Pathways (9780307822208) Read Online Free PDF

“When is life most vivid and vital for you, Bryn?”
    Here, now
was the first thing that came to her. She thought about sharing it with him but held back. He was right. Her days were not focused, not organized with a huge goal before her as she usually kept them, and yet she felt more … interested and … 
whole
than she had in a long time. “It’s a good question,” she said instead, rising. “Come on. If we’re going to get to that mining camp and back, we had better hurry.”
    Eli watched the thoughts pass through her dark chocolate eyes like a ticker tape through a stockbroker’s hands. There was something moving her, changing her, making her think. She set off ahead of him, assuming their trail was dead ahead rather than veering to theright at the crags, moving on instinct. Was that how she always tackled a problem? Move forward and figure it out on the way?
    “Uh, Bryn? We want to head over to the right. The camp should be about a quarter-mile farther.”
    “Oh. Okay.” She modified her path immediately. “You asked me what makes me want to be a doctor. What makes you want to be a pilot?”
    “You were up with me last week. You saw what fun it is, right?”
    “Yeah. But what about the rest of the world, Eli? What about seeing Europe like our fathers did? Or China? Or New Zealand or Peru …”
    “I’d like to see those places. Someday.”
    “Why not now? Have you ever even been Outside? To the Lower 48?”
    “Twice. We went to see my grandparents in Chicago.”
    “That’s it?” It was her turn to stop and study him. “Don’t you ever wonder what you’re missing? What’s out there?”
    He mulled over her question. “Guess not. Wasn’t wild about Chicago. This is home, and I’m pretty sure it always will be.”
    She nodded but was clearly not assured.
    “And flying … There’s nothing else like it. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a hawk, circling, riding the wind. If I could spend all day in a glider, I’d be a happy man. The de Havilland and flying for a living is the next best thing.”
    He took the lead. “I might not have seen China yet, but I see something new every day. Isn’t that what most people want from their work? Something new, to keep things fresh, interesting?”
    “I suppose.”
    They crested the next hill and spotted the remains of a smallmining operation—decomposing traces on the ground, a black, cavernous hole in the hillside, barely covered with metal fencing in a meager Forest Service effort to keep hikers and daring spelunkers out. There wasn’t a whole lot to it. But beyond it, miles of treeless, green-gold tundra extended all the way to the base of the white mountains in the distance.
    “This is it?” Bryn asked, staring down the gully to the sad remains.
    “No,” he said. He took her hand before thinking about it and waved to the horizon. “That’s it.” He stared outward, but his attention was on the connection between them. It felt so good, so right, that Eli suddenly didn’t want the gesture to be casual; he wanted to hold her hand forever. He looked over to her.
    She was gazing up with such a look of rapture that it seemed to Eli that she saw, really saw Alaska—the land he loved—for the first time. “Oh,” she whispered, and her fingers tightened around his.

    Bryn began to look forward to Eli’s visits, his shy smiles and warm glances. So when he came over a week after their hike and invited her to go with him to meet Ben White, she agreed. Together they paddled up to Ben’s cabin. His home was a bit more expansive than the other two Summit cabins, with a wraparound porch and wide windows on three sides. There were tidy wooden and stone steps that came down the hillside to the beach. Ben emerged as they neared and gave them a small wave, moving slowly, stiffly, to the stairs, to come and meet them.
    “You all right, Ben?” Eli asked.
    “Ah, fine. Just that darned arthritis acting up.” He came closerand smiled tentatively at