Chapter 29

Eduard’s heart swelled with a sudden feeling of camaraderie. With one last smile at his wife, he headed for the front of the house, the steps leading down from the veranda, the path and the road beyond. He had a boat to catch.

His lover awaited.

THE ENDBounty of the Heart

Dedicated to…you know who.

The last of the sun’s dying rays stretched across the frozen land, tingeing the hard-packed snow a dusky rose. A few miles south of the small mining town called Aliak, the makings of a low campfire struggled to burn among the jagged foothills. A man sat hunched over the fire, his weathered face exposed to the elements beneath a fur-lined cap. He wore a black duster jacket, ragged and worn, over which was thrown the treated hide of a grizzly. When the wind blew in fitful gusts through the trees, the bear’s fur stood up along the man’s back, enhancing his already large bulk.