I laughed, turning him to point down the beach. “Do you see where Uncle McGee is making us a new storage cabin? Maybe he knows what the island is called today."
"Okay," he chirped. His little feet took off down the pale sand.
Looking around our island paradise, a tiny dot on the horizon caught my eye. Hearing footsteps behind me, I stepped back into the arms that circled around me. "Yes, that's the Fortune," the Captain said before I could even ask. "Davy and O'Doule will be here in time for supper."
Since our crew now had friends in every port to assist with loading, the ship could make trading runs with just two or three crew members.
Looking down to the west end of the beach, I saw a heavy plume of smoke coming up from the shack where Teeth was working with his new forge. We had dropped him at his Uncle Rupert’s for a few months, to learn the ways of silversmithing. He’d always been a hard worker, but now that he was doing something he truly loved, it was hard to even drag him away for meals.
Artie ran past us toward the forge hut, yelling, "Uncle McGee has no idea so I'm going to go ask Uncle Teeth."
"Let him know when you're close, and don't go inside,” I hollered across the soft ocean breeze.
The Captain's thick arms gave me a squeeze. "Look at you, hollering like a very improper lady," he chuckled. "Don't worry, the lad knows better than to cross the lines Teeth set out for him."
We'd purchased a forge, and all of the supplies and tools so that Teeth could learn the trade. Now he and I designed jewelry together, while I still made accessories from shells and ribbons as well.
The Fortune's Favor now delivered dry goods, spices, and materials to twenty-five different ports on a monthly schedule. It was easy to sell anything we liked.
"Why don't I make us a big family supper tonight?" I asked the Captain. "That way Anna won't have to cook." Since Larry's wife was expecting her second child within the month, I was trying to make things easier on her.
"Always so clever, this lass of mine," he said, rocking me against him. "I'll go tell Larry, then I'll come back to help."
Spinning quickly, I surprised him with a kiss. At first I simply meant to be saucy, but then I felt the way his hand gripped my behind roughly, pulling me firmly against him.
“You best not be thinking about a third baby,” I tried to growl.
He stuck out his bottom lip in a childish pout.
"But we can practice all you like,” I giggled.
The Captain's handsome grin nearly took my breath away, as it always did. Stepping back, he took my hand, kissing the back of it, then kissing the lovely golden ring we had found together in a little shop in Aberbryn.
“M’lady," he bowed. Then he hurried off to Larry and Anna’s cabin.
The six little houses spread out at the edge of the forest just beyond the sand made our own tiny village. Now that we had a silversmith hut and would soon have three storage sheds, plus a giant outdoor dining canopy, we were creating our own small town.
That's why none of us could agree on a name for the island. It was growing so fast that we didn't want to put a label on it, for fear it would be wrong in a few years. So for now, we changed the name every few days, or whenever the wind shifted.
I looked over to where Clara and Lizzie were running strange little races in the sand. They made some kind of line with rocks on one side and sticks on the other. There seemed to be some complicated pattern of the two of them running back and forth.
Lizzie was just two months older than Clara’s three and a half years, and they were practically sisters. Larry and Anna were expecting again. A very cleaned up Davy was now courting a nice girl in Chancelry. I wondered how large the population of the island would grow.
Artie came running up to me with a huge smile on his wee face. "Uncle Teeth says that the island is called Cabbages today. So, the cabbage is sacred. We’re not allowed to have them for supper."
I knelt down to give him a hug. "Okay then, we're going to need lettuce and carrots." I held up my hands a foot apart. "Can you be my little farmer and pick that much lettuce for us?"
“Okay."
"And six big carrots. How many is six?"
He held up one hand and one finger, rolling his eyes. "I can count to fifty now, you know."
I stood up and grabbed the gathering basket from a hook by the door, handing it down to him. "I know. I was just checking.”
"Okay, Mama," he smiled, scampering off to our giant garden patch.
The Captain returned, grabbing me and spinning me into a hug until I giggled in his arms. “Larry caught a pheasant this morning, so he'll clean it up and roast it in the fire pit for dinner."