‘‘What!’’
His father threw him a surprised look, one that seemed to border on concern. ‘‘Do you perceive a problem?’’
Peter shook his head. ‘‘No, not necessarily. I mean . . .’’ He turned away to pace the short distance in front of the fireplace. How could he explain that his father’s ability to handle matters in his absence was causing him to feel rather misplaced?
‘‘Wonderful,’’ his father said, not giving Peter a chance to continue. ‘‘Your mother is quite excited about the prospects of seeing Alaska, as is Miranda. Both find the idea of an adventure to be something quite appealing.’’
Peter thought of Grace’s words and tried not to feel the sting of their truth in the wake of his father’s decisions. His family had once consulted him about everything, and Peter had liked it like that. Perhaps he need only stir the pot with ideas of his own in order to get back some of that control.
‘‘I believe we should build a store for ourselves, Father,’’ he began. Ephraim looked at him quizzically but said nothing. ‘‘I know I haven’t said much to you on the issue, but I set up business in Dyea with three women to keep the store in my absence. They sell goods out of a large tent, but with winter approaching I know they’re concerned about the need for something more structured. I believe we could put a store together and allow them to live in the back portion or even upstairs. They could continue to sell goods and we would net a tidy profit.’’
‘‘What of Mr. Paxton? He’s been most generous and I wouldn’t wish to offend him. Especially now.’’
‘‘I doubt Mr. Paxton would be that affected,’’ Peter replied. ‘‘His store is in Skagway and Dyea is several miles away. Both harbors have gold rushers pouring in, and both have the potential for plenty of customers and business.’’ Peter paused, as if suddenly hearing his father’s words. ‘‘What do you mean, ‘Especially now’?’’
Ephraim tossed back his brandy and wiped his blond beard. ‘‘Well, that’s the surprise I’ve been waiting to tell you about. Mr. Paxton has invested a good deal of money in Colton Shipping. We’re to receive a new steamer next spring, and if business continues well we can have that paid off and perhaps even purchase another before summer is out.’’
‘‘Wait a minute,’’ Peter said, coming to where his father stood. ‘‘What are you saying? Have you signed some form of agreement with Martin Paxton?’’
‘‘I have.’’
Peter felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. ‘‘What kind of agreement? Why didn’t you wait to consult me about this?’’
His father eyed him rather intently. ‘‘Son, I appreciate the things you’ve done to keep this business up and running, but Martin Paxton is a longtime friend and astute businessman. I trust his word in matters such as this.’’
‘‘But I wasn’t even consulted.’’ Peter knew he sounded like a whiny child, but in truth, his feelings were hurt. What was it Grace had said about his family replacing him?
‘‘Son, this is still a family business. I didn’t mean to leave you out of the discussion, but the matter needed a rapid decision. Mr. Paxton came to me—’’
‘‘He was here?’’
Ephraim nodded. ‘‘He arrived by train nearly a week ago. He left just yesterday. Sudden business, something to do with a search he’d been involved with.’’
‘‘May I at least read the papers you signed?’’
‘‘Of course, my boy.’’ Ephraim moved to the secretary and opened a drawer. ‘‘You’ll find a most generous offer. Mr. Paxton has done right by this family for years.’’ He held the papers out to his son.
Peter would not find any relief in his father’s words until he saw the papers for himself. Taking them up, he immediately began to search for any complications or problems. The investment was most generous, and Paxton himself was taking on the responsibility of securing the new steamer.
‘‘What’s this clause?’’ Peter questioned, coming to a statement regarding grounds for dissolving the agreement. ‘‘This makes it sound as if Paxton is a partner rather than a mere investor.’’
‘‘Well, where the new ship is concerned, he will be a partner. He will be part owner until my debt is repaid. Surely you do not expect the man to put up his hard-earned money without any collateral to support his investment?’’
Peter shook his head. ‘‘No, but neither did I expect you to take on a new partner without consulting your old partner first.’’
‘‘Son, you are still in full control of
Merry Maid
and a full partner in Colton Shipping. I would have consulted you had this been an arrangement that would have threatened that partnership. Consider this a separate arrangement. Paxton and I are partnered in this new ship alone.’’
Peter handed back the papers, feeling completely at a loss. His father had made what appeared to be a very sound business decision without seeking Peter’s help.
‘‘You ask them to seek you for their counsel and direction.
You would preorder their steps, but God has already seen to that
task.’’
Grace’s words rang clear in his memory. He could see her sweet face fixed intently on him, her warm brown eyes watching his every expression as if to read his mind. Was this God’s preorder for his family? Had God tired of Peter’s interference?
Peter shook his head and turned to bid his father goodnight. He didn’t believe God worked that way. The God of the universe surely had more on his mind than to worry over whether or not Peter Colton worked overly hard to have a position of importance in the life of his family.
‘‘I’ll see you at breakfast, Father,’’ he said, suddenly feeling very tired. ‘‘We can discuss the idea of a store in Dyea then, if you feel up to it.’’
‘‘I shall look forward to it,’’ Ephraim assured his son.
Bill knew that with the months quickly giving way to winter, he’d have no chance of getting to Dawson City before spring. Rumor held that it was far easier to get over the Chilkoot Pass on a stairway of ice and snow, but he wasn’t convinced this would be true. He’d been packing supplies for weeks, and with each step up the mountain, he reminded himself that soon he’d be seeing to his own goods and his own way.
He tried not to think about the children. Jacob stared at him with accusing eyes every time he made it back to Dyea, and Leah always fretted over him. The first time he’d gone back to Dyea with his hands all blistered and torn up from the hard labor, Leah had cried and cried. Miss Pierce had dressed his wounds and left him with a new pair of work gloves and an admonition to keep the wounds clean, but even the vibrant young redhead had little comment to make. He didn’t know if she understood his plan or just surmised that he was working through his grief. He felt confident that the children didn’t realize his plan to leave them in Dyea. The idea both comforted and troubled him. How would they react when they learned he was gone? Hadn’t Miss Pierce mentioned Jacob’s involvement in a fight based on his supposed desertion of them?
Even now as he made his way back to Dyea, Bill knew he couldn’t come clean with the truth. If they knew he’d been working to gain money and supplies to see himself north while they waited in Dyea, Bill wasn’t sure he’d be able to leave. He could almost hear Patience’s upbraiding for leaving their children in the care of strangers. She would have given him quite the lecture on his flighty behavior and dreamer mentality. She had before.
He loved and adored the woman who had been his wife, but she had never understood his aspirations, his dreams. He had wanted to give her and the children a good life. He had wanted to give them fine china and sterling silver. He had wanted his wife and daughter to know the feel of satin and silk and his son to stand among the privileged gentlemen of society.
Patience had never cared about any of that—even when he’d managed to obtain it for her for a short time. She had had lovely things and beautiful clothes, but she had been just as content when they moved to a house of less fortune and social grace.
Bill looked up to the fading twilight skies. The feel of winter was in the air—a hard bite that bore into him and urged him to be quick with his plan. The less said the better. He would make like this night was no different from any other.
When the tent store came into view, Bill straightened his shoulders and lengthened his steps. He had no idea what would await him, but he wanted to give every impression of confidence.
‘‘Papa!’’ Leah shouted as Bill approached.
Dressed in a warm woolen coat and mittens and looking years older, Leah discarded the wood she’d been carrying and ran to her father’s arms. ‘‘Are you back to stay? Some of the folks here said we’re due a bad snow.’’
‘‘Well, the work goes on whether there’s snow or not,’’ Bill replied, not willing to give her false hope. He touched her cheek lightly.
My, but you look like your mother,
he thought, and his heart ached all the more for what he planned to do.
Jacob rounded the corner of the tent, his arms loaded with wood. ‘‘Pa!’’ he said in a rather excited tone. ‘‘When’d you get back?’’
‘‘Just now,’’ Bill replied. ‘‘Looks like you two could use some help.’’
‘‘No, we’ve got it,’’ Leah said, leaving her father’s side to retrieve her own discarded pieces. ‘‘You carry things all day. We’ll carry this and you come inside and rest. How are you hands?’’
‘‘Just fine, princess. I told you once they got used to totin’ and fetchin’ I’d be just fine.’’
‘‘I’m sure glad. Karen said they would heal if you took proper care, but without anyone to help you, I wasn’t sure you’d be able to do it all alone.’’ Her voice was animated and cheerful, and Bill could have sworn she had a skip to her step.
Following his happy children into the tent, Bill tried not to think of how they would feel when they learned the truth. Somehow he would have to make them understand he was doing this for them.
Liar!
his own voice echoed in his mind. He looked guiltily at the sale tables and shelves.
I’m doing this for me, not them.
I’m doing this to escape the memories and the pain—leaving
them to ease my own suffering!
‘‘Why, Mr. Barringer,’’ Doris Pierce exclaimed, ‘‘we’d just about given you up for lost.’’
‘‘It’s only been three weeks,’’ he replied. ‘‘I might not have come back this soon had I not come with word of Mr. Pierce.’’
‘‘Father!’’ Karen came into the room just as he mentioned the man’s name. ‘‘What of my father?’’
‘‘Well, he’s stuck in one of the villages. Seems there’s been some kind of epidemic and they’re quarantining the area. Nobody in and nobody out. The Mounties are seeing to it that no one violates this order. They’ve caught a lot of the Indians trying to sneak out, but so far they’ve kept them contained.’’
Karen frowned and her worried expression made Bill uneasy. ‘‘Where did you hear this information?’’ she questioned solemnly.
‘‘Adrik Ivankov.’’
‘‘Is he here in Dyea?’’
Bill shook his head. ‘‘I passed him up around Sheep Camp. He’d talked to your father prior to the epidemic hittin’ the village. This is the first opportunity I’ve had to bring you the news.’’
‘‘Was he all right?’’
Bill shrugged. ‘‘Apparently so. He had plans to settle here in Dyea, in fact was moving out the next day, but the epidemic hit and Adrik figures he probably stayed to help and then got caught there with the quarantine. Now the heavy snows have come up high, and no one knows how bad this has made the trails.’’
‘‘I suppose I shall have to learn better patience,’’ Karen replied with a tone of disappointment.
‘‘This is the place for it,’’ Bill agreed, a hollow tone to his words.
Karen had the feeling that Bill Barringer had something on his mind. All evening he sat silently watching his children. Even after supper, when the dishes had been cleared away and the kids had offered to play rounds of checkers with him, Bill had only given it a halfhearted effort.
Perhaps he was worried. Heaven knew she was worried enough for everyone there. Her father was contained in the middle of an epidemic, and she had no way of knowing if he was safe or in danger.
She tried not to think of her father shivering in the cold of an Alaskan snowstorm. She tried not to think of his dying from measles or whooping cough or whatever the sickness that plagued the village might be. She tried, but unfortunately her imagination ran rampant. Even after the lights had been turned down and they’d settled into their beds for sleep, Karen couldn’t stop thinking. Fear crept over her in a sensation of bleak hopelessness that started somewhere deep in her heart and rippled out in destructive waves throughout her body. Try as she might, Karen could not shake the feeling of desperation that consumed her.
Risking the possibility of waking everyone else, Karen slipped from her bed and put a few more pieces of wood in the stove before slipping into the outer room of the tent. Darkness engulfed her, but it was the eerie silence that frightened her. Even the town seemed strangely silent, which for Dyea was a feat all its own.
Karen moved to the tent flap, thinking perhaps she might just slip outside for a moment. She knew it would be freezing, but grabbing up a wool blanket from the shelf, she decided to risk it anyway. Unfastening only one set of flaps, Karen dodged under the remaining closure and stepped into the icy air.
The cold assaulted her nose and lungs in a way that seemed to temporarily ward off her anxiety. The sky was overcast, muting out the light of the moon. Sighing, Karen stood in silence and wondered what the rest of the world was doing. Back in Chicago, Grace’s parents were probably safe and warm, sleeping in their fine feather beds under warm blankets of goose down. Winters in Chicago could be horribly cold and damp, and no doubt the servants would keep the fires going all night to make certain no member of the family received a chill.
She wondered only momentarily about Martin Paxton. She could only pray that he’d accepted his defeat and moved on to greener pastures. She hated to think of Grace married to someone so hateful and barbaric.
Peter Colton then came to mind, and she knew there was a very good possibility the man would press his interest in Grace. She wondered if he was right for Grace. He seemed to hold no interest in issues of faith and God. In fact, he seemed downright angry and defiant about anything concerning God. Grace would never allow a man to take her away from her hope in Jesus, of this Karen was certain. No, if Peter Colton wanted Grace for a wife, he’d have to come to salvation first. Then her mind went to Bill Barringer and his children. She thought again of how odd he’d acted all evening. His expression seemed mournful, almost as if he were experiencing the loss of his wife all over again. Perhaps the children reminded him too much of his wife. Leah said she looked like her mother, that everyone had told her so on many occasions. Maybe Bill found it difficult to be around the child without growing morose. But Leah was such a joy. In spite of her mother’s death, she was like a fresh spring bud just waiting to burst to life. She loved to learn, and Karen often found her devouring whatever book she could get her hands on, all for the simple love of knowledge.