History 2

Issue No. 2 | Season Two | The Everlasting Rain

On This Day

The Rain, the Boot House & the Old Remedies

The Hundred and Eighteen Year Rain

The valley marks one hundred and eighteen years since the last Everlasting Rain. Older records tell the same story. The rain comes, the valley drowns, and then prospers. The grain came back thicker than anyone could remember, pushing past the fences, down the roads and into the ditches. The floodwater left silt behind that made the grain rich. The herds grew fatter than the valley had ever seen, and the butchers spoke of the most flavourful and tender meat in living memory. If the valley can wait it out, there’s a good chance that when the waters recede, they will leave behind an abundance of hope.

The Norus Boot House on the hill above Westler — The Norus house, raised in leather and never once sold.

The House on the Hill

The Famous Norus Boot House

The unusual house on the hill is the only dwelling of its kind ever raised in Westler. It was the work of the shoemaker Mr. Fonez, who had the mad idea to build his first home, which he made out of leather.

He gave it freely to Mrs. Norus and her eight children in exchange for nothing but her good word. In adding a tower to accommodate all the children, the home ended up looking like a boot.

News spread far and wide, and visitors came from beyond the valley to take a peek at the odd-shaped house. It has never once left the family. In more than a century, no one outside the Norus name has slept beneath its roof, and it passes from one generation to the next without ever going to market.

The Lowest Field in the Valley

How Rennells Farm Came to Be Known for Pumpkins

Rennells Farm sits at the lowest field in the valley, and that could be the secret behind their famous pumpkins. When the Everlasting Rain came before, the water ran off the creek bed and into their fields.

Some say it left behind a pale chalky grit that no one has been able to account for. Whatever it is, it appears to agree with pumpkins.

When the Everlasting Rain comes again, who’s to say those pumpkins won’t simply float away.

The low fields of Rennells Farm under rain — The low field, where the water always finds its way.

The Old Wives’ Tales of Westler

Words of wisdom from those who survived the previous Everlasting Rain

From the Old Book

Water Remedies

For damp in a room set a bowl of salt beneath the bed and leave it overnight. By morning it will have drawn the wet out of the air, and the salt should be thrown out, as it is good for nothing after.

For boots that will not keep the water out work beeswax into the leather while it is warm and let it sit overnight. Boots so treated have been known to outlast the men wearing them.

The paper prints these as they were given and makes no claim as to their effect.

A broom leaning against a board wall with a potato at its foot

For mud tracked indoors sweep it out the back door only. Never the front. Those who sweep mud out the front have been known to sweep their good fortune out along with it, and there is no getting it back.