Summer of the Midnight Sun

by Tracie Peterson

  She was about to change her clothes and retire when a knock sounded at her door. Apprehensive, she went to the nightstand by the bed and pulled out her derringer. “Who is it?”

  “Dr. Cox,” the man called out.

  She frowned. What did he want with her? Had he thought to come here hoping to change her mind regarding marriage?

  “What do you want?” she asked, still refusing to open the door.

  “I . . . well, that is . . . after you left, a thought came to me. A way to get you to your ship.”

  Helaina tucked the gun in her pocket and opened the door. Dr. Cox stood there, hat in hand. “What are you talking about?”

  “There’s a ship that heads north regularly to deliver the mail. It should be making its way in the next couple of days. At least that’s the schedule it’s supposed to follow. I checked it out.”

  “Go on.” Helaina wasn’t entirely sure this would be her answer, but she had no other leads.

  “I thought you might catch a ride with them. They could take you along as they make their rounds. You might catch up to your ship and be able to join them.”

  Helaina considered his proposal for a moment. “It might work.”

  “There’s something else. I heard from someone this evening that the Homestead planned to stop for a time in Kotzebue. One of the natives from Nome hopes to enlist the help of his relatives and get them to join the expedition to help with hauling and such things. The mail ship will go to Kotzebue.”

  This time Helaina smiled. “Dr. Cox, you have given me renewed hope. Thank you for your kindness.”

  “Perhaps while you are north, you will rethink your position on marriage,” he said, his expression hopeful.

  Helaina didn’t want to encourage the man falsely, but neither did she want to further his pain. “Obviously this is a land of possibilities. One can never tell what Alaska might convince me to reconsider.”

  He grinned and bobbed his head up and down at least ten times. “Exactly. One can never tell. Why, just look at this town. One day there was nothing here but a small village—then gold was discovered and the place swelled with people and things. It’s like that in Alaska. One minute things seem hopeless and without any chance of working, the next they are teeming with possibilities.”

  “I can see that you are right, Doctor. Tomorrow I shall go in search of information on catching passage on the mail ship.”

  He looked at the floor. “Well, good night, then.”

  “Good night, and thank you.” She closed the door quickly, unwilling to give him a chance to speak another word.

  Leaning back, she sighed. This was better than she could have hoped for. A ride north and the Homestead’s delay in Kotzebue just might be her salvation.

  Chapter Ten

  The storm eventually passed, but a thick fog persisted, keeping the party land bound. It would be much too dangerous to try to navigate the waters in such conditions, but their supplies were running low and Jayce was growing progressively worse. The leg was swelling and had turned red around the wound. Leah feared blood poisoning or worse, knowing gangrene was a threat in an injury like this. Leah knew it would cost Jayce his leg if the infection went unchecked.

  During this time, the men often trekked out into the fog to hunt, leaving Leah alone with Jayce. There was nothing anyone could do for him, so it seemed foolish that everyone should sit idle while the camp grew hungry. Leah found that as she sat beside him, the memories poured in.

  In Ketchikan, Jayce had been boyish in charm and nature. He had once climbed a spruce just to impress Leah with his ability. She remembered them sitting together talking about the vegetation and nature of this area of Alaska. It was such a contrast to many other areas.

  “The Yukon was beautiful,” Leah had told Jayce, “but not this lush and green.”

  “It’s all the rain. This area gets so much more moisture through the year. You would think the snow levels would make up for it elsewhere, but it doesn’t. It has to snow a great deal, inches and inches, to even equal a single inch of rain.”

  Leah enjoyed having him tell of places in the interior. “Some people think Alaska Territory, and all they can imagine is snow and ice. But I’ve seen places where the natives grow vegetables larger than any I’ve seen in the States. I’ve spent winters in parts of the territory that were far milder than those I experienced in New York. It’s amazing how we convince ourselves that things should be a certain way—when in fact we have nothing on which to base our assumptions.”

  Like now, Leah thought as she touched Jayce’s forehead. I know in my heart how things should be, but they are not that way at all.

  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 Kinc
aid.

  “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.”