An Island Between Two Shores (12 page)

“You’ll feel better starting out with a good feed in your belly,” Drake explained. “Nobody will think anything about it. They all think I’m too young to run a sled.”

“I guess it’s a good idea,” replied Liana, her stomach grumbling. “But we can’t risk being seen together. Instead, why don’t you go and get us something and we can eat it here,” she suggested, handing Drake a nugget. He left the cabin and returned several minutes later with a steaming butter bucket full of beans and a stack of waffles wrapped in a faded cloth.

They sat at the table in the cabin and Drake served two enormous bowls of beans and pork that smelled only slightly less offensive than the slop the dogs had gulped down. A greasy film coated the top of the bowl. Drake ate his in large mouthfuls that he washed down with cups of weak black coffee diluted with evaporated milk. Liana watched in amazement as this wraith of a boy ate bowl after bowl; she could swallow only a single serving before feeling stuffed. As he finished his last helping, Drake used a waffle to wipe his mouth and the dregs, and then hungrily devoured it as well. Leftover waffles went into his pocket.

Drake then began the final preparations as Liana walked out under the darkening sky. The dogs began to howl in anticipation as soon as they saw Drake walking toward the river. The sound was deafening, yet did not draw any attention from the townsfolk, who were used to the cacophony of canines. Liana thought about the wolves and the way they sang in unison.

Walking away from town felt good to Liana. Within ten minutes she was in the darkened forest and away from prying eyes. As she walked she thought about Cody and his small world. The heyday of Dawson City was over, and Liana thought this was a good thing. She followed a trail rutted with footprints and wagon wheels. She covered the few miles with miraculously little effort, and as she approached the forks of the river she could see Drake’s lantern on the Yukon. The dogs were silent.

Drake took off his rucksack and placed it in the sled. “You can sit on that later if you want.” Liana could see the nine dogs attached to the sled in the lamplight. Blue’s head seemed thinner and more angular than it had in town, and even in the lantern light Liana could see she had bright blue eyes. Having Blue in front comforted Liana and she settled into Drake’s confidence that everything was going to be all right.

“I’ll walk in front of them until we get going,” Drake said. “Why don’t you unhook the anchor and walk behind until we’re sorted?”

Liana pulled up the snow anchor and hooked it into the litter. Drake started running the team on a trail along the river. “Jump in!” he yelled. Liana flopped into the front of the sled on the buffalo hides. The team quickly began to pass Drake, who climbed onto the back of the sled as it pulled up adjacent to him and balanced his feet on its skis.

“Gee! Gee!” Drake hollered, and Blue led the team to the right, away from the forest.

Liana looked behind her toward Dawson City. She could make out the faint glow of lights on the mountain ridges behind town. “Good riddance!” yelled Liana. The dog sled glided toward the coast. Liana huddled in her parka and thought about Henry and everything she had gone through. Thanks for sharing your stories, Henry; I haven’t disappointed you.

***

Cody woke early the next day and sat up in the darkness of the arctic morning. Sleeping next to him was one of his “entertainers.” She barely stirred under the heavy quilts as Cody slipped out of bed. He pulled a fur coat over his red, full body long johns and stepped into a pair of knee-high boots he kept next to the door. In the North, women used chamber pots, but men like Cody always used outhouses.

Cody stumbled into the cold twilight and briskly walked along the backyard path to the outhouse. He opened the door, turned, hung his coat on a ten-penny nail, and dropped the buttoned panel covering his behind. He winced at the cold as he sat on the frigid wooden seat. He tried to produce as quickly as possible and within moments was successful. His steaming feces dropped into the abyss but connected with resistance. Instantaneously, a loud snap rang in the morning’s silence. Before he could summon a thought, Cody felt his testicles sever in the metal trap’s teeth. He fell forward into the daylight, drooling a guttural moan, paralyzed by shock and pain. He rocked in the snow momentarily and then mercifully blacked out. The snow at the outhouse door steamed with bright blood. The pale sky above the distant mountains was dull under a bright sliver of sun.

L
iana squinted in the brightness, the wolf’s cry filling her soul. She realized that she was back on the island. In that instant she had lived a lifetime and glimpsed what was possible. She was hurtling over the steely river with her right leg pointed toward the ice on the far side. She shrieked a mad groan as she arced over the gap and away from the miserable little island. She knew she was close to escaping the solitude and the bottomless cold.

As the toes of her right foot glanced the snow on the bank, Liana felt her other leg start to drag into the river. Instinctively she bent her torso toward the forest and tried to grab the ice. Her foot and then leg broke the surface of the river as she madly tried to grasp its hard surface. Her efforts were fruitless; Liana spun backwards and with an angry splash was swallowed by the river.

Liana slumped into the dense cold of the river. The icy water enveloped her with barely a whisper. Her limp body slowly dropped to the bottom and she bounced off the gravel in disbelief. Mercilessly, her body bobbed to the surface, where her face emerged from the river for a single defeated breath. The undulating tide turned her face to the faded sky. She did not try to swim to either shore.

Liana could see the wolf standing at the edge of the forest. His sorrowful eyes met hers with the compassion of a friend. The wolf raised its head to the pale sky and cried a last howl for Liana. She felt grateful for the wolf waking her from her icy slumber and giving her hope and a chance of escape. The wolf soon dropped its head to watch Liana disappear downstream.

Liana drifted down the lead between the icy banks for a few moments. The valley was quiet except for her heavy breaths and the pounding of her heart. Liana thought about her mother and father and Henry and remembered a kinder time.

“I can’t wait to hear your voices again!” she hollered to the sky. Her voice echoed downriver and trailed off into the forest. She closed her eyes and thought about how close she had come to surviving the island. She heard the raven and the wolves and the snowstorm and felt the dull fire in the sky shine on her plaintive lips. Her sallow frame spun in the slow current of the river, and when she opened her eyes she felt the hunger of her heart.

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