The next morning the brothers woke up sore from the previous day. They went to the river where they took several big gulps of water and relieved themselves and managed to spear another two fish for breakfast.
An hour later after breakfast, Mikael spoke. "We need to build a kiln and a smoker today. We can use branches for the outline but fill it in with clay." He stops there for a second and gathers his thoughts.
"There is a plethora of things we could build but a kiln and smoker are definitely one of them. Hopefully we will eventually find some raw iron and then we can make crude iron tools and a knife. We will need a forge for that though and it's gonna be the most primitive forge in existence."
Josiah chuckles at that and responds. "We ain't looking for nice and pretty, rather durable and effective." Mikael nods his head at that, glad Josiah is on the same page as him.
"We also will need to expand our home for the winter and even find a way to cover the entrance and keep water out. I've got ideas on how to do so but its gonna be a lot of work and time. On a bright note, the ladies will be all over us if we ever reach civilization once we grow up. We're gonna be ripped from all this work."
Both brothers grin like idiots at that before fist bumping the other. Josiah speaks up this time. "All right bro, say less. Let's get to work so we can drown in pussy when we get outta here."
Mikael nods his head and goes to the lumber pile where he picks out several sticks and lays the outline of the kiln and smoker out. The two make several dozen trips to the river and back, each carrying back armfuls of wet clay back.
They build it up layer by layer while ensuring room for the smoke and heat to flow. Soon it's done to the best of their abilities but only lacks a door. The two are stumped, neither wants to give up their only article of clothing to be used as a door when Mikael remembers.
"The goats if we can kill two or three of them, we can use one of the pelts as a door for it. The heat will also tan the hide and we can just swap them out."
Josiah's eyes go wide and he quickly grabs the spear while Mikael makes another. Afterwards they both go off towards the goats. They moved quietly and soon spotted them. There were four of them.
Josiah moved slowly and silently to the opposite side of them and awaited Mikael's signal which came in the form of a nod. Both brothers rushed forward and stabbed with their spears.
The spears went through the throats of the goats, spraying blood everywhere. Before the other goats could react, they too had a spear lodged in their throats.
The brothers were ecstatic and gutted them right there. A small hole was dug and the innards that weren't usable were put inside. It took them 30 minutes but each goat was brought to the river where it was methodically skinned and cut up.
Once back at camp, they lit the fire in the bottom of the kiln and hung a pelt up as a door which worked perfectly. They quickly built a smoker using branches and more clay.
They lit that too and carried the meat into their home where it was wrapped in large leaves and covered with the pelts. It was cooler inside the hole than it was outside so it would be fine for now.
That night they had roasted lamb. Before bed they made a small smoker over the inside campfire near the entrance and hung up some meat to smoke. They fell asleep soon after, exhausted from the days work.
They woke up late the next day and checked yesterday's projects. The kiln and smoker were done, the two pelts used as doors nearly so. The meat which had been smoking for around 12 hours now was done as well and needed to be swapped out.
They swapped out the meat and added more wood to the fires before heading to the river. After relieving themselves and drinking some water, they gathered more clay and brought it back.
They began by making a vase to carry water in as well as several cups and plates. Once they were gone being shaped, they were set in the kiln and left alone until the following day.
In the home, they began expanding the inside with trowels and taking handfuls of dirt out at a time as they expanded it. They only stopped to swap out the tanning pelts, to eat and drink and finally to relieve themselves.
The process was long and arduous but it would be well worth it come winter. The plan was to expand the inside, adding several more rooms for storage and possibly Even bedrooms.
They would reinforce it with several logs as well as mud and make a massive fire to dry it quickly. Total time estimated to completion was a month minimum.
It was soon night fall and they stopped working for the night. They carefully walked to the river and washed up after drinking their fill and went back.
Once inside they are some goat and chatted about their plans while complaining about the blisters on their hands. They agreed they would have to take a break once or twice a week to rest and let their hand heal.
Afterwards they lay the dry goat pelts, which were surprisingly large and soft, on the ground and fell asleep.
Tomorrow was to be a new day and they were looking forward to it.