Chapter 2

The ground had started to slope down and the girls could see the edge of the pond outlined in the snow. In the summer the cabin reflected clearly in the pond, the hill it sat on putting it at the perfect angle. They were just starting to see the dock when they heard their father call them from the hill behind them "Girls, up here!". His voice echoed in the trees as it bounced off the surrounding hills. Heather cringed and turned, trudging back up the path to where she could ease onto the side of the hill. Bethany had put her knit mittens on and had started tackle the hill straight on.

Grabbing at saplings, the girls grunted and gasped their way, slipping and sliding up the hill in the wet melting snow. Panting and hanging precariously onto a larger sapling Heather turned to give Bethany a hand, "Here...here, take my hand..." Their damp mittens slapped together, their fingers, cold and wet squeaked against the yarn lining. Hugging the bending tree the girls turned to their father, awaiting their orders.

Over the next couple of hours they moved sap from one container to another and then finally to the boiler where they started boiling it down. Their father had a custom sap tray made and as they sat around the fire, avoiding looking out into the darkening woods, he gently moved the liquid from one row to the next. "It's liquid gold!" he said, turning his back to the fire, trying to warm his other side. "Are we going to sell it?" Bethany asked. Their little brother, Timothy, dunked his cup in the sap and sipped at the slightly sweet clear liquid.

"How much could we get for it?" Heather asked, spending the money in her mind before her father answered. "A gallon of Amber Grade A can go for $25, maybe $30, but I'm not sure we'll sell it." he said, smoothing out his moustache he reached his hand up and pushed his floppy black hair out of his face with a sigh. He moved closer to the pan and stirred the liquid, the glow from the fire lighting his face, turning it pink with warmth.