“There are plenty of other things that can kill a man,” Frank said.
The gold-hunters talked about the fight and Brewster’s death for a while longer. Then Frank finally managed to get away from them. He motioned for Conway to follow him as he started once again toward the door leading belowdecks.
“I’m obliged to you for your help, Pete,” he said quietly. “I reckon you really did save my life.”
“I’m glad I could lend a hand, Mr. Morgan.”
“Make it Frank.”
“All right. I’m glad I could help, Frank. I didn’t really think about it. I just saw that you were in trouble.” Conway hesitated, then went on. “But if you really want to thank me…maybe you could talk one of those ladies into having a dance with me before they all have to go off to Whitehorse and get married.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Frank said.
An air of gloom hung over the ship the next morning. Brewster might not have been well liked, but his loss still affected most of the passengers and crew on board. People couldn’t help but think about how easily the sea could claim them, too, if they were unlucky enough to fall overboard.
Fiona was getting her sea legs, and since she felt better, she spend part of the time fussing over Frank. “That man could have killed you!” she told him. “I intend to speak to Captain Hoffman about this.”
“No need for that,” Frank said. “It wasn’t his fault.”
“In a way it was. He should have had better control over his crew.”
Frank couldn’t argue with that, although he wasn’t sure anybody could have controlled a stiff-necked son of a bitch like Brewster. He managed to talk Fiona out of filing an official complaint with the shipping line that owned the
Fiona wasn’t too receptive to the idea of the young women spending some time with Pete Conway and the other novice gold-hunters. “How do we know we can trust them?” she asked.
“Well, Pete saved my life,” Frank pointed out. “I owe him a favor.”
“And since you’re working for me, I suppose by extension, I do, too. If I still can’t talk you into becoming my partner, that is.”
Frank shook his head. “I don’t figure that would be a good idea. Once we get these gals where they’re going, I’ll have kept my promise to Jacob.”
“What about making sure I get back safely to Seattle next spring?”
Frank thought about it and nodded. “I reckon I could do that.”
“Good.” She smiled up at him. “That gives me all winter in Skagway to change your mind about, how do you Westerners say it, throwing in with me. I can be quite persuasive, you know.”
Frank didn’t doubt that for a second.
Fiona went on. “And as far as having some sort of little…get-together…with those prospectors, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt anything.”
Frank smiled. “Good. I’ll tell Pete.”
“But I’m holding you responsible for their good behavior,” Fiona warned. “If they get out of line, I’m counting on you to put a stop to it.”
A short time later, Pete Conway let out an excited whoop when Frank told him about Fiona’s decision. “One of the fellows plays the fiddle,” he said. “We can have a regular dance, right here on the deck of the ship!”
“Just make sure they all understand that they can’t try anything improper.”
“Just some dancing and conversation, that’s all,” Conway said with a grin. “That’ll give us some good memories to hang on to when the temperature is forty below, the snow is ten feet deep outside, and there’s a bear trying to get into the cabin to eat us!”
“When you put it like that,” Frank said dryly, “it almost makes me want to go hunt for gold, too.”
Chapter 11
The dance was scheduled for that night. Fiona gathered the young women and spoke to them about it. Most of them were feeling better now as they became more accustomed to the motion of the ship, and all of them agreed that they could go along with the plan, even Gertrude. “Those prospectors had better keep their hands to themselves, though,” she said. “I’m a respectable woman, even if I
“Mr. Morgan assures me that they’ll be on their best behavior.” Fiona looked at Frank. “Isn’t that right?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “If they give any of you any trouble, just let me know.”
Word got around the ship about the gathering. Frank overheard some discussion of it among the crew, and he wondered if some of the sailors planned to show up and ask the women to dance with them, too. That could lead to problems. The gold-hunters might feel that the sailors were horning in and take offense to it. He didn’t think it would be anything he couldn’t handle, though, so he didn’t mention it to Captain Hoffman.
The captain must have heard about it on his own, because he sought out Frank late that afternoon. “I hear there’s going to be some sort of soiree on deck tonight involving those young women of yours,” Hoffman said.
“Well, they’re not exactly my young women,” Frank said with a smile. “There’s just going to be a little dancing and some conversation with Pete Conway and the rest of those gold-hunters.”
“My crew has heard about it, and some of them resent the fact that they weren’t included in the arrangements.
