The winter of 1335-1336
The winter of 1335-1336 had almost been a total disaster for the 61 survivors of the ‘Wicked Annabelle’.
Long before a sufficient amount of shelters had been constructed the first snow covered the ground. Domestication of food proved to be impossible at the moment as there where only wild species of plants to be found around. And so the farm tools the Avory’s and Lee’s had brought to this ‘new world’ where almost useless and the ‘colonists’ had to resort to the existence of a ‘hunter-gatherer’ for now.
Winter turned out to become a killer while forces of nature struck down on New London and murdered 13 members of the settlers by starvation or cold. Especially January turned out to be a real struggle of wills between men and nature.
Shelters where constructed at a terrible slow rate and then only from the ships boarding, at the end of this terrible winter only the keel of the Wicked Annabelle marked the spot where the 61 had landed.
A hard choice had been made between the ship or shelters and the last had come out on top, a choice which made them dwell on this coast for a period far longer then first imagined.
During those three faithful months many a hunting party, either successful or far more often unsuccessful, was send out into Manhattans woods. One of those parties included Elizabeth “the mad”, as she was called by the others. During most of the times she joined in a hunting/gathering expedition she saw the ‘monsters’ and pointed at them for others to see but not a single time they could be seen and so Elizabeth grew more distant from the group until finally she ran of one day in January never to re-appear again (as Elizabeth that is).
When March came and the snow melted the 47 survivors of the Annabelle gathered in the puddle of mud between their constructions, or village square as they called it themselves, and discussed their future.
“We should send out discovering parties, the 17 year old James Avory called out, we all wish to know what is behind the horizon and where we can find civilization again.”
“There are more important things at hand then exploring, we need to survive, we need to build real houses, we need to build farms and catch cattle.”
“We need to build a boat so we can sail back home.”
“Nobody knows where home is.”
“How do you like to catch cattle, no one saw a horse a cow or a pig in the four months we have spent here.”
And so a discussion of matters ran out of hand once more and finally everybody decided to do what they where best at.
During the next three seasons, spring, summer and autumn, the village sort of flourished when a well was dug for fresh water, a crude farm was created and the first buffaloes where caught. All of those had been truly revolutionary things and could only be made possible trough the expertise of the two farmer families, the Lee’s and the Avory’s.
Also, in late summer Sir, John Muswell led an expedition into the back country of the land and marched a total of 100 miles trough the forests and across plains with only twelve men. The area they discovered was called the “Muswell hills’ from then on. Still no sign of a true civilization was discovered although human existence was clearly found by signs such as fireplaces and an occasional deserted tent or hut.
The 12 men had the annoying feeling of being watched all the time they made their march trough the country but still Elizabeth was called ‘the mad’ for her fear of monsters.
