Rivers of Gold (3 page)

“We’ll just have to make the best of it,” Karen finally replied. “I know Adrik doesn’t want us here any more than we want to be here.”

“Of course not,” Grace agreed.

“Don’t worry, Grace,” thirteen-year-old Leah Barringer encouraged. “We can make things real nice for you and the baby. You’ll see. Jacob said he’d build you a cradle. He remembers when Pa made one.”

“Your brother has his hands full, chopping enough wood to keep us warm,” Grace said with a smile. “But I appreciate the thought.”

“At least it’s warmed up some,” Leah offered. “It’s not nearly as cold as it was in November.”

“That’s for sure. I hope I never see forty below again,” Karen commented. “A person can hardly move away from the stove for fear of their blood freezing in their veins.”

“Yes, it’s much warmer now. I heard Adrik say this morning that it was clear up to five degrees above zero,” Grace said, turning her attention back to her sewing.

“A veritable heat wave,” Karen said, laughing. She wrung out the last of the laundry and hung it over the line. “We’ll just pull together. I know this isn’t what any of us imagined, but since Christmas is nearly upon us, we should plan for some sort of celebration.”

“The Catholic church needs folks to sing in the choir for the midnight mass on Christmas Eve,” Leah offered.

“We aren’t Catholic.”

Leah looked to Karen and shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. They said they’d take anybody they could get. Apparently the other churches help them out on Christmas Eve, then the Catholics come and help out on Christmas Day with our church. I guess they just want it to sound pretty for Jesus’ birthday.”

To Karen, the idea didn’t seem like such a bad one. It was a pleasant thought to imagine churches joining together to offer each other support in spite of their differences. “I suppose we could go sing with them on Christmas Eve. I’ll speak to Adrik about it.”

“Jacob won’t want to go. He can’t sing. He says that Ma and I were the only ones who were blessed with that talent. He and Pa couldn’t carry a tune no matter how hard they tried.”

Karen noted the twinge of sorrow in Leah’s voice. Her mother had died prior to the family’s coming north, and her father was believed to have died in an avalanche near Sheep Camp. The child had no one, save her brother, Jacob, to call family. Karen loved the girl, however. Her brother, too. Karen had become a surrogate big sister and mother allrolled into one. She had made a promise to herself and to God that she would care for these children until they were grown and able to care for themselves. It seemed a companionable arrangement, and they offered each other comfort in the wake of each tragedy.

And the entourage had known their share of sorrow. Karen had come to Alaska in hopes of finding her missionary father. He had died before they could be reunited. Grace had lost her sister-in-law, Miranda, during a storm on Lake Laberge. This had also been a huge blow to the morale of the party—especially to Adrik’s friend Crispin Thibault, who fancied himself in love with Miranda. Crispin had long since parted their company—seeking his solace in a bottle of whiskey rather than God. He was one more casualty of the gold rush as far as Karen was concerned.

The frozen north was well known for exacting its toll. Families all around them had suffered loss. Babies and children died from malnutrition and exposure to the cold. Women died in childbirth, and men were often injured while working to mine their claims. Death was everywhere. It was the one thing that truly bound them all together—even more so than the gold.

“Isn’t there some sort of town Christmas party planned?” Grace questioned. “I heard one of the nurses talking about it when I was over to the hospital the other day.”

“Yes, there are plans for quite a shindig,” Karen replied. “I suppose that will be the best we will have for a celebration. There’s hardly opportunity or means to exchange gifts and certainly no room to put up a tree in here.”

She looked around the room. The eighteen-by-twentyfoot tent had seemed so big when Adrik had managed to trade their smaller two tents for this one. Now, the walls seemed to have moved closer together. They had five people living in a space hardly big enough for two. Karen was most anxious to put an end to the adventure.

“So did you get a chance to talk to Father Judge?” Karen asked Grace. Grace had gone to the Roman Catholic hospital to inquire as to the expense for having her baby delivered there by a doctor.

“For all the good it did. He told me it would be one thousand dollars for my hospital and doctor’s fees.”

“A thousand?” Karen asked in disbelief. “That’s outrageous. How in the world can he expect us to come up with that much money?”

“We can’t,” Grace replied sadly. “Apparently the hospitals are poorly equipped for women’s needs. The nurse there suggested I talk to a midwife. So I spoke to a woman who lives just over the river. She can come to the tent and deliver the baby and will only charge me a hundred dollars.”

Karen’s emotions got the best of her. “Prices are so inflated a person can scarcely stand in one place without being charged for it. If we weren’t squatting on this land now, we’d be paying through the nose for rent.”

“Don’t forget what Adrik said,” Leah offered. “Nobody much cares that we’re here right now. The town offers folks more interest because of gambling and drinking. But if they find gold over here or if someone decides it’s worth something, then we’ll be in trouble.” She had quoted Adrik almost verbatim.

“Still, we need the town to survive. We can hardly head out into the Klondike with Grace due to have a baby any day. That would be totally senseless. It’s bad enough that we’re as far away as we are, especially with the river standing between us. Come spring, there will no doubt be problems,” Karen muttered.

“We couldn’t very well afford any of the sites in town. Not that much of anything decent was available,” Grace offered.

Karen sighed and reached up to tie back her hair. “It’s all about money—the love of it is destroying the heart and soul of the people who crave it.”

“Still, we can hardly exist without it,” Grace said, adding, “even if it is hard to come by.”

“We’ll just have to get the money,” Leah said as if by saying the words the money might magically appear.

“Well, I was waiting to share this news until later, but I might as well tell you now. I heard about a job,” Karen announced. “They need a cook at one of the restaurants. They’re willing to pay $150 a month.”

“To cook?” Grace questioned, looking up. “Are you sure about that amount?”

“Very sure. It was only to be one hundred dollars, but that was if I needed room and board. I convinced them that I didn’t, but that I did need the extra cash. We settled on fifty dollars more, and I’ve agreed to take the position.”

“What did Adrik say?” Grace asked, looking to Leah as if she might have the answer. The child in turn looked to Karen.

“He doesn’t know about it—yet. I figured I’d tell him after I hear what news he comes back with this time. If he still hasn’t managed to find us a cabin, then I’ll tell him. We’re running out of money, so someone has to do something. Besides, this is a good amount of guaranteed money. He may well change his mind and want us to stay here.”

“We have plenty of food,” Leah offered.

“Yes, but that won’t last forever. Besides it’s mostly dried goods. Our canned goods are running low and we haven’t had fresh fruits or vegetables in forever,” Karen replied. “And even though Adrik and Jacob managed to shoot an elk and a moose, there are so many other supplies we need. Soap, for one, and that costs a small fortune. I think the job is exactly what we need to help us fill our purses again. I can cook fairly well, and it’s not like I’d be doing the job forever.”

“I suppose not,” Grace said, “but I can’t imagine that Adrik will like the idea.”

Karen thought of her bear of a husband. His large frame often caused folks to shy away, thus, they never learned of his gentle nature. Karen knew her husband wouldn’t like the idea of her having to work to keep their heads above water. Especially when the jobs he’d managed to find while searching for a claim or housing offered so little pay. The real money was in the saloons and gambling houses, and Adrik refused to work for either of those. Karen wholeheartedly supported his conviction.

“He’ll just have to get used to the idea. My mind is made up,” Karen said firmly. “He knows I’m pigheaded. He knew it when he married me. It comes with the red hair and Irish heritage.” She laughed at this, but a part of her was edgy and nervous at the thought of facing Adrik with the news.

In the weeks that followed Miranda’s return to consciousness, she gradually regained her physical strength. The old Indian woman she’d seen in her dreams proved to be a real person—so, too, the handsome man. Her surroundings were unimpressive. A crude log cabin with two rooms kept out most of the wind, but not the cold. A large cooking stove and small fireplace offered the main sources of heat, with a smaller stove in the solitary bedroom on the back of the house. It was in this room that the handsome man spent his nights.

Teddy was most unusual, Miranda had decided. It was evident he loved his work and God, but he seemed interested in little else. He worked until the late hours of the night before retiring and was almost always up and working again before Miranda would rise for the day.

Day. Now, that was a word Miranda thought rather a misnomer. There was no day or very little of it, for darkness surrounded them most of the time. Miranda thought she might go mad at times. The hours of hazy gray light were so few—only four or five at best. How she missed the sunshine and beauty of her San Francisco home. Even a foggy day there would be better than the muted light of the Yukon.

“How are you feeling today?” Teddy asked, barely looking up from the notes he was making as he crossed the room.

Miranda had taken her breakfast at the table and was still seated there, contemplating the dark. “I’m feeling much better, thank you.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Nellie’s returning to her family.”

The words came out without any indication of concern. Miranda looked up, rather stunned. “Leaving? When?”

Teddy shrugged. “Today or tomorrow. She would have returned a long time ago, but …”

“But for me. I’m sorry to have been a burden on everyone. I’m so very grateful for all that you’ve done. Nellie, too.” Miranda had shared her gratitude many times, but each time Nellie had only nodded and Teddy had actually seemed embarrassed—just as he did now.

Teddy turned away from her, but not before Miranda saw his cheeks flush.

“Yes, well. I must return to work. If we’re going to be stranded here, I must accomplish as much as possible.”

“But when will we go to Dawson? I need to find out if my friends survived the storm.” Miranda couldn’t really remember much of what had happened on that fateful day, but she did recall the rolling black clouds and rain. She had a vague memory of being tossed about on the deck of their scow, but little else until waking up in Teddy’s cabin. Had she not been told that she’d most likely been thrown overboard on Lake Laberge, Miranda would have had no idea of what had happened. It simply didn’t register in her memory.

Teddy put his journal aside and threw more wood into the stove. He dropped several pieces and awkwardly bent to pick them up. “I … well, that is to say …”

He turned and met her gaze. Gold-colored spectacles framed his dark brown eyes. Miranda had noticed he only wore them when he was busy with his writing. No doubt the dark wreaked havoc with his sight.

Teddy turned toward the window, as if surveying the weather conditions. “I suppose we’ll be able to head out soon. I’ll ask Nellie to send her son Little Charley over. I’ll talk to him about helping us with the sleds.”

“The snows are very deep, aren’t they?” Miranda asked. She had peered from the doorway on more than one occasion and had been stunned to see the snow-covered landscape. Her hometown of San Francisco didn’t get much snow—certainly nothing like this.

“That’s why we’ll go by sled,” Teddy replied, turning to pull his coat from a hook near the door. “I must see to something. I’ll be back.”

Taking up a lantern, he hurried out before Miranda could make any comment. He was such a nervous sort. Miranda wasn’t entirely sure if it was simply his nature or if she caused him this discomfort.

Getting up from the table, Miranda went to the stove and warmed her hands. She couldn’t help but wonder about Grace and Karen and the others. She prayed they were safe. Prayed they’d not be worried overmuch about her. Teddy said it was nearly Christmas, and last Miranda could remember it had been September.

“They have no way of knowing I’m safe,” she whispered. “They probably have given me up for dead.” It sorrowed her to imagine them weeping over her when she was safe and sound. It sorrowed her even more to imagine they’d not made it through the storm. If she’d been thrown overboard, there was a good chance they had been lost, as well.

Dread washed over her in waves and continued with each new revelation. Mr. Davenport had said that Nellie was leaving. That would mean she’d be alone with a man. A man she scarcely knew. It certainly wasn’t appropriate, yet there seemed to be no choice in the matter.