Mary Connealy by Golden Days Read Free Book Online

every year but the tough, stringy, savory meat was a treat, not something to be eaten every day. They mainly ate salmon, halibut, seal, and even an occasional bit of whale when Amy’s Tlingit relatives came past on their way north after a successful sea hunt.
    They’d eaten the meat of whatever he trapped for fur, if possible. Mother made muskrat into a tasty stew combined with the greens and roots she’d coax out of the cold Alaskan dirt.
    Amy would have had lapses into grief if Meredith hadn’t chattered on while Amy ate, talking about her family and pointing out the window she’d had Ian add to the room so that they could get better air movement. Amy knew from Meredith’s kind expression that the lady was deliberately putting herself out to be comforting.
    When Amy finished her meal, Meredith said, “I’ve been heating water so you can have a warm bath.”
    Amy sat forward so eagerly she nearly fell out of bed. “Warm water?”
    “Yes, and plenty of it. There’s wood to burn and water to heat if nothing else. Especially now that spring is here and we don’t need to burn constantly just to keep the bitter cold at bay.”
    “Thank you. You shouldn’t have. I could have bathed in the river.” Amy’d done it many times and learned to think of the icy water as invigorating. Still, a warm bath was one of the things she’d liked best about Seattle.
    Meredith shuddered. “Many’s the time I’ve bathed in the river. You’ll have to do it, too. But not this first time—not when you’re so exhausted from the trip and drained from the awful news.”
    The mention of her father twisted Amy’s wounded heart. “Is Braden here?” She saw the curious gleam in Meredith’s eyes and wished she’d held her tongue.
    “Yes, he’s staying with us of course. He slept nearly as long and hard as you did. But he’s already up and going strong. He’s like his brother and mine when it comes to work. Our lives will be much easier with three men to do the heavy chores. It kept Tucker and Ian hopping to heat both cabins.”
    “You’ll meet Tucker at dinner.” Another gleam came into Meredith’s eyes.
    Amy could imagine what Meredith was thinking this time. The teachers at the mission had tried to persuade Amy to court. But she’d always planned to return to Alaska. No sense attaching herself to some man who might not want to come.
    “I know you’ll like my brother. We. . .”
    Settling back a bit until Meredith wound down again, Amy enjoyed the talk of Meredith’s family. A movement drew her attention, and she saw Braden standing in the open door, holding a steaming bucket in one hand and a large wooden tub in the other.
    Amy reached quickly to tug on Meredith’s sleeve. Meredith looked at Amy, then turned to the door.
    Rising from the bed, she said, “Bring it in, Braden. Don’t let it cool.
    Amy waited until she stood alone in her room, then quickly prepared for her bath. She longed to soak her aching muscles, but there was too much to do for her to linger. She’d already wasted a good part of the day in bed. She could see by the sunlight climbing the bedroom wall through the window that she’d slept half the morning away. She finished her tub bath in mere minutes even with taking the time to unbraid her hair and wash it with the bit of soap Meredith had left.
    Amy combed and braided her hair while it was still wet. She pulled her other dress out of her satchel and slipped it on, then washed out her clothes and draped them on nails on the wall. Then she stepped out to the main room to see if she could be of use.
    The first thing Amy noticed was a lovely window in the opposite wall. Someone had taken time and love to create it. A glass window was hard to come by in Alaska because glass was so fragile. But this window had been made with bottles of different colors. A cross had been fashioned from deep brown bottles in the center of it. Amy had already sensed Meredith had God in the center of her life, and this