Chapter 1.13

"I will go make dinner." Her declaration stumped the brothers. Isabelle was going to cook? For real? "Felix, where is the fish you caught earlier?"

"You're gonna make fish for dinner?!" The teen's eyes instantly brightened. It seemed he had really been craving fish. Or he just loved fish a lot. She definitely saved that tidbit! Once Isabelle nodded, Felix dragged her to the kitchen to start preparing dinner under the still flabbergasted gazes of the other brothers.

Cooking and eating dinner had to be done before the sun set completely. They had candles to lit up the house at night when it was dark; however, they tried not to use them often because candles were a bit expensive for them. They took advantage of the light from the sun, and the light from the moon when it was full to do their stuff.

Anyway, fish for dinner.

Actually, with the limited ingredients in the kitchen, the ways to prepare fish were also limited. Especially for dinner. The best way to prepare the fish that was not too heavy in flavor was to make it in soup. The thing about making soup was that she would need to use the last vegetables they had stored up. And, she wanted to use the vegetables for breakfast the next day.

What to do?

"Ya can use only the heads and a few herbs for the soup. Make a broth." Felix suggested, seeing her hesitate on how the cook the fish.

"Oh? Is that how you do it?" She was just the amateur cook that was trying and inventing, so she was going to seriously follow his suggestion.

"Yeah," Felix nodded. "We make soup with the heads and the rest o' the meat's cured to eat as jerky. That way it lasts longer."

Jerky, huh? Well, to them, it was way better to preserve food in the case they could get nothing to eat in the future, either from a poor harvest, lack of income, or bad hunting day. Those were the downsides of lacking their own resources. Converting meat into jerky was the best option, yes, but Isabelle wanted to make something better for the brothers. "Have you cured the meat already?"

"Ah, yes. It won't go bad that way." He sheepishly explained.

"Then, can you make the soup? I will see what I can do with the meat." He nodded and readily grabbed the heads that were already sitting in a pot with water. It seemed he had already been planning to make soup for dinner. A smile drew on her face.

The preserved meat was left in another lidded pot with salt. She was of the idea that jerky was done by leaving the meat under the sun to dry. But she was not going to start questioning the experts.

She took out five strips, one for each of them, and left the rest to be cured. They were a good size; meaning the fish Felix had caught were quite big. Then, another thought came to her mind: their way to cure meat looked a bit simple... Shaking away her thoughts, she focused on dinner. They could address that later on.

Eyeing the little amount of dried herbs left in the container, Isabelle decided to sprinkle some of it onto the still wet strips of meat and fry them on the pan. Or cook them in the pan, as there was nothing she could use to actually fry them. She was not sure if it would taste good, but she could only try.

Thinking so, Isabelle vigorously rubbed the herbs on the meat so the smell and taste would permeate. Though, she could not be too sumptuous with the herbs as there was not much left. Besides, it was the only seasoning apart from salt in the house. She really needed to advocate for a way to get their own herbs!

Ah, there is a lot we can do! Why have they not thought of it before?! Really, why are men so careless?!

"It smells good, Belle!" Felix exclaimed while sniffing the fish on the pan.

Well, there was no genius technique to it; just salt, the dried herbs and then make sure they did not get stuck in the pan. Luckily, they did not, and even acquired a toasty texture. It would have been better to use some sort of sauce to spread on the strips but there were no ingredients for it, so they could only make do with the soup to wash them down.

"It should taste good, too." Isabelle smiled. "How is the soup going?" She asked, eyeing the pot with the soup. Or broth.

The stove was big enough to cook four dishes at the same time. The burning firewood was the same for the four burners though. Ideally, the stove needed separate compartments for the firewood to make different dishes at different temperatures and cooking time. She left that idea as another plan for the future.

"I'm waitin' for it to boil. It probably doesn't taste as good as the fish you're doin'." He laughed a bit embarrassed. His sheepish expression made him look quite adorable and cute.

"That is fine. We need to take care of what we have and not be too greedy." Isabelle commented, more to herself than anything. She wanted to make so many things but she lacked the necessary resources.

The family was waiting for the Spring harvest that consisted of potatoes, parsnip, onions, and beets to add to the carrots and cabbage they already had from the Winter harvest. Like that, they would have more ingredients for more and different meals! Still, it was not enough. Not even after she heard from Joseph that they could eat plums, lemons and oranges soon.

It had been a while since the last frost, so fruits were starting to show. The trees had blooming flowers, and the smell of the budding fruits was permeating the patch of land. In that same vein, Joseph confided that he was thankful for the rather short Winter as the brothers barely survived it with cabbage, carrots and cured meat.

"The harvest should be good this year. We keep what we need and sell the rest to buy other vegetables." Felix comforted her. Despite the rather low harvest they get from their patch, it had always been enough for them for years. It they could eat, then there was not much they complained about.

"What we need is to find other ways to preserve food. We cannot only depend on their shelf-life and spend money to buy new ones. It is not efficient! You are wasting money and your own vegetables. I know you can survive on what you get from your crops, but you have not managed it well. I am not an expert at this, but this is the reason why you are not living well." Isabelle heatedly stated, leaving a speechless Felix.

Uh, perhaps I said too much.

She did not want to criticize their lifestyle, but if she was to stay with them, then she wanted to find other ways to improve their lives. And something as basic as food was the perfect place to start.

For years, the brothers had only used the easiest methods that could keep them alive out of need and despair, that sadly turned into a habit having seen that those methods worked. And that was fine, considering their resources and abilities were limited. None could read or write, closing other job opportunities – well-paid job opportunities.

That could not be entirely blamed on them as they became orphans when they were kids. Doing miscellaneous jobs was the obvious path for an illiterate kid. Hunting and farming were also ways to carry on, but those methods were not always safe; especially hunting. They also could only hope for the harvest to be good.

Like so and with time, they entered a vicious cycle from which they saw no need to come out. So, Isabelle wanted them to know that there was so much more than what they already knew.

"What d'you propose, then?" Ethan's voice came from the kitchen's door, startling both Felix and her. Neither had noticed he and the other two brothers were standing by the door, listening to their conversation.

Isabelle suddenly became nervous.

Have I really said too much?

They almost ate burned fish strips that night.

"First of all, I would like to remind you that I truly am no expert. And that, possibly, more often than not, we could fail in any new ventures or projects." Isabelle began the impromptu meeting.

The meeting on how to improve their livelihoods took place at the table after they ate dinner. The setting sun painted the sky and everything around the house an orange color, and a cool breeze was starting to blow. It was a nice scenery… The magical moment nature provided them was broken by Joseph's voice.

"Ven...tures?" Him and the others looked extremely confused.

"Ah, that is… a business." She explained in simpler words, flustered.

It never occurred to her that they would not understand what she said. It was an oversight on her part. Her speech was ingrained despite losing her memory, so she paid no attention to it. More so because neither of the brothers seemed to be having difficulties understanding her before. They had said nothing about the way she spoke either.

With Joseph's sudden question, she arrived to the conclusion that it was just a matter of vocabulary on the brother's part, the lack of that is. So, she had to make sure her words were as simple as possible during their conversation. That even gave her the idea to teach them new words. But, well, that was for the future. At the moment, the matter of food took priority.

"That's ok. We've faced lots of hardships, we ain't bowin' down at the first problem." Joseph waved his hand unconcerned to what Isabelle said. The other brothers nodded, prompting her to speak without holding back.

Inwardly, they were gushing with happiness! That was what they needed! What they had been looking for in a woman! They knew their weaknesses and their shortcomings, and it was not the first time they talked about ways to make money or improve their livelihoods; however, those plans never took off or failed midway.

They wanted to know what they were doing wrong. Isabelle seemed to know what she was talking about back in the kitchen, so they clung to the opportunity of not only coming up with ways to better their lives, but to include Isabelle in their present and future. To intertwine their lives together so tightly that she would not think of leaving them.

Was it low of them? Yes. But that was desperation for you.

"Good, then," She got comfortable on the stool to start ordering her ideas. "Let us begin with improving what we have in the house. Planting our flower garden gave me the idea that we should also grow our own herbs. It irks me that we have..." She trailed off, realizing she said another word that made them frown in confusion.

"Um, anyway, having our own herbs would help us cut down that expense – we will not have to buy them in the future. I am not sure if you are doing that in your patch of land." The brothers shook their heads. "Right. Then, maybe we can first ask around in the market what type of herbs are used for cooking, buy a few stalks, and try to grow them by directly planting them in the soil. We can dry our own or even use fresh ones."

She paused to sip on her water.

"Another option for getting herbs is to go looking for them in the mountains and transplant them like we did with the flowers. Whatever works best. Like that, we can save money from buying dried herbs as prices tend to fluctuate… they change in the market. One day you can get them very cheap, on another you find they are too expensive." She shrugged.

Their pensive expressions told Isabelle that they were at least considering her suggestions. That gave her courage to keep going.

"Next should be the way we preserve our food. About this, we should truly ask around because I am the same as you: I only know the curing-meat-with-salt method. We need to learn several ways to preserve meat, as well as vegetables and fruits." A series of nods followed her words.

At the end, she summarized the benefits they would get from her ideas. "That way, we can keep our products for ourselves. And, if you ever think of selling some, then, with that money, we can buy seeds to grow other vegetables or fruits. We are looking to grow all the essential vegetables, so we can reduce the expense of buying them."

"Our patch ain't that big…" Joseph, the one in charge of farming, interjected. "I used ta work by sections, and it's hard to grow new plants where other vegetables used to grow if not done well. I can try remixin' the soil and start workin' by rows if we get new ones."

"If that does not work, then the next harvest will be greatly reduced..." Isabelle quickly caught the implied consequences of introducing new plants to their patch only for them to not be able to grow. Glancing at the front yard, she inquired. "Can we grow vegetables in this soil?" She pointed at the expanse of compact soil.

"That..." Joseph trailed off. "I've heard trees can easily grow in this clay soil we've here, but haven't heard 'bout vegetables that can stand it."

"In town, there're talks about paddies; flooded sections of clay soil. They grow rice in it. I'm not sure how true that is since people talk 'bout lots of things." Ethan voiced up.

"Why haven't ye fucking said so before?! We could've used this disastrous soil ages ago!" Joseph erupted, banging the table, startling the others and making the dishes and cutlery jump.

Ethan glared at his brother, taking Isabelle's hand to comfort her. The others just pointedly stared at the gesture of their cunning brother. "Rice seeds or saplings are very expensive. With what money d'you think we can buy 'em to grow 'em?" The eldest acidly said.

Joseph choked at the truth of the matter, all his rage leaving him immediately. In the end, it all came back to the fact the brothers were too poor to get a variety of vegetables to grow.

"Let us put aside the matter of growing rice if it is too expensive. Affordable vegetable seeds or saplings are our priority. Let us work on the herbs first, and then move onto the vegetables." The brothers nodded, agreeing with her suggestion. "Next, regarding our sources of income." Ethan and Lucas straightened after hearing her words.

They were the ones who have been providing the most income for the family, so it was a topic that interested them.

"In no way am I disparaging… criticizing the way you earn money. You have been doing well despite the circumstances. But we really need a stable source of income. It is true we can survive with what we get from the patch of land and the few coins you earn, but you know there are other expenses, like medicine or clothes, or other miscellaneous objects that need money to buy them. That is why..." Isabelle trailed off, not sure how to say the words without sounding rude.

Ethan wryly smiled, guessing what she wanted to say. "We need ta look for a job. A stable job." Isabelle nodded, nervous. Everybody had their own pride. So, she had no idea how they would react to her insinuation. However, neither looked offended, which relieved her. "If it weren't for Lucas hunting, we wouldn't even know what meat tastes like, so I think he can continue doin' it. He can also start raisin' animals, like Mrs. Rabbit over there."

Lucas sharply nodded, agreeing with Ethan's idea. It was something they had considered but never implemented because of this or that reason. They could no longer postpone it. More so because raising animals was less dangerous than hunting, and it could become their primary source of meat and money if done well.

"So, I guess lookin' for a job will rest on me. It's true we need the stable income; now more that we're gonna try new stuff in the future. We'd have to buy lots of things we can't get from out there in the wild." Ethan rubbed his temples, seeing the hard task ahead. His gaze, then, turned to Isabelle. "Speakin' of it, there was an embroidery shop that wanted to speak with ya. I showed 'em your 'kerchief, and the owner liked it."

"Really?!" Isabelle perked up at the news.

"Yeah, the owner-lady seems to be in a pinch and's urgently lookin' for an embroiderer. So, she wants to see ya tomorrow." Ethan further explained the matter.

"Let's go!" Isabelle jumped from her seat in excitement. The four looked at her surprised due to her outburst. Her face flushed in the awkward silence that formed, so she gracefully sat back. "Apologies…" She coughed. "And that was my plan for the time being. I do not know if you have an opinion, a suggestion, or something you want to add." They shook their heads.

And that was how their conversation ended.