The Alaska Brides Collection Part 18

"We don't have a lot of light. If you stay awhile-"

"I'm not tromping over there to keep that crazy loon company."

"I don't care how ornery you get-I'm going to match you with my stubbornness."

Tucker let out an impatient growl as he yanked on his hat.

"Give my best to Mr. Clemment." Meredith handed a jar to Tucker. "Tell him to come for New Year's."

"You already told me to do that twice during lunch."

"You're wasting time." She made a shooing motion.

"You're the ones who are wasting time. You haven't taken a hint. I'm not leaving until the two of you are out on the ice."

Mortified that her brother implied they'd do anything improper, Meredith gaped at him.

"The ice is thick." Ian carried his bowl over to the dish basin. "You needn't hold any concern that we'd fall in."

Tucker stood by the door. Ian gave him an opportunity to confess he was worried about their welfare instead of their morals, but he didn't. His silence embarra.s.sed-no, irritated- her. He'd been impossibly grouchy all morning, but this went beyond reason. In a low tone, she demanded, "Apologize for insulting both of us."

Tucker didn't bother to lower his voice. "I won't apologize. In fact, it would be best if Ian took the food to Clemment."

"Well, he's not. He invited me to go skating, and I accepted. Furthermore, you volunteered to go check on Mr. Clemment. No one's changing the plan. You men are going to play chess tonight." Tucker looked ready to say something, so she cut him off. "I'll just leave the dishes to soak now while we skate."

"I'll help you with your cape." Ian took it from a peg by the door and draped it over her shoulders. As she b.u.t.toned it, he shrugged into his own coat.

A minute later, they stood outside. Tucker looked at the skates and lanterns Ian held. "You'd better take those down to the river then come back for Sis."

She knew he was trying to get rid of Ian. Meredith didn't want to listen to another insult or a lecture about keeping the secret. "Nonsense. I can carry a couple of the lanterns." She grabbed two and started toward the river. Over her shoulder she called, "Tucker, come back in a better mood, or I'm going to hide the coffee."

"That would darken his mood more, Merry."

"It couldn't get any uglier than it is already!"

Chapter 19.

The men exchanged a few words, but the wind whipped them away from Meredith. I'm an idiot. I should have stayed there. No telling what Tucker is saying to Ian. Right as she decided to turn back around, from the corner of her eye, Meredith spotted her brother walking away.

Ian joined her on the bridge a few minutes later. "I'll set out the lanterns first." He did so and then quickly yanked off his boots and laced on his skates. "Let's have you sit on the edge, like last time." He stood on the ice, took her hand, and helped her sit on the edge of the bridge.

Meredith took a deep breath. "About what my brother implied-"

"I've handled it." He looked into her eyes, then knelt to help her with her skates.

Unable to let the matter drop, she asked, "How?"

He started lacing her right skate. "Your brother's having a bad day. We're all bound to have a few. Even so, I told him I'll not stand for him questioning your honor or my integrity."

"I'm sorry, Ian."

"Nay, la.s.s. Don't be. Tucker loves you. His concern was misguided. He needed to be reminded of a few things. There, now. Hand me your other skate."

Meredith decided not to ask further questions. Tonight when she and Tucker were alone, she could. Maybe when he got back from Mr. Clemment's, he'd have reconsidered and repented. That would clear the air.

"You'll be more confident today once you realize you've learned to balance." Ian helped her onto the ice.

"I'm not so sure of that." She stared downward. "Why are there lines on the ice?"

"I swept it this morning."

"You swept the ice?" She gave him a startled look.

"Aye. Last night's wind carried pine needles and such onto the ice. I didn't want anything to cause you to stumble." He smiled. "And look at you-skating so well."

Her focus s.h.i.+fted. "How did I-ohhh! Ohhh!"

"Here." Ian braced her before she fell. His chest vibrated against her as he chuckled. "You were doing fine until you decided to fret. Let's just have some fun, okay?"

"All right."

Ian stabilized her, but he started holding her hand instead of wrapping his arm around her. When she slid or fell-even when she bowled him down-he never lost patience. "Ian?"

He lay still and propped his head in his gloved palm as if he lay on ice every day. "Yes?"

"How long does it take to get good at this?" She pushed against the ice and sat up.

"To my thinking, you're already doing everything right."

"I fell." She crooked a brow and stared at him. "And I knocked you down. This is the fifth time."

"Sixth, but who's counting?" The corners of his eyes crinkled. "Falling isn't what matters. The important things are if you get back up and if you enjoy yourself."

"I'm having a wonderful time!" She tried to plot a graceful way to get up. "It's the other part that's difficult."

With a lithe move, he got up and extended both hands. "Ah, la.s.s, you don't have to do that alone. Sometimes, 'tis fellows.h.i.+p in the struggle that makes overcoming it all the sweeter."

"As long as you don't mind my struggles." She accepted his help.

He held fast to her hands. Even through their gloves, Meredith felt his warmth. "Mind? Not at all."

"Sis! I thought you were supposed to be skating."

Meredith twisted around. Had Ian not compensated somehow, they both would have fallen again. "Tucker!" She couldn't believe he was back already.

"Sitting around on the ice is idiotic-unless you have a purpose."

"You're not one to talk," Ian called back. "You're lying on the bridge."

"And I have good reason." Tucker took a hammer and struck the ice.

"Tucker!" Terror shot through Meredith. "What are you doing?"

"The ice is too thick for that to cause problems," Ian told her.

"I'm going to fis.h.!.+" Tucker proceeded to take a saw and cut the hole larger.

All her life, Meredith had loved having a twin. Suddenly, she reconsidered. He had to have run over to Clemment's cabin and back. He was making a pest of himself.

Tonight, when we're alone and under our own roof, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind.

Shouting woke Ian. It took a second for him to realize the source. He immediately yanked on clothes and raced out his door. Tucker never raised his voice to Merry, but he was bellowing at her now.

Ian didn't bother to knock. He plowed straight into their small cabin. Meredith stood close to the fireplace, as if it would stop her s.h.i.+vering. But Ian knew she wasn't quivering from cold.

Tucker scared her.

Irate, Ian turned to Tucker. Tucker paced a few steps back and forth across the cabin. His speech was garbled. He turned to Ian, pointed, and shouted, "Don't know. Go 'way."

Ian stepped toward him. Just as he drew closer, Tucker spun back around. He took two steps then crumpled to the floor.

Chapter 20.

He's burning up." Ian flopped Tucker into bed and tried to remember what little medical knowledge he'd gathered over the years.

"He's never sick. Never."

The panic in Meredith's voice forced Ian to take charge. "Throw everything you need for a few days onto your bed. I'll carry them to my place and then come back for him. Put on your cape while I'm gone."

There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to what Meredith pitched onto her bed. More than anything, they'd need the bedding. Ian gathered up the corners and ordered, "Be quick, Merry. I'll be back in just a minute."

"All right."

He hastened to his cabin, threw another log into the stove, and pulled back the blankets on his own bed. Until that moment, Ian hadn't realized he was barefoot. After yanking on his boots, he went back to the Smith cabin.

"Merry?"

"Come in."

He went straight to Tucker. "I'm going to take him over now. I'll have a better hold if he's not in the blankets. You follow me with them, okay?"

"Okay."

Tucker was limp. Ian told himself that was far better than having to deal with a combatant. Carrying deadweight on a snowy path taxed him, but Ian made every effort to make it look easy so Merry wouldn't have anything more to worry about. She slid past him and opened the door to his cabin. Ian draped Tucker on the bed and turned back to Merry. "I'll put him in a nights.h.i.+rt. Your cots fold, don't they?"

"Mine does."

"Go back and get it."

Moments later, Ian informed her, "He's got a roaring fever. No rash. That's a good sign."

"What do we do?"

"I have just a few medicinals."

She moistened her lips. "Willow bark is good for fevers."

"Excellent." He cupped her face. "I'll do everything I can, honey."

She nodded, but tears filled her eyes. "That broth powder-I'll make some."

Ian forced a smile. "Only because he's sick. Tucker would far rather have coffee."

Tucker muttered something unintelligible.

"The willow bark isn't working." Meredith's heart twisted as she tried to sponge the heat from her twin's iron-hot skin.

"I'll go see if Abrams has anything."

How long Ian was gone, Meredith didn't know. It felt like forever. A gust of frigid air blasted into the cabin as he returned. She turned with every hope that he'd have a curative. The bleak look on Ian's face chilled her far more than the cold air.

"Clemment's no help at all. Abrams managed to get a good supply of spirits. He's celebrated the holidays and isn't in any shape to make a difference."

Meredith sank down onto the stool and swallowed hard. She reached over and curled her hand around Tucker's. The scar on his thumb he'd gotten from building their cabin still puckered. He squeezed-but so weakly, alarm pulsed through her.

"I'm going to town."

It took a minute for Ian's declaration to sink in. Merry gawked at him. "There's no path. You'll get lost. It's impossible. No one even tries in the winter."

"G.o.d will help me." He pulled on the hat she'd knitted him. The scarf, too. Ian came and knelt by the bed. He rested his hand atop hers and Tucker's. "Heavenly Father, You know the concerns of our hearts. You know what Tucker needs. Please, Lord, help us to help him. Keep him in Your hands and give Merry strength and wisdom, and speed me back to them with something that will cure him. In Jesus' name, amen."

Meredith s.h.i.+vered.