Yukon Wedding. Allie Pleiter

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СКАЧАТЬ bones broken—in his time away. These days the medical needs of Treasure Creek threatened to surpass its spiritual needs.

      “I’da been rich by now if it ain’t for you!” another voice called back. He’d heard every version of this argument under the sun, it seemed. Everyone had someone handy to blame for their failure. Even with Treasure Creek’s God-fearing reputation, there were two dozen fools to every successful man. How do I show them, Lord? Mack prayed.

      God had given Moses a few good tricks up his sleeve, divine wonders to back up his authority when folks wouldn’t listen. All Mack had was a good brain, a fine church, a well-stocked provision post that would soon be the region’s best general store and the sheer determination to keep another man from climbing to his death. A loud crash assailed Mack’s ears, and he wondered how much longer he could hold out without help soon.

      Ignoring the shouts, Mack turned his steps toward home. Please, Lord, he prayed, ashamed to be driven to such a plea, let him be asleep. I’m worn out and nothing good’ll happen if I snap at the little feller. For all the nights Mack had walked the village praying protection over its residents, for all the dangers he’d faced in countless adventures, it struck him odd that he’d been reduced to praying for protection against the ravages of a two-year-old.

      Mack looked awful when he walked out of his bedroom door the next morning. He rubbed his neck and winced, hair sticking up in all directions and a thick stubble covering his chin. He resembled not so much as man as a foul-mooded bear.

      “You made coffee.” He said it with a foggy awe that made Lana hide a smile behind the plate she was holding.

      “Much needed, don’t you think?”

      Mack nodded, settling himself at the table and giving the very perky Georgie an analytical eye. Lana set the steaming mug down in front of him and he very nearly clutched it. “If I say I’ve just discovered the best part about being married, will you hit me with that?”

      She eyed the dented tin plate she was holding, thankful she’d talked Mack into letting her order a new set of china in Skaguay. “Not likely.”

      He made a dark sound, and she turned to find his gaze aimed out the window to where sheets were hanging. “Why are they out to…?” Lana gulped as Mack turned to level a foul-mooded bear’s glare at Georgie. “You didn’t.”

      “It’s hardly his fault,” Lana angled her body in between them, quieting Georgie’s frightened whimper with a bit of the bacon she’d been frying. “He’s just barely been trained, and under the circumstances…more coffee?”

      Mack laid his forehead into one hand while he held out the already half-drained cup in the other.

      They were going to have to soldier through this morning no matter what, so Lana had decided hours ago to put the best face possible on the situation. “There’s bacon, eggs, toast and some applesauce Mavis Goodge brought over.” She set the full plate in front of him.

      “You cook.” He seemed troubled by the observation.

      “I find eating a rather necessary practice.”

      Mack took several mouthfuls of egg. “You cook well.”

      She found the surprise in his voice annoying. Had Jed complained to him about her cooking? “You could be less astonished, you know. And even say thank you if you wanted to really startle me.”

      This seemed to make him think. “Have you eaten yet?”

      “Not really.” She’d grown accustomed to snatching her meals in bits and pieces in between feeding and occupying Georgie. The long, luxurious meals they’d had in Skaguay had felt like her first in years.

      Mack motioned to the place opposite him at the table. “Sit down. Please.” It wasn’t a command, it was an invitation. A grumpy, bleary eyed, but genuine attempt at civility. Lana hid her distinct pleasure as she filled a plate and sat down.

      And there they were. The three of them, at table, a family. It was familiar and foreign at the same time, given the man at the head of the table. Mack cleared his throat and held out his hands—one to Georgie and one to Lana. She hesitated to give him her hand, ashamed how long it took her to realize what he was about. He was saying grace.

      “We give You thanks, Holy Father, for the food You’ve given us this day. For the blessings we enjoy and the protection we need. May it strengthen us to honor You and Your will today. Amen.”

      “Amen,” Lana said quietly.

      “Ugle Ack,” Georgie added, batting Mack’s hand with the teaspoon he was holding.

      Lana waited as long as she could before asking, “Why are you so surprised I can cook? What did Jed say?”

      Mack had made short work of the breakfast and was scraping up the last bits of egg with a corner of his toast. “He said nothing on the matter. It’s just that I know you’ve had house staff most of your life. No reason to learn such things.”

      “So I’m useless because I grew up with advantages, is that what you’re saying?”

      “That’s not what I’m saying at all. You’ve just not had much time to learn to fend for yourself. There’s cooking to live and then there’s good cooking.”

      Lana sat back and crossed her arms. “And you were thinking you’d just married the kind of woman who can cook enough to keep you alive?”

      “I obviously don’t know you well enough.” He used the diplomatic tone of a man who’d broken up too many arguments.

      Lana got up from the table, clearing both their plates. “There’s a lot you don’t know, Mack Tanner.” She reached for the pile of McGuffey Readers she’d poured through in the hours before he woke this morning. She’d started the “Second Year” reader on the boat as they came back from Skaguay, and her opinion had begun to form then. As she sifted through the rest of them this morning—including the pictorial one she started with Georgie last night—the idea had planted itself in her head like a flag thrust in a mountaintop.

      As she read through the volumes, Lana discovered she had very definite ideas about education. Ideas about how education was to be accomplished, and by whom, using what techniques. Really, what sort of person launches a child’s education with “A is for ax?” Everyone in Treasure Creek was fine with building a school, but it seemed to her no one gave much thought to what would go on inside it, once built. Somewhere in the second half of the “Fifth Year” reader, Lana had the shocking thought that people might assume the Tucker Sisters would simply hammer their last nail and move inside to take up the chalk. Surely not. Nor should they.

      “I’ve read through these,” she began.

      “Early riser,” Mack said, finishing his third cup of coffee.

      Lana nodded toward Georgie. “Not by choice.” She lay the pile of readers on the table and sat down opposite Mack again. “Who will teach these?”

      Mack ran a hand across his chin. “School’s not even finished yet. When it is, we’ll send word and the government will send out a teacher.”

      So he didn’t have someone in mind for the position. She’d mentally catalogued Treasure Creek’s population earlier this morning, and came up with no СКАЧАТЬ