Frank knew she didn’t want to be separated from Conway any longer than she had to, but they all had to crawl out sooner or later, so Jessica might as well go as any of them. He nodded and said, “All right, lie down here and I’ll fasten the rope to you. When you get out, untie it and tug on it three times.”
Jessica was able to make it through the tunnel a lot faster than Conway had, of course, since she didn’t have to dig her way out. Frank sent the women through one by one; then Salty enticed the dogs to follow him with some dried fish. That just left Frank in the cave. He was glad to be leaving, because that meant they were on the last leg of the trip to Whitehorse, but he was sorry to lose the warmth from the fire, which was burning down to nothing behind him as he crawled out.
The sun wasn’t up yet, but the sky appeared to be clear. The storm had passed, leaving several more feet of snow on the ground. That wouldn’t slow them down, though, Salty declared. They would be in Whitehorse before nightfall.
Frank had been worried about Stormy and Goldy, but they had made it through the night just fine and tossed their heads in greeting, happy to see him and Dog, as always. He saddled them up while Salty and Conway hitched the dog teams to the sleds. Everyone had already eaten breakfast in the cave, so it didn’t take long before they were on the move again.
They left the range of hills where the cave was located and entered a long, broad valley flanked by white- capped mountains. Whitehorse was at the other end of the valley, Salty informed Frank, in a great bend of the Yukon River near that stream’s headwaters.
It was a beautiful day and they were able to make good time. Everyone’s spirits rose even higher. Frank rode alongside Salty’s sled and asked, “What are the chances of getting back to Skagway?”
“None at all,” the old-timer said, confirming what Frank had suspected all along. They were doing good to beat the worst of the weather to Whitehorse. “That last storm probably dumped a good fifteen or twenty feet o’ snow in the passes. Nobody’ll get through there until it melts off in the spring. If you ain’t willin’ to spend the winter in Whitehorse, you might be able to make it out by goin’ down through Canada, but I wouldn’t recommend it. That’d be a hell of a hard trek at this time o’ year.”
Frank smiled. “I suppose I can be a Canadian and stay in Whitehorse for a few months.”
“That’s what I’m gonna do.” A wistful note entered the old-timer’s voice. “Next spring, though, I think I’m gonna head south. I got me a hankerin’ to see the Rio Grande again.”
That sounded good to Frank, too. But before that would be possible, he had to settle accounts with Soapy Smith. And before
It took most of the day to cover the length of the valley. The light had begun to fade by the time they reached the settlement. The sight of smoke rising from numerous chimneys was a welcome one. It represented civilization.
Whitehorse was a bigger town than Skagway, but it was a similar mix of tents, log buildings, and frame structures made of raw, unplaned planks. As the sleds approached, the young women grew more solemn. Maybe they were thinking about the fact that they would soon be meeting their new husbands, Frank mused. Those had to be sobering thoughts.
The dogs were yapping noisily as they entered the settlement, and that drew plenty of attention. Men stepped out of the buildings to see what was happening. Frank expected some cheers of excitement, but the town was strangely quiet.
“Over there,” Fiona said, pointing to a large, two-story building with a sign over its entrance that read HARGETT’S. “That’s where we’re supposed to go.”
“Looks like a saloon,” Frank said with a puzzled frown.
“Well, it may be, but it’s also a hotel. I have rooms booked there for everyone. I lost the letter I got from Mr. Hargett in the shipwreck, but I’m sure he’ll honor our arrangement.”
Frank hoped so. From what he had heard about Whitehorse, the place was as full up with gold-hunters as Skagway had been, maybe more so.
The sleds came to a stop in front of Hargett’s. The snow in the street was deep enough that it was level with the porch. The women were able to step from the sleds right onto the porch, where they congregated nervously. Frank dismounted and tied Stormy’s and Goldy’s reins to one of the posts that supported the awning, since the hitch rails were covered up.
Fiona pushed back the hood of her parka and said, “All right, ladies, let’s go inside.” She turned to Frank and went on. “Would you come with us, Frank? You’ve been with us all the way, so I’d like for you to see the end of this.”
“Well, sure, I suppose I can do that,” he said with a smile. “Be nice to be there for the finish.”
Meg turned and gave him a sad smile as the group started to file into the place. He sensed that she was saying good-bye to him.
Hargett’s looked even more like a saloon when Frank stepped inside. He saw a long hardwood bar on the right, poker tables and faro layouts to the left and rear, and some stairs at the end of the room leading up to a second- floor balcony with rooms opening off it. The main room was full of men, most of them hard-faced hombres in thick coats. A couple of potbellied stoves in the corners gave off some heat, but the room still held a chill.
Alarm bells suddenly went off in Frank’s brain. Something wasn’t right here. His hand had started to move toward his gun when boot leather scuffed on the floor behind him. Even with all the speed he could muster, he wasn’t fast enough. The blow was already falling. Just as his fingers touched the Colt, something crashed against the back of head, driving him forward off his feet. He heard screams as he landed on his face, scraping it on the rough floor. Blackness swirled around him, trying to close in and carry him away.
But he was still aware enough to hear Fiona say, “You really should have taken me up on my offer, Frank.”
That was the last thing he knew for a while.
As he had told Conway after the shipwreck, pain meant life. Pain was a good thing, because the absence of it was death.
So Frank knew he was alive, because his head hurt like hell.
