Grace laughed and patted Karen’s hand. ‘‘I was afraid. For a very long time I’ve been afraid. I don’t even know that I can tell you why, but I felt that the only safe place for me was in the confines of four walls. Four very familiar walls. But spending time away from home, seeing new people, experiencing new lands . . . why, it’s all enough to fuel my bravery and give me hope.’’
‘‘And were you so very hopeless before?’’
Grace sobered and nodded. ‘‘You know I was. I was so dependent upon you for hope and faith. I trusted God, but not enough. I prayed and pleaded my case, then cowered in the corner as if He’d never heard my words.’’
‘‘I suppose I was also at fault in that,’’ Karen replied, knowing that she had never pushed Grace to be too independent for fear she might not need her governess-friend anymore.
‘‘Not at all. You taught me all manner of things in which to find strength,’’ Grace replied. ‘‘And God was at the very top of the list. I feel as if this trip has been my coming of age. I’ve opened my eyes to see the life around me and to realize for the first time that there is so much more than my own little world. I want to experience it all. I want to learn how to work with my hands and to cook and clean. I want to sew and see something take shape, something more important than a cloth for the table.’’ Her words were spoken softly but with such great excitement that Karen couldn’t help but get caught up.
‘‘Good thing I came along, then,’’ she told Grace with a grin.
‘‘Why do you say that?’’ Grace asked, then quickly added, ‘‘Of course I’m glad you are here and know that none of this would have been possible had you not taken the first step in our escape.’’
‘‘I say it because I’ve taught you many useless things throughout your childhood. Things your mother thought befitting a socialite’s daughter. But now perhaps you would like to learn more beneficial skills. Between Aunt Doris and I we can surely teach you how to cook and sew. And maybe, once we find my father, you can learn a great deal more.’’
‘‘I’d like that very much,’’ Grace replied. Then holding up her feet she wrinkled her nose. ‘‘I’d like it even more if we could find some of those thick-soled boots like the men are wearing.’’
Karen laughed. ‘‘Me too. Who would have ever thought that the most enviable possession would be a pair of ugly old leather boots?’’
‘‘Hello, ladies.’’
Grace quickly put her feet down, and Karen knew without looking that Captain Colton had joined them.
‘‘Why, Captain, how is it that you are here and your ship is out there?’’ Karen questioned, pointing toward the general area of the harbor. ‘‘We presumed you’d be gone by now.’’
‘‘I had some things to arrange,’’ he replied without the slightest hint of irritation in her manner. ‘‘What of you, ladies? Why do I find you here?’’
‘‘We were discussing boots and waiting for our turn to be taken to Dyea,’’ Grace offered.
‘‘Boots?’’
Grace laughed and Karen watched as Colton’s face lit up at the sight. ‘‘Yes, boots. Thick leather boots that do not fall apart in the mud,’’ Grace proclaimed. ‘‘We were rather remiss in our preparations for Skagway.’’ She lifted one foot and revealed her mud-soaked shoe.
‘‘That will never do,’’ Peter replied. ‘‘You must all give me your sizes and let me see what is to be done.’’
‘‘Why would you spend your time in such a manner?’’ Karen questioned. She knew the answer but also knew Colton would never admit to it.
‘‘Wet feet are a danger to survival. Being a schoolteacher, I would have presumed you to know such things,’’ Peter said rather sarcastically. ‘‘But with Skagway given over to such rowdy dealings, I would much rather you allow me to go in search of proper footwear while you are safely awaiting your passage to Dyea.’’
‘‘Hello, Captain,’’ Doris said as she joined the party. Her crocheting was neatly tucked in the crook of her arm. ‘‘Are you bound for Dyea?’’
Peter smiled and gave Doris a little bow. ‘‘No, Miss Pierce, I came for another purpose. But when I found your party here, I couldn’t help but stop. I worried that perhaps something was wrong.’’
‘‘Only in the sense of there being no hotels and that passage to our destination should take so long.’’
‘‘No hotels?’’ Peter questioned. ‘‘But I thought you were joining up with the younger Miss Pierce’s father.’’
‘‘We will join up when we can find him,’’ Doris replied. ‘‘He’s a missionary in this area, but there’s no telling exactly where he is. At times he lived beyond the mountains and north toward where everyone is fussing to be. Other times he lived near Dyea.’’
Peter frowned and Karen could see he was not at all pleased. ‘‘So you are to be three women alone?’’
‘‘It would appear that way,’’ Doris replied. ‘‘But fret not, Captain. We will find some nook or cranny in which to stay.’’
‘‘Have you a tent?’’
‘‘No, but perhaps we can buy one,’’ Doris said, looking to Grace and Karen as if to ascertain their thoughts on the matter.
Before either could reply, Peter interjected, ‘‘I have a tent for you. I also have a proposition that until this moment seemed not at all reasonable. Now, however, I wonder if you might not find it to your liking.’’
‘‘Tell us,’’ Grace said enthusiastically.
Karen was more hesitant. ‘‘Remember, Grace, not all suggestions are necessarily beneficial ones.’’ She watched Colton carefully, hoping he might betray some sign of his secret thoughts. Thoughts he might be unwilling to reveal. But to her amazement, he quite openly shared them.
‘‘I believe this idea would benefit us both. I wonder if you ladies would have an interest in keeping a shop.’’
‘‘A shop? What kind of shop?’’ Doris questioned.
‘‘A dry goods—a supply store for miners and stampeders.’’
‘‘And who would set up this shop?’’ Karen questioned.
‘‘I would. I see the immense profitability in transporting goods as well as people to this region. With you ladies running the store, I would never fear being cheated.’’
‘‘It wouldn’t work,’’ Karen replied without waiting for anyone else. ‘‘We have to find my father, and that will take time and effort.’’
‘‘But a store, Miss Pierce, would allow you to meet many people without the need to frequent places maybe better left untraveled.’’
‘‘But we will be in Dyea, not Skagway where the harbor is better.’’
‘‘They are working on the harbor in Dyea, and while it isn’t ideal, it’s quite possible to put in and transfer the goods to barges. A store would give you an opportunity to make friendships and get to know the sourdoughs from the area.’’
‘‘Sourdoughs?’’ Karen questioned.
Peter nodded. ‘‘Those more grizzled veterans who’ve been here more than a few months.’’
Grace reached out to touch Karen’s arm. ‘‘I, for one, would like to consider this idea.’’
Karen felt a strange sense of being overruled. Especially when Doris nodded her enthusiasm. ‘‘Why, of course,’’ she replied. ‘‘It would present a perfect solution. But wherever would you find a building for such an operation?’’
‘‘The tent,’’ Peter replied. ‘‘I have a tent among my goods that’s big enough to house a circus, or nearly so.’’ He grinned and Karen turned away, feeling he was somehow mocking her.
‘‘You could live in part of the tent,’’ he continued, ‘‘and sell out of the other part. I could see to it that you have provisions for such a thing when I return on my next trip. I should be back here in a fortnight. In the meanwhile, you’d have no goods to sell. We could merely arrange for the tent to be put up on an acceptable site, and you could live there and even seek out Miss Pierce’s father while awaiting my return.’’
‘�
�I think it sounds wonderful,’’ Grace replied, getting to her feet. ‘‘Then if Karen and Doris wish to join up with Mr. Pierce, I might even choose to stay on and run the store on my own.’’
Karen turned around and looked hard at Grace. She was definitely not the same young woman. ‘‘Perhaps we’re being hasty here.’’
‘‘Well, you’ll have a good two weeks to consider it,’’ Peter replied. ‘‘For now, I’ll arrange to have the tent put up and secured for your living. I can even supply you with a camp kit and three cots.’’
‘‘Wonderful!’’ Doris exclaimed. ‘‘Ask and it shall be given.’’
‘‘But you didn’t ask me for a thing,’’ Peter said, laughing.
‘‘No, but I did ask God,’’ Doris replied.
Grace laughed. ‘‘As did I.’’
Karen was the only one who said nothing. Somehow she just couldn’t look at Peter Colton as a blessing. He seemed much more to be a thorn in the side. A handsome thorn, but a thorn nevertheless.
16
—[ CHAPTER SIXTEEN ]—
BILL BARRINGER checked his pockets one last time for any loose change he might have overlooked. Nothing! He had less than two bits to his name and no hope of getting north before the heavy snows unless he left soon.
The problem, as he saw it, was twofold. First, he didn’t have the supplies necessary to go into the Yukon. The Canadians were rigid in their requirements to enter their country. They’d set up duty stations at the border and patrolled them with red-coated Mounties who would collect tax duties and enforce their demands. And those demands were even more impressive than they’d been rumored down in the lower states.
A ton of goods per person is what one person called it, but the real aim was to see that each traveler had the means of supporting himself for a year in the wilderness. Bill thought it all nonsense. There were surely game to kill and goods to purchase. It might be isolated on the other side of the mountain pass, but he’d heard of many a small town already being developed to accommodate the stampeders. And if that were the case, why should any man have to lug around four hundred pounds of flour or one hundred pounds of sugar? Not only this, but many of the requirements came in the form of tools, and why in the world couldn’t a man just borrow what he needed from his neighbor?
The second obstacle and liability was the fact that he had children. Bill was quickly coming to understand that Leah and Jacob could never hope to pack their own provisions, and hiring packers from the local Indian tribes was clearly out of the question. Bill hadn’t even figured out how to buy the provisions, much less pack them. The entire matter was enough to leave him completely discouraged. And while he’d never express himself in such a way as to let his children know the truth, Bill was beginning to think God held him a grudge.
After two weeks of working odd jobs, Bill’s suspicions toward God were more firmly rooted. He could clearly see he was going to have to go this alone, if he was going to go at all. He had never for once imagined leaving the children behind, and even now as the solution became increasingly evident, he argued the point with himself.
Patience would never approve of leaving Leah and Jacob behind, he argued with himself. Standing over a stack of logs, Bill split the pieces into firewood and continued his internal conversation.
I could leave them with Karen Pierce and her aunt, he reasoned. Leah adores them and is looking forward to getting some education from Karen. Those women would see to it that the kids were safe and sound. Jacob wouldn’t like it, but he’d have no choice. He’d have to obey me.
Bill brought the axe head down on the log. The dry wood split easily. I could talk to the Pierce woman and see if she would allow me to leave Leah and Jacob. I could promise to send for them or return myself. I could promise her some of the gold I collect. The entire matter seemed quite reasonable. Surely she would see the importance of keeping the children safe in Dyea while he went on into the Yukon.
Nagging doubts began to form in his mind, however. How would the children perceive this action? Coming so soon after the loss of their mother, they would certainly feel he was deserting them as well. Bill didn’t want to give them that impression, but he also knew finding gold was their only chance to get back what they’d lost so many years earlier.
I’ll just explain it that way, he reasoned. They’ll understand. They’re good children. He felt the sweat trickle down his back as he continued to chop the wood. He would still have to convince Karen Pierce, even if he could persuade Jacob and Leah. Then a thought came to him. Karen was looking for her father. As far as Bill knew, she hadn’t found him, nor heard any word of him. Perhaps I could offer to look for him. The idea began to take root. If I offered to look for him, the children could just naturally stay with her until my return. The idea had great merit. Never mind that he’d be looking for Wilmont Pierce on the Chilkoot Trail north to the Yukon.
He finished his work and collected his pay before heading over to the Colton tent store. He tried to plot out how he might approach the subject without seeming desperate. Already the autumn had set in and time was getting away from them. Most folks told him he was a fool to even consider going on—that the police would close down the borders when the blizzards set in. But Bill didn’t care. Even if he only made it as far as Sheep’s Camp, some twelve miles away, he would be that much closer once the Mounties actually allowed folks to head north again. Besides, the bad storms might not even come and things would remain open and the travelers could just keep moving north. Either way, he didn’t want to lose out on the chance of a lifetime.
Dusting wood chips off his jeans, Bill entered the store to find it stocked with goods. For the past two weeks there had been nothing but plank board stacked neatly in a pile at the side. Karen had informed him that these would be set atop barrels once Captain Colton arrived with the said barrels, the goods stored within them.
‘‘Hello, ladies,’’ Bill called out as he pushed through the already gathered crowd. ‘‘Looks like you’re getting things set up for a day of selling.’’
‘‘That we are, Mr. Barringer,’’ Doris announced. ‘‘Have you come to purchase something, or were you looking for Leah?’’
‘‘Actually, I came to talk to Miss Karen, if she has a spare moment.’’
‘‘Well,’’ Karen said, looking at the growing crowd, ‘‘right now doesn’t appear to be a good time for a talk.’’
‘‘I understand,’’ Bill replied. ‘‘Maybe later?’’
Karen hurried to tuck the straw packing back inside the crate. Straw was just as valuable as most anything else. She could probably sell it for a fortune, Bill surmised.
‘‘Look, Papa,’’ Leah called from behind a stack of duck cloth tents, ‘‘I’m helping with the store.’’
Karen blushed slightly. ‘‘I hope you don’t mind,’’ she said, holding out a lantern for a potential customer to inspect. ‘‘We put her to work. We’ll pay her, of course.’’
‘‘I don’t mind at all,’’ Bill replied. ‘‘I was hoping both Leah and Jacob could find something decent to put their hands to.’’ He wondered silently what Patience would have thought. Would she have been proud to have her able-bodied children working, or would she have been disappointed that he had taken them away from the safety they knew in Devil’s Creek?
We were happy in Colorado, Bill thought. We might have gone on being happy, even if we were poor, had Patience lived. Even if she’d lost the baby they would have grieved, but together they would have made it through. Bill sighed and couldn’t help but think of how it might have been.
Karen returned her attention to the customer. Within a moment she made the sale and stuffed the bills in her apron pocket. ‘‘I could meet you in a couple of hours,’’ she suggested, seeing that Bill was still standing idle.
Bill hadn’t realized how quickly he’d allowed his mind to wander. It took very little to find himself drifting back to Colorado and happier days. ‘‘Two hours would be just fine. How about we mee
t out back behind the tent?’’
‘‘Sounds good.’’
For the next two hours Bill attempted to think of various things he might say. He wanted to appeal to Karen’s friendship with Leah. The two had formed a steady bond since Karen first offered to school Leah. They were often together, especially when Bill and Jacob headed off in the early morning hours to help with road improvements to Skagway. Leah liked Karen a great deal, and Bill couldn’t help but wonder if she’d been seeking to fill the void left by Patience.
But while Leah was close to Karen, Jacob was close to no one. Not even to Bill. He rarely talked and was always moody. He wanted nothing more than to be left to himself. The boy was hurting, but certainly no more than Bill. It was impossible to help someone with their speck when the log in your own eye was blinding you to their need. Jacob had said very little since his mother’s death. He’d been faithful to see to Leah’s safety, but other than that, he was clearly not the same vibrant boy who’d pleasured their household some months earlier with tall tales of adolescent feats.
But then, Bill wasn’t the same happy-go-lucky father, either. Patience’s death had taken a big toll on all of them. The children mourned their loss of a mother, and Bill mourned the loss of his heart and soul. Patience had been his anchoring stone. She had kept him from being too headstrong or self-serving. Patience would never have approved the trip north, but then, if Patience had lived, they probably would never have thought to join in such chaos.
[Yukon Quest 01] - Treasures Of The North Page 15