“I appreciate what you’ve done. Thank you. Get some rest and get better.” Chris nodded at the man and put his hat back on. A nudge in his spirit made him think of the men he’d witnessed to at the last camp. The lost and dying were all around him. Maybe God could redeem his pathetic life after all by using him to share the Gospel.
But first ... He looked at the map. Best go out and see Stan’s grave for himself. He could at least give Ruth that much.
Cain’s last letter this morning rubbed Judas the wrong way. Just likeallthe others. But now it felt like a nasty sore was developing.
He didn’t have time for this.
But Cain was coming. Had already booked passage on the first ship. Well, Judas would just have to stop that. Somehow. At least he had a few months to come up with a plan. No matter what, he had to keep the preacher from arriving.
He’d be bad for business.
A knock sounded at Judas’s office door, and in burst Judge Beck. He rubbed his hands together as he sauntered toward Judas’s desk. “You’re going to love this idea.”
“Oh?” He doubted it but leaned back in his chair. “I’m listening.”
The judge made himself comfortable in one of the chairs.“The plan is simple. When people arrive in Nome they have to immediately go before the judge—me, of course—and fill out papers that have to be filed with the District of Alaska. They’ll pay a price for entry into our beautiful district. Then you and I can split the money between us.”
“You don’t think word will get out we’re charging people to come here?”
The man looked as if he hadn’t thought it through. “Who would come after us up here?”
Judas quirked a brow at him. “There is law above our heads, Judge Beck. We don’t run the whole territory of Alaska. We are owned by the United States Government, after all.”
“So you don’t think it will work?” The man looked defeated.
“No. I don’t.” Judas didn’t try to hide his sarcasm. The judge and his schemes. Was the man that desperate? “Having trouble paying off your gambling debts again, Beck?”
The judge sneered at him and stood. “That’s none of your business, Reynolds!” The man stormed out of his office and slammed the door.
It made Judas chuckle. Oh, the ideas that man had.
Of course ... this particular idea wasn’tallbad.
If Judas added an assessment onto the land deeds people came to buy from him, no one would be the wiser. It was his business anyway. Legal and aboveboard.
If the good judge found out about it, he’d probably want in on it and would say that it was his idea ... but Judas could deal with that later. Besides, the judge wouldn’t be around too much longer.
Time to have a meeting with his workers in the land and deed office.
EIGHTEEN
Six long days had passed, and they blurred together. But at least the men at the camp were improving, and they’d only lost three lives. That was better than Peter had expected when he’d arrived. Whitney had been at his side the whole time and helped him through the worst of it. She’d even made two trips back into town and gotten a report from the other doctors about his patients back in Nome.
She’d also taken him to visit three other camps, where they found sickness as well. But with some instructions and medicine distributed, they’d been able to curtail his greatest fear: an all-out epidemic.
The dogs yapped at Peter as he approached. Whitney had taught him bits and pieces about driving a sled. The commands and so on. He’d even driven one of the sleds himself. And though he took a turn too fast and fell off the sled, he counted it as a success.
He still had a lot to learn, though.
He took off his thick wool hat and ran a hand through his hair. This time spent with Whitney had been difficult. While he couldn’t deny his growing feelings toward her, he also hadto keep a wall between them so she didn’t sense them. He would not fall in love with another woman only to fail her as he did Charlotte.
“Good morning, Peter.”
The object of his thoughts appeared in front of him. She held two buckets of food for the dogs and gave him a genuine smile. “You look contemplative today.” She poured the contents into the bowls for the dogs, and they lapped it up as fast as she poured.
He allowed a laugh. “Well, I was thinking it might be good for us to head back to Nome today. I think we’ve done all we can here.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.” Her eyes were brighter than they had been for some time.
