Feeling as if he were swimming through mud, Erik fought to free himself from a weighted darkness. He became aware of bitter cold and tried to open his eyes, but they felt heavy. He blinked and bright sunlight pierced his sight. He clamped his eyes shut, squinted them open again, and attempted to bring fuzzy images into focus.
A tree limb arched overhead and gauzy clouds reached across a blue sky.
He ran his tongue over cracked lips. Where was he?
What was he doing lying in the snow?
His vision cleared, and he realized he was sprawled out across a snow bank near one of his traps. Why am I here? What happened?
He rolled to one side and his skull exploded with pain. He groaned and grabbed his head in his hands, hoping the pressure would ease the throbbing. It did little to help. Gingerly he reached inside the hood of his parka and touched the side of his scalp. His hair felt damp and matted, and a large knot had risen up beside a gash. He pulled his hand away. It was stained with blood.
When he pushed himself upright, a wave of pain and nausea crashed over him. The world spun and blackness threatened to envelop him again. He fought against it. If he gave into its invitation, he would never leave the frozen wilderness.
He hugged his heavy clothing more tightly about himself. It’s too cold. I can’t stay out here. He staggered to his feet. “I’ve got to get back to the cabin.” His head spun and he braced himself against a tree until the earth stopped whirling. The dizziness lessened.
He looked over the white landscape. It seemed peaceful enough. The sky was mostly clear, but the sun gave off little warmth. It glinted off something nearby.
His rifle half-buried in the snow.
Whoever hit me missed this. How? When he reached to pick it up, the pain in his head stabbed at him. He slowly straightened.
Erik surveyed his surroundings. Who had hit him and why? Sled tracks and a set of prints led in the direction of the cabin. Another set of tracks overlapped those, only they led toward the east. They were made by someone wearing snow shoes and two sets of smaller prints made by mukluks.
Anna! Iya! Alarm overrode Erik’s pain as he scanned the horizon. It was empty—silent. I’ve got to find them. His first impulse was to set out after his friends. He headed toward the trail, but several faltering steps later, common sense came to the fore and he stopped. If he hoped to help Anna and Iya, he needed supplies and to exchange chilled clothing for something dry and warm.
Even as he envisioned Anna and Iya being brutalized by an unknown intruder, he forced himself to turn back toward the cabin. Driven by a sense of urgency, he ignored his throbbing head and pushed toward home.
The cabin door stood ajar.
He stopped and listened.
Still as death.
He crept toward the doorway and peered inside.
Empty.
The room was nearly dark, but the dim light revealed a ransacked room, emptied of most of his furs and supplies.
When Erik stepped inside, he wasn’t met by the usual blast of warm air. The embers in the hearth were dying and a pot of stew resting over the fire was cool. Anna must’ve made this before ...
Erik couldn’t finish the thought. He shivered as he built a hot fire, set the stew and a pot of coffee on to cook, and stripped off his clothing. Waiting for the coffee to heat, he pulled on two extra pairs of wool pants and a heavy shirt. He allowed the coffee to cook for only a few minutes, then poured himself a cup of the steaming hot beverage. Holding his mug with both hands, he stood close to the hearth.
Questions and horrifying possibilities tumbled through his mind. No, he could not think of what might be happening. Instead, he would plan how to find Anna and Iya and rescue them.
After downing a second cup of coffee and eating his fill of the stew, his chills subsided. He threw together a small batch of food along with extra ammunition and put on several layers of warm clothing. He slung his rifle over his shoulder and strode out the door, his only thought— rescuing his two friends.
As he set out across the stark countryside, the images of what Anna and Iya could be going through returned in a flood. A mix of horror and rage consumed him. He’d seen enough brutality, enough death. Memories from the war bombarded him—the smell of gun powder, the sound of cannon blasts and screams of dying men.
Anna and Iya were not going to be brutalized. He wouldn’t allow it.
The trail was fresh. If the weather held out, he’d find them. He glanced at the sky. Still clear. If the tracks told the truth, there were only two men. No problem if he could take them by surprise.
Relentlessly he moved on, following the trail that snaked through the forest and across open fields of snow. Icicles formed on his mustache and beard. Occasionally, he’d brush them away. Weakness and fatigue tried to drag him down, but he refused to give in, continuing to push on, closing the distance between himself and his enemies.
As the miles passed, Erik’s fury grew. Anna and Iya’s tracks followed the ruts made by a dog sled. They hadn’t been allowed to rest. At least I know they’re alive as long as their tracks continue.
His head throbbed and his stomach felt unsteady, but he ignored the misery. He didn’t question the reason for his passion and fury as they propelled him forward along a seemingly endless trail that cut through the wilderness. He only knew he couldn’t abandon Anna and Iya.
He prayed with each step, appealing to God for their safety and seeking strength and wisdom for himself. When his legs felt heavy as lead and he doubted he could continue, he cried out, “Help me. Give me strength.”
Uncertainty nagged at him. Why did God let this happen? Hadn’t Anna and Iya been through enough? I don’t understand, he told the Lord and in the same breath cursed his lack of faith. But even as he argued with his Heavenly Father, he worshiped a Creator of great wisdom and power, a God of love who did only what was best. His God could see the beginning and the end of all things. Gradually his questions and challenges changed. Not my will, but Yours. And finally, grateful that the Sovereign of the Universe was in control, he allowed himself to rest.
He dropped his pack from his back, lowered himself to the ground and stared ahead, hoping to see a sign of Anna and Iya. Seeing nothing, he took out a piece of hardtack and a container of water and ate. Rebuilding his strength, he sat for a long while, even though he felt driven to move on. And then his mother’s kind face came to mind. She had always been full of wisdom.
On a warm summer day, his father had fallen from the barn roof while making repairs. His mother had remained calm even though his father lay unconscious. “Erik, you must run for the doctor.”
Erik had looked at her in disbelief. “But, Mama, there is no horse. It is too far. What if I can’t run fast enough?”
“You must trust God to carry you.” Leveling a look of total confidence on her son, she said, “You can do anything, as long as you go to the One who provides.” With that she had patted him on the cheek and said, “Now, go.”
Erik smiled as he recalled how he had prayed the whole way and how fast his scrawny legs had carried him. He had never tired. God had saved his father that day and Erik had learned to trust in his Heavenly Father.
Pulling himself back to the present, Erik felt stronger. He pushed to his feet and continued on, knowing nothing was impossible.
Hours later, he stopped to make camp. After building a fire, he hollowed out a small alcove in the snow and squeezed into it. He stared at the flames and wondered where Anna and Iya were. Had they been harmed?
He could not remember ever really hating anyone, but as his thoughts settled on his friends and the intruders who had taken them, he could find no other word to describe what he felt. He could see himself setting his sights on his adversary and squeezing the trigger. It felt satisfying even to imagine it. The realization jarred him. Even when he’d killed men in battle during the war, he’d been sickened by the carnage.
He tried to rid himself of the image. He’d never thought himself capable of outright murder. But now he knew differently.
Pulling his clothing tighter around himself, he tucked his knees up to his abdomen and finally slept. His dreams were filled with jumbled pictures of his family and Anna and Iya. The great wave swept through his dreams and, feeling helpless, he watched as it engulfed his two companions. Just as they were being swept away, he awoke to winter’s darkness, shivering and drenched with sweat. He had to find them!
Uncertain of the hour, he pushed up on one elbow and searched the horizon for any sign of morning. A strip of light touched the sky’s blackness. He gathered his few belongings and, after eating a piece of dried meat and taking a long swig of water, he set out. A sharp, cold wind had kicked up and clouds scuttled across the sky. A storm was moving in.
He’d better find them soon. A couple of hours later, he came across a deserted campsite. He knelt and checked the ashes for heat. They were cold. He glanced out across the white landscape. “God, where are they? Show me.”
Certain he was closing the gap, Erik followed the sled tracks all day. Eventually exhaustion forced him to stop for the night. The sigh of the wind and a lonely wolf howl were his only company.
Early the next morning, an unfamiliar sound carried through the forest, snapping his mind awake. Studying the terrain, Erik held his breath and listened.
A faint cadence of voices resonated in the air. A trail of smoke rose from within a smattering of trees in the distance.
Erik’s heart skipped a beat. It had to be them. He stifled a chuckle of relief. He’d found the girls.
Quietly he dug into his bag for rifle shells and loaded his pockets with them. Keeping a tight grip on his rifle, he crouched low to the ground and made his way toward the smoke plume. Soon he was rewarded by the sight of the camp. Lying flat against the snow, he crawled closer.
With no more than two hundred yards separating him from the encampment, he stopped and scanned the group. He spotted Anna and Iya and whispered a prayer of thanks. Both looked unhurt.
A team of sled dogs huddled in the snow making no show of knowing he was near and a surly-looking man lounged near the fire, spouting orders at Anna.
Where was the man’s traveling partner? Maybe in the tent? Erik watched the activity in the camp for a few minutes.
Iya huddled meekly near the fire looking like a frightened fawn.
Erik’s anger boiled to the surface.
A barrage of unreasonable demands came from the kidnapper. How good it would feel to punish the man with his fists. Anna’s golden eyes flashed with anger as she silently did the man’s bidding.
Erik crept closer.
A fit of coughing, followed by a hideous gurgling sound, came from inside the tent. Sickness meant one less opponent to contend with.
The man resting by the fire tossed the remainder of his coffee into the snow, splashing a dark stain across it. He hollered at Anna. “Hey, siewash. This is cold. Get me another cup.”
Loathing growing, Erik stroked the rifle trigger. He raised the firearm to his shoulder, aimed his sights directly at the man’s chest, and held his finger against the trigger. Everything within him cried, Shoot him! He deserves to die!
For a time, he remained there. Finally, he lowered his gun. As much as he wanted to, it was wrong to shoot a man without warning. He’d be no better than a criminal himself.
With one eye on the dogs, he crept fifty yards closer, waited for the right moment, and stood up. With his rifle leveled at the man sitting at the fire, he shouted, “Don’t move!”
Anna looked up, face bright with relief.
The kidnapper reached for his rifle.
“Erik!” she yelled.
“I see it.” Never taking his eyes from the contemptible man, Erik said, “Give me a reason. It would be a pleasure to put an end to you.”
Glaring at Erik, he slowly returned his hand to his side.
Anna and Iya edged toward Erik.
“Stay put,” he told the two girls while he glared at their abductor. In a cold, hard voice he said, “Move away from your gun.”
The man stood his ground.
“Now!” Erik leveled his rifle sights on the man.
“Okay. Okay. Don’t get your dander up. I’m movin’.” He stood and backed away.
“Keep moving until I tell you to stop.”
He stepped another ten feet and asked insolently, “This far enough?”
“You’ll back all the way to Sitka if I tell you to.” Erik moved to the fire and retrieved the man’s weapon.
Another fit of coughing came from inside the tent.
Erik nodded toward the canvas shelter. “Who’s inside?”
“Nobody. Just my partner.”
“What’s wrong with him?”
“Don’t know. Don’t care.”
Erik glanced at Anna and Iya. He recoiled at the dark black-and-blue splotch on Anna’s cheek. Gritting his teeth, he thought of pummeling the man who’d left the mark. Instead, he asked as calmly as he could manage, “You two all right?”
They both nodded.
Erik turned his attention back to the scum. “I ought to kill you. But, it’s your lucky day. All I want is what’s mine.” He lowered his gaze menacingly. “If I ever see you near my place again, I won’t hesitate to put a bullet in your brain.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got more important things to do than mess with a couple of Indians and a miserable sourdough.”
Erik kept his gun trained on the man and asked Anna, “Do they have any other weapons?”
“A gun and knives.”
“Where’s the gun?”
“In there.” Anna pointed toward the tent where more coughing erupted.
“Can you get it?”
Anna slipped into the canvas structure and, a moment later, reappeared with the rifle.
“Wait a minute,” the man wailed. “You can’t leave us without any weapons.”
“I can do what I want,” Erik answered matter-of-factly. “Anna, you and Iya gather up your things and bring them over here.” He turned back to the abductor. “You can have your knives.” Keeping an eye on Jarvis, he sorted through the furs and supplies.
In the instant he bent to fill a pack with pelts, Anna’s shrill voice echoed across the ice fields. “Erik!”
He looked up just in time to see the man leap at him. Instinctively Erik swung the butt of his gun about and struck his assailant across the jaw with the weapon, then quickly brought it back, hitting him hard against the cheekbone.
A loud crack accompanied the second blow, and the man stumbled and fell to the ground.
Erik’s heart beat hard as he stood over the prostrate body. His momentary surge of rage receded. He thought it would feel good to hurt this man, but he only felt empty. Killing never felt good.
Crouching over him, Erik pressed his fingers to the man’s throat and felt for a pulse. “He’s not dead, just unconscious.” He straightened. “No telling how long he’ll be out.” He dragged him inside the tent, only glancing at the lump of a man huddled on the ground. Returning to filling the packs, he said, “Now’s as good a time as any to head for home.”
Anna handed him the few articles she had gathered.
He added them to the two duffel bags, tied the bundles with rope, slipped one over his shoulder, and glanced at Anna. “Do you think you could pull the other one?”
“Yes. But why not take sled?”
“He’s got a ways to go. I won’t leave any man out here without his dogs and sled.”
Anna’s expression turned quizzical, but she grasped the rope and looped it around her arm.
Erik looked down at Iya. “Are you ready?”
She nodded.
Erik bent down and hugged her.
Instead of her usual affectionate response, she pulled away.
Hurt and surprised, Erik asked, “Are you all right?”
Again, Iya nodded but said nothing. She moved to Anna and stood beside her.
As concerning as Iya’s behavior was, this was not the time or place to deal with it. He turned and followed the trail he’d made following them.
As another round of coughing came from the tent, Anna and Iya fell into step beside him.
Soon the camp and the cruel men lay behind the three. In silence, they moved steadily toward home. Large, white crystals floated to the ground. The wind gusted, whipping the flakes about, foretelling bad weather.
Erik broke the silence. “That’s a bad bruise you’ve got. Did they do that?”
“It is nothing. It does not hurt.” Anna was quiet for a few moments, then, voice quaking, she said, “We thought you were dead. We saw you in the snow.”
“They did their best to kill me but only managed to give me a huge headache.” Erik grinned.
Anna nodded, a small smile played at the corners of her mouth. “I am happy you are alive.”
“Me, too.” Iya added. “I was afraid, but then you come to us. Anna tells me you will come.”
Fighting to hold back tears, Erik stopped and looked at his two friends. “I was afraid I’d lost you.” He swiped at his eyes, then turned his attention to the threatening sky. “Probably wouldn’t be a bad idea if we made camp. The wind is getting worse and it looks like the clouds are going to really open up.” He searched for a good spot. “How about there in that little stand of trees? We can build a snow house and stay put until the bad weather passes.”
They headed for the trees and went to work, packing and shaping snow into irregular shapes. They pressed the compacted snow together, and built three sturdy walls. With this done, Erik cut tree branches and laid them across the top, then all three worked together to cover them with snow, leaving a gap for smoke to escape. They searched for firewood, which was no easy task in the deep snow. Erik used some of the extra branches he’d cut for the roof to get a fire going.
Inside the shelter, they huddled around the small blaze, chewing on hardtack while coffee cooked and meat roasted.
Anna studied Erik.
“What are you looking at?”
“You. I see that your head hurts. I will fix it.”
“I’m fine. Just need a little sleep is all.”
Anna ignored his protests and scooted around the fire until she crouched next to him. Resting on her knees, she gently pulled his parka back.
Erik winced as blood-matted hair pulled away with the hood.
Anna gently moved Erik’s hair aside and tenderly examined his scalp.
Her touch stirred feelings in Erik that he’d tried to deny. He loved Anna. But there was no way he could do anything about how he felt. They were from different worlds, worlds that could never be united. “How’s it look?”
“Ugly. But you will live,” Anna said playfully.
“Do you know why those men took you and Iya?”
“They talk about a man—Luke. He give money for us.”
Erik’s jaw tightened. The thought of what would have happened to them if he hadn’t found them made him sick.
“Need to clean this cut.” Anna gathered snow into a pan and set it beside the fire to melt, then rummaged through one of the bags until she found a piece of cloth. When there was enough water in the pan, she dipped the rag into the melted snow and dabbed at the wound. “Bad cut.” She rinsed out the cloth and the water turned crimson. “This will hurt,” she warned as she gently scrubbed.
“Ouch!” Erik bobbed his head.
“Be still.” Anna continued her ministrations until the gash was clean. Once more, she searched through the duffel bag. She ripped a clean cloth into narrow strips, which she tied together and wound snugly around Erik’s head. “That will help. Tomorrow we will change the wrap.”
Iya had said very little since Erik had rescued her. Much of the day, she’d merely watched him with an unreadable expression in her eyes.
Erik finally asked, “Iya, is something wrong? You keep staring at me.”
Iya glanced at the flickering flames before looking at Erik. “I thought I will never see you again. And when you found us, I thought you a ghost.” She smiled. “You are not.” Her eyes shimmered with tears. “Now I watch you so I always know your face.”
Erik’s throat constricted as he looked into the innocent eyes of the little girl. One day soon he would have to leave her. An ache swelled in his chest. If only there were another way.
When he’d first met Anna and Iya, they had seemed so different from him. Now he’d come to understand that people were people no matter what their background or color of skin. If he kept the girls with him, the response from those on the outside would wound them. Others would never understand.
“Time for us to get some sleep.” He mussed Iya’s hair and lay between her and the door opening. He looked at Anna in the firelight.
She seemed unwell.
“Anna, you look pale. Do you feel all right?”
“I am tired,” is all she said before closing her eyes.
Anna and Iya were soon asleep.
Erik remained awake and alert, keeping the small opening in the roof clear and watching for the man Anna called Jarvis. After a while, he convinced himself that there was no chance Jarvis would come after them in such a storm and joined his companions in sleep.
The storm swirled about the shelter during the night, and the wind howled at the entrance of the small haven, awakening Erik several times. Snow drifted across the front, closing them in against the tempest. The more snow that piled up the more the sound of the storm became muffled and the room warmed. The fading fire cast misshapen shadows on the walls, but Erik felt secure tucked within the small cave while the gale raged outside.
Erik woke first, head still throbbing but not as much as the day before. While Anna and Iya slept on, he pushed the snow away from the opening and crawled into morning sunlight.
The storm had moved through quickly and, except for the fresh powder covering the landscape, its passing would have been indiscernible.
He squinted against the brightness of the fresh white blanket that sparkled in the sun’s light. Glancing about, he steeled himself against the pain in his head, then stood and stretched, gulping in the cold, crisp air. He took in the dazzling beauty of the Alaskan morning.
Purchasing Alaska was the smartest thing Mr. Seward had ever done.
He looked inside at his sleeping companions. Should he wake them or not? Until he had nearly lost them, he hadn’t realized just how much he had taken Anna and Iya for granted.
The sooner they woke, the sooner all of them could resume their pleasant pattern of life.
He’d not been as content with the routine of life since before he’d left for the war. Yet, it couldn’t last.
He and Anna could never be. He needed to harden himself against caring too much, but it was too late for that.
He crouched down and called to the girls. “Come on, you two, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”
Iya peered out with a quizzical look on her face. “Ground to cover? What does it mean?”
Erik laughed. “It’s just an expression that means we have lots of traveling to do.”
Iya smiled and climbed from beneath her bedding and crawled into the bright and chilly morning. She stood for a moment with her face tilted into the sun as if to absorb its light and limited warmth, then with a mischievous look she planted her hands on her hips and ordered her sister, “Wake up, Anna. We have ground to cover.”
Anna groaned from beneath her bedding, lifted the corner of the fur, and peeked out. She buried her face beneath the covering a moment longer before getting up.
Erik heated coffee and roasted caribou while Anna and Iya added their sleeping gear to the packs.
Anna’s face looked flushed and she stumbled more than once as she loaded her pack.
Erik took it from her and tied it to the bundles. “Breakfast is ready.” He studied her more closely.
Iya plopped down and devoured her portion.
Anna moved listlessly toward the fire, refused food, and sipped coffee.
“Are you feeling all right?”
“My head hurts and I’m tired,” Anna answered weakly. “It is nothing.”
Certainly seemed like more than nothing, but she knew best. “Well, we’d better get moving. We want to make it back before dark.” He hefted his load onto his back. Checking his compass, Erik took the lead, and the three headed for home.