It's About Time
Chapter 18
Rick and Kate found out first hand just how their German friends that didn't have Conestoga wagons were going to cross the Delaware River. They watched as a few wagons started unloading canoes. They watched as they bound them together and worked at getting the wagon onto the latched together canoes and then poled their way across the river. Unloaded the wagon and repeated over and over again.
It had taken them two days to get everyone across. They had even gotten most of the animals into those same canoes so that most of them didn't have to swim.
Rick and Kate let them take their animal across save for Patches and Samson. They swam across being tied behind their wagon as the six horses out in front swam their way across. Rick and Kate both got wet though they had dressed for it.
Once across they both watched as a little water leaked out the bottom of their wagon. "Okay, so not totally waterproof. Maybe with a little work I can fix that." Anything that was going to get wet wasn't going to be ruined by a little water. Blankets, sheets, pillows, and other soft items were all stowed on top. So long as the roof didn't leak they would be fine.
They gathered into three groups once on the other side and allowed all the animals to roam and relax from the crossing. Kate gave Patches an apple since he had been such a good boy. "You sure you want one?" Kate asked Samson after he nudged her with his head. She got one for him and let him try one. He ate it easily which caused her to start to worry if she had enough apples for both of them.
"Good thing I have carrots, too." She would try them after all the fresh apples were gone.
Kate went in search of Rick. "Babe, do we have seeds for apple trees?" Their horses looked to be addicted to them.
"Let me think. …Apple trees, plum trees, serviceberry trees, blackberry bushes, blueberry bushes, strawberry plants, black raspberry along with a number of other plants. That enough? Maybe our friends have others like cherry seeds, for example."
"That's enough, babe, thanks." Kate gave him a quick kiss and headed to the cooking area since it was her turn to help.
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Rick was resting on the sleeping bag that was on top of the air mattress that thankfully still didn't have a leak. Though he did have a kit to patch a hole. He was grateful that he was dry for a change.
They hadn't made it far from the shore of the Delaware River when it had started to rain. Today was going to be the third day of rain if it kept it up. He'd been forced him to go out into the rain to check on everything. The wagon to see if the roof was leaking. It wasn't yet. Check on all the animals that were all getting wet and looked miserable. The kittens, he was guessing, were still hiding out in the wagon. Regardless of the weather they all had to be fed, had to be watered, and checked to see that they hadn't attracted any unwanted pests.
Then suddenly the zipper opened and in came a soaked Kate. Rick had made all the other trips and Kate had volunteered this time. She wasted no time in zipping the tent closed. "It had better stop fucking raining or I'm going to turn into a fish." Even if she had only done it once so far.
Rick felt for her since he was running short of dry clothes. Kate had only just started to strip when someone or something scratched against the side of their tent. She stopped so she could unzip.
Outside was one of their friends. "He says it's our turn for guard duty," Kate told Rick who started to get up. "I'll go since I'm already soaked to the bone. I'll saddle Patches, get my bow and arrows, and go on patrol." She doubted anyone or anything was up and about in this rain but it didn't pay to underestimate what could happen.
Rick stopped her and kissed her before she left.
"Hi, Patches." Kate petted his head and scratched his ears a little. "Here, you can munch on this while I saddle you." She held his apple in the palm of her hand. She only had a few more to give him before switching to carrots.
Kate put her bow and arrows over her back, mounted Patches, and took off. It was still raining though calling it rain was a bit much. It was more of a mist than anything. Whatever they called it, it was enough to get anyone soaked.
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They had lost five days in total. Three days from the rain plus another two days to try and allow the ground to dry out before their heavy wagons started running over it and getting stuck in the mud.
That first night Rick and Kate were sitting where they could and eating what had been cooked for them. "Might be closer to ten weeks now." They were behind schedule thanks to the weather.
They were just finishing when another of their German friends showed up and started speaking in German. "He says they want to stop here and do some hunting. They want us to use our bows to hunt for big game while they set traps. They'll collect the traps tomorrow and prepare anything they catch."
Rick was starting to learn that they weren't just a group, they were starting to be a family. Granted he didn't understand a word they said, but it still felt like that. "I can teach you German, babe."
Rick had readily agreed to being taught by Kate to at least speak some German.
"Let's get changed and we can start now. Maybe we'll get lucky. Ask him if they'll watch the animals while we're gone. We can take the tent with us if we want. Backpack it and stay out," Rick said.
That had Kate thinking. She'd had to get used to doing her business outside and not use a toilet. Taking cold sponge baths. Riding a horse day in and day out. There was a drawback that was starting to get to her, though. She was willing to be a little exhibitionist and let someone see a little something. Even here a little. It was just that when Rick ate her pussy and gave her those countless number of orgasms, she was extremely vocal and couldn't help it. Going camping while hunting might mean she could yell and scream to her heart's content.
Kate told him they would be leaving now and staying out there in their tent and asked him to watch over their animals for them. "He agrees. You get the tent and I'll get the weapons. Don't forget to pack something for us to eat and drink."
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Most of the streams had been relatively simple, save for one of them. While it wasn't deep or really all that wide, it was cut into the hillside so that they had to go downhill to a very rocky stream. Just getting down to it let alone across it had slowed them considerably.
Then they'd had no choice but to stay for two days on the other side. Four of the wagons ended up with broken wheels. They had extras but it meant using all the spares the Germans had. It forced them to unpack one of the wagons so they could make more. They settled on making just three before packing up and moving on.
Rick was naked and had an equally naked Kate wrapped up in his arms inside their tent. "Eleven weeks," he whispered. It seemed everything was slowing them down.
"When's the first snow?" Kate was ready to start shivering. Their little tent was going to be covered with snow.
"November to March with about fourteen to thirty inches per year," Rick replied.
"It's early July and it's taking too long." Kate snuggled in a little closer to get some more heat. Not that she was actually cold. They had over another month of travel to get to their location. It would leave them about three months to do anything. Not enough time to plant anything.
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They had crossed two more rivers that had them using that canoe method. Lash them together, place wood planks on them for the wagon to sit on, with more wood planks to get from the ground to the canoes. Then across the river and off, then back across, and repeat over and over again. Not just the wagons but all of the animals went both times this time.
Rick worried they were too big and far too heavy for this system so their wagon went across the hard way. It was a little hard on the Morgans but they stopped for a day each time to let everyone and animals rest up.
The last river had been a bit of a challenge for all of them. It wasn't the river itself since they had worked out just how to do that. It was getting down the hill filled with trees to New River. They had to cross it to get to where they wanted to go.
However, their German friends were ready for this challenge. Rick had to give it to them. They knew exactly what they were doing. They used a series of pulleys and ropes and used horses for power to slowly let each wagon go down the steep hillside until they reached the water.
While the process took time and slowed them down, they only lost three wheels during the entire process. Rick and even Kate was fearful that they were going to lose a whole wagon and watch it tumble down the hill, taking out trees until it crashed into the river.
Three days later Rick announced that they had arrived. "It's called Glade Creek. It should be filled with trout for fishing. Lots of space for a mill or two. Fresh water and lots of trees. To either side are low rolling hills for farms. Maybe fourteen inches of snow each year though we will get lots of rain."
They gathered into three separate areas then spread out to get a feel for the place.
Three days later they were all in the same campsite to talk. "We like it. We saw signs of big game for hunting. Places to set our traps. Lots of land to plant crops and lots of trees and a steady supply of fresh water.
"You two got us here so you get first choice. Just try to leave space for the rest of us." Werner teased since there was more than enough space for all of them. "Everyone spread out after our friends have chosen and we can get started."
Then he laid out a few rules. "We need teams for everything. One team will be cutting down trees. Another team will hew the trees into logs. Another team will make the pegs that we will need. We still need to hunt and keep guards around what we can since we will be more spread out now. So we will keep three main campsites for all the cooking. Try not to get too far away as you pick your site."
Rick and Kate left their wagon and animals behind since they trusted all of them now with their lives. So with Rick on Samson and Kate on Patches they went out looking for the perfect site for them. They took something and found some wood stakes to put in the ground to show where the house would go and where the barn would go. It took them close to three hours to agree on a location and stake it out.
It took everyone a week to find their site to live. Rick had already been out on guard a couple of times and had been out with Kate three times to go hunting for larger game.
At the moment Kate was with Rick as they got ready for bed. "What do you think? You're here now, think you can manage?" She had a really good idea of what life was going to be like for months and months.
"I've got you and we've got friends. It's going to be a lot of work but once we get the hang of it it should be fine. I've talked with Werner." Kate snuggled into Rick which was where she liked to be.
"What did he have to say? Did we stake out too much space?" They had taken only about twelve acres of space which included just a touch of the stream so that they could access fresh water while still on their property.
"No, he actually thought we might take more so maybe we should," Kate said which had Rick thinking about it.
"Fine by me. Maybe more space on either side of the barn for more plants," Rick agreed quickly.
"I've already told him that. We also talked about the size of the house and barn. He called the house a dogtrot house," Kate told him and smiled.
"A what?" Rick knew the size he wanted and what it looked like. He just hadn't done that much research on it.
"I have no idea. It's just that we want space on one side that will be the living area with a fireplace on the end, then a breezeway, then a kitchen with a chimney for the stove on the other. Overhead will be the bedrooms over all of it. Twenty feet by eighteen feet for each space with a twelve foot wide breezeway. Windows on all sides even the breezeway. Doors for both in the breezeway.
"He's going to calculate just how many trees we will need for the cabin. As for your barn that will take more trees and a lot more time. He's pretty sure the cabin can be completed before winter though the barn may be another year or longer. But for all of the animals' sake he's thinking that they'll be building barns first. Need someplace to store all the hay that we harvest so it doesn't get wet and start to mold. So our home is going to have to wait for a while. We can always live in the barn if need be.
"He liked the idea of it being on a hill. The horses and your beer equipment can be on one level and then we can put the goats and cows on the slope under the upper level of the barn. Hay and other food for the animals can go in the loft. He liked it. He also can't wait for you to make your first beer. He's even going to find out if any of them have any knowledge of making beer. German beer, naturally," Kate said with a grin.
"I'll take all the help I can get. Maybe hire some of the kids to help me. We're going to need them when it comes time to harvest the crops." Rick was glad Kate had found them.
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Rick was just getting home which was their little two man tent and that wasn't going to change for a long time. He'd gotten lucky and had dropped off his kill at one of the three campsites that was used for cooking. Now all he wanted to do was go down to their little part of the stream and get clean.
Once clean and dressed he went in search of Kate. He eventually found her where he hadn't expected her. She was sitting on a log, had a two handed knife in her hand and to his way of thinking she was whittling something. He didn't know carving was something she did.
She had two piles of wood next to her. One on each side. Along with a whetstone and a gauge someone made by augering through a piece of hardwood. "What are you doing, love?"
"Making pegs!" Kate threw the one she had just finished at him and picked up the next piece of bare wood that even still had the bark on it. "I was told that we, meaning all of us, are going to be needing hundreds of these things. Especially for your precious barn."
"Pegs?" He seemed to remember reading something about them but had gotten distracted and never went back.
"PEGS!" Kate yelled. Then she put her tool down and picked up one of the finished ones. It looked a lot like a number 2 pencil that was roughly an inch in diameter, only without the lead or eraser.
"They cut down a tree, use axes to remove the bark and then hack at them to make them flat on two sides. Something about it allowing the rain water to fall off easier and not promote rot. Then to connect one log to another for our cabin they are going to cut out something called a dovetail cut. Except for your barn they're going to have to drill holes by hand and then hammer in these pegs. Roughly two pegs per joint. Guess how many joints in just your barn?" Kate looked up and glared at him.
"No, thanks." She had already removed enough of his ass as it was.
"Well lucky for you they wanted you to start hewing logs for our barn as soon as you got back. …That way," Kate pointed, "and bring your axes with you." She smiled since she had seen the size of some of the trees they were cutting down. Rick was going to come home hurting, she was sure.
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Rick was still gone and she had reached her quota of pegs for the day. Only her day wasn't over yet. She still had to feed their horses, their cows, and their goats. Then the three cats since by now they weren't kittens any longer.
She was long since down to feeding Patches and Samson carrots that weren't going to last much longer. Even worse their next apple or carrot was going to be a long time from now. "Enjoy them while you can, guys." Kate patted both of them and saw one of their friends headed her way. "What's up?"
"We need you for guard duty. Two of us have come down sick with something. It's an emergency or we wouldn't ask." He was apologetic but they needed her.
"Take me to them, I need to see them." She wasn't a doctor but they had something their friends didn't know anything about.
Kate found them down and sweating. Placing a hand on his forehead told her he had a fever. Then she got to work on his shirt so she could see his chest. She didn't really see anything and then he started coughing that tuned into hacking cough. She didn't like the sound of it.
"I'll be right back. They both need their pants removed so I can see their bare ass," Kate instructed and headed for their wagon.
It took time since the really good stuff was buried seriously deep inside their wagon. They only had just so many bottles and they only had just so many needles. Though if they could clean the needles themselves they could reuse them without danger.
Kate plunged a needle into a vial, filled it part way, and then did the same for the other.
When she got back to the men she found them both on their stomachs with their bare asses hanging out. "Perfect." Kate pulled out her first needle and was stopped by a hand.
"What's that?" They had never seen anything like what she had in her hand.
"Medicine. After I use it they will both be fine by morning. I promise." If they weren't allergic to penicillin….
She wasn't really any good at giving shots but since it went in their ass it was easy enough. "All done. Try and keep them warm, make sure they drink all they can, and let them sleep if they want. They should be better by morning. Let me or Rick know if anyone else gets sick." They didn't have a lot, but they did have directions to make more.
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Kate was eating as she watched Rick shuffle his way over to her and sit down. "Hungry?"
Instead of answering her question or helping himself he showed her his hands. "OH, BABY!" Blisters covered both hands.
"We have winter gloves but I never thought about work gloves. I'm going to have to wrap them with something tomorrow. Thankfully we do have some cream to put on them that will help." Rick had been kicking himself almost all day over not having gloves.
Kate stood up, got some food for him, and handed it to him. "Can you feed yourself or do you need me to feed you?" She couldn't resist and saw the look he gave her.
"Ha, ha. I'll let you hew logs tomorrow while I make pegs," Rick grumbled as he worked out how to hold his fork.
"No, thanks." She hated making pegs but was sure she would hate what Rick was doing more.
"You should see the trees they're cutting down. Sixty feet tall by eight feet around. Then I and others get to cut away all the bark and turn that one tree into a log or two for a cabin or barn. Eight inches wide by twenty-four inches tall. Took me all day to do just one while they finished two," Rick explained.
"Poor baby." Kate wasn't teasing. She really did feel bad for him. She laid her hand on his shoulder only to have him hiss from the pain. She immediately put her food down and stood behind him so she could work on his shoulders. "Jeez, Rick, your shoulders are made of steel." He was really tight as she started working on them. Her own hands hurt from making pegs but at least she didn't have blisters.
"Still glad we came here, babe?" He was hurting and she was feeling his pain.
He turned his head to look at her. "I got to keep you and I love you, so yes. Any price is worth it." Rick smiled at her; she stopped massaging his shoulders to kiss him.
"I love you, too," Kate murmured and went back to work on his shoulders.