A trail led up the hillside behind the buildings and Alice climbed, deep in thought. If she stayed and made some money first, she could get out. If the madam did not set standards for herself and the other women, she could set her own. It was plain that Rose was too inebriated to notice, no matter what she did.
“It’s not a good idea for you to be up here alone.” Alice looked up and found herself facing Joseph, who was descending the trail.
“There’s bear and worse up here. Not a good idea for a woman alone.”
“Oh.” Alice looked around. “I guess I wasn’t thinking. I just needed to get some fresh air.”
Joseph studied her face and saw her distress. Her features were fine, her eyes a soft brown and her complexion very fair. Her ringlets tumbled from beneath her bonnet and a tiny pair of earrings hung from her ears.
“Things not what you expected at the saloon?” He directed her back down the path.
“Not at all,” she admitted. “I’m Alice, and you’re Amish Joe?”
“Not Amish,” he said shaking his head. “Joseph is right though.”
“Do you live here?” she asked.
“Been here over a year now. I have a claim back up the creek.”
“You’re a prospector then.”
“Yeah, for now,” he replied.
“Do you have a mine or something?” Alice asked.
“No, no mine,” he responded as they reached the bottom of the trail.
“I suppose it’s none of my business.” Alice thought he believed she was prying. “I know nothing about Alaska apparently,” she admitted. “And what I thought I knew is completely wrong.”
“Why did you come?” He turned to face her and folded his arms across his chest. Her skin was fair, he noticed, not at all suited for the Alaskan sun and she looked delicate, like a doll. Her face was exceptionally beautiful and completely out of place against the gravel and clay.
“My mother sent me. She knew Rose a long time ago, but it’s different now.” Alice looked up at the back of the saloon and sighed.
“Did you come to…?” Joseph’s voice trailed off.
“Work for her?” Alice faced him.
“I suppose,” he scowled, sorry he had asked.
“Your friend asked right out. You want to know if I’m a whore.” Alice looked him in the eye.
“Alright, yeah.” He stood up to her question.
“Let’s see,” she said, biting her lip as if in thought. “Yes,” she replied. “My mother ran what was possibly one of the finest houses in the country, maybe even the world. She was partners with a very rich banker and hired only the finest and most beautiful women. That is clearly not the case here. For your information, Not-Amish Joseph, yes. In your description I am a whore. I have rarely been referred to that way, but since I’ve been here it seems to be a recurring definition. If you have gold you can follow me to my room.”
Joseph shook his head slowly. “I see,” he replied quietly. “No, thank you.”
Alice stopped and sighed. “I’m sorry. I suppose I’m rather out of sorts.” She considered that if the local men had such an attitude about prostitution, apparently with good reason, it would not be in her best interest to alienate them. This man before her did not appear to be anyone special, although he seemed to be open and kind, but she did not know the local customs so she tried a new approach.
“Joseph,” she tried again. “This is a very radical change for me. Please accept my apology.” Alice extended her hand and waited.
He looked down at her gesture and took her hand suspiciously. It was her business, he thought, to be nice to men, and more. Her skin was as smooth as the softest chamois and her fingers were light and delicate. He could never remember having a hand this light in his own. He shook it briefly and let go quickly.
Alice noticed that his hand was large and coarsely calloused. Just his leathery palm against her own made her think he must work incredibly hard and her attitude softened more. “If you don’t want to come see me I completely understand. I don’t want to go back inside that filthy building myself.”
“You could probably get a room somewhere else, or a tent I suppose, I mean if you don’t want to go back there.” As soon as he said the words he regretted them.
“A tent?” Alice pointed up the ridge. “Like that?”
“Yes, and you’d need a stove and some cooking things and such.”
“Where do you live? Do you have a tent and those other things?”
“No, no, I have a cabin. Up the pass a ways.”
“Where you’re looking for gold?” Alice asked, her words coming quickly.
“Not exactly.” He looked at her suspiciously.
“Do you know what the woman is like who runs the house?” Alice asked briskly. “Have you ever been in those rooms?”
“No. Well, yes.” He stumbled over the words. “I’ve seen the women, they stand outside sometimes. I haven’t seen the madam since I first arrived. I’ve never been in the rooms. I have a fiancée back home.”
“Oh.” Alice knew his argument well. She had heard it many times. “It’s filthy in there,” she said.
“I think the women there have a den going as well.”
“A den? What kind of den?”
“Opium.”
“Look.” She decided to be frank with him. “I can’t stay there. I have some money, not enough for long, though I can get some wired to me I suppose. I can see you work hard. Can I come with you, to your place? I’m clean, I’m really clean, and I’ll do whatever you like until I can go home. I never dug in a mine, or whatever it is you do, but I could certainly try.” She tried not to sound panicked.
“What?” He was shocked by her question. “You want to come home with me? You don’t even know me. No, no, no.” He dropped his arms to his sides and stepped back.
“Come with me.” Alice took his hand and pulled him behind her.
“I told you that I have a woman back home,” he protested. “I really don’t want to…”
Alice stopped and faced him when they reached the door to the saloon. “I’m not taking you back for that, not to have sex with you. I want to show you something, that’s all. Now please, come with me.”
Joseph scowled and let her lead him through the crowded saloon and up the stairs.
“She’s got Amish Joe!” A voice called up from the saloon floor.
Joseph growled as Alice shoved him through the door of her room, closing it behind them.
“I’m telling you I don’t want to,” he protested.
“Look around you. Just look!” Alice struggled with her resolve as she nearly choked on the words.
Joseph cleared his throat and looked around the room as she had asked. He knew what living in a rustic environment meant, his cabin was certainly that, but these conditions were entirely different. The room reeked of vomit and urine and he thought he detected the metallic odor of blood. There was no window, only a bed that was not much more than a dilapidated cot, certainly not suitable for sleeping. He tried to imagine what it would be like for a woman to have sex with a perfect stranger in this room. The only light was what shone in through the chinks in the wall. Suddenly he felt ill.
“I don’t even know you. I know that,” Alice said quietly. “You might not care for my profession, but I must tell you that I know men. You are a good man. I can tell by looking at you. Please don’t make me stay here. All I ask is that you give me a place to get a good night’s sleep. I’ll do whatever you ask. If you don’t want me for sex then I’ll work. Whatever you want. Please.”
Joseph ran his hand over his face and down along his beard. “This is a bad idea.”
“Your rules. Please,” she whispered.
“Just until you can get out of here, right?” He looked at her soft face in the dim light.
“Right. However you want it,” Alice assured him.
Chapter Three
Alice tried to figure the best way out of the house. One of her bags
sat on the filthy floor, but she had left the others in the back hall where there was a window. She knew that if she just walked out, Rose would not take it well and she quickly tried to devise a plan.
“This is what I need you to do.” She took the hat from Joseph’s head, ruffled his hair and put it into his hand. She noticed that, although he was unshaven and his clothing was worn, his hair was soft and clean.
“What are you doing?” Joseph was certain she had gone completely mad.
“Trust me. If they see me leave with you it could be an issue. Just do as I say.”
“Wait a minute. What exactly am I getting myself into here?”
“Please, Joseph, just trust me. I know you’re helping me and I don’t want to be a problem. This is what I need you to do.” Alice pulled his shirt tails from his trousers haphazardly and reached to ruffle his beard. “I want you to walk out. Just walk out. Maybe look a bit guilty. You know.”
“Let them all think I…?” He shook his head vehemently. “I have a fiancée.”
“We didn’t do anything, Joseph. While you’re walking out and they’re thinking you were with me I can get my bag out the back way and leave. I need you to do this.” Alice looked him up and down, turned and pulled a bright lipstick from her handbag and rubbed it onto her lips.
Joseph watched her, deciding when he did leave he would just keep going. Alice stood up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek and pressed her lips onto his and stepped back.
Joseph stood, lost for words.
“Perfect! You look quite… well, loved up.” Alice said. “Now go downstairs, go around and meet me out back.” She yanked open the door and putting both hands against his back shoved him onto the balcony. When she heard the cheer she knew the crowd had bought it.
Joseph faced the closed door to the room and then turned and faced the barroom. He scowled in anger and stomped down the stairs while the patrons applauded.
Alice ducked down the hall with her bag as all eyes were on Joseph and gathered her other bags on the back stairs.
When he rounded the building Alice ran up to him from behind the saloon and grabbed his arm.
“No!” he hollered. “This is madness. Absolutely not. You’re on your own.”
Alice froze and her heart began to pound.
“No, no,” she pleaded. “Please. You must take me with you.”
“You just humiliated me in front of the entire town,” he spat.
“I had to. Oh, please, Joseph, you have to help me. Here, I’ll carry my own things, I’ll just follow. We have to go before someone sees us.”
Joseph shouted, “No!” and began to walk away.
Alice quickly decided she could not manage all of her luggage and tossed two bags behind a pile of rock and scrub brush. She grabbed the other and lifted it as best possible, running to catch up with him as he stormed up the path.
“I’m telling you not to follow me,” he growled without turning back.
Alice hoisted the bag as high as she could and tried to keep up, one hand holding up her skirts.
He stopped at the crest of the climb and turned, glaring at her as she hurried along. She’d fallen several times and her dress was now very soiled and her palms were grazed from catching herself.
“Go back down,” he said firmly.
“I can’t. Please,” she pleaded.
“You just don’t listen do you?” he snapped.
Alice stood silently. His anger was not dissipating, but she could not retreat and she waited for his wrath.
“Do you think I am playing a game?” he asked through clenched teeth.
“I do not,” she replied.
“Then why the charade? I have never been so humiliated in my life. I told you I have a fiancée. The whole damn reason I ever came here is to make some money so I can marry her. Do you think she’ll have anything to do with me if she thinks I’m sleeping with whores?”
“Joseph, listen,” Alice said calmly. “If I leave and they know where I am, they could come for me or worse. They do that sometimes with prostitutes. Rose might think she owns me now. Nothing happened between us. You and I know that. What would your fiancée think if she thought you abandoned someone who needed your help?”
“If it was a whore I was leaving she would likely think it was the right thing to do.”
Alice sat down on her suitcase and sighed.
Joseph threw up his hands and stomped around the clearing. “This is not what I wanted.” He turned to her and grunted.
“I understand,” she replied quietly.
“Now everyone thinks I went to see you and now you’ll be up at my cabin, living there.”
“No one should know that. No one can know that,” she sighed.
“This is not part of the plan. I just want to find some gold and get the hell out of here and back to my store and get married. I just need enough money that I don’t have to hear her father talking about how I’m nothing. That’s all,” he ranted.
“You mean nothing, like a whore?” she asked quietly, her lips quivering. She was both angry and terrified. Alice looked into his eyes and saw his face soften.
“Yeah, like that,” Joseph sighed.
Alice looked up at him and a single tear rolled down her cheek leaving a pale streak along her face, a sad contrast against her determined expression.
Joseph thought she looked like a wounded sparrow. Maybe the old prospectors were right about them being doves, he thought.
“Where are your other bags?” He looked around noticing for the first time she only carried the one.
“I left them behind the saloon, in the bushes.”
Joseph didn’t know much about women, but he knew they didn’t like to lose their precious things.
He grabbed her by the arm, picked up her bag with his other hand and pulled her behind a pile of rocks. “You stay right there. Do not move. If an animal comes along sit perfectly still. I’ll be right back.”
He stomped down the trail, grabbed both her bags and then hurried back. When he returned he found Alice sitting quietly right where he had left her.
“No crying and keep up,” he said as he gathered all of her bags and turned off the trail.
They walked for nearly two miles and Alice was certain she would collapse. Her footwear was appropriate for sitting prettily in a lush parlor, but not at all suitable for the mountainous climb. When they reached a high point on the mountain ridge she struggled to catch her breath, nearly doubling over in pain and exhaustion.
Joseph pulled a tin cup from his pocket, filled it from the chilled stream and offered it to her. Alice looked up and thanked him softly and drank down the fresh water with appreciation. She gazed out over the landscape and caught her breath.
“It’s beautiful,” she gasped. “You can see for miles.”
The wide river meandered below along the valley, a clear crystal blue against the dark green pines that covered the hillsides. In the distance the mountain range was still covered in expanses of crisp white snow. The clouds cast dark shadows that moved slowly along the valley floor.
Joseph stepped up beside her and looked out over the land. “I’ve been all over and never seen anything like it.”
“Montana is beautiful too, but this is different. The mountains are lovely and the colors in the distance are very striking.” Alice looked up at him and smiled.
Again he was taken with how out of place she looked with her hair pulled up in curls on the back of her head. But now her face was quite dirty and her dress was as well. Joseph shook his head. He had to get her home he decided. He could not imagine that she would survive long here in rugged Alaska.
As they continued on to his cabin it occurred to him that she might be after his gold somehow. It had only been recently that he had made a find of any amount. He wondered if her arrival was not an accident, but then quickly dismissed the idea. Word traveled slowly to the outside world.
“When did you leave Montana?” he asked.
�
�In the fall. I ended up wintering in Seattle. I didn’t know everything froze up so much.”
Joseph was certain she had not come there for him or his gold.
“Why Alaska?” he asked as they walked through the woodland.
“My mama knew the Madam down there, from a long time ago. I haven’t seen her since I was fourteen.”
When they reached a wide stream, Alice stood on the bank and tried to imagine how she might cross. Joseph leapt from stone to stone easily, but Alice was certain she would have to take it more cautiously. She chose only dry rocks whenever possible, stepping onto them with one foot and then the other. Then she stood there planning her next step. When Joseph did not hear her behind him he turned to see her far below, still picking her way across the creek.
He shook his head, set down the baggage and strode down the trail, crossing the creek until he was beside her. He considered taking her hand but decided otherwise.
“Hold on.” He scooped her up into his arms, put her over his shoulder and bounded across the stream. Joseph could not help but notice that she weighed practically nothing.
Alice clung to his shoulder completely frightened at first, but by the time they had reached the opposite bank she was giggling uncontrollably.
“Oh heavens,” she laughed. “That was fun!”
Joseph looked at her oddly but was quickly caught up in her infectious laughter.
She saw his eyes crinkle as he smiled for the first time and she was completely taken with how gentle and kind he looked. Alice smiled at him warmly.
“Have you always had your beard like that?” she asked.
“No, but it’s best up here.” He cleared his throat and retrieved her bags.
After another mile Alice’s legs felt as if they would crumple beneath her and she sat down on a large boulder and swayed slightly. “Joseph, please. I need to stop. Just for a moment.”
He turned and took a breath. “It’s not much farther.”
“That’s good, but please just give me a moment.”
He set down the bags and sat a few feet away, his elbows on his knees, waiting impatiently.
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