CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Rescue

August 21, 1900

The force of my hurtling body sent Carlick flying backwards. He flailed at me with his other arm, but I hung on tight. My teeth gripped his wool coat, not flesh. Clamping down harder, I tasted blood. He bellowed like an elk. Suddenly men were upon me, beating me with sticks and rifle butts.

“No, Murphy! Stop! Let him go before they kill you!” Sally threw herself on top of me, receiving several blows on her back.

“Quit! All of you!” Mr. Beamer knocked the men out of the way.

Grabbing my collar, Sally pulled me from Carlick. I let go of his arm, but I couldn’t stop snarling. I was filled with hatred.

Two men helped Carlick to his feet. His face was red with anger as he clasped his arm. “Murphy? That dog is Murphy?” Carlick spat out the words, as furious as I. “Grab him!” He reached under his coat and tore off his belt. “Muzzle him!”

The men pushed Sally out of the way. She pummeled them with her fists and one man had to hold her back. It took four of them to muzzle me, and before they tightened the belt around my jaw, I drew blood on all of them.

“So this is Murphy.” Carlick narrowed his eyes as he swung around to Sally. “Then it appears, little lady, that you have stolen more than gold from me. You have stolen my dog.”

“He is my dog!” Sally retorted as she struggled futilely against the man holding her.

“We’ll see about that.” Carlick reached for my neck. I growled, and the men had to put all their weight on my back to hold me down. His fingers spread my fur by my shoulder. “Ha! Just as I thought. There is my C branded in his flesh. Proof that he is my dog, and you are a thief.”

“Murphy will never be your dog,” Sally snapped. “Here, take my gold.” Wresting her arms from the man’s grasp, she drew the silver vial from around her neck and threw it at Carlick. “It will pay for him.”

With raised brows, he opened the vial and tapped the gold into his palm. “This? This is what you panned from the Snake?” He snorted. “This isn’t enough to keep you out of jail, much less pay for the dog. He stays with me. I’ll need a strong sled dog this winter. But right now I need to teach him who’s the boss around here. Ford!” he shouted. “Get me my whip.”

“No!” Dropping beside me, Sally reached under my collar and dug out the gold nugget. “This will pay for Murphy.” She held it up. It gleamed in the firelight and Carlick’s eyes grew bright with greed.

“Lord, that’s the biggest nugget I’ve seen!” one of the men gasped.

Carlick took the nugget between his fingers and studied it before tucking it in his own pocket. “Well, well. You were lucky. This is probably worth hundreds of dollars. Which is a shame, since you found it on Alaska Gold Mining land. That means the dog is still mine and you are still a thief.”

Ford handed him the whip. Beside me, Sally stared up at him, defiant. “Then you will have to whip us both.”

“Perhaps I will,” he said, snapping the lash.

I rose suddenly to my full height, shaking off the men that held me. A roar rumbled in my throat. I lunged at the men, and they scattered like scared sheep. Then I faced Carlick.

Even with my jaw strapped shut, I was ready to fight the person I hated. I was ready to protect Sally.

Two men stepped from the shadows and flanked Carlick. One had a white beard. The other was younger with a dark mustache. And both had drawn their guns.

I could knock down Carlick. I might even dislodge the belt around my jaw and get in a bite. But I couldn’t defeat a gun. I had seen one bullet fell a full-grown elk.

Still, I crouched, gathering my strength, ready to attack. I was willing to die protecting Sally.

Carlick raised the whip, but the white-bearded man caught his wrist before he could lash out.

“I wouldn’t do that, sir,” the older man said, yanking the whip from Carlick’s grasp. The other man deftly pulled a gun from under Carlick’s coat while aiming his own weapon in the direction of the other men. Arms in the air, the others backed off—except for Mr. Beamer, who came up beside the bearded man.

Sally gasped. “Grandpapa!” Launching herself in the air, she flung herself into his arms. “You came for me!”

“Sally?” the bearded man exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

Dazed, I sank to the ground. Sally knelt beside me and took off the muzzle. “Oh, Murphy. Are you all right?”

I whined and stood, my eyes still on Carlick. But he was no longer paying attention to me. “Who are you and what right do you have to burst into my camp and disarm me?” he demanded.

Sally’s Grandpapa faced Carlick. “I am Judge William Morrow of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. This is Deputy Marshall Harmon Frank. We traveled to Nome to see firsthand the gross abuse of power that the Alaskan Gold Mining Company—consisting of you, McKenzie, and Judge Noyes—has wielded over Nome.”

“It is all legal!” Carlick bellowed. “You can ask Judge Noyes.”

“We intend to.” He pulled out a piece of paper from inside his pocket. “The circuit court has ordered that you and McKenzie are no longer the receivers of any claims. They will revert to their rightful owners.”

“Nobody can take away our claims,” Carlick scoffed. “McKenzie has many powerful friends in Washington, D.C.”

Judge Morrow cut his eyes to Mr. Beamer. “Fortunately we had a man inside your camp who has witnessed you beating and threatening miners reluctant to abandon their claims. His testimony will land you in jail long enough for Washington to learn the truth. And long enough for us to prosecute McKenzie. Frank, tie his hands tightly.”

“Beamer, you traitor!” Carlick lunged at the tall man, but the Deputy Marshall caught him and secured his hands.

“I’ll take this into possession of the courts,” Sally’s Grandpapa said. He reached into Carlick’s pocket and plucked out the nugget.

“That belongs to me!” Carlick sputtered.

“The court will decide,” the Deputy Marshall said.

My head swung back and forth as I watched the men argue. Their words flew past me, but I did not care. Sally was safe, which was all that mattered. She kneeled beside me, her hand on my collar, until Beamer and the second man took Carlick away. Then her grandfather stooped beside us.

His eyes were grave. “You have much to explain, young lady. Your mama has been sick with worry.”

“Mama is still in Nome?” Sally exclaimed.

“Of course. She would never leave you. Luckily I was on my way to Nome with the matters of the circuit court. When I arrived, I found her distraught. We searched everywhere for you, never realizing you would travel this far. Why on earth did you go off on your own?”

“To find gold, to buy a cabin for Mama, so we could stay the winter,” Sally explained. “She threatened to leave Nome, only I’m not going back to San Francisco. I love it here. Besides, I wasn’t on my own. I was with Murphy.”

Grandpapa shook his head in wonder. “The only thing that kept your mama sane was that she knew you were with Murphy. She swore that he would keep you safe.” Smiling, he stroked my head. “And from what I saw tonight, she was correct. Thank you, Murphy, for keeping my adventurous and foolish granddaughter from harm’s way.” Standing, he lifted Sally to her feet.

She stepped on her bad ankle and made a face.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“A slight sprain. From the avalanche.”

His face grew as white as his beard. “Avalanche?”

“Don’t worry, Murphy dug me out. I had my knife and made a splint as you taught me. And really, it was nothing compared to the storm and the wolves.”

“Storm? Wolves?” Grandpapa’s eyes grew wider. “I want to hear the whole story, young lady, but now we must be on our way. There are several boats waiting for us at the dock. I’ll have Beamer bring your packs. You may tell me these hair-raising tales as we travel back to Nome. But then we will not speak of them again. We will tell your mother that you stayed with a friendly miner and his family.”

“That would be lying, Grandpapa,” Sally said.

“It would also be sparing your mother’s heart.”

“Oh, Mama is not as weak as you think.” Using me and her grandfather as supports, Sally began to hobble down to the dock. “Grandpapa, what about my gold nugget?”

He sighed. “At this point, it belongs to the courts until the matter of the Alaska Gold Mining Company is settled.”

“But how will I buy a cabin for Mama?”

“I will be staying in Nome until McKenzie and Carlick are prosecuted. That may take all winter. Perhaps there is a comfortable home that a judge could afford?”

Sally grinned. “Perhaps.” Then her smile faded. “And Murphy?” she asked in a small voice as she laced her fingers in my fur. “Carlick had him branded with his C. Will the courts uphold his ownership?”

Gravely he shook his head. “I don’t know, Sally.”

She stopped in her tracks. “Then I am not going back. Murphy and I will run away. We proved we could survive on the tundra. I would rather live like a wild fox than live without Murphy.”

Grandpapa rolled his eyes. “You are such a stubborn child. Quite like your Grandmama. So you will not return to Nome unless Murphy is yours?”

“Correct.”

“I guess it could be argued that you have been caring for Murphy for months.”

“And add that Carlick was a cruel owner,” Sally chimed in.

Grandpapa nodded in agreement. “Then by the power of the Circuit Court of San Francisco, I do deem that Murphy, your protector, as well as gold mining and pack dog of Nome, belongs to you, Sally Ann Dawson. Is that good enough?”

She shook her head. “I want it in writing with your official seal. Mama will type it up. She loves Murphy as much as I do.”

“And my official seal will do?”

She nodded.

“All right then. Let’s go back to Nome and your mama and get it done.”

“Thank you, sir! One minute, please.” Sally kneeled beside me. Tears suddenly streamed down her cheeks. Since I first met Sally on the beach, I had never seen her cry. I licked the tears from her face, wondering why she was crying now.

“This time it is really true, Murphy,” she said. “Grandpapa has the power to make it so that Carlick can never take you away from me again.”

I did not know Sally’s words, but I knew by her hug that she was happy despite her tears. I whapped my tail from side to side, as happy as she.

“Mama is waiting for us. We won’t have to leave Nome. Isn’t that the best news?”

Yes! I woofed.

“Come on. Let’s go home.” Sally stood. With one hand she held my collar. With the other she held her grandfather’s hand, and together we walked to the boat.

My journey to Nome had started with Carlick. It had ended with Sally. Along the way, I had proven my bravery and helped save Sally, and now I knew that nothing—not moose, bear, storms, wolves, avalanches, or Carlick—could ever separate us.

Because finally I belonged to Sally.

And she belonged to me.