Chapter 11.
The Cozy Cave After weeks and weeks, the rains stopped and we were free again.
We heard the birds singing and felt the warm, sunny air on our faces.
Our seeds were coming up.
Spring was here and there was plenty to be done.
We were full of joy.
We visited tent hole to find it blown to pieces by the storms.
Everything was soaked.
Our old boat was ruined and we knew that we had to do better next year.
We found our way to the cliff face beside the beach and decided to begin to dig there a cave for storage.
We drew a door in chalk and hacked away at it for ten days, making slow progress.
Suddenly, with a loud thud, Jack fell heavily and called to me, Father, my chisel has gone through!
We laughed at first, but then saw that it was true.
I reached through the hole.
There was only a small layer of rock between a cave and us.
We all chipped away with real energy and joy and found that it was a great cave indeed.
The whole family marched in, poking our way with a long stick.
And then, by candlelight, we saw that all around the cave was crystal and shining.
Everything sparkled and shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow.
I ran my finger along the cave wall and then licked it.
I was right.
It was a giant cave of salt.
The floor was made of dry sand.
It would be a fine new shelter.
As we walked back, we talked of how Falconhurst should now be our summer home only.
The cave was perfect for the winter once it was all fixed up.
We decided on the spot to call our new home Rockburg.
We cut windows beside our door in the thin wall of the cave front for light and air and divided our new home into rooms.
We even built ourselves a chimney and a new stable within the giant space.
One day, while building, we saw a light in the water nearby and saw swooping birds flying in to eat all they could.
We ran out and stood to watch.
Is it? asked the boys.
A school of herring, I answered.
The fish were in shallow water and were easy to scoop out by the hundreds, using only our hands.
There was no time to waste.
With the barrels we had, we started to catch, dry, salt, and store the herring for our next winter.
Months later, even more fish came.
These were the giant sturgeon that swam their way along the shore.
"'Quick,' said Jack.
"'Let's catch them.'
"'Yes,' I answered.
"'But how?
These fish are much bigger than the herring.'
Jack ran off laughing and came back with a bow and arrow and his fishing line.
He tied the line to the arrow and fired into the fish.
Sure enough, he hit one in the side, and it almost pulled him into the river.
Help, father or I'm going in.
He cried and we both pulled and pulled until the great fish was on the shore.
Soon all of us were spearfishing, catching bigger and bigger fish.
Fritz even got one that was eight feet long, too big for us to get out of the water.
We had to get our buffalo to come and pull it out.
We used salt from the cave to cure these fish for winter, too.
It seemed like food was everywhere.
Our gardens were blooming and coming to life.
Corn was coming up, as were fields of barley, wheat, rye, and peas.
While the boys and I had been adventuring, my wife had been planting everywhere.
Now we would all eat like kings and still store plenty of food for the coming winter.
As we were out one day, looking over our crops, we came upon white fluff all over the ground.
Snow, cried Franz.
No, my boy, I said, this is not snow.
It's cotton.
And I was right.
Soon we were gathering it into bundles for spinning and making more clothes.
During this time, we started and finished many projects.
It was a busy time as we were set to build our own colony now.
We found a perfect place to make a new farm with a grassy hill and shady trees along the river.
We were determined to harvest all that we could from the land.
This seemed a spot where we could plant cotton and other crops that we might need for clothing.
We set about right away to make a simple log barn on the spot so that our animals could be happy and safe on the land, even if we were not there.
We built a place in the barn for animal stalls and perches for our birds.
We found a hill nearby during this time and built a small cottage named Prospect Hill.
It was a simple building of logs, but it would be a nice home for us to visit when we planted or cleared the crops on this land.
During this time, we also made a bark canoe from a tree.
Tired but content.
After this busy time building our new farm home, we made our way back to Falconhurst and then to Tentholm.
Upon returning, we found that one of our cows had had a bull calf.
I asked Franz if he would care to train it.
Oh, yes, father, he said, and I will call him Grumble because of the noises he makes.
We all thought this was perfect, and we set back to work on our cave.
We made the floors flat and finished the rooms.
We even made a carpet from the hair of some of our animals.
The next day was the first anniversary of our landing.
We decided to call it Thanksgiving Day.
I awoke that morning to a loud bang.
Running out of the cave, I saw that the boys had fired the cannon to celebrate.
They said they were sorry, but I could tell they were proud.
We decided to celebrate with a day of sports.
We started with archery, where Fritz was the champion, and then moved on to the races.
I set Fritz, Ernest and Jack to run from tent home to Falconhurst and bring me back a penknife I had left there.
They took off like a shot and were soon out of sight.
But not long afterward, something very strange happened.
Jack appeared speeding across the bridge, but he wasn't on foot.
He was riding the buffalo followed by our pair of donkeys.
I saw that I wasn't going to win he told us laughing, so I thought I might as well come back in style.
Ernest was first back with the knife and declared the winner.
Next it was the climbing test.
In this race, Jack climbed like a mountain goat and outshone all his brothers.
He was up a tree faster than they could begin.
Franz entertained us with a show.
He came from the cave and announced, Judges, I present to you something new and amazing.
I, the bull tamer, will now show you amazing tricks.
Out came Grumble the bull on a leash, running, trotting, and jumping as we all clapped loudly.
We finished the day with swimming.
The boys were all very good, but Fritz again was the strongest.
When the contests were finished, my wife was ready with prizes that she had pulled from our ship's supplies.
To Fritz, she gave the award for shooting and swimming.
His prize was a new rifle and a hunting knife.
Ernest, for winning the running, was given a gold watch.
For climbing and riding, Jack got spurs and a riding whip, which made him very happy.
Finally, Franz got stirrups made of rhino bone and a whip for training.
Lastly, I gave my wife a beautiful box I had found on the old wreck and had saved for a surprise.
At the end of the day, the boys wanted to fire another cannon shot.
We ended our day with a big bang that echoed along the beach.
It had been a great day, and I was amazed how far we had come in just one year.
