“Wait. If we can ford just a couple of bends down the river, why were you gone so long?” Dr. Wetherby blinked at Heath.
Heath exchanged a glance with Richard, then clamped his mouth shut.
Mikhail wasn’t surprised. They’d shared little about their true intent for the expedition with Bryony’s family, so why would they start now?
“Did something happen at the river?” Bryony’s hand crept up to press against her chest. “We were worried.”
“We just, ah...” Heath shifted from one foot to the other. “Did a bit of extra exploring is all.”
“Where?” This from Dr. Ottingford, who had set the book he’d been reading on a log by the fire and was coming toward them.
“What did you find?” Dr. Wetherby asked. “Some new vegetation I should catalog?”
“Why would you want to do more exploring after walking all day in the rain?” Bryony’s brow furrowed.
“Yes.” Mikhail pinned his gaze to Richard’s. “Why don’t you explain what, exactly, you found while you were scouting the river.”
Richard looked down and adjusted the cuffs of his coat, as though answering questions was nothing more than a nuisance. “We were just searching for a better place to ford, but we’re not sure if we found one. That’s all.”
“That’sall?” Mikhail drew out the word. “I’m tired of this. Tell them why you volunteered to scout the river in the first place.”
“There’s no reason, Amos. It’s just a river crossing. You’re reading too much into it.” A faint sneer tugged at the corner of Richard’s mouth.
“We had no idea you’d be so worried.” Heath cleared his throat, a forced smile spreading across his face. “Like we said, we were just making sure we found a good spot to cross. We don’t want to take any unnecessary risks in the morning.”
“Risks?” Mikhail gritted. “You mean like the risk of not finding any gold?”
“Gold?” Dr. Wetherby squinted at him through his spectacles. “What are you talking about, Amos?”
“They’re lying to you.” Mikhail couldn’t take it anymore. He was done with the deception. Done with Richard pretending that he was too good for this conversation. Done with watching Bryony worry over two fools who thought gold was more important than keeping their party safe and together. “They weren’t scouting for a place to ford the river. They were looking for gold. Just like they were doing when they left you in that valley for weeks on end, even though they knew exactly how to get back to the Iskut River.”
Heath stiffened, and Richard’s polished smile dropped from his mouth.
Bryony’s face turned white, and she pressed her lips tightly together. Mikhail had overheard her conversation with Heath when he admitted to looking for gold. The idea wasn’t new to her, but she clearly hadn’t put together that they’d still want to look for gold now, while they were in a race to stay ahead of winter.
And it was certainly new to Dr. Wetherby and Dr. Ottingford. They both stared at Heath and Richard with surprised looks on their faces.
“I don’t understand,” Dr. Ottingford finally muttered. “Why would you be looking for gold?”
“Because the Department of the Interior wants to know where the gold is, and knowing Richard’s family, I’m sure they have a company already formed, just waiting to invest in a gold mine in Alaska.” Bryony’s voice filled the air, putting the ideas together that Mikhail hadn’t wanted to outright accuse Richard of. “The only thing that’s missing is the actual discovery of gold.”
“Don’t make it sound like we were doing something wrong,” Richard snapped.
Mikhail took a step toward Richard. “You not only left Dr. Ottingford, Dr. Wetherby, and Miss Wetherby stranded for weeks on the cusp of winter, but you delayed the return trip so long that we can’t take the easy trail back through the mountains. And you think there’s nothing wrong with that?”
“We didn’t intend to be gone so long while you were in that valley, Bry. I swear we didn’t.” Heath moved to Bryony and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “We thought we could find a gold deposit quickly once we were on our own, but one thing led to another, and before we knew it, the weather was starting to turn. We came back as soon as we realized it. I promise.”
“You told me that we were lost.” Having her brother’s arm around her shoulder did little to loosen Bryony’s stiff stance. “And before you left, you said there was no way to get back to the river without our guide, even though I had my maps. I told you how we came in and how we could get back, but you and Richard said my maps were inaccurate and couldn’t be trusted.”
She slid out from underneath her brother’s arm and took a step toward Richard. “But my maps were accurate, weren’t they? My maps showed you exactly where the Stikine and Iskut Rivers were, right along with all the creek beds and caves we passed, all places that could be explored for gold. That’s why you took the maps out of my journal. And you lied about them being wrong so it would buy you time to search.”
“Stop being so dramatic.” Something hard flashed in Richard’s eyes. “If there’s gold here, it’ll benefit us all.”
“Benefit us?” Bryony took another step forward and jabbed a finger into Richard’s chest. “How does delaying our return to Sitka benefit us? How does making us sick with worry while you disappear for hours after we set up camp benefit us?”
“I keep trying to tell you. It wasn’t like that.” Heath’s face had turned red, and he rubbed the back of his equally red neck. “We thought we’d find a quick spot to cross the river tonight and then have a better look around, just to make sure there wasn’t any gold in the riverbed. We didn’t mean for it to take so long, and there wasn’t anything wrong with what we did.”
“How can you say that? You misled us all, making us think your main purpose was to report on the flora and fauna of Southeast Alaska.” Dr. Wetherby peered over the top of his spectacles and looked Heath straight in the eyes. “Not to risk lives over the hope of gold.”
