Brides of Alaska

by Peterson, Tracie;

  Gently, she pulled the door closed and went to August. “Seeing my children at rest has to be the most precious moment of the day. I never fail to be amazed at the comfort and joy it gives me,” Beth said, taking August’s hand in her own.

  Thinking they would be helping to clean up the dishes, Beth registered surprise as August maneuvered her past Hazel with a wink and out the back door into the chilly night air.

  They walked hand in hand for several yards, enjoying the solitude of the moment. Beth felt a peace she hadn’t dared hope for after JB’s death.

  Pausing, she turned to face August. “I want to thank you for all you’ve done—especially coming to me in Fairbanks. I think I would have fallen apart if you hadn’t been there.”

  August’s dark eyes stared down at her for a long time before he spoke. He was eager to make Beth his wife, yet there seemed so much that had gone unsaid between them. “I needed to be there,” he finally whispered, “as much as you needed me to be there.”

  Beth silently hoped that August would take this opportunity to propose to her. She felt light and airy, and her heart was fairly flying on wings of its own. Surely August felt the same.

  Leading Beth to the long bench he had made for evenings such as this one, August searched for the right words to speak what was on his heart. “I brought you out here for a purpose,” he began. “I needed to tell you something and explain.”

  Beth’s brow furrowed. This didn’t sound like the beginning of a marriage proposal. “What is it, August?”

  “I’m going back to Nome,” he replied.

  Beth felt her chest tighten. Her mind whirled in a thousand directions as she wondered what August meant by his words. She gripped the arm of the bench and forced herself to be silent. Had she misunderstood his words in Fairbanks? Didn’t he intend to marry her after all?

  “I have an entire life back in Nome that you know nothing about,” August explained. “I have a sister and a lifetime of mementos, not to mention a dogsled team to rival any in the territory.”

  August’s words held such longing that Beth couldn’t maintain her silence. “You’re leaving us?” She dreaded hearing the answer.

  “Only to get my things,” August said with a grin. “You can’t get rid of me that easily. I don’t intend to be gone a moment longer than is necessary to pack my sled and mush my team back here.” August noticed Beth’s look of concern. “You didn’t really think I’d leave you for good, did you?”

  Beth shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t know what to think. I mean, I knew how I felt, and I thought I understood how you felt, but—”

  “But then I told you I was going to Nome,” August interrupted, “and you started to worry?”

  “Nome is hundreds of miles away,” Beth said, feeling little relief that August intended to return. “So much could happen to you on the way back. There’s so much open, empty space between here and there. What if you have an accident or a storm comes up?”

  “I’ve traveled those trails hundreds, even thousands of times. I know every inch of land between Nome and Nenana. Nothing is going to happen to me,” August insisted.

  “I wish you didn’t have to go,” Beth replied honestly. “I’ve said too many good-byes.”

  “Then we won’t say good-bye,” August stated firmly. “You could come with me. Mrs. Miller could watch over the roadhouse. We could fly to Nome and drive the dogs back together.”

  Beth shook her head. “I couldn’t leave the boys that long. They need me to be a constant in their lives. They’ve said good-byes, too, remember? And their father never came home again. I couldn’t put them through that, and taking them on the trail would be much too difficult, especially with Gerald just recovered from meningitis.”

  “I guess I wasn’t thinking,” August offered by way of apology.

  “It’s all right. I understand you have to go back, and you understand I have to stay. I guess the thing for me to do is give you over to God once again,” Beth said, fighting tears that threatened to spill from her eyes.

  “Who better to place me with?” August said, putting his arm around Beth’s shoulders. He lifted her face to meet his and spoke with such tenderness that Beth thought her heart would burst. “I love you, Bethany Hogan. I’ve loved you for so long now, I don’t remember a time when I didn’t love you. And I love your children as if they were flesh of my flesh. I want to be a father to those boys, and I want to live my life in the warmth of your love.”

  Without waiting for her reply, August lowered his lips to kiss her long and deeply. He felt her tears fall against his cheek as she clung to him.

  When he lifted his face, August was surprised to find Beth smiling. “Tears and smiles?” he questioned. Gently he brushed away a glistening drop from her face.

  “I love you, August,” she whispered in a voice more composed than August thought possible, given her reaction to his news. “I know your trip is necessary, but I wish you didn’t have to leave me for so long.”

  “I’ll be back before you know it, and when I return, I’ll bring my mother’s wedding ring and marry you. That is, if you’ll have me,” he added with a broad smile.

  Beth reached out to push back his dark hair. The light from the moon illuminated his face as if it were day. “I’ll marry you, August Eriksson. I’ll be your wife, and bear your children, and all of my days I will love you as I have loved no other.”

  Chapter 17

  August spent the final days of the highway project behind a desk. After eight months of tedious work and precarious conditions, the Alaskan/Canadian Highway was completed. Nicknamed “the Alcan” by those who worked it, the roadway was a miracle of cooperative countries and their people.

  Destiny’s road stretched over nearly fifteen hundred miles and constituted the efforts of more than eleven thousand individuals.

  It wasn’t much to look at, August decided as he flew from one isolated airstrip to the next, surveying the wonder from the air. Little more than a dingy brown ribbon, it wove its way through the countryside. Occasionally, strips of gray or blue indicated a lake or river, while either side of the narrow highway was lined with dark spruce forests and snow-filled permafrost meadows.

  The army was pleased with the accomplishment. The road provided a way to transport oil and other goods to far north bases, should the shipping lanes become too dangerous. But an unanticipated benefit was what a morale booster the road had become. It proved to two nations and millions of their citizens that they could combine their energies on the home front to aid their loved ones serving in battles so far away. It made the people feel important, useful, and necessary for the war effort.

  August smiled as the plane touched down in Northway. This was his final official duty for the project. After great consideration and prayer, August had decided against taking the permanent job offered by Ralph Greening.

  Instead, August had shared with Beth his desire to raise sled dogs and help her with the roadhouse. She had enthusiastically agreed to having him around the house on a daily basis and had even begun to make a list of jobs August could be responsible for. August had laughed when he learned of the list.

  “Good to know I’ll be needed,” he’d ruefully observed.

  The weather had turned cold. Excitement gripped the town of Northway as it bustled with activities commemorating the new highway. But the dropping temperatures and significant snows signaled to August that it was time to go to Nome and retrieve his property. Once done with this, he would settle down to a new life with Beth and the boys.

  August shook his head in amazement, remembering his first day in Northway when he was seeking a job on the highway. The road had given destiny to more than the countries through which it passed. God had used it to bring August his own destiny and a new life.

  Snow blanketed the ground around the airstrip, leaving August to tramp out his own way to the crossroads. He didn’t mind; it reminded him of days out on the trail hunting or checking trap lines. Remembering his f
ather and the home he’d known as a boy, August was filled with longing to return to that life.

  Nearing the roadhouse, August paused in order to take the sight in. Nestled among the tall spruce and leafless aspen and birch was the place he now called home. Black smoke rose from the chimney, contrasting against the gray, snow-heavy sky. The sight warmed August and prompted him to hasten his steps to the family he’d soon call his own.

  Kicking off his snowy boots, August entered the roadhouse through the back door and pulled off his parka to hang it beside Beth’s at the entrance to the kitchen. He was surprised to find Beth and the boys sitting at the table, smiling up at him as if they knew a secret.

  “What?” August asked with a grin. “What are you up to?”

  Phillip and Gerald giggled, while Beth lowered her eyes to keep from laughing out loud. August joined them cautiously at the table and looked on his chair for any sign of a pine cone or other such souvenir of the boys’ mischievous behavior. Finding none, he sat opposite Beth, between the boys.

  “Is somebody going to tell me what’s going on here?” he asked, reaching for Phillip. “Or am I going to have to tickle it out of you?”

  “Don’t tell him, Phillip,” Gerald squealed.

  Phillip laughed in glee as August’s fingers found his ribs. “You’re going to be our daddy,” Phillip laughingly gave up the secret.

  “Mommy said you had to go to your old house and get your stuff, but that you were coming back to live here with us,” Gerald added.

  Beth looked at August with a shrug. “I couldn’t help telling them,” she replied. “And since you never said I couldn’t, I gave in to my joy and let them be part of it.”

  August laughed as he reached out and pulled Gerald to his lap. Holding each boy on a knee, August gave them a squeeze. “And what do you boys think of that?” he asked.

  “We like it!” Gerald exclaimed and Phillip echoed.

  “Well, that’s certainly a good thing for me,” August proclaimed. “I guess I would have had a lot of trouble on my hands if you had said you didn’t want me.”

  “I don’t want you to go, Daddy,” Phillip said with a pout.

  “Me neither,” Gerald agreed. Beth’s expression confirmed that she felt the same way.

  “Look, boys,” August began, “I’m not going to be gone very long, and when I get back I’m going to be bringing my dog team. I’m going to teach you the old-fashioned way of getting around in the snow.”

  “We’ve never had a dog. How many dogs will you bring?” Gerald asked, suddenly interested.

  “I’ll probably bring twenty or so,” August replied. “And twenty dogs are going to be a lot of work. I’ll need extra help from you boys.”

  “Will we play with the doggies?” Phillip asked.

  “Of course,” August answered. “We’ll give them lots of love and care every day. And we’ll play with them and work with them. You’ll see. It’s going to be a great deal of fun.”

  “What about Momma?” Gerald questioned.

  “Your momma is going to have fun with the dogs, too,” August said with a wink at Beth.

  “And it won’t be long, boys,” Beth added, “before you’ll be ready to start learning to read and write.”

  “That’s true,” August agreed. “This roadhouse is going to need a lot of care, too. Your mother has already made long, long lists, so every day will hold plenty of things to keep us busy. And,” August paused, looking purposefully into Beth’s eyes, “I promise I’ll never be away from here for any longer than I have to be, because I love you all so very much.”

  “We love you, too, Daddy,” Gerald said, glancing at his mother. “Momma said we could call you that, if you didn’t mind.”

  August choked up from the emotion surging through his heart. “I would love it if you would call me Daddy,” he replied. “I want very much to be the best daddy in the world to both of you.”

  The boys hugged him tightly around the neck, while August and Beth exchanged a look of love that bound them forever to one another. God is so good, August thought. In His perfect way, God had saved the best in life for the last, and August could not imagine a sweeter future.

  “Why don’t you boys go play for a little while? I need to talk with August—your dad—for a moment.”

  “But he just got home,” Gerald protested.

  “Can’t we stay?” Phillip moaned.

  “Now, boys,” August said, putting them from his knee. “You must always mind your mother and me. Sometimes your safety or lives might depend upon it. Right now, your mom simply wants to talk to me, but obeying her is always important. Do you understand?”

  The boys sobered at August’s serious tone. “Yes, Daddy.”

  With a smile, August broke the somber moment. “Good. Now, you run and play, and when I’m done talking to your mother, I’ll come help you build something with your blocks.”

  The boys scampered off to their room, discussing at great length their plans for the toy building project.

  “You have such a loving way with them,” Beth remarked. “I’m amazed that you’ve never spent much time with children.”

  “There were never any around to spend time with. There was Julie of course,” he said, “but I was a child as well. I’ve always known, though, that I wanted to be a father. I’ve always wanted a house full of children and a home full of love.”

  “I feel like I’ve got so much to learn about you,” Beth said wistfully. “You’ve never told me much about Nome or your sister. It’s another part of you that I know nothing about.”

  August nodded. “Just remember, there’s a great deal I don’t know about you either. But we have all the time in the world.”

  Beth frowned for a moment, remembering the war that engulfed the world. “It’s a rather frightening time. The world is in such conflict. So many young men are dying to give us freedom and a future. It cuts my heart to imagine waving my sons off to war. I pray I never have to know that feeling.”

  “Yes,” August said, remembering that he once wanted to be one of those marching away to war. “I’ve never looked at it quite that way. I was angry at God because He wouldn’t let me be one of those going off to serve. I never thought of how it affected anyone but me. Now that two little boys I love could well face that responsibility, I feel the same way you do. I want to protect them and keep them far from the reaches of such a monster as war.”

  “Do you suppose the world will change so very much in the years to come? I mean after the fighting is over and the men have come home,” Beth questioned.

  “War always changes things,” August said thoughtfully. “I remember reading about World War I. It seemed so far away and unimportant. Somebody else’s war, I thought. Somebody else’s land and people. But it wasn’t that way, and neither is this. We’re every bit as much a part of those who are fighting as they are of us. We give them a reason to fight, a reason to win. They need us, just as we need them.”

  “Is it selfish to want a good life with you and the boys, in the face of the adversity our soldiers are living with?” Beth inquired.

  “I don’t think so. I believe it’s just as they would expect. Life goes on, and just as one war is over, another begins. Whether it’s on a battlefield or in a hospital bed, it’s a never-ending cycle, and God’s hand is upon all,” August replied.

  “Then our destiny is in His hands, and nothing the world does or doesn’t do will change that,” Beth said with new certainty.

  “That it is,” August agreed and added, “A future with God’s loving protection doesn’t seem at all frightening.”

  Beth nodded and reached across the table for August’s hand. His warm fingers wrapped around her own, and Beth knew there truly was nothing to fear. With God and a good man at her side, the challenges of the world seemed to shrink under a shroud of faith.

  Destiny’s road would be God’s road, and though the way might hold pitfalls and obstacles, Beth and August would travel it together, always
guided by the Creator of it all.

  Iditarod DREAM

  Chapter 1

  Rita Eriksson shifted into overdrive and watched the highway miles pass by in disinterested silence. Although she’d been away from her childhood home for over five years, the idea of returning held little interest for her.

  Born Rita Anne Eriksson, she was the last of ten children and the least cut out for rural life. At least that’s what she told herself when she left for college and a degree in nursing.

  She’d spent the better part of a lifetime living forty minutes outside the small town of Tok, Alaska. A town seemingly misplaced in the middle of nowhere, between Fairbanks and the Canadian border. Its claim to fame was dogsledding and touristy native art, but to Rita, its only appeal was the fact that the Alcan Highway ran through it. It was on that highway, shortly after she’d finished school, that Rita took off for Anchorage and never looked back.

  Ignoring the speed of her car, Rita gave anxious thought to her return home. Most of her brothers and sisters had moved away from Tok, although an older brother and his family had settled in town. Her family was seemingly scattered to the four winds, and for Rita, it was just as well. She’d never fit in with any of them and had come along too late for most of them to even bother being interested in her. Her closest sibling, Edgar, was nearly nine years her senior and, being a boy, he had little interest in the surprise arrival of another sister.

  Rita had been only too happy to escape the mundane lifestyle of a home that, until recently, hadn’t even afforded them the luxury of electricity or an indoor bathroom. It might not have been so bad had they lived in town. In comparison to the desolation of the Eriksson homestead, there were many things to do in Tok. But Rita had decided to put it all behind her and be done with that way of life.

  Yet, even though that had been her choice, here she was driving back home at her parents’ urging. Well, not really her parents’ urging, more like her father’s. She’d always felt closer to her father. For reasons that were beyond Rita’s understanding, she and her mother had never gotten along. It seemed that no matter how hard Rita tried, her relationship with her mother only deteriorated to the point that neither of them put much effort into mending the emotional cavern.