Cynthia J. Notti The Winter of Courage

The Winter of Courage

By Cynthia J. Notti

glossary

Aana [ on-ah ] – The Yup’ik word for mother. Molly lovingly addresses her mother by this traditional word.

Mukluk [ muhk-luhk ] – A soft boot worn by Yup’iks, often lined with fur and usually made of sealskin or reindeer skin.

Yup’ik [ yoo-pik ] – A group of indigenous people of Alaska with their own culture and language.

Lightering Boat – A flat bottom boat used to transfer passengers between a ship and shore. It is used because the larger ship cannot enter the port due to shallow waters.

Bering Sea – Lies between Asia and North America in the far northern part of the Pacific Ocean. It borders Russia and Alaska.

prologue

Molly had a bad feeling. The Bering Sea’s choppy waves heaved and rolled before they crashed against the shore. She turned to Flora, her eyes wide with fear.

It was early on a May morning as Molly, her older sister Flora, and their parents walked the short distance to the sandy beach. And even though the sun was already high in the sky the wind was blowing something fierce. Despite the sudden gusts that made Molly anchor her feet into the ground the songbirds started to sing. And not their usual joyous chirps. But something mournful as if they knew what today would bring. Molly listened and thought they had composed a unique sad score.

Flora’s smile warmed Molly.

‘Let me take one last look at you,’ Flora said and held Molly by both hands at arms-length. ‘By the time I return you’ll be practically a teenager. Don’t grow up too much while I’m away. How will I ever recognize you when I return?’

Molly cried. She couldn’t help it. Four years was a long time to say goodbye to someone. Especially someone you loved so much.

She hugged her sister so long that their mother had to pull them apart. ‘Dear, if you don’t let go, you’ll make your sister miss the steamship.’

A part of Molly’s soul felt like it left her body as she watched Flora say her rounds of goodbyes and gave her last hugs.

‘I’m going to miss you terribly Aana,’ Flora said. ‘What am I going to do without a mother for four years?’

‘I’m not going anywhere Dear. I will always be with you. Just write to me, and you’ll have a letter back in a jiffy.’ Molly could tell behind her mother’s smile was a flood of tears that wanted to escape. Flora turned her attention back to Molly.

She gasped at the doll Flora pulled from her coat pocket. ‘I can’t. It’s your favorite.’

She was confused. It seemed Flora always treated her like the annoying little sister that got underfoot. What changed to make her do such a thing?

‘And now it’s your favorite,’ Flora responded. ‘I know how much you love it.’

‘What will you do without it? I mean, won’t you be lonely?’

Flora tisked. ‘I’ll be lonely without you silly. But this way when you hug it – pretend you’re hugging me.’

Molly stroked the porcelain doll’s dark hair.

‘You keep it company until I return and when I do, we’ll gather all our dolls for a tea party.’ Molly saw Flora swallow a lump in her throat as if trying hard not to cry. To show how brave she was to leave home for so long.

‘We will see you again Flora,’ her mother said.

‘Safe travels and you write to us as soon as you get settled into college,’ Papa ordered.

Molly’s insides felt bitter, like she’d just drank a whole glass of sour milk. Her stomach heaved as she watched Flora climb into the lightering boat. Her heart lurched with every wave the boat battled on its way to the steamship. She feared the ferrying boat would swamp.

Then capsize.

And drown her sister.

She watched her parents to see if they shared the same fear as she did.

If they did, they didn’t show it.

They stood there and waved as Flora’s boat tied off to the steamship. A sense of unease as thick as the swarms of summer mosquitoes settled in Molly’s belly and she knew that four long years could change everything.

chapter 1

Molly jolted awake. Three powerful blasts from a distant foghorn sent a joyous ripple through her.

The steamship

‘It’s here, it’s here, it’s here,’ she squealed.

She leaped out of bed, snapped back the curtains, and looked beyond the deserted snow-covered streets to the billowing white columns of smoke rising from the S.S. Victoria. Still in her nightgown, she did a little happy dance in the middle of her room. Despite the dismal grey of the morning and the angry winter waves of the Bering Sea, Molly reveled in the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen. She had yearned for four years and twenty-three days for this moment.

The cold floorboards nipped at her bare feet as she bounced from foot to foot around the room. She hustled about to do her chores. Today of all days she wanted to get them done as fast as possible. She added a few pieces of driftwood to the wood stove, made her bed, and picked up her clothes that were scattered about. From the basin, she splashed water on her face which she instantly regretted. As if she wasn’t cold enough. She reached for the hand towel then paused – something caught her attention.

Tilting her head to one side she noticed Flora’s old dresses in the armoire they shared. She had been so intent on greeting her sister that she ignored the unsettled feeling that plagued her this whole week.

Would Flora recognize me?

She had undoubtedly grown in the years since her sister left home, but still her insides were all topsy turvey as she remembered the porcelain doll Flora gave her. And now she couldn’t find it.

Lost.

She couldn’t decide if the nerves in her belly were from meeting her sister today – or that she would have to tell Flora she lost her favorite doll?

She hoped Flora would be too excited about returning home to remember the doll.

Molly grabbed Flora’s old sky-blue satin dress with a cream-colored bow at the waist and thought it would be a wonderful idea to greet her wearing this.

‘If Flora doesn’t recognize me, she would at least recognize the dress . . . I hope.’

Molly slipped it on. To her disappointment, she felt small in it. The hem fell unfashionably far below her knees for a proper fit.

‘Still too large,’ she sighed.

She placed the dress back into the armoire in the one day very soon I’ll be grown up enough to wear pile and changed into her wool stockings and simple dress. Given the winter weather, she decided against her black school shoes for the warmer seal skin mukluks. The ones her mother had handsewn for her. She gave herself one last look-over in the mirror, nodded then spun on her heels and hurried downstairs.

Molly and her family lived above the Abbott Trading Post. Working at The Post, as they called it, was a family affair. One that Molly didn’t particularly enjoy. She always got what she referred to as the runt jobs, sweeping the floor and restocking the shelves. It tore at her belly not to be trusted. Ever since the day she’d gone and lost the bank deposit her mother didn’t allow her anywhere near what Molly considered the important jobs. Never mind that Mr. Casey found and returned the money. Aana said it was the principal of the matter. Not until you learn to pay attention, to finish what you started. This is all part of being responsible.

Molly hoped with Flora’s return her sister could convince their mother to promote her from floor sweeping to customer service and ringing up sales. She wanted to grow up right away, so she’d never sweep the floor again.

How much longer do I have to wait?

As Molly skipped down the hallway to the stairs, and through the double swinging doors that lead to The Post her moment of fret faded, and her grin grew. Nothing was going to spoil this day. . . not even if she had to sweep the floor.

chapter 2

The saloon doors swung back and forth on their hinges. The morning sun had not yet filled the room, so a few dark rays of light streaked across the wooden floor. Molly wrinkled her nose. The inside of the Trading Post began to fill with customers and a whiff of wet wool and firewood floated across the room.

Molly saw a tall, dark-haired man in a caribou skin parka looking through the store window.

‘Happy Jack,’ Molly yelled and waved for him to come inside.

‘Good morning Molly. You ready for the big day?’ he asked.

Molly’s eyes crinkled and beamed brightly. ‘Oh yes Happy Jack. I can hardly wait.’

‘When you see your sister, you tell her she better come visit ‘ol HJ. I want to hear all about her college days. But right now I’m looking for your Aana. I have another carving I want her to display in the store.’ Happy Jack held up an ivory carving of a musk ox. The intricate lines revealed every detail of the shaggy animal. And it was also why Happy Jack was the best artist in all of Nome, Alaska.

‘It’s amazing. I’m sure Aana would love it. When has she ever said no to you?’ Molly teased. ‘But now is probably not a good time. We were on our way to meet the steamship.’ Her eyes glanced above him to the wall clock. ‘And we are going to be late.’

‘I will come back later today,’ Happy Jack replied.

Molly smiled. ‘Now where is Aana?’

‘She’s with Mrs. LeNora Joe,’ he said and pointed towards the back of the store.

Molly found her mother at the fabric table. Bolts of calico and silk material piled next to her. Her mother’s usual smile was replaced with pressed lips and dark eyes. The tormented look on her face was the exact opposite of what Molly expected to see and it poked hard at her heart.

Molly again glanced at the wall clock then inched her way closer. She strained to the conversation.

‘No. That is not possible.’ Her mother’s eyes widened with worry. ‘We’re too far removed and . . . ’ Her voice trailed off in a way that worried Molly. She didn’t know what they were talking about, but she did know that whatever it was had unsettled her mother.

‘You’re probably right,’ Mrs. LeNora Joe replied. ‘The passengers on the steamship I’m . . . I’m sure they are all fine.’

Passengers?

Steamship?

Fine?

This steamship? The one that Flora is on?

A lump rose in her throat. Her mind muddled at what she’d just heard. Was her sister in danger? Before she could think of what to say her mother spotted her peering out from behind the flour sacs.

‘Molly?’ Her mother asked in her why are you listening to the adults’ conversation tone. Molly took an uneasy step forward.

‘Aana, Molly’s voice faltered. She wanted to know what they were talking about but at the same time her mother had a worried look on her face that told Molly not to ask questions. So instead, she urged her to hurry up.

‘It’s time to go.’

A rock settled in the pit of her stomach when her mother turned her attention back to Mrs. LeNora Joe. That furrowed eyebrow and pressed lips told Molly all she needed to know. They were going to be late.

Molly groaned. What could be more important to Aana than meeting Flora?

Molly pulled on the collar of her dress and turned. She stomped outside giving a glare at the wall clock before the door banged shut.

Of all days couldn’t Aana take a break? Just once. To greet her eldest daughter. Molly knew her mother worked hard. She had to. She carried the burden of running the Trading Post ever since Papa went on his business trip to San Francisco and was now more than a month overdue.

John Ogden (he/him)

John has always had a head that is maybe too full of fantasy worlds, odd characters and creatures to be a proper grown-up.

He has had a long career in animation and been a lifelong artist. His passion for writing has always been bubbling under it all, and so he was thrilled to enrol onto the MA Writing for Young People.

He loves to read and write fantasy, humour and lots of things with monsters, the surreal and the supernatural.

He wants to combine his visual skills with his writing in the future, hoping to illustrate, or maybe even animate, some of his work.

johnogscribbler@gmail.com

About Wing Walker

As one of the last Wing Walkers, cursed peasant girl Morug is forced to roam the vast wing plains of the giant, airborne creature her people call the Great Midd.

Her work is lonely and dangerous, tasked with hunting monstrous parasites and trying to survive each colossal wing flap far from the stable, populated region at the behemoth’s centre.

When Morug is burdened with a mysterious treasure, it sets her on a perilous journey to uncover its terrifying secrets that may risk more than her own destruction.