Leah was facing the harsh reality that she was nearly thirty years old, and the idea of reaching that milestone was more than she could bear.
After his death, Jacob and Leah had made a pact to always take care of each other. Their father, a grand dreamer, had dragged them to Alaska during the Yukon gold rush some seventeen years earlier. Since their mother died when they were children, they had clung to each other for comfort and support. Leah tried not to worry, but Jacob was all she had. He had the best dogs in all of Alaska too.
Besides, she reassured herself, Jacob is as capable as any native Alaskan. There was nothing to be gained by risking more lives. Storms had made it impossible to send someone out to check on Jacob, and hunger made it unwise. It was a trip that should have taken two to three weeks at the most. A master with dogs, Jacob figured he could hike out by sled and be back before the spring thaw made that mode of travel too difficult. He had made the decision to travel to Nome for basic supplies and to replenish the store of goods he and Leah sold from their makeshift trading post. Hunting had been poor in the area and many families were going hungry. Jacob had left nearly two months earlier for Nome. The Alaskan wilderness was not a place to be toyed with, and though Jacob was well versed in the ways of this land, Leah feared for him nevertheless. Jacob, where are you? Her heart ached with fear of what might have happened. They had suffered through weeks of storms, so the sunshine was most welcome, but it was also intense and blinding.
He should have been home weeks earlier, and yet there was no sign of him.Ī cold May wind nipped at her face, but it was the hard glint of sun against snow that made Leah put her hand to her brow. Where is he?" Leah Barringer whispered, scanning the horizon for a glimpse of her brother and his dogsled team.
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