[Alaskan Quest 03] - Whispers of Winter by Tracie Peterson

stranded in similar fashion. And, of course, there were the children.
    Leah knew she could never leave them that long. It was one thing to make a trip to Nome—that was quite far enough when facing a separation from the children she loved. Considering that a search team could easily spend all summer looking for the missing ship, Leah knew the role of rescuer did not belong to her.
    Helaina had agreed, encouraging Leah to trust the government to go after them. She had further stressed that should the ongoing war in Europe keep the government from searching, her brother, Stanley, would arrange a private search out of Seattle or San Francisco. Helaina’s healthy bank account could afford such a venture. This comforted Leah to some extent.
    The fog cleared around two o’clock, presenting a beautiful landscape that looked as if it had been freshly washed. Leah decided to leave her napping children with Helaina while she went to gather some herbs on the mushy tundra hillside not far from their home. To her surprise, she found a ship docked out in the deep water. There were already launches heading into shore. She held her breath and watched—hoping, praying that Jayce and Jacob might be among the men coming to Last Chance.
    Shielding her eyes against the light, Leah studied the forms as they drew closer. No one looked familiar, and given the way some of the men were holding up bottles, Leah knew her husband and brother would not be among their numbers. These were whalers who unfortunately added to their business ventures by selling whiskey to any native who would buy it. Leah turned away in disgust. She hoped Emma’s husband, Bjorn, would dissuade the remaining village men from giving in to the temptation. Furthermore, she hoped he would encourage the whalers to move on.
    Leah lost track of time as she searched through the vegetation. There were a great many plants that were useful to the village’s medicinal needs. Leah often found that natives who were Christians sought her out to help with particularly bad cases. Others, who held no use for the white man’s faith, went to their shaman. Ayoona had once told Leah that such superstitions were difficult to let go of when you had been taught all of your life that they were true. She told Leah to think of how hard it would be for her and Jacob, should someone come declaring that Christianity was wrong—that everything they’d learned all of their lives was nothing more than a collection of stories perpetuated by a group of people who were ignorant to the truth.
    This single statement, perhaps more than anything else, had taught Leah great patience and tolerance in living with the Inupiat. She often remembered Ayoona’s words and knew that it would be quite impossible for her to accept any other beliefs as truth. Why should it not be equally as hard for the natives of Alaska? Emma and Bjorn had agreed with such thoughts and told Leah that living an example of Jesus’ love was the best way to encourage the people to believe. When the natives saw the hope and joy that the whites had in life— especially in adversity—they would become curious and seek answers. This had proved true over and over.
    Realizing that she needed to get back to the twins, Leah gathered her sacks and started back down the hill. She had no idea what the time was but figured it was probably late in the afternoon. With the summer in nearly continual sun, it was always hard to gauge the time.
    Leah heard her stomach rumble and was glad to know that she’d left a stew simmering on the stove before heading to her gathering task. She hoped that it would be an appropriate time to set a supper table and enjoy her efforts.
    Leah reached her small catalogue house, smiling as she imagined Jayce’s reaction when he set eyes on the place for the first time. The house seemed quite out of place in the village. Except for Emma’s house, everything else was built partially underground in Inupiat fashion. The Kincaid