Rud and the Damsel

Chapter 38- Billy and Alice's Cabin

Rud made sure Billy had time in the evening to work on his cabin. Rud helped, but it was Billy's project. Alice had gone back to Bessie's a week after Rud came home. After all the time Alice and Billy spent alone on the homestead, Alice thought she had moved in with Billy permanently, but Bessie said no.

Alice was furious when Bessie told her she had to come home. As far as Alice was concerned, the valley was her home now, but Alice and Bessie finally compromised, with Alice spending a week at Bessie's and then a week in the valley helping Patience. Alice did not like spending half her time away from Billy but knew she was wearing Bessie down.

Patience enjoyed having Alice around. When time allowed, they cut and sewed clothes for themselves and their men. Rud liked wearing the shirts Patience made for him. He didn't have much choice as the clothes he had been wearing, including his favorite deerskin outer shirt, were ruined in the fight with Martha's brother, and Charlotte had Rud's bloody clothes burned.

Alice would sew Billy a shirt with the same material she would make her a dress from – like they needed another way to look like a couple. Patience enjoyed the conversation while she and Alice sewed. Alice would often talk about making a wedding dress. It was still four years away, but Patience could tell marriage to Billy was on Alice's mind.

* * * * *

The seasons are inevitable, and soon the snow would start. Their valley was unique in the heavy snow never quite seemed to make it over the mountains. They still received a lot of snow but not near as much as the surrounding area. Less snow made trapping easier, as a foot or two was the usual amount and allowed Rud and Billy to move about quickly.

Traps needed to be checked typically every other day, so they did a lot of traveling during trapping season. When the first snow came, it snowed almost continually for several days. Rud and Billy would have to wait until the snow had been on the ground for a day or two to set their traps where they saw tracks.

When Alice visited, she and Billy usually stayed in the cabin with Rud and Patience. But the doves were spending the night in the hideout when it started snowing, and they continued to stay in the hideout. Rud and Billy had enlarged the hideout's fireplace as much as they could, and while it did not keep them as warm as in the cabin, it was warm enough for the doves.

Since they had the cabin to themselves, Rud and Patience spent most of the day in each other's arms. They were still newlyweds and enjoyed their time spent together. In the evening, they would bathe in the tub Charlotte had given them. While in the warm water, they would put out the lamp, lie in the tub, and watch through the window as the snow fell outside. Then they would wrap up in blankets and lay on the tattered old rug in front of the fireplace watching the sparks and flames dance about.

After it stopped snowing, Rud and Billy collected all their traps and headed out. Alice joined Patience in the cabin and, after completing their chores, sat by the fireplace talking while waiting for Rud and Billy to return.

A couple of days later, Rud and Billy went out to check the traps and returned, having trapped quite a few animals. As Billy skinned, Rud would scrape and stretch the hides on bows made from small green tree branches. The edible meat they took to Patience, who set aside enough for supper, then cut the remaining meat into strips she would hang in the cold box outside where it would freeze.

Rud and Billy would not recheck the traps until two days later, so once they completed the work for today, they could all relax and enjoy the evening. Patience and Alice cooked an excellent meal with fresh meat and some of the vegetables they had grown in the food plot and preserved.

Rud and Billy worked on Alice and Billy's new cabin whenever they could. Days it was warm enough so that the mortar would dry without freezing, they built the walls. When it was too cold, they collected stones and transported them to the site awaiting warmer weather. They could have used logs for the walls, but it made a stronger, warmer, and more durable cabin to build using stone.

Alice and Patience would help with the build when they could, but left picking up and placing the heavy stones for Rud and Billy. Alice had plans for the cabin, and when she was back at Bessie's house was always talking about how she was going to arrange things once her cabin was finished.

Bessie would remind Alice she would not be living there full time until she and Billy were married, but Alice didn't care, it was going to be her home, and it was going to be the way she wanted it from the start.

* * * * *

Billy and Alice's cabin was completed in early spring. Bessie, Charlotte, Ollie, and Martha visited the valley for the official cabin opening. They had a wonderful meal followed by the desserts everyone had brought. Alice was sitting on the same bench-back chair she had first sat in with Billy at Bessie's house. Bessie had given it to Alice for her cabin, and it seemed an appropriate gift.

Alice welcomed everyone into her new home and invited them to sit and be comfortable. Alice made room in her chair for Billy, and as usual, they sat together. Bessie teased Alice about having so many chairs when they would only use one.

Alice would still have to return to Bessie's every other week, but she let everyone know her and Billy's cabin now was her home.

Bessie knew things were changing with the doves, and she and Alice did talk specifically about her sleeping in the same bed as Billy. Bessie knew it had been wonderful for Alice and not just the sleeping part. Bessie knew life in her father's home had been difficult for Alice.

With her mother gone and Martha suffering from her father's abuse, Alice, at a very young age, was left isolated and alone. Alice feared what was happening to Martha might someday happen to her. Alone and living in fear, Alice had developed emotional issues. Her inability to sleep was just one of the symptoms. 

But now Alice had found the one person she knew from her dreams she would love, would love her in return, and with whom she would spend the rest of her life. Whatever Alice's emotional issues, Billy seemed to be the cure. It was no wonder Alice felt a desperate need to be with Billy, especially at night, when her fears had been the greatest, and she always felt most vulnerable and alone.