I do, I do, I do by Maggie Osborne

Author:Maggie Osborne [Osborne, Maggie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Historical, Fiction, Alaska, Suspense, Swindlers and swindling, Bigamy
ISBN: 9780449005170
Publisher: New York : Ivy Books, 2000.
Published: 2000-10-03T07:00:00+00:00

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Chapter 12

One of the objectives for this trip had been to push himself physically, Ben reminded himself as he redistributed the weight of his backpack. He carried essentials, a twenty-pound arctic sleeping bag, matches, a canteen of coffee, beef jerky, and dried apples. An extra pair of dry socks and gloves, a pocketknife, and a candle stub were in the side flap.

Now that he was seasoned to the trail, his shoulders no longer felt as if they would fall off after a long day of toting his pack over terrain that would have been difficult in summer and was treacherous now that snow concealed loose rocks large and small. Still, he felt the strain and muscle fatigue at the end of the day in his shoulders and legs.

As he had hoped, a yearlong numbness was gradually giving way to the rigors of the journey and the beauty of the wilderness. Yesterday he'd observed a family of caribou near dusk, and this morning rabbits had scampered across the snow when he startled them by rolling out of his sleeping bag. It was impossible to ignore the biting cold air on his face and at the back of his throat. Impossible not to feel a satisfying exhaustion that led to a sound night's sleep.

The smell of coffee first thing in the morning was a pleasure he had forgotten. And after a long fatiguing day, he would have sworn his beans and bacon were the tastiest dinner he'd ever wolfed down. He was more aware of what happened around him; he even wondered if his hearing had improved.

Not all of the changes were positive. There were evenings when he pulled the sleeping bag up around his ears and suddenly realized he had not thought about Helen all day. The first time it happened, he'd stepped outside his tent, too upset to sleep. The second time he'd walked to keep warm and had struggled with feelings of guilt. How could he pass an entire day without thinking about her, without remembering that she was gone?

From there, he worried over questions that could never be answered. Had he found the best doctors and treatments for her? Had he made her last days as comfortable as possible? Done the right things, said the right things? Should he have left San Francisco or should he have remained near the cemetery?

And what would Helen have thought of Miss March? Would she have felt shocked and betrayed by his interest in Juliette? Would she believe a year of mourning wasn't enough? Would Helen have expected him to spend the rest of his life alone?

Juliette, he thought, frowning, forming her name in his mind as he searched for his cache of goods, brought to the camp by the Indian packers. Once he'd found it, he began to set up his small tent. Miss Juliette March was an intriguing, maddening enigma.

Since the day they'd climbed Chilkoot, Juliette had kept her distance, and when he did maneuver a moment alone, she behaved cordially, but erected a barrier of politeness between them.

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