Bratva Mother

First Snow

Carol was happy! It was finally snowing! It has been cold for weeks. Puddles and edges of the river will form ice during the night, but thaw during the day. This morning she woke up to a small dusting of snow. In fact, it was still snowing.

She put her winter coat on with a hat and gloves, then went out to clean the sun panels off. The boys said it had to stay clean of debris or snow. So she grabbed a broom to brush as much snow off that way, then used an air compressor to blow the rest off.

Then she made sure a path to the different buildings would be good. She checked over the dog sled to make sure it was in working order. There isn't enough snow yet to hook any of the dogs to it. However, she wants to make sure repairs are done sooner than later. Trapping season will start once the snow is high enough.

She has been keeping up on the dogs training and commands. They respond beautifully to it all, they are also good protectors. Ever since the bear wandered into camp, they took turns to stick with her and explore the area. It all fascinated Carol. In their mind, she is the one who needs protection the most because she is pregnant. To them, she is one of them. She is pack and the baby will also be pack once she arrives.

Speaking of the baby, the doctor sent a letter before the river was too unstable to be on. It is still too early to say if giving birth out here with a trained professional or need to travel in for birth. Doctor Salom said she and the baby are healthy and she sees no issues. However, she is only in her fourth or fifth month, things could change. We would know more once the villagers could come and pick up her outgoing mail.

Until it was safe to travel via snow machine, Carol is now snowed in. No one can see her unless they chopper in. They would have to use a ladder to get from the chopper and back up to it. There is no area big enough to land. The river doesn’t have a straight enough path for a water landing with a plane either.

When her brothers visited a few weeks ago, they were worried about this brief isolation. They know she can handle herself and will be ok out here, however she is pregnant. Granted she just entered second trimester, she should be safe from miscarriage. Carol told them she had it taken care of. One of the things Precious sent out was a CB radio. So long as someone from the village is still listening to the broadcasting, they will hear her message. Junior and his friends put a tower-like thing up the mountain near her. It will broaden her range with the radio to reach Dagàii Ozrii՝.

They insisted on testing it before leaving. They knew who in the village still had one and never turned it off. In fact, there were people who turned other distractions off so they could hear the CB radio better. Several people answered the radio once they knew it was Carol’s camp calling.

The radio is something she insisted on when she was traveling from New York to Seattle. So long as you are in range you can hear any message. If you have the location of the person you want to talk to or their handler name, people knew who was talking and trying to get a hold of. Sometimes they weren’t in radio range and it took several people relaying messages until the person you needed was in range to hear it all themselves.

The boys wanted her to call in every day, she got them to agree to every week. Now that snow was falling she would be busy with outside chores around the camp. She would be tired from all the work and would forget to call every day. However she had a calendar she was using for her pregnancy. She wrote down her call in dates and times in front of them. They copied it onto another paper so someone would know to stay near the radio on those days.

All this preparing has made them feel a bit more comfortable leaving her alone out there. Having eight of the best sled dogs the village had made them feel ok with it. They wouldn’t let harm come to her while she was out there. They alert her to any noise they hear, whether human or animal. With all the prepared work she was doing, she and the dogs were ready for winter.

She was currently loading the wagon, one by one, with fire wood. She was running low in the cabin for the stove. She doesn’t feel like getting the shower/sauna hut ready for a bath. However heating a big pot of water and cooling it off with the river water sounded ok for a sponge bath. It isn’t the same as pouring water over her head or submerging in a tub. But she gets clean and she isn’t doing too much work. Now, she keeps the wood stove in the cabin constantly lit to keep the cabin warm. It is no longer just to cook on. At night, she loads it full, but still wakes up to coals. She might have to start waking up in the middle of the night just to add a log or two to the fire.

Her dogs would climb up to her bed and lay with her. Only three could fit on the bed with her, so they took turns on the floor and near her. Little Rose is now getting active, so small movements wake Carol up. She could put a log in when this happens. The women all told her, finding a comfortable spot the further along she went to sleep would get harder. So she wasn’t too worried. She logged it with the notes to her doctor though. Just to make sure.

Once the wagon was loaded up, she hooked two of the dogs to the pulley system and gave them the command to go. With the dog's help, Carol’s chores were getting done quickly and she wasn’t over doing any lifting. They were happy to be helpful and she was glad the guys thought of ways to make being out here alone easier.

After everything needed done outside was finished. Carol took her gear off and sat in her rocker for a rest. She went out to do her chores shortly after breakfast. She looked at the time to see it was a little after lunch. She was out there a little longer than she wanted to be. But shrugged it off. She made sure everything was done and taken care of. She will have to go out tomorrow morning to clear the solar panels again. So she got a pot of water ready to heat. It was time for a quick sponge bath. She may be the only one out there. However, body odor wasn’t okay with her pregnant senses.

She prepared a quick lunch while waiting for her bath water. She decided to listen to a tape recorder to make some background noise. She is happy, healthy and mostly doing things on her own. There isn’t much more she could ask for right now. Carol started thinking of Mikhail and if things were different. Would they have a chance? She can’t help but admit even to herself, she is attracted to the man. He is different from the men she is used to dealing with. He seemed to genuinely care where she was going and if she would have work after her little retreat.

Don’t get her wrong, she loves the fact her brothers and herself are working things out. She loves knowing her people are keeping her safe and checking in on her. The dogs are doing a good job of helping her and keeping her safe from wildlife or alerting her to people coming. It’s just something about the dark Russian who captivated her.

She sat at the table to eat her lunch and wait for water. The dogs were laying on both beds and the floor at her feet. One was always near her, no matter where she went. She made sure to give them treats and time to exercise. She would go outside with them and throw a ball for them to chase after. Until the snow was deep enough for a sled to glide over, chasing a ball was all she could do for them.

Once finished with her meal, she pulled a chair to the middle of the room where she had a towel laying down. No need for a big mess when she gets clean. Then she checked the temperature of the water. It was a little too hot, so she put in a bit of cold water to cool it. Then she grabbed a washcloth and started to strip out of her clothes. She did her best to clean where she could thoroughly. Once she was clean, she dried off, put some lotion on and started to wash her hair. This is the part she wished she had running water. Her hair is long and it takes a while to clean it this way. She put the little tub of water on the table and leaned over it.

After her little sponge bath, she dumped the water outside and did some inside chores before sitting in her rocker with her projects. Now that it snowed, she is that much closer to a visit once the ice froze over.

It is the beginning of October and her baby will be born in the middle or late February. Four or five months she will have a healthy baby girl to raise. Then she could either stay out in the camp a little longer or go to Seattle and start work on her new business adventure. Carol had some great people to help her through single motherhood. She wonders if her brothers will settle down soon. It would be nice to have cousins for her baby to play with.