Abandoned - Springfield - Story 23

[Abandoned]

Chapter 15

 By spring of year 15, 2 merchant offices were built, one on the jetty and one by the river trading post.  Both would be invaluable for keeping track of statistics and inventories, no need to travel all the way into town to check in at the mini town hall. Someday we plan to build a full size village hall but for now the merchant offices would do nicely.

  In late summer Garther, the hauler arrived at the trading post. He said as of now there were only a few small settlements up in the northeastern mountains.  They would provide some trade goods and they received some indirectly from Pumpkin Hollow.  Down river was Bloomington and Chattachoo, both would welcome linen clothes and just about anything else we would have to trade.  He did have firewood to trade at this time but it was early in the year yet and our wood choppers were hard at work so we decided instead to trade for flax to supplement what we gathered.  Buying flax for trade value of 3 and selling linen clothes for trade value of 15 was a good way to turn a nice profit.  He couldn't help but notice our greenhouse and said he could find a market for seedling down river.  We were happy with our trade and the information we received when Garther went on his way.

  Meanwhile the Celts were busy continuing construction of their palisade fence and building a small workshop for their own iron tools.  Again they helped collect logs, stone, and iron.  They also collected wild oats and other wild foods for their storage barn.

  Our 2nd oldest son, Hollington, who was still living at home took the job of botanist to tend and multiply the seedling we brought with us from Smallville.  Not only did he take on the responsibility of the new job in the greenhouse but he build a small village house nearby and took a bride.

  By late winter the Celts were building a Celtic Village House that would temporarily house 3 families.  We wondered if they were expecting company.  We also wondered if they were expecting trouble, they built a lookout tower along the palisade fence. 

[Abandoned]

Chapter 16

  The Celtic Village House was completed by early spring and building of the palisade continued.  We were happy to see the Celts set up a mini forester.  Logs and firewood were always in short supply and year 16 was no different.

  We thought the use of logs was justified when we began building a grammar school east of town.  We still had plenty of room for students at the small village schoolhouse but many students had a long way to go to and from school in the cold.  Many neighbors of the new school, our son Nest included, had young school age or soon to be school age children.  The children could spend more time in the classroom than walking back and forth.

  Two of our uneducated fishermen were having a debate at this time.  Melishaad said he could catch more fish than Elayna could, he claimed she was too close to the trading post.  He chose a location a little farther upriver by the bridge where he said fish would hide.  The fall fishing was good, the water was still warmer than the air.  Melishaad was not fishing all of last year, but this year he had indeed already caught more fish than Elayna had.

  In winter Lamarcelino, the company merchant, returned for the second time.  In late summer he had nothing we needed or wanted, and this time was no different.  He had no logs, firewood, or grain. He was in a hurry to be on his way before the temperature dropped any lower.  Thanks to the swift currant the river never froze in our harsh subzero winter climate but he did not like the cold.  We didn't either.

[kid1293]

I like the fishing competition! 

[Abandoned]

  These 2 are quite competitive, the competition will continue.  Totally unplanned     I thought I built the trading post too close to fishing spot and planned to move it if production dropped.

[Nilla]

I don't think it's the trading post; it doesn't look like much water in the fishing circle. Of course I don't know, if @Discrepancy uses the "normal parameters" for fishing output, but as far as I remember, these fishers are as dependent on much water in the circle as normal fisher. Let them continue their competition and move out on a small "hook" to try their luck. (and don't forget a close store, that's as important as much water.

[Abandoned]

Thank @Nilla , I made a note, I will add a storage cart or food cellar closer to the 2 fisherman I the future.  Their fishing circle is quite small with little water as you say.



Chapter 17


   Our firewood supply has been very low at the start of each new year, year 17 was no different.  The foresters had stopped planting trees so they could spend more time cutting but the laborers still had to help cut trees to meet our demand for wood.  There was some grumbling about the fact that the Celts had finished building the palisade even though we were short of logs.  By late summer our supply of logs and firewood had greatly improved.

  In late summer, Jolee the Planter arrived at the trading post with seeds.  We debated the wisdom of buying seeds even though the beans and potatoes were awfully tempting.  In our harsh climate the beans might do alright but the potatoes we feared would be the same as the corn and require 2 farmers.  We needed the laborers we had, and besides our food surplus was very good.  We decided we would be better off waiting for a food merchant who had grain to trade.

  This year the Celts used far less wood but they erected some type of stone monument to which they sacrifice a deer, 200 pieces of venison.  For what purpose?  One of the hunters said he had heard of such a stone before, it was called a Lugh's Stone.  That's all he knew.

  By autumn our stockpiles were a little less empty than they had been.  When the temperatures again dropped below freezing and the snow began to fall we felt a bit more secure knowing there was a little more firewood on hand this year.  The foresters resumed planting seedling and would continue as long as weather permitted.

  Melishaad and Elayna were still arguing about their fishing spots and skills as fishermen.  At the end of last year Melishaad caught 50 more fish than Elayna had.  She still claimed the fishing spot was a good one.  He told her that he was just the better fisherman then.  She did not agree with that either so they agreed to switch places this year.  By early winter she had caught 60 fish more than he and claimed it proved she was the best fisherman.  He stuck by his claim that the fishing spot by the bridge was indeed the better place to fish.  No one was willing to take sides in this debate.

  Garther the Hauler returned in winter, we had enough leather and wool but were out of flax.  We traded for all 200 units that he had with him.  We hoped next year a food merchant would stop by.

  The Celts again surprised and puzzled us with their latest building projects.  Why would they build a school house.  They had no children in their village and if they had, they would be more than welcome at our schools.  The small village school still had room and there were as yet no students attending the grammar school.  It made no more sense to us then the stone circle did or who caught the most fish.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 18


  The Celtic school house was completed but would probably remain unused for several years.  Work continued on the stone circle but no other building project was begun.

  In town the main stockpile was again short of logs and firewood.  The wood choppers said they could chop more firewood if there were more logs.  Well that made sense.  They suggested a mini forester close by like the Celts had.  That made sense too.  The blacksmith agreed but he added that he was also short of iron. It was now a long way to go for the laborers to collect iron.

  We had a chance to add more laborers to the workforce when 18 migrants from the North showed up at the town hall.  Did we have enough wood to build and heat more houses?  We would do our best to see that we did.  We laid the foundations for several homes, 3 families moved into the Celtic Village house.  With so many extra laborers, we went far afield to gather more stone and iron and to cut trees.  As soon as we had enough building supplies we would add an extra builder or 2.

  Our 2 drift wood collectors provided a small but steady supply of logs and firewood but those sources would soon be depleted.  The new mini forester was almost complete but that would not be enough.  We were very happy to see Lamarcelino, the company merchant, when he showed up that summer with firewood.  We traded 200 seedlings for all 400 pieces of firewood that he had.  We also traded linen clothes for 40 hardened tools.  They would last longer than our iron tools and the surplus would give our blacksmith a chance to build up a surplus of our iron tools.

  I could not help but notice that Melishaad and Elayna had switched fishing spots once again.  They were now back fishing at their original locations.  I spoke briefly to Elayna and discovered that the couple were actually married and lived in the small village townhouse by the bridge.  They had 2 young children at home and could easily run home often to check on them.  It did not matter who caught more or which spot was better, together they provided enough for their family and a surplus for the town.  So that settled it, we needed to keep both fishing spots at least until their children reached school age.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 19

  That summer of year 18 the Celts finished building their stone circle and the circle was immediately filled with worshippers from their village and ours.  We obviously neglected to build any places of worship, we would have to rectify that.

  The Celt's school house remained empty but our old grammar school now had 3 students.  We still had homeless families and began building another stone cottage near the school.  An early first frost of the season again signaled the loss of our crops and had us studying our production numbers.  We were still producing more food than we were using but for how much longer, and we needed grain.

  We made a little progress towards avoided future shortages by building a village hunting cabin and a forester south of the old grammar school.  Workers would live close by, there was room by the school for more housing for our homeless families.  The foresters would also collect the stone and iron in that area.  By late winter another stone cottage was built, plus a mini wood cutter with stockpile storage for logs and firewood.   When Garther the Hauler arrived with logs, we traded 100 seedlings for the 400 logs that he had.  We also traded venison for flax and when he left port we added another trader to help get those logs out to the stockpiles as soon as possible. The year ended well and we were grateful that in 18 years we had had no disasters.  By early spring of year 19 the village chapel we built was filled to capacity.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 20


 By early summer of year 19 our fishing couple had again changed places but now they had a village storage cart between them.  The small village barn close by was filling up rapidly with fish and venison.  The main stockpile in town was nearly filled to capacity for the first time due mainly to the logs we had purchased.  By summer we had built a another trading post on the other side of the river and Melishaad left his fishing spot to become trader.  We hoped a merchant would visit soon with grain.

 The Celts corn crop did better this year than last but still was not as good as we would have liked.   We needed more grain for our growing population.  We considered growing more corn instead of cabbage next spring or clearing another field all together.  Another field would require to more farmers.  In late autumn, Hilber the food trader arrived.  We traded for potatoes, bread, and a little of the corn he had. 

The temperatures again had dropped rapidly but the wait for spring did not seem quite so long, a village kitchen was built on Main Street and soon we had hot vegetable stew.  We longed for mushroom soup but we would need cleaner water than the firefighting well provided.  We built a small water well like the Celt's firefighting well but deeper so the water would be cleaner and safer to drink.

  At the start of year 20 our crop fields remained the same and we did not clear a new field.  The river boat merchants came to our ports often now and we had high hopes of getting grain soon.  We began building a village windmill close to where the grain would arrive but discovered we would need canvas to complete it.  We built a storage facility nearby for grain to be stored.  In late summer Hilber returned and we traded for 1400 units of wheat.  Fresh baked bread would go good with hot vegetable stew or mushroom soup.

  During year 20 we built several housing units around town for our growing population.  We now numbered 161, 100 adults, 27 students, and 34 young children.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 21


  Building projects continued on the other side of the river, a doctor's office was built and a bakeri and townhouse were started.  The doctor could not help Ennie, the woodcutter, who died of a weak heart.  The weather was rainy and dreary when Ennie was buried in the town cemetery.

  We were full of anticipation when 2 river boats were spotted coming down the river, but we were disappointed with what they had to offer.  Garther, the hauler, had no canvas and would not even take an order for any, and Hilber had a wide variety of food items but nothing we wanted or needed.  We had no idea what was needed or how to make canvas but we began work building a weaving guild. The bakery was completed and we looked forward to bread, cakes, and even meat pies as soon as we got either flour or grain and canvas for our own windmill.  We would need a water supply nearby so we laid the foundation for a village water pump by the river.  It would provide fresh drinking water and water for baking.

  A large upper living quarters was built above the doctor's office.  The building projects on that side of the river were rapidly depleting our stockpiles of logs, stone, and iron.  The laborers had far to go in the cold and snow to collected more.  Elayna was now one of the builders working on these projects and Melishaad had returned to his fishing spot on the riverbank.  Our son Hollington took over Elayna's fishing spot and his wife, Callas, took over my job as teacher.  They now had a baby girl, Kanessa, our grandchild.  I took over Hollington's job as botanist and Larryl was now the herbalist next door to the greenhouse.  We were both working close to home to look in on our youngest child, Alph, who would be starting school soon.

  I late autumn, Hilber returned to port and we traded for bread, potatoes, and flour.  Our baker could now begin baking bread.  The impressive looking village water pump by the river would provide all the water that was needed. Garther also returned before the end of year 21 and we traded for flax.  Shortly after he left the weaving guild was finished and we realized we would need to trade for hemp in order to make canvas to complete our windmill.  We would have to wait for the traders to return at the beginning of the year.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 22


  In early spring, it was Hilber the food merchant who returned.  We traded 100 seedlings for 300 eggs and 200 bags of flour. We could have bread and cakes now.  When the eggs ran out we would need more honey.  We built another bee shelter across the river, and a village bakery in town.  Hustonewall, who lived across the road, became baker.  His wife Calissouri said they loved the extra warmth the baker ovens provided even in summer when temperatures were only in the low 60s.  And it smelled so good when they walked out their front door.

  And speaking of walking, it was a long walk for the laborers to collect iron and stone.  For the first time we considered doing some mining but we were no where near any hills or mountains.   We would be closer when the village across the river grew larger but we discovered there was a large scattering of stone and iron in the area bordering that mountain range.  We would not need to do any mining anytime soon.  Larryl, had a suggestion that would solve 2 problems, the distance to the resources in winter and room to build the new Village Hall.  He suggested that we scavenge the abandoned places for logs and stone, even some iron.   When we were done we would have plenty of room behind the small village school to build the Village Hall.  Our mini town hall did a good job providing us with information on our town statistics and we could always trade for needed resources.  When Lamarcelino arrived in summer he had logs to trade, but 3 workers were assigned to clear away the debris behind the school instead of making a trade.

  In late winter both traders arrived at the ports, we could not resist trading for brussels sprouts.  Lamarcelino had canvas coats we did not need but no canvas.  We placed an order for hemp.  Hopefully next year we would make some canvas and finish that windmill.  We would also need to concentrate on building homes.  Our population was 172, 111 adults, 27, students, and 34 young children.  We had 63 families but only 52 homes at the end of year 22.

[kid1293]

A good climate for brussel sprouts. They need a night of frost.

This story is like a cliff-hanger. Will there be canvas?

[Abandoned]

  Yes, this story is sure exciting- canvas or no canvas ?    At least we have Brussels. 


Chapter 23 

   We were concerned about our lack of available housing when 27 migrants arrived in spring.  We need not have been concerned, they'd had enough of this harsh climate and were headed farther south, they would not stay.

  Another concern was that parts of town did not seem to be getting enough variety of foods in their areas, we needed vendors.  A wagon would be best to transport items from the main storage barn so a small workshop to make iron wagon parts was constructed behind the blacksmith in town.

  When the food merchant arrived, we traded for more eggs and flour.  Checking our inventory we discovered we were out of flax that we needed for the linen clothes we used as trade goods.  We immediately sent laborers to gather some but being Spring there were not many to find yet.  We also discovered we had quite a bit more leather than wool needed for making warm coats.  A town tailor was built across the river to make hide coats for trading until we obtained more flax.  A herbalist was also constructed on that side of town.

  It was early autumn before Lamarcelino arrived with the hemp we ordered.  The weaving guild immediately began making canvas.  What we didn't need we could trade or use to make canvas coats for a better trade value.

  There was still plenty of resources to gather from the abandoned place but 3 workers could not keep up with our need for iron.  The laborers again traveled a long way in the snow and cold to collect more.

  In late autumn we traded for potatoes and wheat and in late winter the mill was complete and the wheat was being ground into flour.  It was a beautiful mill.   To make sure that townspeople on the other side of town, especially those near the jetty, got their fair share of bread and baked goods, a wagon vendor headed to that location to display his wares.  Year 23 had been a good year.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 24

  By early spring of year 24, a town market was built on the other side of the river to insure they had a wide variety of needed items.  What we really needed in all sections of town was housing.  We had 69 families but only 54 houses.  We needed even more when in spring 8 Celts arrived at the Lugh's Stone in the Celtic Village.  The Celts immediately began building houses in their village and a wagon vendor took a wagon load of provisions to their palisade gate.

  As our population grew we became concerned for our food supply.  We were now using more than we produced.  We sent laborers out to collect wild foods on each side of town.  We added another hunter to the cabin south of town and a fisherman to the jetty fishing  dock.  Since fishing was good here in Springfield we built a fishing dock and fish drier on the other side of the river.  We built some homes but still needed more.  We also needed to provide fire protection for the big wood houses that were so close together.  Two young couples that apparently got tired of waiting for a house actually pitched a couple of canvas tents in the wooded area  over on that side of the river.

  When the river boat merchants came we traded for flax, vegetables, and apples.  Maybe our population would be healthier with more fruit.  Springfield now had 192 citizens, 130 adults, 23 students, and 39 young children.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 25

  At the very end of year 24, we lost our 3rd adult.  Orio the herdsman was trampled by livestock. Most of the towns people attended the burial.  Living in town we couldn't help but notice how full the stockpile was as we passed by on our way to the chapel by the cemetery.  Larryl and I had switched jobs, he was now the botanist and I the herbalist.  We all had enough firewood that harsh winter even those living in tents.  Another canvas tent was built across the river.  It came to our attention that canvas was not used to make canvas coats, those coats were made directly from hemp.  We had no hemp for the tailor to use.

  Year 25 was a busy year like all the others.  We planted another chestnut orchard, this one 15x15.  We ran out of gathering baskets for acorns and then ran out of acorns for the nut roaster.  We traded for more apples but nothing else.  We continued to build houses, several couples still wanted homes.  We were low again on stone, iron, and firewood but we had plenty of logs.  A very nice covered bridge now crossed over the river.  In early Autumn we lost another herdsman but his death had nothing to do with his profession.  Prent died of old age and was laid to rest in the village cemetery.  A Village Inn was being built on the riverbank near the new bridge.

  At the start of another cold winter we were low on firewood.  One of our driftwood collects had collected all the logs and firewood they could at that location.  It was not a lot but it certainly helped.  The other collector estimated they had about 25% remaining to collect. The abandoned place still had 68% remaining.  We ended year 25 with all available laborers out collecting stone and iron.