The Long Trail by Deborah Hopkinson

Author:Deborah Hopkinson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin
Published: 2004-08-18T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

The Long Trail

“Davey!” Erik called after me, but I didn’t stop.

I ran all the way to Broadway, Skagway’s main street. Not that it was much of a street. It was mostly a muddy path lined by boardwalks, large tents, and a few rough wooden shacks.

I had to push past men on every corner. In front of one saloon a few stampeders were arguing about which trail to take over the mountains.

“I’d rather use packhorses and try the Skagway trail over White Pass,” I heard one say. “The Chilkoot Pass on the Dyea trail is just too steep for horses.”

“I tried White Pass and turned back,” another man put in. “I’m heading to Dyea. The trail that starts there might take three months, packing load after load, but you can get over.”

If I were strong enough, I’d march right up to them and hire myself out as a packer, I thought as I tramped past in the mud. But I was just a kid. And no one wanted a kid tagging along. Not even Erik, who was supposed to be my friend.

“Davey! Hey, wait up!” I turned to see Hannah striding toward me.

“Why haven’t you come to visit?” she asked. “Ma had a long talk with Erik yesterday. I heard you’re coming to stay with us this winter.”

“No!” I cried sharply.

Then, seeing Hannah’s face, my voice softened. “It’s not that I don’t like you or your folks. It’s just that I want to go to the Klondike with Erik. I have to keep looking for Uncle Walt. No one here in Skagway has seen him. He just has to be in Dawson City.”

“Probably Erik’s just scared to take you along, Davey,” Hannah said. “Pa says it’s a long, hard trail even for a grown man.”

“Nothing’s going to happen to me,” I protested. “I’m more worried about Erik going by himself.”

“Well, try to talk to him again,” advised Hannah. “Maybe he’ll change his mind.”

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