Claire Gulliver #04 - Cruisin' for a Bruisin' by Gayle Wigglesworth

relatively small population, everyone seemed to know everyone else. They all wanted to wave farewell. Each year the departure of the last ship out signaled the imminent arrival of winter. When it sailed those left behind were trapped until spring. They had no choice but to go about their business of surviving the deprivation in long periods of darkness, their activities curtailed due to snow or ice and bouts of loneliness so desperate that some went mad.
    After the family had their noon dinner at the boarding house it was time to leave. Seth and Nate escorted Abby and Rachael to the dock, struggling through the ever expanding crowd to the boarding ramp, then watched from the dock as their women disappeared on board.
    “There they are.” Nate pointed excitedly. “See, there.”
    He and his father waved enthusiastically until Abby and Rachael spotted them in the crowd and waved back.
    “When they come back, Ma will have the new baby with her, won’t she Dad?”
    Seth nodded. “It will be good when we see them back, lad.”
    “What’s the new baby to be; a boy or a girl?”
    “I don’t know. What do you think?”
    “I think a boy would be handy, you know, to help with the chores. And I could teach him things like fishing, and setting a rabbit snare.” Then he thought a minute. “But girls are kind of nice. And a girl could help Ma and Rachael with the chores, don’t you think?”
    “Yes, very sensible, but I think it might be a while before the baby is much help with the chores whether it’s a girl or a boy. But, I have to say I’m looking forward to bouncing a sweet baby on my knee. Do you remember how cute Rachael was? And while you don’t remember, I can assure you that you were a charming little fellow, yourself. Yes, we could use another baby to add a little joy to our lives.”
    The gangway was taken up, the cables released and, too soon, the ship was sliding away from the dock. The noise was deafening as the crowd on the dock whistled and shouted, their gaiety not quite covering their anxiety or their sadness at separation or loss of the friends who were never intending to come back.
    Seth felt a moment of panic. He wanted to change his mind. He admitted right then he didn’t want Abby and Rachael to go. But he stiffened his resolve. He didn’t dare risk Abby having the baby in the dead of winter in Skagway. There would be no doctors to help. Too many things might go wrong. It would be too dangerous. They had discussed it and made the only decision that was prudent.
    The crowd stayed on the dock until the ship was no longer visible to the naked eye and then melted away as the watchers went back to their daily business. Seth and Nate trudged back to the boardinghouse. They planned to be up and out early in the morning.
    The weather turned bad as they made their way home. Seth felt satisfaction in knowing he got Abby and Rachael out before winter closed them in, but he and Nate still had a lot to do to get ready for their winter’s work. They had mountains of tailings they dug from the mine this summer, waiting to be processed in order to extract the gold. They had a huge stack of wood piled around the shack where it would insulate the walls and still be handy to fuel the fire. They already moved their supplies and the bare necessities for living from their cabin, to the shack built around the entrance to the mine, so they were prepared to be snowed in for periods of time.
    “Halloo, the cabin.”
    Seth and Nate looked at each other, surprised to hear a voice. Seth cautiously opened the door to see old Winslow, crusted with ice, stagger up to the door.
    “Winslow, what are you doing out here, man?” Seth reached out to help him over the threshold and into the warm interior of the shack.
    “Had to come.” His teeth were chattering, so it was hard to understand him. “Knew you had to know.”
    Seth quickly filled a cup with the strong brew from the coffee pot sitting on the stove and thrust it into