I Remember Nothing, But I Have Four Husbands

Isabelle woke up to the rustling of fabric and the rough voices of the just awoken brothers.

Looking up to the window near her bed, she noticed the sun was not up yet, only some weak light came in. As it was Spring, early mornings were a bit cool, so she burrowed into the cocoon of sheets to bask in the warmth they still emanated until the rustling and their voices became louder inside the house. Since the house was small, there was no way to hide the noises in it.

She had no idea they could be that noisy when waking up. She must have been sleeping like the dead the past few days to never notice. She guessed that her light sleep meant she was closer to full recovery. Which were amazing news!

Her sudden good mood was interrupted when one of the guys passed a loud gas, giving way to a moment of silence. Isabelle was shocked for a moment. It had been so loud! Then, she heard the gruff voice of Lucas apologizing. He snitched himself as the culprit. Isabelle could not help it, just imagining Lucas' sheepish expression behind that thick beard of his made her laugh.

"Yer image of a silent and cool man's gone, Lucas." Joseph teased as soon as her tinkling laughter resounded in the room.

The blanket over her head was softly pulled down, and with the meager light coming from the window, she was able to see Ethan's smiling expression. "Good morning." He softly said as he brushed aside a few rebel locks of hair from her face.

"Good morning." Isabelle shyly replied, shrinking inside the old but warm sheets.

"Sleep a bit more, the sun isn't up yet." Ethan coaxed after he was done brushing her hair.

Isabelle considered it for a moment, it was really early after all, but she shook her head. Since she was already awake, then it was better to get up and start the day. Besides, "I have to embroider," she claimed as she rubbed her eyes to dispel her drowsiness and yawned.

"Then, lemme see the wound. Did Joseph put medicine last night?" Ethan inquired, noticing she had not worn the bandages during the night.

Isabelle sat up and let him check on the wound. "He did. He also said that it is healing. I am afraid of touching it, so I do not know, but I do feel it is itchy." She relayed.

Looking around as Ethan did the cleaning and treating routine, Isabelle noticed only the two of them remained in the house. The others were already out and about. Joseph and Felix were in the kitchen; lighting the fire to start preparing breakfast. Meanwhile, Lucas was sharpening their old axe to cut some firewood.

Thinking of her cooking task, she felt a bit embarrassed of having easily thrown it aside. Maybe she could still help a bit...

"It's scabbing, that's why it's itchy. So far, it looks good, so ye can stop using the bandages if you wanna." Ethan said once he was done.

He was very comforted on the fact that the wound was healing quickly. It had only been that week of harsh fevers that was dangerous for her as she had been fighting infections and whatnot. But, with the medicine, plenty resting and the somewhat nourishing food, she showed off her quick healing.

"I'll go out so you can change." He said after brushing her hair back, lingering a moment as he looked at her still drowsy face.

She looked so cute and he was tempted.

However, he shook off those thoughts and stood up to walk out of the house; yet, before he did, he returned to her side and planted a short kiss on her lips. He was a basic man, if he could get something, he would not doubt to get it. Since he wanted to kiss her, then he would do so.

Isabelle startled, his gesture making all signs of sleepiness vanish from her. She had not washed her mouth yet! How could he kiss her when she had a stale breath?! That was her main concern. Though, by the time she reacted to scold him, he had already left. She huffed and got out of bed to get dressed.

When Isabelle walked out of the house after putting on a skirt and top and nicely combing her hair in a braid, the sky was a bit brighter but the sun was not up yet. She tightened her clothes around her body when a chilly wind blew, and then made her way to the well to wash her face and teeth.

Ethan was still there, finishing his morning ablutions and quickly made way for her. The water was cold, useful to completely wake her up. Then, she grabbed the bowl with the mix of salt and ashes and rubbed a bit of the mix to clean her teeth and mouth.

Isabelle still marveled at the fact that such an unconventional mix was able to act as a mouth cleaner. She had no idea what type of cleaner she used before, but she could not see herself using anything else in the future.

She once asked what kind of ashes they were but the brothers only told her they just burned a few thin branches of a refreshing smelling tree they found in the mountains. Curious about the tree, she then asked if they could grow it in the courtyard. The brothers promised to do it, and the task fell on Lucas' shoulders as he had found the tree deep in the mountains.

After freshening up and using the loo – she gave up on the shovel and used her hands to grab the leaves –, Isabelle moved to the kitchen to help Felix with breakfast. Mostly because she needed to eat as soon as possible to start with her work early. The fire was burning hot as the youngest brother made some watered-down vegetable soup.

They were running out of ingredients, with only the cured meat, a few old vegetables and the recently bought flour left. Any other woman would have been disillusioned by the state the brothers lived in – all the women they brought home had before –; however, the ingredients actually gave Isabelle an idea.

When she was gossiping with Jean, the latter told her about some recipes sold in her Husband's restaurant, and she mentioned something called 'croquette'. They obviously did not have all the ingredients for it, but Isabelle still thought she could improvise with what was available. So, while Felix cooked his soup, she gathered some pheasant cured meat, the last carrot and a bit of the dried herbs.

After peeling the carrot, she cut it in very small pieces. More like, Felix did it after she nicked her finger once. Then, he helped her mince the meat. When all she needed to do was mix everything with a bit of the dried herbs, Felix let her be. The rest of the herbs were put in the flour to give it a different flavor, and she asked Felix for help to knead it.

She was not strong enough for the task, but she made sure to observe how he did it; in the off-chance that she had the chance to knead in the future.

After having the dough, they let it proof. Felix went back to his soup while she sautéed the carrots with the meat and experimented a bit by adding a pinch of sugar. It was necessary for the mix to have a good flavor as she would use it as filling.

When the dough was as ready as it could get, she started the process of making the 'croquettes'

Apart from the lack of ingredients, they also had no oil to fry them just like how Jean said to do, so Isabelle simply flattened them a bit and put them on the pan, which was smeared with a bit of lard. It did not look any different than pancakes, to be honest, but the point was to have something different than normal pancakes.

Filled pancakes was a good start.

As she cooked, Isabelle promised herself that as soon as she bought that oil, she would make them again properly.

The croquettes were to be eaten for lunch, so she quickly packed a few for Ethan and left the others in the pan with a lid on it. Breakfast actually consisted of Felix's soup plus the remaining meat and carrot filling that she was not able to use. The sugar added a peculiar flavor to the already salty meat, but it was not bad. If the meat had a bit more of fat maybe it would taste different.

But well, that would be for when they got their hands on fresh meat.

"Lucas's going huntin' today, so we'll have fresh meat soon." Ethan piped up as Isabelle mentioned the thing about fresh meat. The brothers already thought what Isabelle made was delicious, so they could not wait to taste it again with the proper ingredients.

"Take an extra knife with you." Joseph suddenly advised Lucas, who only nodded.

Those words immediately made Isabelle jump and look at the brothers with a confused gaze. Ethan, Joseph and Lucas paused and shared a glance, wondering if they should tell her or not. They had no time to decide when Felix spoke up. "It's mid-spring. Many animals have already mated or just given birth. They're a bit ferocious 'round this time, so…"

The teen trailed off, seeing the exasperated expressions on his brothers while Isabelle turned to Lucas with a worried mien.

Lucas, who was sitting beside her, smiled and patted her head. "Don't worry." He simply said, not comforting her at all, but she thought that with him having been hunting for so many years, then nothing would happen to him. He knew what he was doing! Right? So, she only nodded.

Discovering through their ongoing conversation that Lucas would spend one night up in the mountains to get a nice haul, Isabelle rushed to the kitchen to make more of the mix of meat and vegetables for him to eat while out.

Though, instead of the carrots they had no more, Isabelle used a bit of the sad cabbage left by the side. She boiled the remaining soup with the meat and the cabbage to make some sort of stew. It was rough and not very substantial but it was better than nothing. Then, she waited until most of the soup evaporated, softening up the cured meat before removing the pot from the stove.

Putting the food in a bowl, she then looked for a lid, placed it on top and finally tightly tied it up with a cloth. Even if the food spilled a bit from the swaying of his steps, it would not be too much. With such a big man doing such a strenuous task, it was best if he ate well.

Same as Ethan, who swung by for a goodbye kiss before parting for his job while she was cooking and took his lunch with him. Though, everybody had tough jobs and needed a good sustenance. So, the matter of food really was something they had to fix soon enough.

Lucas patiently waited for the food Isabelle prepared for him. "Eat this for lunch and leave the croquettes for dinner. I am not sure which one would taste better when cold, so maybe try them first. Come back early tomorrow for breakfast. Take care and do not face big animals. Even though I want fresh meat, that does not mean you have to put yourself in danger."

Isabelle prattled as she accompanied him to the back of the house. From there, he would take another path for the mountains after crossing the river, different than the one they took when they picked up the lavender plants.

"Wait for me." Lucas said after he pecked her goodbye. Isabelle sighed as she saw his tall figure, carrying two big baskets, disappear behind some trees. She looked the epitome of a Wife who saw her Husband off.

When she returned to the house, Felix had already left to water the patch of land as Joseph stayed behind because he had to plant the herbs Isabelle and Ethan bought. The third brother was happy to see the saplings looked very healthy and big for the price they got them at. However, at that moment, he was intently staring at the peat pots the saplings came in.

"Is something wrong?" Isabelle asked as she stood beside him.

"The heck this mean?" He asked, pointing at the carvings on the peat pots.

"Oh!" Only then Isabelle remembered about a special detail David, the stall owner, mentioned about his peat pots. "This means the saplings need full sun, this other one refers to the amount of water they need according to the type of soil they come in, and this one refers to the plagues they can get and to be alert for." She explained as she pointed at the squiggle-like drawing carved on the pea pot.

David was very thorough in making his customers happy, so he helpfully provided the necessary information for those who were planting herbs for the first time – like them – in the form of drawings. He just needed to explain the person what each drawing meant.

"So, it's like this!" Joseph exclaimed in realization.

Sincerely, Isabelle barely understood what David was talking about. Luckily, Joseph had more common sense in the planting business than her. He even started studying the soil the saplings came in, hoping to replicate it with the limited resources they had. Or look for alternatives with his vast experience.

Isabelle left him to his job and she walked into the house to take out the box with the embroidering tools. The sun had completely come out by that time; the light was perfect so she did not have to strain her sight.

After cleaning the table for any food residue, she then washed her hands. Although she could wash the handkerchiefs if they ever got dirty, she wanted to save time by cleaning everything around her beforehand.

Carefully rummaging through the box with the tools, she chose a needle, thread and a piece of cloth to start embroidering. Only then, she dedicated herself to her own work and put aside everything else.