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Abandoned - East Port - Story 90

Started by Abandoned, March 31, 2023, 06:00:58 AM

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Abandoned

Chapter 12

  A stable was finally build just south of the forest chapel.  The horses were moved from the cemetery to the new stable and pasture.  A young man just out of school moved into the stable house to care for the horses.



  My brother married a friend of mine who was my age.  She lived in town by the storage barn in the house with the chicken coop.  We often met when she took the eggs to the market.  After the Natives left she worked at the hunting grounds and when there was a rare feather found, she brought it to me.  When she and my brother had their first child, I went often to their house to help her.  I got to know their neighbor and married him.  Aryant and I had our first child right after the first snow in late autumn.  We named our baby girl Adlinettina. 




  Both sets of parents were happy to have a new grandchild.  My mother, the teacher, thought the town should have a Town Hall to keep records of all the births and other town statistics.  Everyone agreed and construction began immediately.

Abandoned

Chapter 13




  The Town Hall was built by the storage barn and stockpile.  By spring of year 15, a lot of information was already recorded.  The population of East Port was 57, 36 adults, 7 students, and 14 young children.  There were 22 families living in 16 homes.  There were 4 dock houses, 2 shanties, 2 forest houses, 4 workplace houses, 1 stable house, and 3 neighborhood houses.  There were young adults still living at home who would soon want homes and families of their own.



  There were more births to be recorded; 4 more just in our 3 neighborhood houses.  A dock fence was built along the waterfront by our houses when the little ones began toddling around.  Even though it would be a few years before they were school age, a neighborhood school was built across from the shop.  In front of the school, there was a playground with swings, a slide, and a sandbox for the children.  There were benches for the parents to sit and watch their children play.  And because Nicolet, the greengrocer, came to port with flour, a baker was built around the corner from the school.




Abandoned

Chapter 14


  Yes, life was good in the neighborhood.  Mothers could get supplies from an indoor shop out of the wind and rain, and cold and snow.  They could take their older children to school and the younger ones to the playground.  They could sit in the sun and visit with neighbors before heading to the bakery for a loaf of fresh baked herb bread.




  Life was good on the dock too but very different.  Mothers could get the same wide variety of foods but their shop was an open-air market out in the cold wind that blew in off the water.  The school was close by but they had to remind the children often not to run on the piers. They had to keep a close eye on the toddlers. They visited with neighbors at the market with the chickens and the goats.  They baked their own bread with flour from the market and herbs from the herb grower rather than go across town to the baker.

  To help offset the differences, a gazebo was built on one side of the town hall and a fish n chips market BBQ was built on the other side.  Nicolet brought more potatoes when he brought the flour.





Abandoned

Chapter 15


  It was a long voyage back and forth from the old country; the merchants did not come as often as we would have liked.  Flour, potatoes, oats, or wild oats were brought by either Nicolet or Burrel.   It was a relief when Louanne, the resource hauler, came to port and had iron and stone.  We were short of both.  There was very little surface iron and stone to be found anymore.  We took 50 of each from the merchant and immediately began making more tool to have a bigger surplus on hand until the merchant returned with more.  The elders of the town did not want to face another tool shortage even though the first one was short lived.



  Some of the stone was used to build a new neighborhood house behind the school for another young couple.  The builders pointed out that the more houses built in that area the less area there was in which to cut trees and gather wild foods.  There were still logs and a little iron to be salvaged from the shipwreck and the tide continued to bring in wood for the dock driftwood collector to gather.  We did rely on the mushrooms, onions, and roots to add variety to our diet; our overall health always dipped a little between visits from the food merchants.  It was something to think about.



  Nevertheless, 2 more neighborhood houses were built behind ours for new couples.  A third was started but there was not enough stone to finish it.  Shortly after a baby was born in one of the houses.  Gwendy, the builder who worked on the house, died in childbirth.  It was East Port's first death.  She was laid to rest in the town cemetery.



Abandoned

Chapter 16 


  Time passed and we learned of more deaths from an unexpected source.  One day, my sister-in-law next door came over and told me I should go to the dock market; there was someone there I would want to see.  I was curious, I did as she suggested.  I found my Native friend from years ago who had come to trade furs for food.  He had learned to speak my language.  We exchange information about our lives now and our families; I had 4 children, he had 5.  Life had not been good for the tribe or for many others.  He told of floods and draughts and food shortages.  He was glad to find me alive and well and he gave me a rare feather before he turned to go.

  The following spring many deaths were avoided by the swift actions of a ship's captain.  It was late afternoon on a rainy and windy day when the passenger ship was spotted headed rapidly towards the dock with billowed sails.  Without a heavy cargo like the merchant ships, these passenger ships could really move.  The captain saw the pier and house dead ahead and had just enough time to veer away, but the wind caught the ship again sending it careening into the rocks and shore a short distance from our neighborhood. 







  None of the ships passengers or crew were seriously injured.  The captain and crew would head back to the old county on the next ship.  The passengers decided they would stay with us after being told about the floods, draughts, and food shortages inland.  There were 8 of them, 2 couples with 4 adult children.



Chapter 17

  The newcomers understood our reasons for not wanting to build into the forest south of the neighborhood so they choose locations for houses carefully.



A couple with 2 adult children built a dock house between the reed farm and the overseer.  An adult daughter wanted a small forest house across from the BBQ; she did not know how to cook.  Her parents and brother built a neighborhood house in line with the other 2 on the road not far from where the shipwreck was.  At the end of that road by the shore, a lighthouse was built.





  The newcomers brought new ideas with them from the old country and soon there were several bicycles being ridden around town.  We needed to widen our roads.




Chapter 18


  Others came by ship but did not stay; most headed southwest to Mapleton and then on to Plimoth where the train was being built.  A few headed west from here in the direction of Smallville.  We put a sign by the west pass.





  It was a good thing we had widen our roads because, in year 33 SVT, a stagecoach came to town.  The builder of the coach was from Mapleton and he wanted to make a trade; the coach for 2 horses younger than the ones he had.  He planned to build another coach to take migrants from Mapleton to the railroad in Plimoth.  If we made the trade, those migrants landing here could take one coach from here to Mapleton and another from Mapleton to Plimoth.   



  The trade was made and the man from Mapleton was soon on his way back there with four horses: his 2 old horses and two young ones.




Chapter 19



  A stage office was built across the road from the livery stable.  A stagecoach inn was built between the stage office and the neighborhood shop.  If the ship bringing migrants arrived late or the weather was bad, the migrants could spend the night at the stagecoach inn.  If they had no chickens or goats, they could be on their way to Mapleton in the morning on the stagecoach. 







  The townspeople were on the move too; from their parent's houses to houses of their own. Another neighborhood house was built south of the pasture and an old town port house was built next to the stable.  Another was built by the lighthouse.  A small pier with a dock house and fishing pier were built there too.  We needed more fish and our wild foods.  There had been longer delays between the arrival of the food merchant ships.   Our food supply was critically low.








Chapter 20



We were very glad we preserved our forest areas, both south by the neighborhood and north by the Native's hunting ground.  Every available laborer was gathering wild foods in one area or the other.



  The Natives' land was much the same as they left it; across the stream only a hunter's workplace was built because we needed food.  For the same reason, a fishing pier was built by the hunting grounds where another worker was assigned.  Another cabin was built there for the workers. 

The south dock was expanded to include 3 more dock houses, a shanty, and a small market.  A chicken coop and gatherer's workplace were built there too.





The only building that intruded into the south forest area was built last year, weary traveler.  We were so concerned with our food supply that we were completely taken by surprise by the outbreak of measles.  We were totally unprepared.  One case quickly turned to 3, then to 6, and finally 9 cases.  We needed a hospital but had no other option but to build it in the south forest. The north end of the road that ran past the bakery seemed to be a spot that would do the least damage to the forest area.  Nine patients were admitted as soon as the hospital was completed.  It was not soon enough to prevent 3 deaths.  They joined the builder who died in childbirth and the laborer who died of old age in the town cemetery.






Chapter 21


   So, here we are, weary traveler, in the spring of year 40SVT in East Port.  We feared we would have deaths from starvation but lost townspeople to an outbreak of measles instead.  East Port now has 155 citizens; 95 adults, 7 students, and 53 young children. 





Our food supply is still critically low but it is spring and our ship has just come in.  Another is waiting offshore. 


Have a safe journey, weary traveler, to wherever you decide to go next.


The End 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKP4cfU28vM

Turn, Turn, Turn - The Byrds




catty-cb

Went back to the April posts and re-read just to make sure I was all caught   :)

Abandoned

 :)  8 more are missing, will keep updating when I can.