Rud and the Damsel

Chapter 16 - A Trip Out of the Valley

Patience had to invent ways to do the things she needed. Rud had lived alone in the cabin for seven years and had everything he needed to live a bachelor's life. He had only needed a few kitchen items to feed himself.

Patience was cooking more types of food and a lot more of it. She often had to wash the same pot three times when preparing one meal. Rud had one worn broom, no mop, no washboard, and no bathtub. Cleaning their clothes did more damage than wearing them. Keeping their cabin clean, Rud and her brother clean and fed, and their clothes mended required constant effort.

Patience found the sack of seeds the shopkeeper's daughter had convinced Rud to buy and had planted the seeds once the food plot was ready. Now they had the most beautiful vegetables she had ever seen, and they tasted as good as they looked. It turned out she had quite a knack for growing things and she very much enjoyed tending to her plants.

Rud and Billy would take care of the heavy work like plowing, irrigating, and fertilizing, but the plants in the food plot were Patience's domain. Patience was careful to make sure she saved seeds from this season's crops so they would have even more next year. It was a constant battle keeping deer and other animals out of the food plot, but it was even tougher keeping Rud away from her tomato plants!

Several years ago, Rud had discovered a honey bee hive in a hollow tree that had blown over. He managed to transfer the queen to a simple box hive he had made, and the colony of honey bees had followed the queen. Despite Rud not being the most attentive beekeeper, with ample forage and mild climate, the colony had thrived. Honey, comb, and beeswax were always in demand and could be bartered for many of the things Rud needed.

Patience was fascinated by the bees, and once over her fear of being stung, she was actively managing the hive. She thought of them as her pets and called them "my bees." Patience knew the bees were important in ensuring a successful crop and had Rud move the hive closer to the food plot.

Every week or two, she would open the top of the box hive and collect some of the comb, rich with honey. Occasionally a bee would get under the thin material she used to protect her head and face or worse under her skirt. Patience would jump around, flapping her clothes while making short little scream sounds Rud called "girl noises." Patience did not think it was funny, but Billy and Rud thought it was hilarious to watch.   

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It seemed Patience was always busy, but Rud would make sure she had time for herself.  Whether it was bathing in the deep pool or just sitting by the edge of the woods listening as the wind blew through the trees, neither Rud nor Billy begrudged her time alone. She had earned it.

When she sat listening to the wind, she usually thought about her life before, her father and her mother, and her life now in their valley. All the things she had thought were so important, all the things she had taken for granted, and how wonderful she thought life was now. She would have never believed she could be happy living like this, but she was happy.

Rud was showing her more affection, and one day she would make a husband out of that rough woodsman. Her father would have sent her away if she had even suggested marrying a man like Rud. Patience was sure, though, that her mother would understand. It was a hard life for a woman here, but she felt safe, loved, needed, and was where she wanted to be.

When Rud was not hunting or trapping, he was making knives and other items he would sell or trade. Patience loved to watch him work. He was not a great farmhand or blacksmith, but had an intensity when he worked that she admired. And he was a good looking man once you washed the rough off him.

Since they were in what she thought of as the "courting" stage, he was still nervous around her and with Patience watching would sometimes cut himself, hit his fingers with the hammer, drop things on his feet, or any number of painful missteps.