Evelyn Ford still had over twenty pounds of the March wheat seeds cultivated in the safe zone stored in her space. She planned to try planting them when they reached the Northwest. While this wheat tasted rather plain, it had a high yield and a short growth cycle.

Inside the house, Quincy and Peter Owens were scooping out the charcoal from the heated brick bed. The wood ash also had to be shoveled out to be mixed with animal manure, which could be spread directly onto the vegetable garden.

The snow had stopped for the past two days, and the sun had been out every day, but the temperature remained at negative sixty-seven degrees, showing no signs of warming up.

Because of the low temperatures, they couldn’t wash their clothes; they would freeze solid almost immediately. The bathtub was finished, polished to a very smooth finish, and they could take it with them when they left.

A large iron pot of bone broth was simmering in the kitchen, its aroma wafting all the way outside the courtyard. After the snow stopped, everyone often rode horses into the mountains to hunt and chop firewood. However, the game in the nearby forests had become scarce. If they were lucky, they might catch a wild boar, but usually, they came back empty-handed.

After the sun came out, some ducks appeared in the sky. They were completely snow-white and quite large. These were snow ducks, a species that could survive at sixty to seventy degrees below zero. Evelyn Ford decided to catch a few alive and asked Ronan Kendrick to help her build a trap.

They baited the trap with crushed rice. When a duck flew in and stepped on the wooden board inside, a net from above would drop and tighten, securing the duck firmly within it.

Early the next morning, Ronan Kendrick went to check the trap. He returned carrying four snow ducks, which were squawking—QUACK, QUACK, QUACK.

"It looks like there’s no space left in the courtyard to raise ducks."

"It’s fine. We can put them in the sheep pen and raise them with the sheep. With a little training, they’ll fly out to find food on their own and come back at night."

Ronan Kendrick was very confident in his taming abilities. No one knew how he trained them, but in less than a day, the ducks became incredibly docile. Wherever Ronan Kendrick went, the ducks would follow behind him, waddling cutely as they swayed from side to side.

They didn’t dismantle the trap outside, and every day more snow ducks were tricked by their greed. Snow duck feathers were incredibly warm and thick, making them the best material for filling down jackets. Back in the safe zone, everyone had raised ducks before, so they all had some experience with animal husbandry.

"Evelyn Ford, the ducks laid eggs."

Wyatt Vaughn and Wendy ran into the house, each holding a duck egg. One of the warm eggs was handed to Evelyn Ford. She felt it; the snow duck’s egg was almost the size of three chicken eggs and was a jade-green color.

"Miss Ford, we can hatch the duck eggs now."

"Let’s save them up for now. We’ll incubate them all at once when we have thirty."

"I just picked up a snow duck to estimate its weight. It must be over ten pounds—so heavy! Do you think we can take them with us when we leave?"

Previously, a snow duck had been seriously injured, so Evelyn Ford had stewed it. Snow duck was even more delicious than regular duck; the meat was excellent and not at all tough.

"We probably can, but two should be enough."

Their collective belongings were piling up. The number of argali sheep had already surpassed seventy.

"The sun’s out now. The snow will probably melt in another two months."

"The sun is out, but the temperature hasn’t changed, and the wind is strong. Even though the snow has stopped, traveling will still be dangerous."

Evelyn Ford wasn’t in a hurry to get moving, though. Her sixth sense told her it wasn’t the best time to set out yet.

In the afternoon, the firewood-gathering party returned on horseback. Evelyn Ford put on her insulated winter hat and went to the greenhouse to check the temperature inside. She pulled up a bundle of vegetables and slowly walked back to the small courtyard.

A leg of beef was roasting in the oven, its aroma already filling the air. Evelyn Ford took out a bag of cornmeal from a shipping container and planned to steam a batch of cornbread buns.

These days, they basically only ate pasta or rice once a week. To cut through the richness of their diet, Evelyn Ford decided to make some seaweed soup as well.

’I’ve gained quite a bit of weight from eating meat every day.’

Seeing that she was about to cook, Wyatt Vaughn immediately came over to help. Melting snow for water, drying firewood, washing the pot—the two of them worked together in an orderly fashion.

The group that had gone out to cut branches also returned, and Evelyn Ford saw Ronan Kendrick was carrying two half-dead snow ducks.

"This sunlight is so blinding, but there’s no warmth to it at all. If anything, it feels even colder." Quincy shook the snow off his hat, squatted by the fire pit to warm himself, and the others gathered around as well.

Zion Lowell glanced outside. "It’s coldest when the snow melts. The snowdrifts will probably start melting in a little while."

Taylor Vance took the leg of beef out, brushed a layer of oil on it, and put it back in to continue slow-roasting.

"ACHOO." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"I think I’m catching a cold. Everyone, stay away from me so you don’t get infected. ACHOO."

As soon as Miles Vaughn finished speaking, the person sitting next to him immediately moved away. Wyatt Vaughn took out a box of cold medicine, which Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick had brought back from their trip to Westeria. She mixed a sachet of the powder for Miles, who sniffed and continued to sneeze.

"Ronan Kendrick killed these two ducks with pebbles. Should we eat them tonight?"

Evelyn Ford shook her head. "We’re having the leg of beef tonight. Clean the ducks, and we’ll make stewed duck soup tomorrow."

The cornbread buns were already shaped. They were placed in a steamer basket and set directly over the fire pit to steam on high heat.

After adding some dried firewood, twenty minutes later, the aroma of the cornbread buns began to escape from the small hole in the steamer lid.

Wyatt Vaughn cooked a vegetable dish and set the table. The leg of beef was brought out and placed in the center. It was time for dinner.

"Who doesn’t have a knife?"

"My dagger broke."

Zion Lowell gave a small dagger to Peter Owens. Everyone had already started eating, using daggers or small knives to carve meat from the leg of beef and eat it with the cornbread buns.

"We really need to eat rice and pasta. No matter how good the meat is, you get tired of it if that’s all you eat. Rice and pasta give you energy and keep you full."

The cornbread buns were steamed to be especially fragrant and sweet; Wendy could even eat three of them. Everyone started chatting about their trip into the mountains that day.

"Aside from the occasional snow duck or two, there was no other game."

"They must be hiding in their dens. They’ll come out when the snow melts."

"If there’s no game, we’ll just chop firewood and branches. It’s not like we’re short on meat right now, so there’s no need to take the risk."

Everyone had their own valid points. Evelyn Ford kept her head down and ate. When she was finished, she poured a cup of hot water and went back to her room. Doing the dishes wasn’t her job.

After cleaning Mina and the others’ nest and feeding them some crushed rice and water, Evelyn Ford lay down on her bed.

Next door, Wyatt Vaughn was still practicing her crocheting. She must have failed again, as she was sighing constantly.

When Ronan Kendrick entered the room, Evelyn Ford was staring blankly at the ceiling.

Ronan Kendrick didn’t say anything either, just lay down and stared blankly at the ceiling with her. Outside, a fierce wind howled, and Evelyn Ford started to feel drowsy.

Taylor Vance could be heard talking outside. He was suggesting they build a few carriage bodies out of wood so they wouldn’t have to endure the bumpy ride on horseback when they left.

’That makes a lot of sense,’ Evelyn Ford thought.

"The stove in the outhouse went out! Someone needs to add more firewood, quick! My ass almost froze off," Quincy yelled, dashing out of the outhouse with his neck scrunched up.