Summer of the Midnight Sun (13 page)

Jayce’s fever raged on, and Leah knew without looking at the wound again that it was festering. She had thought about poking around to dig into the wound for any debris they had missed, but she couldn’t bear the thought of causing Jayce more pain. Especially when it might not be that at all. It could just be a poisoning effect on his system from the saliva of the dogs. So as she prayed, Leah made a poultice using the herbs she’d brought along. She could only hope that it would make a difference and draw out the infection.

As the weather settled on the third day and the heavy clouds moved off to the east, Leah happily relished the sun’s warmth and light. Jacob studied the seas with less enthusiasm. “The water is still very rough. It won’t be easy going, but I don’t know what else we can do. Jayce is getting worse,” he told John and the others.

“The water isn’t that bad,” John said. “We need to get him to Nome, so we go.”

“It’s the right thing to do,” Kimik agreed with his father. “If we stay, your friend might die.”

Jacob looked to Leah. She felt he needed her approval somehow. “I’m not afraid of rough waters. Jayce needs a doctor and medicine that I do not have.”

“Then we’ll go,” Jacob said, his gaze back on the waters. “But it won’t be easy.”

“We will pray,” John said, coming to put his hand on Jacob’s shoulder. “You always say, prayer changes bad times.”

Jacob chuckled. “I always say it when it’s someone else’s bad time. Of course you’re right. We need to pray and trust God to bring us safely to Nome.”

Although the trip was arduous, they reached Nome without further difficulty. John called it answered prayer, and Jacob and Leah agreed. It seemed that God had created a corridor of protection just for them. He hadn’t exactly calmed the seas, but He’d given strength to the men that they might overcome their obstacles.

Leah was relieved to finally have Jayce in the hands of a good doctor—at least she hoped Dr. Cox was a skilled man. She waited impatiently in the front room of the doctor’s establishment and paced back and forth several times, often putting her ear to the door of the doctor’s examination room.

“I’m sure he’ll come talk to us when he knows something definite,” Jacob told his sister. “He took great care of me.”

She looked to where he sat slouched in his chair, arms crossed and looking for all the world as if he might doze off at any moment. How could he be so relaxed?

“I’m worried that I missed something,” she said, looking back to the door. Already it had been an hour. What was taking so long?

“Are you still in love with him?”

The question took her by surprise. Leah thought to quickly dismiss her brother’s words, then shrugged. “I care about him. I have to admit that much. I cannot say that it’s love.” But even as she spoke she knew it was a lie. “All right, maybe I can say it’s love. But I don’t want it to be.”

Jacob narrowed his gaze. It reminded Leah of when he’d assess prey before shooting on a hunt. It made her feel uncomfortable.

“Why don’t you want it to be love?”

How could her brother be so dense? “Because he doesn’t love me in return. I’ve loved him for over ten years. Ten years when I found it impossible to think of anyone else. Ten years of longing for the one thing I could never have.”

“But what if that’s changed? Seems to me Jayce was far more worried about whether you would love Alaska as he did and stay in the North. When I talked to him—”

“You talked to him? When?” she demanded.

Just then the door opened, and Dr. Cox’s short Eskimo nurse emerged. “You can go in.”

Leah forgot her question and rushed past the woman. The doctor stood over an unconscious Jayce, listening to his heart. “How is he?” Leah asked quietly.

The doctor stepped back and pulled the stethoscope from his ears. “I think he’ll rest easier now. The leg . . . well . . . only time will tell. It’s infected, but there was a broken dog tooth imbedded deep. I’m thinking it might be the cause of all of this.”

Jacob came in at this point. The doctor looked to him first and then to Leah. “Any chance those dogs were rabid?”

“No sir,” Jacob said, shaking his head. “No signs of that at all. They were just riled up and didn’t know Jayce well enough. He tried to separate them and got himself chewed up.”

“Well, I’ve done what I can. The next few days should tell us a great deal. You did a remarkable job of caring for him,” he said, turning to Leah. “Did you train in nursing?”

“Not exactly. I have trained with some missionaries, and when I lived in Ketchikan there was a doctor who let me read some of his medical books. And, of course, the natives have taught me a great deal.”

“I see. Well, you probably saved his life. Especially with the onset of the fever. The native willow bark tea is excellent, but I also have some medicine here from the States. I will use it to see which helps him more.”

“When will you know if the leg is saved?” Leah asked hesitantly.

“Should see definite signs of healing in the next forty-eight hours. I’d suggest you get a room and get some rest.”

Leah nodded, but it was Jacob who spoke. “Keep track of what I owe you. If it’s more than this, let me know.” He handed the doctor several bills.

“We will settle up when your friend is recovered,” the doctor said, taking the money. “I’ll put this on his account. Say, how are you feeling these days? Fully recovered from the measles?”

Jacob nodded. “Fit as a man can be. The light bothered my eyes for a time, but I did as you suggested and wore the dark glasses. It helped a great deal.”

“Good. Glad to hear it. Our epidemic was short-lived. So many have already had measles and some of the other diseases, but you always deal with those who haven’t. Especially the children.”

“Will you be with him tonight? I could stay,” Leah interrupted, concerned that Jayce should not be alone.

“No, my nurse, Mary, will come and be with him. I’ve sent her home to let her family know she’ll be here through the night.

She’ll be back shortly. If anything happens, she’ll know what to do. I live in the rooms just in back, so she can wake me easily if Mr. Kincaid should have difficulty.”

“May I sit with him for a while—just until she gets back?”

The doctor smiled. “Of course you may.”

“I’ll go over to the hotel and see if there are any rooms,” Jacob suggested. “I’ll come back for you in a short time.” “Thank you, Jacob.” She met his gaze and knew he understood her heart.

Jacob walked the short distance to the hotel. The temperatures were warming up nicely, and he no longer felt the chill he’d known on his journey from the village. He glanced to the skies before entering the Gold Nugget, and as a result walked soundly into another person.

“Why don’t you watch where you’re going instead of gawking elsewhere?”

He looked at the refined woman and shook his head. “Excuse me, ma’am.” He started to walk around her, but she wasn’t finished.

“I knew this to be an uncivilized territory, but the rudeness in Alaska rivals any I’ve ever known.”

Jacob stopped and looked at her hard for a moment. “Didn’t seem that bad until you got here—maybe you brought it with you.”

She reddened. “You, sir, are an ill-mannered oaf.”

“And you seem to be a spoiled, insulting ninny,” he said, pretending to tip a hat he didn’t wear.

The woman’s mouth dropped open and her arm shot up to slap him. Jacob merely sidestepped her shot, however. “If you want to be good at that, you’ll have to learn not to telegraph your punch.”

He walked away feeling rather amused by the stunned expression on her face. No doubt she was some fancy woman from the States, come to Alaska following a gold-sick husband or brother. He’d seen it before, but really didn’t care to see it again. He could never really understand why people had to get so riled about little things. He’d meant the woman no harm, yet she acted as though he’d singled her out for an assault.

————

Mary returned shortly and helped the doctor move Jayce to a bed in another room. The infirmary held two other beds besides the one occupied by Jayce. It was a small but sufficient space that seemed much more personal than the hospital. Still, Leah worried that the hospital might have been better equipped to deal with the situation. She prayed they’d made the right decision in coming to Dr. Cox.

Leah remained at Jayce’s side while Mary cleaned the surgical area where the doctor had worked on Jayce only moments before. She hummed a tune that Leah didn’t recognize, and that, along with her clanking and clunking around, unnerved Leah. Here, poor Jayce was on his sickbed, possibly dying, and somehow it seemed unfair that life would just go on without worry or concern as to whether or not he made it.

She reached for Jayce’s hand, then quickly tucked it back under the covers. If someone came in and found her holding his hand, they might think it odd. And if Jayce woke up to such a thing, he would definitely find it strange.

Leah heard the doctor speak to Mary in a hushed manner. No doubt he was giving instructions to her before retiring. Leah then heard commotion in the other room and knew that Jacob had probably returned. She sighed. It was time to go. At least for now.

“How’s he doing?” Jacob asked as he joined her. The doctor was right behind him.

“He’s breathing evenly and seems to be at rest. I suppose only time will tell the full story. I only pray we might have a happy ending.”

“Prayer is a good way to see that through,” Dr. Cox said, smiling. She held his gaze for a moment before getting to her feet. “I’ll see you in the morning, then.”

He seemed to sense Leah’s reluctance to leave. “I assure you he’ll sleep through the night. I gave him a heavy dose of medication.”

“Come on, Leah. I’m starved. Let’s get some supper.”

They left the doctor to his business and headed to a restaurant they’d eaten at on several other occasions. The place had been called Lady Luck in the gold rush heyday, but now it seemed the lady had lost her fortune. The structure cried out for restoration and attention, while inside there appeared to be a moderate number of people willing to overlook her dilapidation.

Once they were seated for dinner and had placed their orders, Leah took the conversation back to when the nurse had interrupted them when she opened the examination-room door. She’d been unable to think of little else. “You said you talked to Jayce. I want to know about this.”

Jacob’s attention was fixed on a caribou steak. Unfortunately for him it was on the plate of the man at the next table. “I don’t remember every word, Leah. I talked to him and asked him to leave you alone—not hurt you again.”

“What did he say about that?”

Jacob shrugged. “He didn’t understand. He thought you were being unreasonable—after all, it had been ten years.”

“Time shouldn’t matter.”

“I told him as much. He said something about how young you were then and how he loved Alaska and intended to stay and explore and he figured we’d both be gone before long.”

“I gave him no reason to believe that,” Leah said, her anger mounting. No one made her feel more confused than Jayce Kincaid.

“And he figured he gave you no reason to believe there could be anything more than there was between the two of you.”

“Of all the nerve. He made me think he cared,” Leah said, crossing her arms. That familiar white-hot flame burned somewhere deep in her heart. “He knew how I felt. He had to have known.”

“Maybe not,” Jacob said, shaking his head. “He really seemed to be genuinely puzzled by your anger toward him.”

“So now you’re taking his side?” Leah questioned.

“I didn’t know we needed to pick sides,” Jacob countered. “Look, I came here to eat—not fight. Besides, I think Jayce—”

Leah got up from the table and threw down her napkin. “I have lost my appetite.”

She stormed from the room, knowing even as she did so that her actions were childish. Jacob didn’t deserve her wrath. Frankly, no one did. It was her fault entirely that she couldn’t seem to put the past to rest.

“I don’t understand,” she muttered. “I don’t know why this can’t just pass from my heart and leave me alone.”

The front door flew open easily as Leah fled the restaurant, ploughing headlong into a woman. “Oh, bother,” Leah said, reaching out to keep the woman from toppling backward. “I’m so sorry.”

“People here seem to make a habit of running others over,” the woman replied in a refined tone. “But I suppose there’s no harm done.”

It was then that Leah noticed the woman was white. The revelation seemed to hit the other woman at the same time.

The woman’s attitude immediately changed. “You’re white. How wonderful to see another white woman.”

Leah steadied her emotions. “There are a few of us here in the territory.”

“I wasn’t entirely sure that was true.” She extended her hand. “I’m Helaina Beecham.”

“Leah Barringer.” Leah was beginning to remember her reason for the rapid departure from the restaurant. She felt rather embarrassed by her escapade. “If you’ll excuse me.”

“Wait, please. Would you mind telling me . . . do you live here?” Helaina questioned.

“No. Actually I live in a village northeast of Nome. Up on the Bering Sea. We had to bring a wounded man to the doctor. What about you? You sound as though you’re new to Nome.”

“Indeed I am. I wasn’t to be here at all, in fact. I was to join an exploration group in Seattle, but I missed my boat. Then when I tried to catch up with them here, I was once again too late.”

Leah frowned. “An exploration group?”

Helaina nodded and put a hand to her hat. “Goodness, is it on straight now?” she asked, pushing it toward the center of her head.

“Yes,” Leah said nodding. “Are you by any chance part of the
Homestead
group?”

Helaina halted her adjustment and looked hard at Leah. It seemed her entire demeanor had changed. “Are you familiar with them?”

“Yes. Some. I know they are heading north to map out Arctic islands and study the geological findings. My brother was asked to join the group because he raises and handles dogs.”

“I see.” Helaina seemed to relax just a bit, but Leah could tell the woman was still rather stirred up about this news. “I wonder if I know your brother. Why isn’t he with the
Homestead
now?”