins don’t want to lose touch with us. A trip or two on Waverider should at least give them a chance to meet someone new.”
Once again, it was winter. And come the spring, Nell would be getting married! As soon as the weather was warm enough. Luisa was busy making her wedding dress – a lovely winter task, she’d said.
Jacob and Maria were sitting by the fire, thinking and talking about their futures too. Though Maria was now grown up, she looked much the same as she’d always done. Unlike Nell, she hadn’t put her hair up, and it still hung down her back in a waterfall of colour. Jacob, though, had changed hugely. He was no longer a little boy, the baby of the family. And he was dreaming of sailing off on Waverider, seeing new places and new people.
Maria was content to stay on the island - and make music!
“I so want to travel! To see other lands – like Dad, and Uncle Barnabas, and Uncle Tobias. And Rachel Bouleau as well. They have such good stories to tell! How can you be happy to just stay here?”
“I love this island. It’s my home. And I’m content here. It has all I need – my family, my friends…”
“Any particular special friends?” Jacob asked wickedly. He’d come across her and Michael Fletcher, a few days earlier, before the snow had come down in earnest, and they’d been looking at each other in a very meaningful way.
“I – I don’t know what you mean,” Maria said, protesting, but Jacob just went on grinning.
Thorold was talking to Nell at the same time, as they ate a late meal together.
“I want to travel. So does Jacob – it’s the Waverider blood in us, I think. I’m hoping Jon will let us go together, but I’m not sure if he will. And also – we’re not going to find anyone to marry, staying here. There’s only Anna Fletcher and Katherine Bouleau to choose from – and plenty of competition for them! And – well, I’ve seen the way you look at Andre, the way you are together, and I don’t feel like that about either of them.”
This was a long speech for Thorold, and Nell listened quietly, not wanting to break the flow. He talked on, about his dreams and desires, is hope of finding someone to build a family with, together, like Jon and Carla had done.
“And I might not find anyone out there, who wants to come to this island, but I certainly won’t find anyone here.”
When they’d finished their meal, she hugged him affectionately.
“I’ll try and get Dad to see your point of view, if he doesn’t understand straight away.” André and Nell were taking another long walk together…but Nell’s mind was on more than André.
“André, I’m worried about what we’re doing to the island. All these bare spaces where there used to be forest – what do you think?”
André forced himself to focus on what Nell was saying, and not on Nell herself, and had to admit that she had a point. “So what do we do about it? How do we change this?”
This was one of the things Nell loved about André – his practical approach to problems.
“Well, we need to plant trees instead of cutting them down. But we can’t do this on our own. Everyone has to help – and to see the problem. So how do we do that?”
“Talk to Jon – he’s pretty wise.” Nell found her father in among his beloved grapes, and told him of her concerns. She described to him the areas where only stumps were left in the ground. And the other areas where the stumps had more or less rotted away, and there was just a mass of brambles and thorns and scrubby grass. “So how do we get everyone together on this?” she asked, at the end of her passionate speech. “We do just that,” said Jon. “We get everyone together. One person from each household. And we talk about this – and any other problems or challenges we see coming up.”
“Where? Here?”
“No, I don’t think so. I think we need to build somewhere. I think we need to make a meeting place especially for the purpose.” And they did. They made the building open, so that nothing would be hidden away, but roofed, and sheltered at one end. Bianca made two long tables – “but we only need one,” Jon said.
“Now, yes, we only need one, but there will come a time when there are more households on the island. I’m making for our future, for our children’s future.”
Marco, Pietro and David made the chairs for the council hall – very simple ones, for that was all they knew how to do at the moment.
“I’ll make some smarter ones later,” Bianca promised. “But these will do us for a beginning.”
Then all people needed to do was to choose one person from their household, and the island council could meet. And on a rainy Spring morning the island council met for the first time – one representative from each household sitting at the long table – there was plenty of room! Brede had been content to let both her brother and her sister stand in for her. Tobias broke the awkward silence, and presently they were all talking animatedly. The general consensus was that Nell and André were quite right to be concerned, and that this was a good idea, setting up a council to care about the island. But what should they do next? Finally, André spoke up.
“What Nell and I want to do – once we’re married – is go and start re-planting. We’re planning to go and live where the forests were, and try and start them off again. For as long as we can, anyway – it might get hard once we have children.” Bianca turned and looked at her niece.
“You won’t have time to do all that and grow your own food. The rest of us will need to support you – and I think we should. We will see that you have enough to eat – and we will build a home for you, ready for when you need it.” “We should give you a name,” Siobhan said. “Forest guardians or something.” “No, not guardians,” Callum said, interrupting his sister. “Because they’re not guarding them. How about wardens? Forest wardens?” “Yes! Perfect! Forest wardens. And we’ll write it down that the forest wardens are to be fed by everyone, and have a house too.” “Well?” Barnabas asked his wife, kissing her enthusiastically. “How did the first island council meeting go?”
“It was good. Nell and André were quite right to suggest it – the island has taken care of us, but we must take care of it as well.” “We’re getting married! Tomorrow! Let’s hope it stops raining!” “Remember when it was us standing under a wedding arch? Now it’s our eldest child, Jon. I can hardly believe this.” “I know! Look what we’ve done together, you and I. Shall we announce our heir after the wedding?” “Why not? Come here and let me kiss you while we can snatch a moment alone.” The sun was just setting as Nell and André exchanged vows. Rachel looked at the happiness in her son’s face and was satisfied that he’d made the right choice, that he and Nell might well be as happy as she and Gil had been. Nell and André themselves had no doubts whatsoever about that! The stars were coming out as Maria played for the guests at her sister’s wedding. Lost in both her music and her happiness for her sister, she didn’t hear her father’s conversation with her brother.
“So, Jon, are you going to tell Maria you’ve chosen her to be the next heir?”
“Oh yes. In a minute or two, when she’s finished playing. Or maybe tomorrow…”