“Me too. But this was her choice,” Mike replied. “And it might come in handy for us have a friend inside their post.”
September passed, and October began. The rain changed to snow, but there wasn’t much of it yet. Jacob brought in a deer. Luis and another boy brought back a large buck. The deer was killed and readied, and a lot of it was thinly sliced and smoked. Jean and her students had gathered what seemed like tons of edible plants and fruits, and Lily’s pictures had been a great help. From Mary Brown’s fields they obtained a huge assortment of winter squash.
They missed Erin’s social organizing skills, but one of her friends filled in. The Social Committee made plans for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. A fir tree had been marked for Christmas, and they made sure that they had plenty of pine cones this year. Mike did not want a repeat of the lost gatherers.
Hector winterized the machinery, and he drained the water lines in Chief’s Headquarters and in the dining hall. This year they decided to leave the freezers in the dining hall and to make their way to them through the snow. This was on Mary Brown’s advice.
“It may seem like it’s cold outside,” she said, “But it’s still not consistently as cold as a working freezer would be.” Eric thought that their propane would last another year.
Nathan and Kevin asked Mary if they could spend the winter at her house. She happily accepted, and Ralph was glad to have their help. Their new barn was not finished, but it was framed to the point that it would be possible to work on the structure until the temperature became exceptionally cold, or when the snow was too deep to wade through. Star was disappointed that she was not allowed to stay at Petersburg for the winter. No matter how much she wheedled, Ralph and Mary said, ‘no.’
Jean and Howard received a private room this year. The boys, who had previously occupied that room, were moved into the new loft. Although the loft was connected to the girls’ catwalk, Hector had added a separate ladder to the loft, which was so much fun to climb that some of the boys in the cave asked if they could sleep in the loft, too. That started an argument over who got to sleep in the loft. If that wasn’t enough, some of the girls complained that the boys in the loft could see into their rooms, and that the boys were spying on them.
Mike told Howard to deal with those problems. Since he had returned from the Army post, Mike was relying on Howard more and more to handle the mundane details that arose day to day. Howard was called on to settle squabbles, allocate resources, and generally act as the tribe administrator.
“He is a real King Salmon,” John said in admiration.
“That’s, King Solomon, Doofus,” Eric replied.
Howard was good at getting things sorted out. The boys were allowed to sleep in the loft on a rotating basis. The girls were advised not to leave their canvas curtains open when it was time for bed. People started calling Howard, ‘Admin.’
“Hey, Admin, why can’t we have mashed potatoes more often than French fries? French fries don’t taste good without grease.”
“Admin, we should reserve some Porta Pottys just for the girls. The boys keep forgetting to lift the seat before they pee.”
“Admin, nine is too early to start school. Let’s start it at ten.”
In the middle of October, Mike pulled the Spear patrols back to the boundaries of the camp. There was not a lot of snow on the ground yet, but he was taking no chances. The hunters were the only ones still allowed to go deep into the forest. Mike gave them until the tenth of November to hunt. After that, he wanted everyone close to the Lodge.
By the first of November there was enough snow to break out the cardboard sleds. Mike gave everyone a two week break from school. There would be time for that during the long winter months ahead. The last trips to and from the Brown farm were made.
One of the hunters did not return to Petersburg. In the middle of November, they waited for Luis. Mike allowed Jacob and Jean to travel upriver for three days to search for him. They returned empty handed. Mike refused to let them go search again. He thought it was the hardest decision that he had ever made.
“Luis should have been back ten days ago,” Ahmad said gloomily. “Something happened to him. I know it.”
“It’s karma, bro,” John murmured.
“Yes, the Gods take and give,” said Rasul sadly. “We are all mortal.”
Luis did not return. In January, the tribe held a memorial for him.
One day in early December, at the end of Council, Mike asked if anyone else had anything to report.
“I’m pregnant,” Desi said cheerfully. There was stunned silence.
“Impossible,” Mike stated, after he managed to close his mouth.
“Oh, it’s possible all right,” she assured him. “Believe me.”
“Impossible,” Mike repeated. “We have cases of unused condoms, years of pill packs, and plenty of diaphragms. How could you possibly get pregnant?”
“Well, I never did get an exam from the old Admin, so I didn’t want to take the pills. And I don’t actually know how to use a diaphragm. And as for the condoms, well, we forgot,” Desi admitted.
Mike turned to glare at John. “Don’t hang me, Chief,” John said meekly.
“How far along are you, Desi?” Yuie asked.
“A little over one month,” she replied. “I missed my period.” Everyone relaxed.
“It’s way too early to tell for sure,” Eric said.
“Yes, your period might start tomorrow,” Jean added.
Desi just smiled. Mike looked at her glumly, and then he exchanged glances with John. They knew that smile. If Desi thought that she was pregnant, chances were she was.
“First of August,” Mike muttered. “It’ll be summer. Good.”
The procedures that had been established the previous winter were quickly set in place, and the transition to a wintertime existence was a lot smoother this year. The kids respected the curfew, they knew how Jean would run the school, and they knew how much hanky-panky they could get away with before being hauled up before the Council.
The Social Committee did not have to invent all new entertainments. They knew which kids could sing, which kids could perform in skits, and which kids could dream up new jokes. And before Kevin and Nathan had left, the twins had taught some of the other kids the dances that they had learned last winter. Dance classes proved to be popular.
The Christmas tree was hauled into the Lodge and set in a five gallon bucket. During the year, the Social Committee had made ornaments, and now these were hung from the tree. There were more couples than last year, and this led to more presents being presented. After they had retired to their room on Christmas Eve, John handed Desi a box. Desi had not been feeling well. Everyone hoped it was just morning sickness.
“Told you I would get that Mr. Potato Head done, Honey,” he said with a grin.
“You, moron.” She sighed as she opened the box. Then she stared at the small ruby encrusted ring.
“John,” was all her strangled voice managed. Astonished, she looked up at him.
“Will you marry me, Desi?” he asked gently.
“Yes, oh yes,” she said through her tears as she grabbed him, and they held each other a long time before they lay back on their small bed.
Christmas Day, Desi showed off her engagement ring. The boys made the appropriate noises. The girls were ecstatic.
“This is so cool!” Yuie exclaimed, marveling at the lovely rubies.
“It really is beautiful,” agreed Kathy wistfully. She looked over at Hector who was talking to John and Ahmad. I’ll be sixteen in March.
“Where in the name of Heaven did you find a ruby ring, John?” Ahmad asked.
“I asked Mrs. Brown if she had a ring to trade,” said John. “I owe her a month of work. I’ll help Ralph finish the new barn next year.”