Smallville

Chapters 1 & 2

Chapter 1

 

  Welcome to Meadowbrook, weary traveler. My name is Griselle and my husband is Ibraham.  We had just been married when our village in the mountains north of here was destroyed by a flash flood.  We were the only survivors.  We had such high hopes for the future and dreamed of our own farm and home in the meadow, we wondered if we would survive to see those dreams come true.  

  It was months before we got out of those mountains and found the river.  We built a small raft hoping to find a town downstream, instead we found white water rapids and a series of small waterfalls.  The raft was torn apart and we lost what little we had but again we survived.  We still had each other.  We traveled on on-foot and did indeed find a town, or rather the very beginnings of a town.

 

  There were 5 families who came from a town called Smallville.  They too wandered in the mountains west of that town before following a small brook to this meadow. They marked the spot with a sign showing the way back to that town before continuing on to the river.  They had a large barn and several houses built and supplies gathered when we arrived.  It must have been fate that our arrival times coincided, we reckoned this was where we were meant to stay.  They welcomed us gladly.  We numbered 12 adults and 10 children and since Ibraham and I had no children they thought it best if we became town overseers.  We named the town Meadowbrook.

  There were a lot of hungry little mouths to feed, keeping an eye on the food supply would be vital.  We immediately gathered what wild foods we could find to vary our diet and Ethanial headed to the river to fish, his wife Anti was a builder.  Although a small school was a priority it was not completed in time for Elene to become a student.  It would be several years before the first set of twins was ready to attend.

  We made good progress that 1st year building a pasture, hunter cabin, gatherer's workplace, a woodcutter, and workshop.  Our buildings required thatch for the roofs so a reaper would gather grasses for the thatcher to process.  There was edible grain on those grasses and with the help from the thresher, we had wild cereal.  At our first Town Hall meeting we decided to plant cabbage instead of corn next spring.

 

 

Chapter 2

 

 

  By early spring of year 2 our population had grown to 27.  During the winter months, 1 boy and 4 girls were born, including our own daughter, Shastasia.  By then, we only had 1 builder and 2 laborers, barely enough workers for the tasks at hand, and 1 of those laborers would have to become a teacher before the end of the year.  Other workers would help while they waited for supplies. We did not have enough grasses for both the thresher and thatcher to work full time.  We also did not have enough hides for coats but we did have quite a bit of wool so a tailor shop was built by the pasture and the workplace would close until we needed tool.  Wool coats and warm fires would be nice come winter, and there were plenty of downed branches to collect for firewood.  The thatcher suggested we also collect some of the reeds along the riverbank, he could use those when he was short of grasses.  Although there was plenty of wild foods, branches, grasses, and reeds there was a lot less surface stone and iron to be found. We had no spare workers for a mine or quarry, so we began construction of a bridge across the river where there was stone and iron.    

 

  After 2 years our town was doing well.  We were a bit concerned that the bridge was interfering with our catch of fish.  Ethanial, the fisherman, said the builder scared the fish away, they'd be back.  We hoped he was right and besides we had plenty of venison and mutton.   I knew Ibraham also felt a sense of security that winter having a warm house, a wool coat, and a full pantry and woodpile.  

 

  In spring of year 3, 3 nomads came out of the mountains and were overjoyed at having a real house and jobs they knew they could do.  We were a bit concerned by their lack of education but they had willing hands and we needed the help.  Our food supply was good and our cabbage crop looked promising again this year. We thought Bald, the farmer, was a bit careless with the seeds when planting because several cabbages grew outside the crop field.  But no matter, we would gatherer those up too.

  
  That year our cabbage harvest remained the same, the catch of fish increased and so did the amount of wild cereal threshed.  We closed the thatcher workplace so more grasses went to the thresher hut, the thatcher's work would resume when we had more reeds.  There were plenty on the other side of the small brook so a second bridge was built.  We looked forward to expanding our town to that side of the river next year.

 

 

Chapters 3 & 4

Chapter 3

 

  By year 4, our pasture was a busy place.  Dora was either a very good herdswoman or the sheep really liked this meadowland, we had twice as many sheep in our 14' x 12' pasture plus bonemeal.  The tailor was never short of wool and we had plenty of mutton.

  I had been doing the threshing and often wondered if it would not be more productive to plant a field of corn with 1 farmer working than having 1 worker reaping the grasses and another worker threshing.  Even though the amount of wild cereal increased using all the grasses, I still thought I could harvest more grain from a field than what I could thresh.  A 10" x 12" crop field was cleared but since our 2nd child was due in late spring, Ibraham said the corn planting could wait another year.

  Lelano built a small boat and bridge across the brook so he could plant and gather his own reeds for the thatcher's workplace.  The new storage barn did not require thatch, the builder used shredded tree bark.  A few houses could be built that way also, and I especially liked the house with the wood shingle roof.  In Spring, 4 nomads arrived so we needed more housing.

 

  The meadow on that side of the river was just beautiful this year and I thought the rocks in the brook and river were beautiful too now that I wasn't on a raft going over them rapidly.  The rocks and the shade of the bridges seemed to attract fish so a fish trap was constructed across the small brook.  A new family had arrived so we now had a few more workers.  Next spring we could have a farmer plant corn while I continued to thresh so we could do a comparison.  The amount of wild cereal I thrashed this year had increased substantially but I still thought a corn field would do better.  Next year, we shall see.

 

 

Chapter 4

 

  In spring of year 5 the cornfield was planted.  I had a short wait for more grasses to thresh.  As soon as I got the grasses Ethanial would take my place as thresher and I would tend the cornfield.  Ethanial's wife, Anti, would take over his fishing spot on shore.  My Ibraham was now trader at the newly built trading post.  A new school was also built since the old outdoor classroom was filled to capacity.  The workshop was reopened to make iron tools after 2 nomads arrived and became laborers.  The tools would be added to our growing assortment of trade goods.

  It was not until autumn that the first trader arrived at our port.  Veliah, the seed merchant, had no trouble navigating the rapids.  He knew they were there and what to expect and had done it many times before, he was a skilled boatman.  We traded for sunflower seeds and began clearing a field next to the cabbage patch.  Shortly after he left, it began to snow.  I tried but failed to get all the corn harvested but still I was proven correct.  I alone harvested more corn in 1 season than a reaper and thresher produced wild cereal in 2 seasons.  It would have been worth it to have grain had the Smallvillians not brought corn seeds with them.  Since the children especially liked the wild cereal, we decided we would continue the threshing operation unless our food supply became critical, then the reaper and thresher would become farmers.

 

 

  If need be, we could always extend our catch of fish by building a smoking shed.  Anti did not catch as many fish as her husband had the year before but her catch was considerably more than Adric was catching in the fish trap.  Had he been educated his catch may have been more.  Then again maybe they had been under the weather.  Despite our varied diet some folks were not at peak health, perhaps the new herbalist will help people feel better.  After 5 years our population was 43, 21 adults, 9 students, and 13 young children. That winter a second daughter, Bloosie, was Born.

Chapters 5 & 6

Chapter 5

 

  We seemed to have a lot of rain that spring of year 6 but the cabbage, corn, and sunflowers got planted on time.  It took a while with only 1 builder but the new small barn was finally completed.  Early summer brought more rain so work slowed again.  The log house for the 4 nomads that arrived was not getting done.  I felt sorry for Ibraham out so long in the pouring rain, he was now working the cornfield.  The log house when finished was very nice indeed.

 

  All the rain brought out the best in our meadows, they were just beautiful and had an abundance of wild foods, including blueberries and herbs.  We built a gatherer's workstation in both meadows.  Another house was being constructed over on the other side of the river also.

  During year 7 life continued on at a slow and leisurely pace.  A pretty little chapel was built by the river. Another nomad couple joined our town and another house was built.  Our only concern during this time was a shortage of iron for the blacksmith.  We found a small pocket of stone and iron in the western forest not far from the creek.  We built a small garden shed so a forester could cut trees and gather the resources we needed.  There would be enough iron to delay the mining decision for at least another year.

 

 

Chapter 6

  Year 8 was off to a good start.  Last year's catch of fish had increased since Ethanial returned to his favorite fishing spot on shore, this year's catch promised to be the same.  In spring 7 nomads arrived so we gained another builder and a tiny chopper for firewood across the river where another house was being built.  The construction was put on hold when a medical emergency broke out, diphtheria.  A small sauna was hastily built and Vannis became a physician to care for those afflicted.  It was early autumn before the 4 patients were cured and returned to work.  Dariel, the farmer, did not get all the sunflowers harvested but they sure looked pretty when the first snow fell.  By early winter the Meadowbrook residents were 100% happy and healthy.  

  Although Zander's, the gatherer in the forest to the east, had not been ill, his total of collected wild foods was again much less than the meadow gatherers.  Zanders collected 396 foods this year and only 288 last year compared to the meadow gatherers south of town and across the river.  They took in 766 + 833 this year and 990 +992 last year, a higher yields of food than our corn field.

  That winter, we were amazed at the different types of foods and trade animals that Linwoodrow, the General goods Merchant, had with him or said he could bring.  He said there was a town to the west called Cedar Creek (CC for short) on his trade route that produced a number of different things.  He said it was a much bigger town than ours.

  Well, we may be a small town with only a population of 71, 33 adults, 15 students, and 23 young children, but by summer of year 9 we are doing alright in Meadowbrook. 

 

 And yes, weary traveler, I did build you a "home in the meadow"  "where the grass grows wild, where the winds blow free."

 

The End.