Alaska Adventure by Cynthia Baxter Read Free Book Online Page A

Alaska was. The roads weren’t lined with stores and houses, like they were back home. Instead, the two-lane highways cut through endless acres of fields and forests. In the distance was an incredibly beautiful and dramatic backdrop of craggy snow-covered mountains.
    They drove past fields of colorful wildflowers, stretching on as far as the eye could see. They passed calm blue lakes that looked like pictures on a calendar. They rode by violent rivers in which the swirling water, tinged a deep shade of blue-green, was perfectly clear.
    “Glacial melt,” Dr. Wells explained as they gasped over the beauty of the Kenai River. “That’s why the water’s so pure—and such an unusual color.”
    At one point what little traffic there was slowed to a halt.
    “What now?” Mariah demanded, craning her neck to see out the front of the car. “Gridlock?”
    “Not quite.” Dr. Wells was grinning. “Here in Alaska drivers brake for moose.”
    Sure enough, up ahead, a stately moose took her time strolling across the highway. She was easily one of the biggest animals Laurel had ever seen—certainly the largest she’d spotted in the wild. Even after the moose had made it to the other side of the road and stood munching on a low willow bush, the cars remained at a stop as onlookers took out their cameras.
    It wasn’t long before Laurel understood precisely what Dr. Wells had meant about getting unpacked in five minutes. After a long drive along a winding dirt road that took them way off the main highway, the rented Jeep stopped with a lurch. A cloud of dust rose up all around. Fifty feet away was a crude log cabin, no more than twenty feet by twenty feet. It was compact and angular, with a slanted roof. Three steps led to a small front porch. On it were two propane tanks, a sign that a gas stove was inside. Pushed off to one side were large plastic jugs of water.
    “Home, sweet home,” said Dr. Wells. “Okay, everybody. Pile out.”
    Cassie swallowed so hard Laurel could hear her. Her panic only thinly masked, she cried, “You mean this is where we’re supposed to live for the next six weeks?”
    Marian just stared. “You’ve got to be kidding. Somebody tell me this is nothing but a cruel joke.”
    “This is my fifth summer up here,” said Dr. Wells. “I promise that after you make a few minor adjustments, you’ll feel just as comfortable as you do in your own houses.”
    As Laurel climbed out of the Jeep and stood in front of the log cabin nestled in the woods that, as Dr. Wells said, was going to be her home for the rest of the summer, her reaction was quite different from that of the two girls standing on either side of her. To her, coming to a place like this meant having a lifelong fantasy finally come true.
    It wasn’t only the rustic structure that she would be living in that was responsible for the fluttering of her heart as she dragged her sleeping bag and her duffel bag up the rough wooden steps and onto the porch. Even more attractive was the idea of being completely surrounded by dense woods, a clear blue sky, and a hundred yards away, Wolf Lake. Civilization was far away.
    Here, she was in the middle of the world the way it was meant to be.
    Laurel pushed her way through the thick sheets of mosquito netting draped across the door. Once inside, it took her a few seconds to adjust to the dim light. The dark, wooden walls were dotted by small windows. The cabin was basically one good-sized room that had been divided up. In front was a common living space that included a sagging brown-plaid couch, a table and chairs, and a kitchen area with a sink and drain but no running water. Behind were two tiny back bedrooms, one on each side. Glancing up, she saw a loft that could be reached by a ladder. It was lighted by a single large window, its screen thick with rust.
    Mariah came in and made a quick survey of her own. “I’m almost afraid to ask,” she said in a strained voice, “but where’s the