Gold Rush Baby

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Epilogue

Letter to Reader

Questions for Discussion

Chapter One

Treasure Creek, Alaska, August, 1898

Her heart pounded. Her lungs strained for air. Viola Goddard ignored their screaming need, held the hem of her long skirt out of the way of her feet and ran on. Impervious to bumps and shouts, she dashed around and through the press of prospectors and townspeople on the board walkway, driven forward by the horror of the note crushed in her hand. The baby! Goldie’s father had trusted her to care for his baby and now— Please, God, let Goldie be all right! Please keep her safe until I— “Oh!”

She crashed into a solid, lean body, bounced off and staggered back, trying to get her balance. Strong hands clamped around her upper arms, steadied her. Viola wrenched her shoulders, pushed against a hard chest. “Let me go!”

“Steady, Miss Goddard.”

Miss Goddard? Who… She looked up. The handsome man staring down at her frowned, tightened his grip on her upper arms.

“Are you all right, Miss Goddard? You seem distressed.” His green eyes darkened. “Is it the baby? Has her health taken a turn for the worse?”

Goldie’s health? A memory flashed. Thomas Stone. Yes, that was his name. He was the missionary who had brought the injured stampeder into the clinic, when she took Goldie in to be examined.

“You’re trembling, Miss Goddard. Please, tell me what’s wrong. Perhaps I can help.”

The concern in his voice squeezed at her throat. “It’s Goldie—” Fear choked off her words. “Goldie?”

She took a gulp of air, nodded. “The baby. She—she’s been kidnapped!”

“What?”

People near them on the street stopped, stared. A low murmur started, hummed against her ears.

Confusion leaped into the green eyes looking down at her.

“I found this in her cradle.” She bit her lip to stop a rush of tears, and shoved the ransom note at him. “Do you know where Mack Tanner is? He’s not in his store and I have to find him. He has—” His hand slid down her arm, tugged. Her heart sped. “What are you doing?”

“Taking you to the sheriff.”

The murmur grew louder. “Let me go!” Viola dug in her heels and pulled at his strong hand gripping her elbow as he ushered her down the street. Her resistance was no match for his strength.

A roar of laughter went up from a group of prospectors, who split to allow them passage on the walkway. “You show the little lady who’s boss, mister!”

Viola caught her breath. I can’t have you running away, Viola. You will give my other girls ideas. I warned you. Now my men will have to show you Richard Dengler is boss. She shuddered at the memory, yanked against Thomas Stone’s grasp.

He shot her a look and tightened his hold. “I am trying to help you, Miss Goddard. This is a dangerous situation for both you and the baby. You need the sheriff, not Mack Tanner, even if he is the mayor of Treasure Creek.” He opened the door of the new log building that served as the sheriff’s office and jail, and tugged at her elbow, urging her to step inside.

She shook off the memory, grabbed the door frame and tried once more to resist. “I do need Mack! He has the gold.”

“Gold?” The sheriff’s growl stopped her struggle. “What’s going on, Viola? Is this about Goldie again?”

She looked at the giant man leaning back in his chair, with his booted feet propped up on a desk he made look much too small, and the last of her strength deserted her. She stepped inside. “Yes, she—”

“Don’t people ever give up!” Ed Parker shook his head, motioned her closer. “Who’s been trying to claim the baby and get their hands on those gold nuggets this time?”

“No one. She—” Her throat closed on the words.

“The baby has been kidnapped, Ed.”

Hearing Thomas Stone say the words made it worse…more real. She sagged, felt him grip her elbow again, support her.

“Kidnapped!” Ed Parker’s feet hit the floor with a thud. “Close that door.”

There was a click behind her. Her knees wobbled as the missionary led her to the only chair in the place. She sank onto the hardwood seat and fought for composure as he laid the crumpled paper on the sheriff’s desk.

“That’s the note the kidnapper left her.”

Ed Parker smoothed out the paper and read it, his broad face darkening into a scowl. He fastened his gaze on her. “Start at the beginning and tell me everything.”

Viola tightened the grip of her folded hands in her lap, digging her fingernails into her palms to keep from crying. “Goldie has been fussy, and I have been up day and night with her. She developed a fever today, so I took her to Dr. Calloway’s clinic this afternoon. I was afraid she had come down with the cholera that spread through the Indian village. Teena Crow examined her and told me Goldie is…is teething and her gums are inflamed. She gave me an herbal balm to…to take away the pain.” She would be in pain. Oh, Goldie, baby, I’m so sorry!

She swallowed hard, squared her shoulders. “The balm worked. Goldie calmed and fell asleep. Hattie insisted I go to her room and catch up on my sleep while she watched over Goldie, and—” And it’s all my fault! I should have stayed with her. She took a deep breath and pushed her fingernails in deeper. “When I woke, I went to my bedroom to check on Goldie. Hattie was asleep in the rocker and…and the cradle was…was empty, except for that note. I ran to Tanner’s store to find Mack Tanner and get the gold nuggets he is keeping safe for Goldie, but he wasn’t there. I was running to his home when I collided with Mr. Stone—” she shot him a look that let him know how little she appreciated his interference “—showed him the note and he brought me here.”

She rose, bracing herself, lest the missionary try to push her back down on the chair. “Sheriff Parker, please—I will answer all of your questions later. Right now, I have to find Mack Tanner and—”

“I’m here.”

Viola whirled toward the door. Mack Tanner stepped into the small office, pulled the door closed and fastened his gaze on her. “Harold Goodge came to the schoolhouse to get me. Said he was on the street and overheard you tell Thomas you were looking for me because Goldie has been kidnapped. Said he saw Thomas bringing you here.” A frown creased his forehead, his gaze shifted to the missionary, then returned to her. “Is it true about Goldie being kidnapped?”

She caught her breath, nodded.

“I suppose, like all the other greedy louts who have tried to claim her for their child, they are demanding the gold nuggets Goldie’s father left for her care?”

“Yes.”

“It’s always about gold!” Mack’s face tightened. “On the way here, I heard a couple of men talking about the Tlingits being behind the kidnapping. Any truth to that?”