“Oh, you men. You’re so stupid at times. Of course she was expressing worries, she wanted me to be sent back home so she could continue the race with you.”
“Now you’re just being ridiculous, there’s never been anything between Astrid and me except respect and friendship. Now, stop behaving like a child, because we will continue the rest of this race together whether you like it or not. And if Astrid catches up with us you will behave yourself or answer to me. And…”
When she opened her mouth to protest, he continued, his voice hard and determined. “And if you force my hand, Holly, I will declare you unfit to continue. Get it!” He glared at her and with her cheeks feeling hot she folded her arms and stared mutely back at him.
“This is where you nod and say, ‘Yes, Zachariah.’”
Grinding her teeth, Holly nodded. “Yes, Zachariah.”
“Good.” Grinning cheerfully Zachariah turned and strode back to his sled.
“This is where you say, yes, Zachariah,” Holly mimicked inaudibly. “Yes, Zachariah, no, Zachariah and three bloody bags full, Zachariah!”
Two hours later Holly carefully followed Zachariah down through heavy timber toward the Yukon River. Here, in some places the trees were tightly packed together, making the arduous trail slightly narrower. Skimming along the snow-covered ground, Holly looked up, her imagination captured by the magnificence of the trees. They were so beautiful, tall and majestic, towering toward the sky, their branches umbrellaing out toward each other as if they were holding hands. In her mind’s eye they became somehow magical, standing like giant sentinels protecting the realm of a mythological snow queen. She laughed silently at her folly. She must be more fatigued than she thought.
Her startled gaze and attention returned to the task at hand and she leaned heavily on her brake as she heard a shout of, “Trail!”
“Haw!” she shouted at the top of her voice.
Obedient to her every command, the dogs swiveled to the left and just by a whisker missed being annulated by a looming sled.
Her heart beating heavily in her chest at the near miss, and her pulse beating rapidly, Holly watched silently as Astrid, laughing and waving gaily, passed Zachariah in a flurry of snow.
Feeling anger at the other woman’s recklessness, Holly gathered her wits and, noticing Zachariah moving off, tightened her hands on the handlebar.
“Mush.” Her heart still pounding a rapid tattoo in her chest, the sled moved forward with ease, the dogs hot on the trail of Zachariah’s team.
* * * *
Anvik, at last! Holly breathed a sigh of relief as they joined the main road on the run to the community center where the checkpoint was situated. It was at the checking-in point when Zachariah was filling up the water containers that Holly ran into Astrid again.
Grabbing hold of the other woman’s arm she swung her around to face her.
“You know you could have killed us out there.”
“Oh, grow up, Holly, for goodness sake. This is a competition after all and I’m in it if not to win, then at least to come in at a reasonable time. And because of my unfortunate delay at Shageluk I have time to make up, and I’ll do whatever it takes to ensure that happens, and you, little miss perfect, are in my way. Now let go of my arm before I knock you on your stupid little arse.”
Observing in her peripheral vision Zachariah’s entry into the room, Holly stared steadily at the other woman.
“So you’d risk anything and everything to finish the race?”
“Of course, wouldn’t you? Oh, no, I forgot, you’re in it for the joining in, for being part of history, and for being part of something bigger than yourself.” She snorted derisively. ”Do you think I haven’t heard all that claptrap before? God, little prigs like you make me sick.”
Ignoring Astrid’s derision, Holly was determined to give the other woman enough rope to hang herself. “What about your dogs? They could have been hurt by that stunt you pulled, the track was far too narrow at that point for you to pass by easily, yet you did it all the same.”
Reaching out a hand, Astrid pinched Holly’s cheek. “You are a funny little thing, aren’t you? The dogs are there to pull the sled and to do whatever I tell them to do and if they get hurt.” She shrugged. “Well, so be it, we can’t all be bleeding hearts you know.”
Pulling her arm from Holly's light grasp, Astrid spun toward the door, stopping abruptly when she noticed Zachariah just inside the room and within easy listening distance.
“Oh, Zachariah, you didn’t believe all that nonsense I was telling Holly did you? You know I didn’t mean it, I more than anyone feel for my dogs, they are after all a means to an end. You at least understand that, don’t you?”
Staring stonily at her, Zachariah raised an eyebrow. “Do I, Astrid? It seems to me that you meant every word you said and I for one am appalled at your lack of compassion. Your dogs should mean the world to you, as mine do to me. They are everything out here, not only do they pull your sled, they take care of you on the trail as well, and I know that on more than one occasion they’ve saved your life. You should be ashamed of yourself for your selfishness.”
“Oh, for goodness sake, Zachariah, they are only bloody dogs.”
Casting her a look of utter disgust, Zachariah caught hold of Holly’s arm and pulled her out of the room.
“Are you quite satisfied now, Holly?”
“Me! What have I done?”
Pinning her to the spot with one look, Zachariah strode off toward his team.
* * * *
Feeling quite ashamed of her manipulative behavior in setting Astrid against her, especially as she knew Zachariah was listening, Holly followed closely behind him as they headed toward Grayling. She wondered absently, worrying at her bottom lip with small, white teeth, whether she should try and make amends? But as to how, she had no idea.
Not fully concentrating on the route was becoming one of her failings, Holly decided, as her mind kept wandering back toward Astrid. She was a real madam, how could she not care about her dogs? They were her lifeline after all. Holly’s heart caught, she could never imagine feeling anything other than love for her own team, they were her support, her family and her best friends. She pitied Astrid’s dogs, they deserved better.
Gathering her wits about her, Holly finally concentrated on the trail. The leg between Anvik and Grayling was not long, but it was taxing. The temperature had dropped to below zero and it was freezing. Her dogs weren’t happy. She could tell that by the way they were acting, they were erratic, nervy, unfocused. She’d fed them a high calorific meal, their bootees had been changed and their warm weatherproof coats were firmly attached, but the wind was fierce and blew relentlessly in their whiskery faces.
Reining in her dogs as she turned to the first bend along the Yukon River, Holly’s knees all but knocked together. The bend was hundreds of feet high, rising in ridges that were in some places quite narrow. The altitude, combined with the freezing cold and the gusting wind made the journey demanding, and Holly finally began to seriously concentrate on safely navigating the trail. Potholes, rubble, broken branches and unexpected dips all added to the dangerous conditions and it was with a sigh of relief that she followed in Zachariah’s wake into the second and last bend before Grayling.
* * * *
Checking in done, water collected a quick snack partaken, and the dogs fed, watered and bootees changed and about ready to leave, Holly wanted to clear the air.
“Zachariah, please, we’ve still a long way to go and I hate being at odds with you like this. Look, I’m sorry about the whole Astrid thing, I know you and she well, err…”
Holly stuttered to a halt as Zachariah swiveled to stare at her. “What I mean is…”
“The Astrid thing?” he interrupted, lifting an enquiring eyebrow, and Holly could feel her cold face growing hotter beneath his discerning look. “You’re doing it again, Holly, presuming to know things you really know nothing about. And as to being at odds with each othe
r…”
He rubbed a gloved hand around the back of his neck looking wryly at her. “Truthfully, I think we’ve been at odds with each other almost from the first day we met. So, how about we now call a truce? At least for the duration of this race.”
Nodding, Holly flashed him a smile and before he could change his mind and bring her to task, she agilely stepped onto her runners indicating with a wave that she was ready.
Zachariah grinned wryly, Holly was as clear as glass. She was obviously jealous of his perceived relationship with Astrid, but keen to appear blasé about the whole thing especially to him. However, he was in full agreement with her take on how cruelly selfish Astrid’s attitude was to her dogs. Little did Holly realize that she had so much more going for her. She was kind, gentle, caring, and beautiful, but most of all she was—his.
Briefly wondering when it was he had fallen in love with her, Zachariah made a concerted effort and put it to the back of his mind. This was not the place to get lost in the magic of the moment, one fatal error and their lives would be lost. Next stop, Eagle Island!
Chapter Nineteen
The next leg of the journey was to be all on the Yukon River and would take approximately six to nine hours. Holly, desperately wanting it to take only six hours, knew in her heart of hearts that for her it was sure to be a long, soul-destroying nine.
The temperature had dropped again and was now thirty below and even with her hardy arctic gear she felt the cold penetrating the padding of her coat, shivering her skin and freezing her bones.
The terrain was boring, no exciting animals, bison or reindeer, no beautiful woods filled with birds and no frightening pulse racing mountains, just bend after monotonous bend on the river. Three hours had passed before Zachariah called a break, and it was with a feeling of relief that Holly drew her sled to a stop. She was cold, colder than she ever thought possible, and she almost had to prise her gloved hands off the handlebars.
“We’ll have a couple of hours rest here, Holly.” Zachariah looked up at the white sky. “It looks like another weather front is coming in, so we’ll sit out the worst of it before carrying on.”
Holly’s gaze followed his upward. What weather front? Everything appeared to be as it always was, white and very cold. Blinking rapidly as the first flakes of snow began to fall, Holly sighed in reluctant admiration. Really, the man must be psychic.
Soon the dogs were resting on piles of straw, their tummies full and appearing cozily warm. Tomahawk, the dog in the basket, seemed much improved but Zachariah wasn’t prepared to risk his health and made the decision that the canine would not be put back on the team.
Minutes later and the small tent had been erected, a fire was burning brightly, giving off a welcoming glow, and on the alcohol stove a thick rehydrated soup was bubbling away. Holly’s stomach grumbled and her nostrils quivered at the delicious aroma.
* * * *
Scrambling into the tent and snuggling down under the thick down of the sleeping bag, Holly gave a sigh of contentment. The soup had been good, but whether that was down to her hunger or to the fact that the soup may have, in her imagination, miraculously transformed into a dish of gourmet delight she had no idea. But for now she was content.
Climbing in beside Holly, Zachariah pulled her close. She felt soft and cuddly and smelt divine, of violet shampoo and coconut body cream, and his pulse raced at her nearness and the soft caress of her breath against his neck. It wasn’t the time to tell her of his feelings, but holding her close caused his loins to harden to aching attention, and his heart to beat in tune to a long remembered love song.
He gave a self-effacing grin. Get a grip, man, since when did you become a Lothario?
Holly stirred within Zachariah’s embrace. It gave her a wonderful kind of funny feeling to be lying in his arms. It was something she had always dreamed about, but after her initiation into sex it had seemed like it would never happen again. However, this trip had proved her wrong, she’d learnt more about sex on this trip than she’d ever imagined, but this time it wasn’t about sex, or about relief from the stresses and strains of the competition, but about warmth and comfort and at least for her—love.
“You okay, Holly? Warm enough?”
“Mmm, yes, lovely,” Holly murmured, her eyes drifting close. And it was at that moment, a moment between wakefulness and sleep, that she thought she felt a tender kiss on her forehead and a softly murmured I love you. Stirring restlessly, she attempted to force her eyes open. But…
Her eye lashes fluttered wildly before settling into crescents on her cheeks—she must have dreamt it.
* * * *
Slowly coming awake to the smell of coffee, Holly carefully raised heavy eyelids. Her head was pounding, feeling like she had a thousand leprechauns in her skull with little metal hammers, and her throat felt sore.
“C’mon, Holly, you’ve been asleep three hours and the weather’s finally letting up so it’s time we were moving.”
“K.” Holly struggled to appear normal. It would be no good letting Zachariah know she felt lousy.
Climbing sluggishly from the warm bag, behaving like an automaton, she pulled on a thick coat and boots and accepted the coffee Zachariah was holding out to her.
“You okay, hun?” He looked searchingly at her.
Summoning up a smile she sipped some more coffee. “Yes, fine, just still sleepy.”
“What, no hello kiss?”
“W–what?”
“Just checking you are still alive. You look…” He tilted his head to one side. “Not quite…”
“I’ve said I’m just tired that’s all, so drop it, Zachariah,” she snapped.
“Okay then, when you’re ready? I’ve fed the dogs and they’re raring to go, so when you’ve finished that I’ll get the tent packed up.”
Nodding, Holly carried on slowly sipping the coffee, not really taking in what he was saying. It was only when he sighed impatiently that she looked up questionably, and realized he was waiting for her.
“When you’re ready!”
“Oh, oh sorry, I was just thinking.”
All packed up and ready to leave, Holly stepped on the runners and gasped in surprise as she was pulled from her sled and into Zachariah’s hard arms.
“You didn’t think you’d escape that easily did you?”
Drawing her close he lowered his head and took her lips in a wonderfully provocative kiss.
Squeaking in surprise she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed closer, opening her mouth for the sensuous invasion of his tongue.
The kiss was deeply satisfying, conjuring up all the emotions she tried so hard to hide. Her heart was pounding, her palms sweaty and the blood coursed through her veins like hot molten lava. She pressed closer, she wanted more, needed more, but all too soon he was pulling away, dragging her arms down from his neck and putting her from him. Tweaking her chin, he smiled warmly into her eyes before striding off toward his dogs.
Completely enervated, she stared confusedly after him. Taking a few beneficial breaths she tried to regain a modicum of composure before climbing dazedly on the runners.
Two hours on and Holly was feeling worse, her head throbbed and her throat felt like she had swallowed slivers of glass. Travelling slowly she leaned heavily on the brake. The ice underneath the runners was thin and it took the steadiest of nerves to keep from screaming in fright at every slip and slide of the sled. Zachariah was pulling ahead and whilst she wanted to cry out to him to stop, her throat hurt so badly she could barely raise a squeak.
Reaching into the basket she fumbled around for the flask of water, her mouth was dry and she couldn’t go any further without hydrating. Suddenly a sleigh raced up beside her and she jumped in fright as her dogs got tangled up with the dogs from the other team. Amid snarling and barking she swerved, attempting to get out of the way and in doing so drove her sled onto thinner ice. Then as the other team pulled off she heard a bullet-like cracking of ice and her sled beg
an to drop backward through the ice into the water. Everything appeared to happen in slow motion. As the sled toppled backward it began to turn on its side, tipping her off. Instinctively she clung to the handlebar. Feeling inexplicably helpless, she was unable to do anything, couldn’t save herself, couldn’t even cry out for help. The burden of the sled pulled her further downward, dragging the dogs nearest, the team dogs down into the water with her.
Chapter Twenty
It was the freezing cold that struck Holly first, and she gasped in shocked surprise but in doing so swallowed icy water. Spluttering and struggling against the weight of water-laden clothes she tried to shout, to call out to Zachariah but her voice wouldn’t work. She could hear the fearful barking of her dogs as they followed her into the rivers icy depths and her heart was wrung in pity. Then, as she went under, sounds appeared hushed, deadened somehow, her hearing muffled, and her eyesight hazy. Suddenly and unaccountably she felt warm, and, closing her eyes, she savored the feeling. Something brushed against her, something soft and furry and, reaching out, she clasped the struggling, terrified body of Panther, one of her oldest dogs, and she felt pain like she’d never felt before, the pain of helplessness.
Realizing she would never see Zachariah again tore into her like a knife, twisting in her gut and tearing at her heart. She held onto Panther hoping to comfort him with her touch but he was fighting, struggling to get to safety and she felt tears fill her eyes, tears that would not fall. Didn’t the poor dog realize that there was no hope? That they would never pull free from the river’s deadly grip, that they would die here this day, die together, never to see friends, loved ones and family again.
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