Life was not all that bad, despite the cold. Winter was here, with snow falling everyday and the temperature never rising above freezing. Hares and the other creatures of Winter did not seem to mind, as we got one every other day or so. It was not a lot but we still had a few pounds of food in storage. Fur was in abundance now, as the animals caught were processed and their skins treated.
Kaelyn and I both wore ankle length fur robes. They had come from a bear and a good sized wolverine that we had found dead by a half eaten carcass of a elk. Both had been torn up but their hides had been salvageable, and now we wore them to stay warm. I had wanted Kaelyn to have the bear, but she had insisted it be mine, only after she had worked on it. Now it was the finest piece of clothing I owned. Teeth from the bear served as button for which loops of thin rawhide attached to. The collar was lined with a white fur of a fox, and the hood was from a beaver. This too was lined with a second white fox. It was easily worth a couple hundred dollars.
While my new coat was well crafted, Kaelyn's was left me at a loss for words. The white brown wolverine pelt had a red fox, an extremely lucky find for Winter, lining the collar. Its hood consisted of a beaver on with a white fox lining the edge of the hood. Actual buttons that she and I had carved from the claws of the bear and wolverine lined the front of it. It was truly a piece of beauty and I enjoyed seeing Kaelyn put it on whenever she got cold.
Our daily routine had slowed down, as some days the snow and wind was so bad that we spent the whole day inside. Some times it was a few days before the storm stopped and we only went out to collect snow for water or to relieve ourselves. Besides this, we spent it inside doing various things to keep ourselves busy.
Any game we caught provided temporary work as I scraped the hide clean, washed it, stretched it, and tanned it. This took time and gage Kaelyn material to turn into clothing. Both of us had gloves, the coats, and hats, to use when it got cold, or for when we had to venture out into the white landscape. Now the extra hides she turned into hats. When I had asked why she had replied, "Women love to wear hats, especially when it gets cold. Hoods hide our faces, a hat draws people to look at our face. Besides, these furs and not good for much else besides gloves maybe."
I knew she was right about them not being good for much, but the part about the hat interested me. Shaw would have been proud to know that his daughter had made such observations and was using it to turn a profit. Such an eye was what had gotten me through the early years of my trading, when I had been no more than twelve years old and trying to support a sister in law with two young kids and a husband who had broken his leg while farming. Once my brother healed the extra money had not been necessary but I enjoyed the work and it had taken us from the edge of poverty to living at least comfortably. Now I mostly did the work to try and ensure that my niece and nephew would have a better life than I had. Besides Cassie had raised me when my parents had die and I would never be able to repay her for turning the wild rebellious kid I had been i to who I was now.
Perhaps it was due to not having seen them in over two months, but I found my thoughts drifting to that of my family as I asked Kaelyn, "Did your father ever talk about me much?" I did not even realize I had said it until Kaelyn stared at me wide eyes, a look of shock on her face.
"Yes I know your father is Shaw. It was easy in those early days. You wore clothing only someone with wealth could afford. Your skill with a needle and talk about you and your mother making goods to sell to others implies a craftsman family. Besides your father is the only man I know in Notredram who would carry a pellet gun, and have the stomach to shoot small animals."
"Why wait until now to say something? You clearly have known since that night at the house." She answered soft and slow.
"My thoughts drifted to my family, it just slipped out of my mouth. But I am curious, if you are willing to talk about it."
Eyeing her current project for a moment to check that she was sewing it up right, she replied, "Yes. He talked about you every night that was after you and he had done some type of trade..."
Her pause came as she blushed deeply before continuing, "At times I was jealous. Here was a young nobody that my father could talk about for hours. After awhile I had to admit that your furs and herbs were the finest quality that anyone had to offer. My father's favorite story to tell was when you showed up two years ago in the middle of a storm. You were covered in blood but had the skins of three wolves slung over your back. Apparently you collapsed just outside the gate, snow falling down all around you. Against the guards wishes he had rushed out there and hauled you and the skins all the way to the hospital. When you woke up two days later you could hardly remember anything after you had killed and skimmed the wolves just a mile from the city. He was more delighted that you woke up and healed than at the fact the wolves had been for him. Two days later when you left he described you at a man who would not let a few cuts an a bout of unconsciousness stop you from getting home. I can never forget the admiration he had for you then or since."
Reminded of the event I grunted in amusement as the memory surfaced. Perhaps it was because she had shared or maybe just because this felt right I started, "The first time I met your father, I did not know what to make of him. I was a thirteen year old kid with an old back pack and a slingshot. Cassie and Ezekiel had me and their two to look after, which was not easy. My haul had been meager, a few squirrels and rabbits I had managed to kill with the slingshot. I had a few plants that my mother and father had taught me about, but I figured they would be worthless. The trek had been the hardest walk of my life, and the wall had been huge. Not to mention the guards carrying rifles and bows and all watching me walk up to the gate and announce myself. Part of me had thought they would shoot me on the spot or send me away while they laughed. When they opened the gates I almost fell on my face in shock. Your father met me in the square. He towered over me, but there was a spark in his eye that somehow told me ai knew I could trust him. Logically he had been shocked when I had showed him my small catch. He seemed like he was going to give me money out of pity for my state, but I showed him the plants I had brought. They were still fairly fresh and so could be replanted and with the right care would grow. All I had was some Blue Starflower and some Marsh Violet. Before I could so much as ask how much he was walking me down to Mary Annes for what he deemed a proper meal. Having never had such rich food, I had gorged myself before he had stopped me. Stuffed but thankfully able to move he took me to some women who clucked her tongue as she measured me before telling him to come back in a few hors for the clothes. Never had I thought to protest, as I was so caught up in everything that was happening and all the things I had never seen before. Those next few hours Shaw spent showing me the town and asking me about myself and more specifically what I wanted out of life. Young, I had told him I wanted to make my niece and nephew to want for nothing. He laughed at this and said, that it is an admirable goal. His laugh was so much like my fathers, booming and full of delight. My tears shocked him as he patted me on the back, and spoke comfortingly to me until I stopped. When this was all done and I had begun to become rational, I asked him how much I owed for everything he had dome for me. Never had I seen someone more shocked than your father as he laughed until realizing I was serious explained that I was the one owed. Apparently you had numerous people hurt and your father the merchant he was knew that that the plants would help the people hurt. Being alive and having full confidence he could get them planted and growing, your father offered me five hundred a plant. The animals were not worth much but he thanked me for them with a old blackpowder shotgun. Cassie had it when we met her, you even told me that she was coming at us with it..."
At this Kaleyn blushed and I smiled warmly before continuing, "Fifteen hundred dollars plus a meal, a new set of clothes, and a shotgun was too much. Besides I was worried Cassie and Ezekiel would think I stole it. Your father understood my dilemma and offered to take me home along with any goods I wanted to buy. Five chickens, twenty pounds of salt, and bolts of cloth for Cassie to make clothes out of later, and I was perched besides Shaw as he guided the oxen pulling the wagon down the winding road. Cassie could barely restrain herself from swatting me until she saw what was in the wagon and Shaw explained to her hoe much I had helped the Walled City of Notredram. Shaw even had me get him more plants and promised me a decent foragers bag, a sturdy canvas tent, along with other items of my choosing when I next arrived at Notredram. That left quite an impression with Cassie, who was already struggling to handle the fact we had five chickens, plenty of salt for curing/cooking, and enough cloth to cloth everyone for a few years..."
"I remember that day. The whole city was talking about the trader whom my father had gotten the plants from. No one even stopped to consider how much he gave you in compensation. Besides those plants have multiplied and have healed plenty of people who have gotten hurt. I did not know that was you though, thank you." Kaelyn interjected.
"Shaw was and still is a good man, and merchant. He saw an opportunity and took it, without exploiting me. That is one of the reasons I have never once doubted his prices, well that and the fact I feel that I will always owe him for that first day. Now here I am teaching you how to survive and make a profit from the land. It seems fitting that I am in a way returning that day of kindness with you."