Chapter 13
Two weeks later – mid July
Belle placedthe last of her clothing into the backpack. She’d have to see about getting some dresses and ladies’ undergarments when they got to San Francisco. She didn’t know how big she’d be by then. She would have no choice but to wear Seth’s clothes because her own wouldn’t possibly fit in the three months it would take them to reach San Francisco.
Seth had already packed up his backpack and was getting the horses ready for the trip to Dawson City.
She and Seth would ride together on Big Red.
Jonah would come with them on the bay to take the horses’ back. He carried the backpacks on his mount like saddlebags.
When they reached town, they said their good-byes
Jonah left them at the docks.
Seth went inside while she stayed with their belongings.
Men were teaming around the boats, unloading supplies and reloading empty crates.
He returned about fifteen minutes later. “I have our tickets. The boat won’t be here for a couple of days, so we’ll camp out at Kitty’s until then.” He wrapped her in his arms. “Do you think you can stand sleeping in a proper bed for a few days? It might be a while before we get the opportunity to do it again.”
She laughed. “I think I can rough it.”
“Good.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “We need to go to the bank. I want to wire the money to a bank in St. Louis and get cash for our trip.”
She stepped out of his arms. “Okay, sounds good.”
“Do you want to go to the mercantile? Maybe pick up some cards or something we can play at night after supper.”
She thought about it for a moment. “You’re right. We should get some new ones. Maybe I’ll pick up a cribbage board while I’m at it. Do you play cribbage?”
“No, but I bet you know someone who can teach me.” He winked.
She grinned. “I bet I do.” Belle left him and walked over to the mercantile.
The bell above the door tinkled as she entered the store.
”Be right with you,” shouted Joe from what sounded like the very back of the store.
“Don’t worry, Joe . It’s just Belle.”
The owner walked through the curtains behind the counter. “Well, Belle. Where is that husband of yours?”
“He’s at the bank. We’re finally saying good-bye to this town and the Klondike. I need some new cards and a cribbage board, if you have one.”
“I’ve got both right over here.” He stepped past her and hurried to a small cabinet with all sorts of games and stacks of playing cards. Beside the cards were two cribbage boards in boxes.
She grabbed one and a deck of cards from the nearest pile before following the owner back to the counter.
“Can I get you anything else to make the trip more comfortable?”
“I think this will do it. I’ve got gold today, unless you want me to go to the bank and get paper.”
He frowned. “Don’t be ridiculous. I have scales just like every other merchant in this rat hole of a town.”
“The town isn’t that bad,” she lied. She hated this place and couldn’t wait to leave it behind her.
He lifted a brow. “Ha! Then why are you leaving?”
“Because it’s time to move on. We’re expecting, and I don’t want my baby born up here.”
Joe rested his arms on top of his round, white-apron-clad belly. “Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. That’s wonderful news.”
Belle grinned. “We’re thrilled about it, but I don’t want to raise him here. Dawson City isn’t as bad as some places my former husband dragged me to. After all, I met Seth here.”
He grinned. “You did, at that.”
The bell over the door sounded.
“I’m very happy for you.” Joe looked at someone behind her.
“What is Joe happy about?” Seth walked up and placed an arm around her waist.
“I told him we’re expecting.”
“Oh, that, yeah. I’ve been ecstatic since she told me.”
Belle gazed up at him and placed a hand on his chest. “So have I. Did you get your banking done?”
Seth nodded. “All we need to do now is to go check in at Kitty’s for a couple of days.”
Joe turned his gaze toward Seth. “I hear you’re leaving us.”
Seth squeezed Belle closer. “Yes, we’ve decided to go before the snows and get our new life started.”
“Where are you headed?” asked Joe.
Seth moved his arm to around Belle’s shoulders. “Missouri. St. Louis specifically. We’re looking for Barnaby and Sadie.”
Joe lifted an index finger and wagged it twice. “Have you heard anything from them?”
“Just one letter saying they were staying in St. Louis at the house Sadie inherited. I have their address. That’s where we’ll start. Hopefully, they’re still there.”
Joe cocked his head to one side. “So, you’re waiting a couple of days to leave us?”
Seth nodded and looked down at Belle. “Yeah, we’re taking the steamer up river and catching the next boat at Fort Yukon. From there, we’ll take the boat to Seattle and then on to San Francisco.”
Belle’s eyes widened. “We’re not walking over the pass?”
Joe rocked back on his heels. “Taking The Rich Man’s Route, huh? That’s a mite expensive.”
“I don’t want anything to happen to this baby.”
Seth’s words struck Belle in the heart. He’s protecting me for the baby’s sake. Why did that thought make her sad?
After finishingtheir stop at the mercantile, Seth took Belle’s hand and escorted her to Kitty’s place. They checked into the honeymoon suite, which had become their regular room. Belle set her backpack by the bureau and took off her boots before lying on the bed. She curled on her side, her hands tucked under her chin and with her back to Seth.
“Belle? Are you all right?”
“I’m just tired. Must be the pregnancy.” She didn’t turn toward him.
Something was wrong, but he didn’t know what, so he didn’t know how to fix it.
Seth removed his boots. Then he laid next to her and pulled her into his arms.
She went easily, but still hid her face.
“Belle? Honey? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Everything.” She turned over, buried her face in his chest, and cried.
Seth rubbed her back. “Shh. It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.” Though how he would do that, he didn’t know. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. For some reason, his beautiful wife was upset, but was it with him or something else? And if it was with him...what did he do?
“Belle, would you like to get some supper? I hear they’ve gotten in potatoes and more butter, too. Caleb down at the bank said they even got in fresh eggs. They’re expensive, but I bet we could get Kitty to fry us up some. We could have breakfast for supper.”
She sniffled. “Fresh eggs?”
“That’s what Caleb said. The folks over at the AC Market are selling them for one dollar each. They came in on the Klondike Glory That’s the steamer we’ll be taking out of here.”
She looked up at him. “Are we really taking a boat all the way?”
He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “Yes, sweetheart, all the way to San Francisco. I worry about you having to walk out of here and we can afford it.”
“How much is it?”
“One-thousand dollars per person, but we’ll be to San Francisco in less than two months. And then we’ll take the train to St. Louis.”
She sniffled again. “That’s so much money.”
“Don’t you worry about the money. We are very wealthy now and can afford some luxury.” Seth reached into his pants pocket, pulled out a clean handkerchief and handed it to her.
She wiped the tears from her face and blew her nose before tucking the cloth into her front pants pocket. Belle had opted not to put on a dress while in the Yukon. The mud was too deep and the dress would have been ruined in no time.
“You mean you’re very wealthy.”
“You’re my wife, and that means we, not I.”
“So, how much did you send to your bank?”
“I wired a little less than four hundred thousand dollars to the First Bank of St. Louis today. And I kept out two thousand for travel money, so we don’t have to skimp on our trip home. We’re fine. Once we finally decide to put down roots and raise our children, we’ll be set for life, which was my goal.
I still can’t believe it. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would be married to a wealthy man and one that is so kind as Seth. “That little creek sure had a lot of gold in it.”
“And it has more. Jonah will make plenty from it because I believe there is another vein, if he’s willing to go deep.”
She lifted up on her elbow so was looking at him. “Are you sorry we didn’t stay and go deeper ourselves?”
He pulled her back into his arms. “No, we have enough, and I’m tired of working that hard. I don’t know what I’ll do when we reach wherever we stop, but it will be something that isn’t such hard work.”
“I have a feeling I’ll be caring for our children and especially when they are small, I don’t want to be anywhere else. They need the stability while they grow after that, I might want to get a job. I’m not used to not working at something.”
His eyebrows slashed down. “I don’t want you to work.”
“I don’t want to become fat and lazy, either.”
“Let’s not fight. We’ll both think about the other’s opinion. I’m sure you’ll see I’m right when you do.” He squeezed her for a moment. “Let’s get up and go eat. I can’t wait to have a real egg or three.”
She rolled away. “Then I guess we better get you fed.” I won’t give this up. I need to be useful.
They put their boots on and walked, hand-in-hand, down to the restaurant.
Seth still wondered what on earth was wrong? He knew it couldn’t be him. He hadn’t done anything. Had he?
Two days later,they were at the docks waiting to get on the Klondike Glory. The steamer would take them to Fort Yukon, where they would pick up another steamer to St. Michael. From there, they would take another one to San Francisco with a stop in Seattle.
The cabin had a sparse amount of furniture. A double bed was against the wall underneath the window, a single chair, and a wardrobe with two bottom drawers.
Belle looked up at Seth. “It’s not much, is it? But I’m not complaining. Really, I’m not. I know we could be up on deck with the crew. How did you manage to get a cabin? I wasn’t even aware these steamers had cabins. I thought that mostly, they were just for freight.”
“It’s true they are, and if they don’t have passengers, even the cabins are full of freight when going to Dawson City. But going this direction, they’re empty or carry passengers and gold. I just paid more than average. There are only four on board besides the captain’s quarters in the stern.”
“I’m glad we have one, although just being on the boat and not walking over a pass is a great luxury.”
“You deserve to be a little spoiled.” His mouth turned down at the corners and his eyes looked sad. “I don’t think you have been ever before, have you?”
“No, I can’t say that I have.”
“Well, from now on, I’ll see that you enjoy your life.”
Are you saying this just because of the baby? Or do you mean it for me, too? What if I can’t give you all the children you want? Will you divorce me and find someone who can? Why am I thinking like this? Seth has been nothing but kind to me. He’s not Amos. He’s not anything like Amos, so why am I thinking he will abandon me like Amos did?
After they got settled in their cabin on the steamer, they went up top. From there, they watched Dawson City grow smaller and smaller as they made their way up the Yukon River.
Belle turned to Seth, determined not to fight with him, though she still hadn’t changed her mind about being useful. Maybe she could volunteer at a charity somewhere. “I’m thrilled to be leaving Dawson City behind us. I never want to come back, even though I’d have a guaranteed job for life.” She groaned at the thought of working for Kitty again. “Nope, not even for Kitty would I go there again.”
“It’s a good thing we’ll never have to.” Seth placed an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.
The breeze, made as the steamer worked its way upstream, was cold coming off the water. She saw camps along the river and men standing in the water panning for gold. She hadn’t heard of anyone getting much out of it, but she guessed they took the claim wherever they could just for the chance they might find the mother lode.
She shivered and burrowed against Seth’s warmth.
“Let’s go inside. We’ll get settled and head to lunch. The captain said we would join him today.”
“Okay.” She pulled away and her shivering increased. “Since I don’t know where we are going, I’ll follow you.”
He placed an arm around her shoulders. “We’ll go together. The halls are wide enough.”
Belle leaned into him because she couldn’t resist the feeling of closeness. Even if he didn’t love her now, she had to believe he would someday. “That would be nice.”
“Are you ready? We can go anytime if you’d rather rest now?”
“I’m fine. I don’t need to rest. Maybe later.”
They made their way to the upper deck of the steamer. It chugged along slowly as it went against the current, sounding its horn waving as it passed people on the shore.
When it arrived at Fort Yukon one week later, Belle was sad to leave the ship. The captain and crew had been kind and informative.
At Fort Yukon, they boarded a second steamer, the Yukon Girl, and headed to St. Michael. From there, they boarded a steamship to Seattle, where they would stay for a couple of days, and then a last one to San Francisco. The trip was easier by The Rich Man’s Route, and it took a lot less time to get there, whether going to Dawson City or away from it. But the exorbitant price and limited availability in only the summer months resulted in few people opting for the route. For the rest of the year, everything froze over.
Belle spent a lot of the time on board the steamers sick in the mornings.
Seth was very good about it all. He brought her tea and crackers because that was the only thing she could keep down until the noon meal.
Then she would eat like one of the sailors who had been working hard all day.
When she’d finished eating, she looked over at Seth.
He sat with an arm over the back of his chair, watching her with a smile that reminded her of the cat that had caught the canary.
She turned her body toward him. “What?”
He gave a small shake of his head. “Nothing. I’m just happy you’re able to eat.”
“Yes,” she groaned. “Until tomorrow morning. But that doesn’t matter.” She patted her belly. “He’s all that matters.”
Seth covered her hand with his big one. “You’re already a good mother and will be even better when he arrives. I know it.”
Her mouth turned up in a small smile. It was all she could manage. She knew he meant well, but she wanted—no, needed—him to tell her he loved her and not just the baby she carried.
Feeling tears build behind her lashes, she bit the side of her cheek to keep from blathering on. She didn’t want to make accusations that wouldn’t help either of them. Belle would simply see if she couldn’t change his mind. She loved him and wanted him to feel the same way, but he only seemed to care about the baby. Belle refused to live in a loveless marriage again. Some of the money he wired to St. Louis was hers. She would take it and go away, raise the child on her own rather than in an environment like she had now. Yes, Seth was kind, and he treated her well, but she had an unbearable need for his love, too.
Sighing, she turned her face toward the ocean and watched the City of San Francisco as they approached the wharf.
What surprises were in store for her now? What if Seth decided he didn’t need her now that he was rich? He could have any woman he wanted. What did she have that some other woman didn’t?
She looked down and pressed a hand against her belly. Her baby, that’s what she had, but without love, was it enough?