Abandoned - Mapleton - Story 89

[Abandoned]

Chapter 15


    On that last trip to Plimoth, my father learned from the migrants that they saw we had maple trees and they wanted to know if we tapped them for sap.  Back in the old country they had pancakes for breakfast with the most delicious maple syrup made from that sap.  The sugar map is the one to tap; if we weren't sure which were the maple trees to tap just look for the most colorful trees in the forest in fall.  The maples drop a lot of seeds so they usually grow in small groves.  There are only a few weeks in late winter and very early spring to tap the trees.  The nights are cold and the days are warmer and it is that rise and fall that starts the sap flowing.  The sap is then boiled until the water evaporates and the thicker syrup remains. 

Abandoned - Mapleton - Story 89

Abandoned - Mapleton - Story 89

  That autumn several groves of sugar maple trees were found by looking for the most colorful trees.  A work shed was built by the three groves closest to the settlement.  One was a short distance from the Bed and Breakfast hostel, and the other 2 were south of the mill and bakery.  By late winter buckets were set out by the trees just waiting for the weather to warm and the sap to start flowing.

Abandoned - Mapleton - Story 89

Abandoned - Mapleton - Story 89

[Abandoned]

Chapter 16


  By the time the maple trees were tapped, a sap boiler had been built behind the bakery.  A branch cart and woodpile box were placed nearby to provide a steady supply of firewood.  The sap would be boiled day and night until the water was cooked out and only the syrup remained. 

Abandoned - Mapleton - Story 89

Abandoned - Mapleton - Story 89

  Grandma said that was the winter the settlement suffered it first loss.  Gerel, the forester, died of old age.  My sister and I figured he must have been about 68 years old. He was the older man who dived into the water to help a husband save his wife and children who had been swept overboard during a sudden storm at sea on their way here.  The family he helped save is the couple who live in the stable.  Gerel lived in the farthest house west past the forest hunter.  He found one of the maple groves far to the west.  He was a loner who never married but all the families thought it was sad that he did not get to share in the first breakfast with the maple syrup at the newly built pancake house.  The stable couple's young son and his new bride moved into Gerel's forest house leaving the couple alone in the stable house.

Abandoned - Mapleton - Story 89

[Abandoned]

Chapter 17

   
  There were more deaths and moves in the next few years.   My father's sister Oralie married Gardo and moved out from Grandma and Grandpa's house to one of the 2 new forest houses down the road from the Bed and Breakfast.  Grandma asked several times which family Gardo was from and had to be reminded he was the youngest son of one of the shipwreck families.
 

Abandoned - Mapleton - Story 89

Abandoned - Mapleton - Story 89

  The other shipwreck family was my mother's parents.  Grandpa Shedric died of old age leaving Grandma Elayna alone in the mill house.  Cayley from the stable house also died of old age leaving Amarco alone.  A year or so later, Amarco married Grandma Elayna and moved into the mill house with her.  A young man living by the storage barn took over the milling.

  My sister, Aylen, and I would be finishing schooling soon.  We were at that age where we were interested in who was marrying who and who was having babies.  We suggested that the settlement should have a town hall and we should start keeping records while Grandma's memory was still good.  A tiny town hall was built and my sister and I were in charge of compiling the records.  Many of the families came to tell us their family history.  Many thought that if we were now a town with a town hall, the town should have a name.  It was late winter of year 32;  the temperature was above freezing and the maple trees would be tapped any day.  We named the town Mapleton.

Abandoned - Mapleton - Story 89

[Abandoned]

Chapter 18


  The following year, my father with some help from Grandpa, completed the project he was working on; they built a stagecoach.  My father had an idea; first he would take the stagecoach to East Port and hopefully trade it for 2 younger horses.  He promised Grandpa that he would stop to rest the 2 old horses often and would bring them back home.  My father would then build a 2nd stagecoach.  The first would bring migrants from East Port to Mapleton and the second would take them from Mapleton to Plimoth.  The railroad train would be ready to make its first trip west by then.

Abandoned - Mapleton - Story 89

  Everything went according to plan.  My father returned from East Port with 2 horses and news.  We often got news from East Port migrants of storms and flood and food shortages.  The news was passed on to Plimoth.  This news was of a landslide north of Smallville that blocked the main river; because of the blockage, some rivers were drying up and others were changing course.  Trade and travel were very difficult; there may be more migrants.

Abandoned - Mapleton - Story 89

  My father brought something else back from East Port; he got coffee beans from one of the trading ships.  A greenhouse was built to grow the beans, and a Breakfast Nook was built to serve toast with jam and coffee, or bacon and eggs with coffee.  Settlement families and migrants were happy with either, those that weren't had pancakes.  The next group of migrants were taken by stagecoach to Plimoth.

Abandoned - Mapleton - Story 89

[Abandoned]

Chapter 19


  In the following years more elders died, more couples were formed, and more babies were born.  Amaraco died of old age at 73 and was soon followed by Grandma Elayn at 74.  They joined their spouses in the town cemetery.

Abandoned - Mapleton - Story 89

Abandoned - Mapleton - Story 89

  A new house for one of the couples was built behind the tiny school, and 2 more houses were built in the center of town.  A storage barn and a chicken coop were built over by the Bed and Breakfast and the Breakfast Nook.  Three more houses were built along that road.  Another spring hedgerow was found that would provide more hazelnuts, wild oats, asparagus, mushroom, and branches for firewwod.  We all look forward to that first harvest of asparagus in spring.

Abandoned - Mapleton - Story 89

[Abandoned]

Chapter 20


    So, weary traveler, it's spring again in Mapleton.  The snow melted and the maple trees were tapped and the sap was boiled.  The trees, shrubs, and wildflowers are blooming, and there's a new colt in the stable pasture.  There are little piglets and baby chicks too.

Abandoned - Mapleton - Story 89

Abandoned - Mapleton - Story 89

Abandoned - Mapleton - Story 89

   The Breakfast Nook is frying eggs and bacon, and pancakes with syrup are being served in the Pancake House.  The morning coffee is being brewed.  You should have enough time for breakfast before the stagecoach is ready to leave.  Not many folks go from here to East Port, it is usually the other way around.  Maybe you'll decide to stay there. 

  Fare thee well, weary traveler.  Have a good morning and a happy First Day of Spring.


The End
 

[Glenn]

Yes, when I look at these pictures I realise just how lucky I am to live somewhere where it doesn't snow.
For me spring is long gone, summer is over and autumn has just begun.

It was another lovey story on the passing parade of life - no matter where you live.

[Abandoned]

Thanks Glenn    I often say I would not want to live somewhere that doesn't have our four seasons, I like each one.  I think that is why I like Banished so much, I like the trees changing and the rain and the snow falling.  I think the preference has a lot to do with where we are born.  I have fond childhood memories of playing outside in the snow.  I like raking leaves and shoveling snow. 

[taniu]

@Abandoned  :)Thank you for the beautiful story. You portray the developing village life very nicely with added decorations. One gets the impression that this village is real, not fantasy. I also have 4 seasons and I also welcomed spring, I like to watch nature wake up to life. Regards

[Abandoned]

  Thanks @taniu.  Yesterday I saw a few little greeneries coming up in the garden.    But this morning it does not look like spring.  I awoke to an inch of snow on the ground.  It stuck to the trees and shrubs.  It is very pretty    Spring snow never stays around long.  I wish you and your wife a wonderful spring.

[taniu]

@Abandoned ;DThank you very much . I hope that we will see new great stories from the world of Banished, although the map is already very full of new villages. Regards

[Abandoned]

  oh, I think there is room for a few more