[Alaskan Quest 02] - Under the Northern Lights
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Authors: Tracie Peterson
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UNDER THE NORTHERN LIGHTS
Under the Northern Lights
TRACIE
PETERSON
BETHANY HOUSE PUBLISHERS
minneapolis, Minnesota
Under the Northern Lights
Copyright © 2006
Tracie Peterson
Cover design by Ann Gjeldum
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the
publisher and copyright owners.
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Printed in the United States of America
Paperback ISBN-13: 978-0-7642-2774-5 ISBN-10: 0-7642-2774-2
Hardcover ISBN-13: 978-0-7642-0219-3 ISBN-10: 0-7642-0219-7
Large Print ISBN-13: 978-0-7642-0220-9 ISBN-19: 0-7642-0220-0
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Peterson, Tracie.
Under the northern lights / Tracie Peterson.
p. cm. — (Alaskan quest ; 2)
ISBN 0-7642-0219-7 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0-7642-2774-2 (pbk.)
1. Kidnapping victims—Fiction. 2. Frontier and pioneer life—Fiction.
3. Alaska—Fiction. I. Title. II. Series: Peterson, Tracie. Alaskan quest ; 2.
PS3566.E7717U53 2006 813’.54—dc22 2006008822
To Merrill,
with love for your friendship.
You are a dynamic daughter of the King,
and I’m a better person for knowing you.
Books by Tracie Peterson
The Long-Awaited Child
•
A Slender Thread
What She Left for Me
I Can’t Do It All!
**
A
LASKAN
Q
UEST
Summer of the Midnight Sun
Under the Northern Lights
B
ELLS OF
L
OWELL
*
Daughter of the Loom
•
A Fragile Design
These Tangled Threads
L
IGHTS OF
L
OWELL
*
A Tapestry of Hope
•
A Love Woven True
The Pattern of Her Heart
D
ESERT
R
OSES
Shadows of the Canyon
•
Across the Years
Beneath a Harvest Sky
H
EIRS OF
M
ONTANA
Land of My Heart
•
The Coming Storm
To Dream Anew
•
The Hope Within
W
ESTWARD
C
HRONICLES
A Shelter of Hope
•
Hidden in a Whisper
A Veiled Reflection
R
IBBONS OF
S
TEEL
†
Distant Dreams
•
A Promise for Tomorrow
R
IBBONS
W
EST
†
Westward the Dream
•
Ties That Bind
S
HANNON
S
AGA
‡
City of Angels
•
Angels Flight
Angel of Mercy
Y
UKON
Q
UEST
Treasures of the North
•
Ashes and Ice
Rivers of Gold
*
with Judith Miller
†
with Judith Pella
‡
with James Scott Bell
**
with Allison Bottke and Dianne O'Brian
Contents
Chapter One: Last Chance Creek, Alaska
Chapter One
Last Chance Creek, Alaska
H
ome.’’
Leah Barringer Kincaid sighed the word as the settlement they called Last Chance Creek came into view. It felt as if she’d been gone a lifetime instead of just months. But even as the relief of familiarity settled over her, another thought shadowed her joy.
‘‘But it’s not really my home anymore,’’ she whispered as the dogsled drew ever closer to the village. She had just recently married, and though she and Jayce had talked about different possibilities of where they might make their home, nothing had been settled. Not completely.
This village—this house—was one she had shared for many years with her brother, Jacob. She could hardly expect that he would leave now, especially at this time of year. It wouldn’t be prudent or beneficial for any of them to set out on their own in the face of the Arctic winter. A million thoughts rushed through her mind. So much would change now. She and Jacob had often talked about what they would do when one or the other of them married. Leah had always figured the house would belong to Jacob and she would move off to her husband’s home, but where would that be? Jayce had spent time living all over Alaska. He spoke with fondness for Last Chance, but did he love it enough to remain?
‘‘Lay-Ya! Lay-Ya!’’ Ayoona’s voice beckoned to Leah. The squat old native woman waved and pushed her fur-lined parka back just a bit to reveal her brown face as she called to her son. ‘‘John! You look hungry. We got you supper.’’
Leah felt awash in emotions. Seeing Ayoona was like seeing her own grandmother. How she had missed her home.
And to think,
there was a time when I wanted to be anywhere but here
. She remembered the restlessness as easily as she remembered her own name. The isolation of the Seward Peninsula was sometimes daunting. Winters were hard and long. Summers were fraught with dangers and endless sun.
John pulled the sled to a stop in front of his mother. ‘‘I need to see to the dogs, and then I’ll eat.’’
Leah climbed out of the basket and hugged the old woman. ‘‘I’ve missed you so much. It’s good to be home.’’ The woman smelled of seal oil and smoke, and the combination made Leah smile as she pulled away.
‘‘You got married,’’ Ayoona stated. ‘‘Your man is a good man?’’
‘‘Yes,’’ Leah said. ‘‘He is a good man. I love him very much.’’
‘‘And he loves you. I know.’’ Ayoona grinned, revealing several missing teeth against her weathered lips.
John interrupted their revelry. ‘‘I’m going to leave your things at the house,’’ he told Leah. ‘‘I can help you get them inside after I feed and water the dogs.’’
‘‘Don’t worry about it. I can get the boxes inside,’’ Leah answered, glancing toward the house. ‘‘I’ll be fine.’’
‘‘Your man can help,’’ Ayoona said matter-of-factly.
‘‘My man? Jayce is with Jacob. They’re tracking down Jayce’s brother Chase,’’ Leah explained to Ayoona. ‘‘That’s why John had to bring me home. Chase took Helaina Beecham at gunpoint. Remember her? She was the woman who helped Jacob last summer.’’
‘‘I remember her,’’ Ayoona said, nodding. ‘‘She didn’t like it here. She strange—lived in your
inne
even when it was full of water.’’ Ayoona referred to the summer ritual when most of the Inupiats moved into tents as the permafrost melted and caused flooding in the subterranean houses. Ayoona shook her head. ‘‘She didn’t like our ways—our people.’’ The words were matter-of-fact, and there was no condemnation in the woman’s tone.
Leah smiled at the thought of Helaina Beecham up to her ankles in water. ‘‘I don’t think she understood the people here, Ayoona. I honestly don’t think it was a matter of like or dislike. She was probably terrified and uncomfortable with such a drastic way of life.’’
Ayoona nodded. ‘‘Not like you.’’
‘‘No, not like me.’’ Leah had always loved the people here, even if the place had grown wearisome.
John moved the dogs out. ‘‘I’ll see you at the house, Leah.’’
‘‘I’ll be right there.’’ She gave Ayoona another quick hug. ‘‘When I get things put away, I’ll come tell you all about my time in Seattle.’’
‘‘You bring your man too. We eat together.’’
Leah shook her head. ‘‘My husband isn’t here, Ayoona. Like I said, he’s trying to find his brother. The man is a killer and kidnapper.’’ ‘‘Your man is here.’’ Ayoona pushed her parka back even farther. Her expression revealed absolute assurance that her words were true.
‘‘Jayce . . . is here?’’ Hesitating, she shook her head. ‘‘He’s here? You’re sure?’’
‘‘He just got here. He came this morning,’’ Ayoona stated with a smile. ‘‘Needed more dogs. Better dogs. Said he was only staying for a few hours, then going.’’
Leah felt her heart skip a beat. Jayce was here. They would have a few moments alone, and he could tell her what they had discovered so far. ‘‘I have to go,’’ she told Ayoona. ‘‘I need to find him.’’
Ayoona grinned. ‘‘You won’t have to look for long.’’
Leah fairly ran the distance from Ayoona’s inne to her own home. The little structure of wood and sod had never looked more inviting. John had just finished offloading the crates from the sled. ‘‘I’ll see you for supper,’’ he told her.
‘‘Thank you for coming after me, John. Ayoona said that Jayce is here. He came for more dogs. Jacob probably wanted his own dogs, though why he sent Jayce instead of coming himself is beyond me. Anyway, we’ll be over in a bit.’’
‘‘Jayce!’’ she called as she opened the door and went down the few stairs. The houses in this part of the world were partly buried in the ground for insulation and protection against the wind. She and Jacob hadn’t buried theirs quite as deeply as the natives usually did their homes. Leah didn’t like the feeling of being in the ground. She had also gotten Jacob to build their house with a shorter entry tunnel than those of the natives. Tunnels gave her a feeling of being closed in—trapped. She shuddered as she opened the second door to their house.
‘‘Jayce! I’m home!’’
She looked into the store on her left. There was no one there. The kitchen would be the likely place. The wood stove kept the place nice and warm and required the least amount of work. ‘‘Jayce?’’ She pushed back the heavy fur that acted as a door.