Page 62 of A New World for the Irish Daughter

“I sailed down to Victoria and Port Townsend, even went as far as Seattle. It felt strange, to be on the outside after all this time. I suppose I’m still a cheechako, but I felt like an Alaskan when I stepped inside The Bon Marché.”

“Is that a department store?” Maggie asked, and he smiled.

“Yes, although it’s not anything like Field and Company, I assure you.”

She laughed and shook her head. “I’m sure it’s a very fine store but not, of course, as fine asthis.”

They stared at each other for a long moment, and Maggie’s throat ached with all she wanted to say. The trouble was, she’d said it already, and it hadn’t made any difference.

“I’ve been away for much of the year,” Brendan said finally. “That’s why you haven’t seen me. I… I would have called on you, if I’d been around more.”

Called on her? As a friend, like he’d said, or something more? Maggie didn’t know whether to let herself hope, after all this time. She wanted to, even now, and yet it felt futile.

“Well, I’m very impressed,” she told him after a moment. “I shall be making all my purchases from O’Donaghue’s from here on out. Although,” she remarked, looking around at all the merchandise, “I don’t know if I’ll need an ice pick anytime soon.”

“They’ve discovered a new gold field up in the Klondike,” Brendan told her. “Just last month. A miner passed through a few days ago and said they were buying up the stakes down the Yukon River from Mooresville, about six hundred miles north of here, as fast as they could. I don’t know if it’ll be a rush like the old days, but I thought I ought to be ready. There are plenty of restless men in San Francisco and Seattle who’d like to strike it rich once they find out.”

“You think they’ll come through here?” Maggie asked.

Brendan shrugged. “The only way to get from the Outside up to the Klondike is through Juneau and then onto Mooresville by steamer. They might likely stop here to get their outfit—after Juneau, there’s not much of anything. It’s rough terrain, that’s for certain—up through the Chilkoot Pass and then five hundred miles on the Yukon River, often in nothing more than a flimsy raft or boat, and it’scoldup there.” He smiled wryly. “Not like here.”

Maggie couldn’t help but shiver. “Why do they do it?” she asked, and his eyebrows lifted.

“Fame and fortune?” he suggested, and Maggie felt like he was teasing her, and she found she didn’t mind.

“Those two chimeras,” she answered with a laugh. “I’m glad I’ve learned better.”

“So you have,” he agreed amiably. “How is Sheetka?”

She was touched he’d remembered her name. “She’s doing well. She started at the mission school, and she seems to like it, although she still doesn’t say a word. I know she’s got a good set of lungs on her, because she lets me have it when it comes to bathtime, but…” Maggie shrugged. “I suppose I just need to be patient.”

“You’re doing a good thing,” Brendan told her quietly, and Maggie tipped her chin up.

“I know I am,” she replied, and then smiled. “But thank you.”

Again, a silence lengthened between them, but this time it felt more comfortable. “I’ll come and see you all soon,” Brendan promised, and Maggie didn’t miss the slight emphasis onall. He wouldn’t just be calling on her, then, and he wanted her to know it.

“All right,” she said, and with a smile of farewell, she started to turn, only to stop and turn back. “I was heading to the hardware for some nails—I think you might have some?”

Brendan grinned. “Of course I do!”

That afternoon, Maggie walked with Sheetka from the hospital back to their cabin.

Although the sun, obscured by clouds, was still high in the sky—it wouldn’t set until after seven—the air was cold and damp; September, Maggie had learned, was one of the rainiest months, and as the wooden sidewalk petered out to a dirt path, mud squelched underneath both their boots.

Maggie opened the door to the cabin, grateful to be out of the wet, only to stop in surprise at the sight that greeted her.

The center of the room was piled with stuff—woolen blankets and crates of food, pots and pans, candles and coil of rope, a shovel and pickaxe, and even a small sheet-iron cookstove. It looked like Brendan’s store, Maggie thought, as her stomach hollowed out. She knew there was only one reason why her father and brother would have bought all this stuff… the makings of an outfit.

“Would you look at all this, lass!” her father exclaimed jubilantly as he came in from the bedroom. He was wearing a new plaid shirt straight out of the box and bright red suspenders. “It’s finally time.”

“Time?” Maggie repeated faintly. Sheetka clung to her leg and then darted forward to inspect the cookstove.

“That’s right, darlin’, go ahead,” her father said, turning to the girl with a smile. “Isn’t it a beaut?”

“What’s happened?” Maggie asked as she slowly took off her cloak and hung it by the door. “Da…why did you buy all this stuff?”

“It’s our outfit,” Danny explained as he came in from the bedroom. He was wearing a new plaid shirt, too, and bounced on his heels in excitement. “We’re heading out.”