Little Anders was the delight of his father’s old age! Lars couldn’t quite believe that so much happiness had come into his life again, so late on.
And another source of happiness was seeing Brigit get married. As soon as she was old enough, she and Joshua got married – by starlight this time! Nell and Jon made the journey with some difficulty, but they were there to see their third wedding on the island.
Soon afterwards, everyone’s joy was tempered with sadness though. Nell and Jon both died. It was as though they had hung on to life for long enough to see Joshua get married, but after the wedding, they began to fail noticeably. Ingrid and David were hard hit by the loss – Nell and Jon had always been a part of their lives.
And not long after that, Penny was grieving the loss of a husband as well as her parents. It was a hard time for them all. What kept them going was the sheer amount of physical work that was necessary for survival – and for Penny, little Anders’ loving arms around her, and his soft kisses on her cheek.
“I’m worried about Penny.” And Perdita was. Her sister has remained subdued and sad for a long time now. “I wish we were nearer.”“Then why don’t we move nearer?” Astrid asked the question as if it was an obvious solution.
Perdita hesitated. “Could we?”
“I don’t see why not,” Thorold said. “It’s not as if we’ve got any babies any more. And if it all went wrong, we could come back here. We’ll go and look at possible sites as soon as we can, and see if it would work.”
Sitting outside the house they’d chosen, some six weeks later, Thorold wasn’t altogether sure they’d done the right thing…though Penny’s obvious happiness when they told her of their plan went a long way to reconciling him to the work that so clearly lay ahead of them.
Petranella decided to move back in with Penny, Janet and little Anders. Joshua and Brigit wanted to move out and begin somewhere on their own, and Penny needed the help. She and Janet couldn’t do all that needed doing and look after Anders as well!
The house Thorold and Perdita had chosen did indeed need work doing to it! Like clearing the weeds, trees and rubble away for a start.
Astrid made a start on rescuing the garden from its state of chaos. Plants weren’t going to be a problem, as they had plenty at The Hut to transplant, take cuttings from, or collect seeds from.
Ingrid was learning to fish – like the rest of the family before her! It made her feel very proud to know that she, too, was finding food for everyone.
Perdita and Thorold were clearing away rubble and then sorting it, ready to use it for rebuilding the walls. There was going to be a grand building party as soon as the ground was ready.
Clearing away the rubble produced some unexpected finds! “I think this must have been the kitchen once,” Thorold said, “but I think it’s going to be a bedroom first for us!”
And, with everyone’s help (except Anders) they did indeed manage to build their first room.
It was a bit on the crowded side – no-one could deny that – but at least they were all sleeping indoors. With a roof over their heads, they concentrated on getting the crops growing.
Perdita was soon using all the skills she’d learnt from her mother. The tears caught at the back of her throat as she remembered Nell teaching her how to plant, weed and grow, remembered happy mornings working together in the garden at The Hut before the day became too hot. And now she was the mother, and teaching Astrid how to do the same.
“Thank you, for all you gave me,” she whispered as she turned over the earth.
Thorold had gone right over to the old jetty, checking out that side of the island for plants or anything else that might be useful. To his total amazement, he saw people there, obviously just come ashore from the little rowing boat he could see tied up at the wharf. He looked hard at the woman who’d led the way. Her face was faintly familiar…“Hannah! Is it really you?”
“Thorold! I came as soon as I could – I couldn’t find a single captain who’d come here: there was no trade to be had, so I had to wait until I had a half-share in a boat myself. Did Nils know that I wouldn’t forget him? This was the only place that you might have got to safely: I had to come and see for myself! Meet my co-owner.”
“Jacob!” It was Hannah’s brother – more recognisable than Hannah. Being older, he’d changed less.“It’s so good to see you again! We thought you’d all been drowned – but Hannah wouldn’t give up hope. And she was right after all!”
“And this is my wife, Ade, and our terrible twins, Sal and Jake.”“And where’s Nils?” Hannah was so eager, so happy to have found them that Thorold didn’t know how to answer her. But his silence was answer enough.
He showed her the grave – she had come so far and waited so long, and now this was all there was left of Nils. He waited quietly beside her while she wept.
“So you and Brigit made it?”“And Lars – my father only died quite recently. But not Nils or Ingrid.”
“How have you managed to survive, just the three of you?”
“If it had been just the three of us, I don’t think we would have done. But there was already another family on the island – shipwrecked about twenty years before. With their help, we made it through.”
“Hannah, I’m so sorry, and this has been so hard for you. Will you stop for a while with us? I’d really like to introduce my wife and children to you! And we can do shore leave for all your crew.”Hannah smiled a somewhat watery smile.
“Most of the crew came ashore with me! But the other two would like that very much. How are you for provisions?”
“We’re fine for food and water. But we’re a bit short on bedding.”
“Bedding we can bring over from the ship – we anchored just round the point because it seemed more sheltered. Jacob and Ade can row back out, and fetch what we’ll need.”
“Come and eat with my family tonight, Hannah. And the others can eat with Brigit and Joshua, and the rest of us.”
It was a bittersweet moment for Hannah, as she sat by the fire that night. Thorold was here, and she’d seen Brigit – who was a long way from the little girl she remembered so well – but Nils was not here. The young man she’d loved so much, and been so faithful to had been lying in the earth for many years now. But she had loved the rest of the family too, and to find even some of them still alive did have its own triumph about it.
After the children had gone to bed, the three adults sat and talked.
“What do you need?”“Let me think. Window glass: that would be really useful. We can’t make that yet. Stoves of some kind – wood-burning ones: we’ve plenty of wood. It would be nice to be able to cook inside when the weather’s bad.”
“What have you got to trade?”
“What’s selling?”
Perdita was seeing a whole new aspect of Thorold. This was a trader’s son, talking to another trader.
“There’s some old mines here – copper, Lars said – is it worth re-opening them?”
“I don’t think so. Copper prices are really low at the moment. If they rose hugely, it might be worth your trouble – but I presume you’d be selling ore, and that’s much more expensive to ship. Salk Island West used to produce some fine wines: there’s a market for that. Any of the original vines left?”Thorold sighed. “There might be – but it would take time to get the vineyards replanted, and producing, and we’d need equipment to produce the wine. Plus, we’ve none of us a clue how to do it. What about going back to Sautach, or on to Istria, like Jon and Nell were intending to do?”
It was Hannah’s turn to sigh. “Sautach and Istria are on the verge of war.”“You mean it’s just got worse, not better?”
“Much worse. It’s been brewing for a while.”
“That’s why my parents – Jon and Nell – left Sautach in the first place. And when Lars arrived, he said things weren’t good.”“Well, now they’re beyond not good and into totally disastrous. Honestly, Perdita, if you can make a living here, I’d stay. It’s too far from anywhere to have any military significance: you would be safe. There’s been some very ugly stuff happening – but nobody’s going to sail out here and start a fight. The traders would come though, if you had anything worth trading for.”
“If copper’s not worth it,” Thorold said, thinking about her suggestion, “then it would have to be the vineyards – but that would take time. And equipment. Any other ideas?”
“Lars kept up his fleet fund payments, didn’t he?”
“Yes, but…”
“Then you can claim for the loss of your ship. That would fund your equipment for wine-making – plus glass for your windows and a few other things as well! Jacob and I can take your claim back with us, and be the witnesses to your signature.”
Over the next few days David showed Hannah all over the island. The more she saw of it, the more she thought that Thorold, Brigit and the others would do well to stay there.
Jacob and Ade also thought that Hannah could do with staying on the island for a little while longer at least. Jacob knew all too well how much his sister had loved Nils, and how fiercely she had wanted to know what had happened to him.“Hannah, let’s stay here for a bit. We could over-winter here, overhaul the ship properly, take some shore leave. We’re all overdue some time off.”
And Hannah knew that Ade had a point.
“Plus, it would be nice for our children to have a chance to get to know Thorold’s children better. And we could all help Brigit and Joshua build their new house.”
In the end, the whole crew ended up staying up for the next few months. Everyone was glad of the rest – though it was a fairly energetic rest! Thorold and Perdita’s house gained another room – the walls were only wattle, but once they’d gained their daub as well, they’d keep them all warm and dry. The ship’s carpenter (Jacob and Ade’s eldest son) even made them a bookcase from an old rowing boat, and Jacob insisted on giving them all the non-essential books from the ship.
Perdita hung Nell and Jon’s certificates of education in pride of place.“One day we’ll have a school here, for our children. That’s my dream, even though I won’t see it happen. Until then, we’ll just have to teach them all we can. And these books will help so much!”
Joshua and Brigit were clearing space for their own home too.
They’d decided to settle in the house that Brigit had always loved so much, with its views out to sea. Even though she was now committed to a life on land, there was still a strong dose of the explorer in Brigit.“But maybe, one day, a child or grandchild of mine will get to sail off in search of somewhere new,” she thought.
“Our adventure is going to be here on this island, making a living, and finding something to trade, but one day, there will be new adventures to be had.”
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