Jed Bailey (jokerandthief) wrote in the_colony, @ 2010-07-25 23:13:00 |
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Entry tags: | ^ week 18, bridget mackenzie, jed bailey, | bridget and jed |
Week 18 - Sunday
Characters: Bridget and Jed
Location: The Farm
Summary: After her conversation with Alice, Bridget feeds a tired Jed and they talk about the benefits of their new digs
Rating: C for Companionable
The morning fog was just starting to lift outside as Bridget sat reading at the table, nibbling on a biscuit that was all that was left of her breakfast. Most of the others had come and gone already, and she was giving the few that hadn’t made it over yet another ten minutes before she started putting everything away. If they got here after that they’d have to fend for themselves or go hungry until lunchtime. Every so often the young woman would check on the dishes in the top compartment of the stove, stirring or turning over the various items contained there to keep them from drying out, but otherwise there was little to do at this point.
Yawning and bleary-eyed, Jed wandered downstairs to the kitchen. While the rest of him was still waking up, his nose was in full working order and knew exactly where it wanted to go.
He started when he saw Bridget. “Oh, hey.”
Bridget looked up from her book and smiled at him. “Good morning, sleepyhead. You’re lucky you wandered in when you did. A few more minutes and I’d have started packing everything away. Hungry?”
“Always,” he said with a grin before looking at the stovetop. It was empty. Wait, she’d said she hadn’t put things away yet, right?
Bridget followed his gaze. “They’re in the warming compartment on top,” she explained, hauling herself to her feet and moving toward the stove. “I’ve got biscuits and gravy, oatmeal, fried potatoes, a few other things.” She opened the door and started bringing everything out to the stovetop.
“Holy God, you’re a saint,” he said, his stomach giving an appreciative grumble. “I need to save any of this for others or juss go on and dig in?”
“There’s one or two others who haven’t shown up yet, but otherwise feel free.” She’d put effort into the meal, what with all the various dishes, and was glad people appreciated. “Grab a plate and dig in. Oh, there’s a pot of tea on the table if you want any. If not you’re stuck with water I’m afraid.” Bridget smiled and shrugged before waddling back to the table.
Jed made a face but didn’t complain. Tea at least was caffeine. He dished his plate up high, poured a large cup of tea, loaded it with sugar, and then brought it all over to sit with Bridget. “Ain’t you gettin’ tired yet?” he said, taking a bite of potatoes. “Can’t be gettin’ up early all the time.”
“It isn’t my turn to cook every morning,” she responded, taking a sip from her own cup. “It’s getting hard to find a comfortable position to sleep in anymore anyway, so I end up taking lots of catnaps.” Bridget patted her belly. “I’m still growing so I guess it all works out. What about you? Guard duty can’t be all that helpful to getting a solid night’s sleep.”
He shrugged, shoveling in a couple more bites. “Don’t really bother me. Snag a nap if I need it, though it ain’t so hot here so don’t feel like I need it so much.”
“It’s nice here, reminds me a lot of home.” Bridget sighed and rubbed her eyes with one hand. Maybe she’d take that nap sooner rather than later. “The trees are different though, and most of the buildings are newer. I’ll still take it over Vegas any day of the week.”
“Hell yes. All Vegas had goin’ for it was the lights. This place is much better’n the desert.” The only problem was the getting there, but Jed shoved that aside. Past was past.
Bridget had an idea where his mind had gone, since she’d done the same, but chose not to say anything. Why rehash the events of eight weeks ago? It wouldn’t change anything so there wasn’t a point. “I never worked with goats before though, that’s something different. I wonder if we’ll be able to find any cows?”
“Sure. Long as they were let out to graze, and the summer weren’t too hard on ‘em, I bet there’s lots still out there,” he said confidently. “They’re bright animals, they’d figure a way to survive.”
“They’d be more useful than goats, I think.” Bridget sniffed. She hadn’t had a high opinion of goats since grade school. If pressed she wouldn’t be able to give a reasonable explanation, she just didn’t like them much. Well, she liked them fine with a little seasoning and some pita bread. “Sheep too, eventually,” she said after a moment, and stole a potato slice from Jed’s plate, “but no sense making too much work for ourselves. There’s only so many of us right now.”
“A good steer would help with farmin’,” he pointed out. “And a couple cows could keep us up on milk and stuff. Prob’ly wouldn’t slaughter one unless we had a party or somethin’, though,” he added wistfully.
“I wouldn’t mind a nice juicy steak right now,” Bridget admitted, munching on the potato slice. There were a lot of things she would dearly love to eat that simply weren’t available anymore. “I could probably still take it in one sitting.” She sighed and tried to forget about it. “Maybe we’ll find a big herd someplace and we could afford to take one for eating besides just for milk and farmwork.”
Where the conversation was going she had no idea, but she liked Jed. He was an uncomplicated man who was clearly more at home down on the farm than he had been in Las Vegas.
“Could turn the rest in jerky maybe,” he said, perking up. “Don’t know how to do that natural, but sure there’s books on it. Folks survived hundreds of years before fridges. We can, too.”
Bridget nodded and perked up a bit too, his enthusiasm was infectious. “They had ways of keeping things cold, it just took a lot more work. I’m sure I can find books on it someplace with a bit of searching if there’s nothing in our sources. There’s got to be something between bookstores and community colleges in the region.”
“Yeah. You find the books, I’ll find the cows, we’ll get this shit done easy,” he said with a grin, finishing off his last bite. Times like these, he was even more grateful to have Bridget around. She understood all this stuff, knew exactly what he was talking about.
“Sounds like a plan,” Bridget told him with a smile. “I’ll start poking around in the next few days and see what I can find.”
“Alright,” Jed said, getting up and taking up his plate. “Thanks for the grub. I better get busy before Alice finds me and gives me some chores.”