Isabelle had a specific idea how she wanted her wedding dress. Because of her voluminous body, she thought going too flowy or too tight was not appropriate for the occasion. At any other time, she would not be remiss of showing off her curves with a shape-forming attire, or from making a dress that would make her look as if she was a drifting dandelion flower.
No, her wedding dress would be in between.
First, she started with the skirt. She wanted for it to be tight on the waist and flowy from her hips down, able to create soft pleats that would allow better movement. For that effect, she decided to use Sateen and Organdy fabric.
Sateen was the base and Organdy was sewn to cover part of the skirt. At the front, the hem reached a little bit above her knees, then the cut continued in a diagonal line that flared and covered the whole part at the back. It created the effect of a small tail that she was still debating if it should or should not drag on the ground.
With the decision still not made, she moved onto the top.
The top, in her opinion, had to be tight. Not to the point of suffocating, but in a way that could show off her bosom and give her future husbands something to admire. With that, more than ever, she was leaning onto a riskier idea she had: to make the part of the top that covered her torso with Sateen, and then use embroidered Organdy for the neckline and sleeves.
Furthermore, all the embroidered parts would be done with red thread; to not end up with just a plain white dress. The more she envisioned it, the more excited she became.
Her mind made up, she started cutting the fabric. From there, there was no point of return. When all the parts were cut and haphazardly assembled, the sun was starting its descent over the horizon.
Leaving her work aside, she rushed to the kitchen to start making dinner. With how much work the brothers had to do, and to be able to do it as fast as possible to start planting vegetables, Isabelle had told them to not worry about making the meals and just focus on the plot of land.
Once she gave a quick look at the ingredients available, the smell of vegetables sauteed with pork fat soon filled the kitchen. Neither her or the brothers had ever thought of using fat to cook; it was a tip Corey gave them. She had commented that David, her husband, used the fat from meat to cook other dishes to give them a different flavor other than using plain salt and herbs.
It sounded counterproductive to Corey's own oil business, yet she said that olive oil could also be used to deep fry and as dressing in salads. Plus, she had recently, thanks to Isabelle, discovered it had other applications. One of them was the lavender oil Isabelle once asked about. Corey did some research and discovered how to make it. Soon, she was going to be selling it at her stall.
With all the lavender planted in the flower bed, Isabelle was also thinking of making her own. She just needed to buy the oil from Corey. And if Corey wanted, Isabelle could also sell their own lavender. If it was ideas for business opportunities, Isabelle truly had so many. What she was missing was the opportunity and the money to implement them.
However, she was also aware that she could not do everything on her own. The brothers had their own pace of doing things. Priorities were also important. To them, the plot was their number one concern at the moment. That was why they put all their time and effort into it.
Lucas, Joseph and Felix had spent over a week cleaning their new plot of land. Getting rid of shrubs, weeds and small trees was easy. However, when it came to cutting down the big trees, they hesitated as they needed to make sure which area was going to be used to plant, which to graze, and which to raise the animals.
The whole village talked about the brother's actions; and many men had approached to 'help'. The brothers would have accepted the offers, yet they were sure the villagers' help came in exchange of something. Lo and behold, the first thing the villagers asked was 'if they could get some good pieces of wood'.
Since the brothers had plans for the wood, they had to turn down the help offers. Some men were reasonable and left with no comment at all; others were quite insistent and had to basically be kicked out of the plot. That, of course, made the brothers' reputation worsen as those men spread gossips about how the Edris acquired the land.
Most claimed they had stolen the money from other houses or from people on the road; and that Ethan was the mastermind who went out of the village to choose targets.
Used as they were of the villagers' creative mouths, the brothers ignored all comments and dedicated themselves to the plot of land.
In the middle of the whole debacle with the villagers, they decided each area's place.
The first area was located on the flattest surface, and they all agreed it was a nice place to plant their vegetables. They could even build an entrance that directly led to the house. Of course, this area conformed almost half of the acre of land. They were a big family, so they needed to plant a lot. More so because they planned to plant a great variety of fruits and vegetables.
The second part was the shed area. Isabelle had confided her desire to not only raise chickens and rabbits, but a cow, too. In here, Lucas also thought about the horse he wanted to get. So, he was the first to agree to her idea. It was very ambitious as they would have to build something as big as a house to keep the animals in.
Each in their own space, of course.
The third part, that was conjoined with the shed area, was going to be dedicated to grazing, to let the animals roam around. And, to prevent them from trampling the patch area, the brothers also decided to fence it, creating a double fence just in case. Unfortunately, due to all this fencing, they ran out of wood.
They were still missing the perimeter fence!
Because of it, the construction was paused and the brothers could only prepare the soil to start planting. Fixing up the plot was all good, but their number one priority was always the patch. Joseph and Felix put themselves to work on it, while Lucas returned to the mountains to hunt and to check the area. Maybe he had some luck and could find a solution to their conundrum.
It was only a week later that Lucas found what they needed. On one of his trips, he ventured furthered into the mountains, going up and down, and finding himself in some sort of valley. The same river that ran near their house ran in this valley, just wider. And right on the other side of the river, he found a bamboo grove. It was tall and luscious and just what he was looking for.
"Come with me." Lucas ordered the only available brother he found after he returned to the house.
Joseph blinked puzzled. "Right now?" He glanced towards the entrance gate, clearly indicating that they had to wait for Felix and Isabelle to return from their trip to Basin Town.
Lucas sagged. "Tomorrow then. I found something for the fence." He relayed. Joseph easily accepted. And when Felix returned together with Isabelle, the second brother repeated his discovery.
Next morning, the three brothers woke up very early, armed themselves with machetes and rope, and headed to the mountains. It was Felix's first time in the mountains, so he marveled at everything his eyes laid upon. Although he had been a sickly child, his stamina was better than Isabelle's, so he had no issue with traversing the treacherous paths. He did end up panting when they arrived at their destination.
"It's nice." Joseph commented, knocking on the sturdy bamboo. "We can cut down the tallest ones. How tall Isabelle wants the fence anyway?" He turned to his brothers for the answer.
"Taller than Lucas?" Felix replied, looking at their tallest brother.
Joseph hummed. The grove was not that big. Would it be enough? "Let's take all of them." Lucas suddenly proposed. It was better than nothing, so it could not hurt to take it all back. The other two thought the same, so they began their task of cutting down the bamboo grove.
As soon as they had the first stack tied up and ready to transport, Joseph and Felix took it back. They followed the river back. Although the path was more direct, it was still complicated due to their load. After what felt like hours on the way, they found themselves at the back of their house. The two were relieved and quickly unloaded their cargo.
Without giving an explanation to Isabelle who had come out of the house, startled by the noise, the two brothers once again hit the road. It took them a whole day to cut down the grove and take the stacks back at the house. By the end of the day, they were so tired that they were nodding off while eating their dinner.
"What happened to them?" Ethan curiously asked Isabelle when he returned and found her lonely figure at the porch, his brothers loudly snoring inside the house.
Isabelle grinned and shrugged. "They worked hard today. Tomorrow, they might even wake up late."
True to her words, the tree woke up when the sun was already up. Joseph was the one who startled awake as he heard someone washing pots and pans by the well. On his hurry to get up, he kicked Felix, who grumbled and also woke up. The teen, seeing the bright light out, immediately sat up with a cry. That, in turn, awoke the last brother.
"Why'd you let us sleep over?" Joseph questioned Isabelle as he rapidly washed his face.
"You three needed to rest, so Ethan and I let you sleep for a while longer. Breakfast is ready, so you can eat and do your stuff." Isabelle unconcernedly replied, scrubbing a pot. Joseph grumbled about meddlesome brothers and too soft women. Isabelle rolled her eyes and continued doing her task. The other two eventually came out of the house to wash up and were less upset than Joseph.
Felix had a mild sheepish expression on his face while greeting Isabelle while Lucas still sported a sleepy mien. Isabelle repeated what she said to Joseph to the other two and they nodded. Once they ate their fill, Felix picked up the plates and washed them, then he joined his brothers who were already carrying the stacks of bamboo towards the plot.
The main idea was to use the bamboo to make the fence as tall as Isabelle liked it. According to the land's layout, only two walls were necessary; the one that would be the entrance and the right side of the plot.
The house was on the left, so there was no need to wall it up; the low fence it already had was enough. They would just put some traps to prevent other wild animals, or wild people, to enter their plot. And, at the back, where the birch trees were, there was a vertical slope that faced the river. At most, they could make a simple fence with branches.
As soon as they started making the fence, people once again started talking. And, men once again presented themselves to 'help'. The brothers once again had to shoo them away. Some men were straightforward and asked for a few cuttings. To avoid them yapping their mouths again, Lucas magnanimously gave them a few each.
Thanks to their dedication and quick hands, the tall bamboo stakes were successfully buried in two days. Only twining was left. Joseph and Lucas decided they were enough for the task, so they sent Felix back to the house to help out with the chores. Isabelle had been taking care of them, so she had no time to sew her dress that was almost done.
As Felix made his way back, he noticed Isabelle was busying around the chicken coop. The trees they cut down to make the first stacks of wood were enough to build it. It was a simple design Lucas learned from Ethan. It was filled with dry grass, and each hen had its own nest to start laying eggs. It was a rather big coop, too.
So, Isabelle managed to wedge half her body inside the coop while the other half sorely stuck out. The teen gulped, seeing the swaying round rear.
"What're you doing?" Felix cleared his throat and asked.
Isabelle yelped and crawled out of the chicken coop. Hay and a few feathers adorned her hair; on her hands, she clutched a small basket. "Oh, hi, Felix. The hens laid eggs! Ethan told me early today that we had to collect them. As you were busy with the plot, I did it myself!" She proudly presented the basket to the teen.
"Uh, that's nice…" Felix dumbly replied, taking the basket and helping Isabelle stand up. The hens could have pecked her! Or scratch her! More than anything, he felt guilty for not paying enough attention to the chores at home and letting her risk herself for a couple of eggs.
"And this is not even half! I saw more inside." Unaware of his thoughts, Isabelle commented.
"I-I'll get them! You… ya can focus on sewing yer dress." Felix stammered out, noticing the eagerness in her eyes.
Isabelle blinked at the teen and mischievously grinned. "It is completely done. While you were at the plot, I finished it. Right now, I am working on your clothes."
Felix straightened up. She was done with her dress?! All this time, he had been thinking of sneaking peeks at the dress, to get a glimpse of how she would look. The chance was completely lost now! "Can I see it?" He still tried.
Isabelle winked and bit her lip. "What do you think?" She teased.
The teen wryly laughed. He thought so. Looking down at the basket in his hands, he wondered. "We should make something with these…" Eggs had been kind of a luxury food for the brothers; getting them only when there was a special occasion. He had no idea what to cook.
"There are some recipes I can think of. But there truly are many eggs. We can keep this basket." Isabelle pointed at the one in Felix's hands. "The others…"