At the Mountain's Edge

by Genevieve Graham

  Liza’s jaw dropped. The story was like a fairy tale. “Did you buy any claims with that?”

  “Of course. Five. When the miners came to eat, I heard all the scuttlebutt, and I knew where to buy.”

  “You never actually worked a mine, did you?” Ben asked.

  “No, but I managed them. My father was a miner, so I knew all about it, but the truth is that it looks better if a man is running a mine. Besides, why would I want to do all that dirty work?”

  With every word Liza became more of an admirer. Belinda was everything she wanted to be. “You have an amazing story.”

  Memory and wine had softened Belinda’s expression. “So much has happened since I arrived here in Dawson with no money at all. In fact, the first thing I did when I got here was toss my last twenty-five-cent piece into the river for good luck. Best investment I ever made.”

  She signalled the waiters once more for dessert, and they brought preserved pears and cheese, as well as a plate of bonbons. Liza hadn’t eaten anything as magical as candy in so long, and though she longed to scoop one up, she reminded herself that a lady must always mind her manners. Ben had no such reservations. He claimed one right away, popping it nonchalantly into his mouth.

  Liza stifled a laugh.

  “Men have a different set of rules, don’t they?” Belinda said.

  Ben’s cheeks reddened in the most charming way. “Sorry. The rest are for you.”

  “No, no, go ahead. We need to keep our Mounties well-fed and happy, don’t we?” She turned to Liza. “Your turn, Liza. Tell me your story.”

  “I’m from Vancouver,” she said, “and I learned the business from watching my father. You would have liked him, Belinda. He was quite innovative in his own way, and I think you would have approved of his choice in stock. I hope you’ll see it all when I can finally put everything back on shelves. Then you can judge for yourself.”

  “You enjoy working in a store?”

  “I do. I’ve done it all my life. My father built me a special stool when I was too little to reach the counter so I could speak with customers.” She could still recall his expression back then, proud as could be. “He was the one who wanted to come here. He knew it would be like nothing we’d ever seen before, and he was right about that.” She dropped her chin. “I think one of the worst things about everything that happened was that he never got to see this place. Really, this was his dream, not mine.”

  Belinda reached over and put her hand over Liza’s. “He’s here with you,” she said softly.

  “I bet you’ll make him proud,” Ben said.

  “Thank you,” she said, blinking hard.

  After a moment, Belinda spoke. “Liza, I have a thought I’d like to pass by you. I know we’ve only just met, but I like what I see. And I trust Ben’s high opinion of you.”

  Liza felt her cheeks grow hot, but no one seemed to notice.

  “I imagine your poor little shop is drowning as we enjoy our dessert,” Belinda continued. “As you think about what you’d like to do next, would you be interested in working for me? I have opened a store myself recently and I’m in need of an experienced manager. It’s nearby, only a couple of blocks down from the hotel.”

  Liza couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You are offering me a job?”

  “I have a couple of girls working in there, but they are hardly experienced. To be honest, I view our meeting today as serendipitous, and I would consider it a favour if you would accept the position. Also, since you and your stock will need a place to stay during this time, you are welcome to stay in the hotel for a reduced rate until you get back on your feet.”

  It might not be running her own store, but Belinda was presenting her with a wonderful opportunity. A second chance. The trouble was, the last time someone had offered her a great deal, things had gone terribly wrong. She was still uneasy after Mr. Somers’s deception.

  “Belinda, I wish I could accept that invitation, but I am not sure I can afford even the reduced rate at this point. Perhaps I could rent storage space from you and find a less lavish place to stay.”

  Belinda waved a hand, dismissing her concerns. “Oh, don’t worry about that. You’ll be an employee of mine, which means you will be able to afford it.”

  “You’d be wise to accept the offer,” Ben said, setting his napkin by his plate as the busboy slid in for a final collection. “No one is a better employer than Belinda.”

  Liza hesitated. On one hand, she had absolutely no question that she wanted this. Belinda could teach her so much—things even her father hadn’t known, perhaps. She would be an absolute fool to say no. But on the other hand . . .

  “I really do hate to ask,” she said, “but do you think we might sign some sort of contract? Ben told you about the episode in the street with my former landlord, and that was all based on a lack of signatures—”

  “And the fact that your landlord was a con,” Ben put in.

  Belinda beamed. “I love that you asked for a contract, my dear. Yes, yes. Let’s make it official. I shall have it all written up and brought to your room tonight. Does that mean you are taking the job?”

  Liza took a deep, fortifying breath. For so long she’d come up against nothing but obstacles, and in the last few hours she’d begun to hope that her life might be turning around.

  “Yes,” she said. “Belinda, I will do my very best not to disappoint you.”

  “Well, this is something to celebrate.” Ben raised his freshly filled water glass in salute. “I almost wish I could have a little champagne.”

  “We wouldn’t tell,” Belinda said, but he only laughed.

  “Thank you for a fun evening,” he said. “And the best meal I’ve ever had.”

  “Oh yes. Me too,” Liza said. “A wonderful evening of delicious food and even better company. And your young busboys did a wonderful job. I barely noticed them all night.”

  “They’re good boys and good at their job,” Belinda agreed. “My hope is that their training here will mean they will be able to acquire increasingly better jobs when all this is over.”

  “All this?” Liza echoed.

  “The gold rush. It won’t last forever, and then we’ll all need to make new plans.”

  Liza had only just arrived here. The thought that the gold rush might be over sooner rather than later sent a shiver of alarm up her neck. “How long will it last, do you think?”

  “No one knows that, but take my word for it: a new gold strike will happen within the next year, maybe sooner. The miners will abandon this one for that, and whoever is left in this town will follow them. Miners are fickle. But then again, so are we. We must all follow opportunities.”

  “It’s good of you to teach the boys,” Ben said. “Prepare them.”

  “I do what I can,” she replied. A waiter approached Belinda and whispered in her ear. “I’m so sorry, but I’m going to have to leave you. I hope to see you both very soon.”

  Then it was just the two of them. Despite the comfortable conversation they’d shared over the meal, the silence that fell over Liza and Ben felt slightly awkward. All their shared memories were wrought with pain and heartache, and while Liza wanted badly to apologize for how she’d treated him before, maybe even explain about Blue, she didn’t feel like opening those wounds again. She just wanted to move forward.

  “I really don’t know how to thank you for today,” she said finally. “For bringing me here and introducing me to Belinda. I feel as if I have a new lease on life.”

  “You deserve it. You had a rocky start, that’s all.”

  An idea sparked in her mind. “Would you mind walking me to the river?” she asked suddenly. “I mean to a spot that’s not flooded.”

  “Now?”

  She nodded. “I have something I want to do. It will only take a minute.”

  “Of course.”

  “Wait here. I’ll be right back.” She ran up to her room for her purse, then met him at the door.

  Ben didn�
�t ask any questions as they walked to the banks of the Yukon River. For a few minutes, they stood quietly watching the nut-brown water flow by, and when she was ready Liza dug in her bag. She produced her last twenty-five cents, took a deep breath for courage, then offered it to the river. It had worked for Belinda. Maybe it would work for her.

  Ben

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  Despite the flood and the damage it had caused, investors, government folks, and, inevitably, con artists, arrived in Dawson City on a daily basis, and it seemed to Ben that there was a new energy in the town. The men were stirred up, and he found himself stepping in on more brawls as well as following up on more reports of gun smuggling. There was no mistaking that the Mounties needed more men in Dawson—Ben just wished they had found someone other than Constable Bob Miller.

  “You two gotta put your differences behind you,” Thompson said the day Miller arrived. “We’re here to do a job, not make trouble. Keep that in mind.”

  At least for now, Miller seemed too pleased with the change of pace to start anything with Ben.

  “My transfer has been a long time coming, that’s for sure,” he said. “You remember those nights at Chilkoot when all you could hear was your heartbeat?”

  Ben did, and sometimes he missed that silence badly. For him, finding absolute stillness and peace in the wildest of lands had been a kind of magic.

  “Well, I got to the point where I didn’t even want to hear that heartbeat anymore. And this place . . .” Miller threw up his hands, grinning. “Wow. It’s better than I thought it’d be. There’s so much going on here! I hardly know where to begin.” He chuckled. “Actually, I do. Went and got myself a half claim this morning. I’m gonna make a fortune.”

  “You said before that you were planning to do that,” Ben said, half-wondering where Miller had gotten the cash for the investment. He’d been thinking of buying his own for a while, but there was no way he could afford it yet.

  “Took out a loan to get started.”

  There were plenty of places to get loans around Dawson, some more trustworthy than others. Ben was about to say as much to Miller, but then he reminded himself that Miller’s gold claim wasn’t his business. The man could figure out the town’s inner workings on his own.

  And he did, in short order. With Miller’s chatty nature, it didn’t take him more than a month to acquaint himself with the town and get to know the key players. During that time, Ben could see he’d be less than helpful as far as maintaining the law went. The man spent more time in the saloons and on the goldfields than he did on patrol, and some of the men he hung around with weren’t exactly model citizens.

  “It might be all right,” Thompson said to Ben one night as they left the outpost. “He might get inside information since he’s so close to it. We’ll keep an eye on him just in case.”

  “He’s gotta be good for something,” Ben allowed, reaching down to pet Keitl. “I’m heading to the Monte Carlo. Join me?”

  “Can’t. Got a tip about Stevens. I’m heading out to see what the ol’ boy’s up to.”

  In a way, Ben wished he could skip his rounds and join him. Ralph Stevens’s name kept popping up in their enquiries about the recent increase of handguns around Dawson, and Ben suspected that he still mistreated his wife, but he had no proof. He wanted nothing more than to see that man behind bars.

  “Why don’t you take Miller?” Thompson suggested.

  Ben gave him a sour look.

  “Do it. Make him earn his pay.”

  Inside the Fort, Ben found Miller lying on his bunk, studying the insides of his eyelids.

  “Let’s go,” he said.

  Miller cracked open one eye. “Where are you working?”

  “The regular spots: saloons, dance halls, you know.”

  “I’m coming.” Miller swung his legs over the side of his bed, pulled on his boots, then reached for his coat and hat. “I’m bored in here. Besides, seems like a nice, warm night.”

  “And maybe you’d like to do some work for a change,” Ben muttered, then he remembered Thompson’s advice. As they stepped outside, he put in an effort to start up a conversation. “How’s the claim coming?”

  Miller screwed up his face. “Nothing yet. I’m panning a lot of the dirt from the last fellow, and he left me his sluice, which I share with a couple of others, but so far I’m getting nothing but rock and more rock.” He glowered. “If I find out he sold me a bum claim—”

  “What? You gonna go hunt him down? If he duped you, you’re out of luck. Nothing you can do about it.”

  “That’s true enough. But I have to pay off my debt, so I can’t quit.”

  “Where’d you get your loan from?”

  Miller snorted. “Wouldn’t you like to know? I know you’re watchin’ me, Turner. Trying to find an excuse to write me up.”

  Maybe he was. He glanced down at Keitl, trotting at his heels. “I was just asking.”

  “Did you get your claim?”

  “Not yet. I’m figuring out some things.” He glanced sideways at Miller. “Don’t wanna get duped.”

  “We all do things our own way, don’t we, Turner?”

  They continued in a tense silence. From a distance they could see Front Street was crowded and a tussle was going on outside the Dominion, but by the time Ben and Miller walked by, it was dying down. Seeing the Mounties’ red coats always took some of the bluster out of the men, which was why Steele insisted the coats be worn at all times when they were on duty—though on a warm night like tonight Ben envied the local men with their loose shirts and trousers. Still, the coats worked: a lot of problems were solved with a simple warning, and any serious fighting and minor misdemeanours were punished by sending the men to the woodpile. Occasionally there were worse infractions, like thieving or possessing a firearm, and those offenders received a “Blue Ticket”: a one-way ticket out of the Yukon.

  As they crossed the road, Ben spotted Liza down the other street, closing up the store for the night.

  “I’ll meet you at the Red Feather Saloon,” he told Miller, turning towards the shop.

  Miller saw where he was looking and grinned. “I’ll come with you,” he offered. “That there’s a woman I’d happily visit any time, though I’d prefer later on in the evenings, if you know what I mean.”

  Ben put a hand against Miller’s chest, resisting the urge to shove him back. “I said I was going. I’ll meet you at the saloon.”

  “Well, now.”

  “There’s no ‘well, now.’ She’s a friend of mine, and I’m checking on her.”

  “I see.” He lifted an eyebrow. “I think I’d like to be her friend too.”

  “She ain’t your type.”

  “Hello, Constable Turner!” Liza called from her doorway. “Can I speak with you a moment?”

  Ben gave Miller a satisfied smile, then called back, “I’ll be right over!”

  Miller looked impressed. “I reckon I’ll meet you at the Red Feather.”

  “Good idea.”

  As Ben headed towards the store he glanced back at Miller, a sinking feeling in his gut. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so insistent. Miller always wanted what he didn’t have, and the last thing Ben needed was for Miller to start pestering Liza.

  When he reached the walkway that led to the shop, he remembered Liza’s earlier reaction to the dog and told Keitl to stay. As always, she did exactly as he’d said, though her bright eyes followed him.

  “Hi, Ben,” Liza said, coming down the steps. “Hello, Keitl.”

  Keitl jumped to her feet but didn’t leave her spot.

  “Do you think I could pet her?” Liza asked.

  “Uh, sure,” Ben said. “Come here, Keitl.”

  Keitl trotted over and stood quietly in front of Liza, her tail sweeping from side to side.

  “She’s so pretty,” Liza said softly, scratching behind the dog’s ears.

  Ben rubbed the back of his own head, puzzled. “She is. I’m glad you think so, but I gotta
say, you had me fooled about that.”

  “Really? Why?”

  “You seem to get upset whenever she’s around.”

  “Oh.” She sighed and crouched in front of the dog. “It’s not that I don’t like her. She just reminds me of things I’d rather not think about.” She rubbed Keitl’s neck, and the dog gave Liza a gentle lick. “You know what I’m talking about, don’t you, Keitl?”

  Ben watched as Liza pressed her forehead against the dog’s. “What am I missing?” he asked.

  Liza stood and took a deep breath. “The thing is, she used to be mine.”

  “Keitl? She’s been with me since she was a pup.”

  “Where’d you get her?”

  “I found her at Sheep Camp.” He waited for more, but she just stared pointedly at him, a reluctant smile on her face. Then it hit him like a punch. “After the avalanche,” he said slowly, heat rising up his neck. “Liza, I am so sorry. I had no idea.”

  “You couldn’t have known.” She looked down at Keitl, sitting at their feet. “Until that day I saw her at the White Horse Rapids, I’d given up on her. I’d assumed she was killed by the avalanche.” She sighed. “I’ll be honest, I was so lost after Stan died that I barely looked for her. You saved her life by taking her.”

  No wonder she’d been upset with him at the rapids. “Why didn’t you say anything?” he asked cautiously.

  “I should have, but it never seemed like the right time.” Liza scratched the top of Keitl’s head. “I called her Blue because of the sky the day she was born. It was clear and sunny for the first time in so long, and I’d been so unhappy in Dyea. I guess she kind of symbolized hope for me.”

  He nodded, remembering when he’d found the little dog. He’d felt the same way about her. After all the misery and loss, she’d been like a light at the end of a tunnel.

  “You can come visit her any time. I know she’d love to see you,” he said, but the offer hardly seemed like enough. “You know, if there’s anything you ever need, Liza, all you gotta do is ask.”