[Song of Alaska 02] - Morning's Refrain Read Online Free PDF Page B

approached. He held out a blanket to Dalton. “I have another blanket for the young lady.”
    “I’d be careful in giving it to her. She’s the testy sort.”
    Josh laughed. “Well, she just very nearly drowned.”
    “Because of her own stupidity,” Dalton countered. He stripped off his shirt and wrapped the blanket around his shivering body.
    “Maybe she’d be grateful to you if you brought her this bit of warmth,” Josh teased.
    Dalton looked at the blanket for a moment and shook his head.
    “She wasn’t grateful for having her life saved, so I doubt a blanket will change her position.”
    “Come on, Dalton.” Briney pulled him away from the approaching young woman and her crowd of helpers. “No sense worrying after her now.”
    “Believe me, I do not intend to give her a second thought.”

    “I was terrified when I saw you go into the water,” Lydia told her son as the family ate supper that evening. “Are you certain that you’re doing all right? You aren’t chilled, are you?” She reached out and felt his head.
    “Honestly, Mother, I’m fine. The water was cold, but Briney saw that I dried out quickly. I’m far more interested in the food on my plate and the pie you promised.”
    “Let him eat, Liddie. He’s just fine,” Kjell said, taking hold of his wife’s hand. “Relax.”
    “Illiyana said you’re the fastest swimmer in Sitka,” Britta announced.
    Dalton reached over and gave a gentle pull on his sister’s earlobe. “I’ll bet her brothers would have something to say about that. I know for a fact Yuri considers himself a great swimmer.”
    “Well, you were really fast,” Kjerstin declared. “I think if you had a race, you would win.”
    “I’d rather not give it another shot just now,” Dalton replied. “That water was much too cold.”
    “How come the Tlingit children go in the water all the time?” she asked, looking to her great-aunt for answers.
    Zerelda exchanged a look with Lydia. “Well, the Tlingit have their ways and we have ours. They take their children into the water at an early age to toughen their skin and strengthen their constitution. The law has forbidden it, but some still bathe their infants quite early in the icy water. I don’t suggest it, however.”
    “But why?” Kjerstin asked. “Why do they do that?”
    “Well, the native people do a lot of things that would probably be harmful to whites. For instance, they eat a variety of things that often make us sick.”
    “But you said we were all made the same in God’s eyes.”
    Zerelda nodded. “That we are. Even so, we needn’t all do the same things.”
    “But the missionaries say that the Tlingits should be like the whites,” Kjerstin pressed.
    Her comment was clearly unexpected. Lydia looked at Kjell and then to Zerelda. “People say a great many things. It doesn’t mean it’s wise or sensible.”
    The ten-year-old was visibly concerned. “But they’re doing God’s work. You said that when people are doing God’s work, they are often misunderstood.”
    Lydia smiled. “I’m glad to know you’ve been listening. It’s true that missionaries are often misunderstood.”
    “And they often misunderstand. Sometimes they simply make mistakes in how they handle things,” Zerelda interjected.
    Lydia frowned. This had long been a bone of contention for her aunt. When Sheldon Jackson and his missionaries moved into the area, Zerelda Rockford had voiced a mix of praise and frustration.
    Her agitation over the way the Tlingits were treated was a frequent topic at the Lindquist table.
    Evie gave Lydia a smile. “I think we all make mistakes. We say and do things we wish we could take back.”
    “So the missionaries are wrong?” Kjerstin asked.
    Zerelda put down her fork. “I believe sometimes they are. They have good hearts and long to do God’s work, but I think some go about it all wrong. They haven’t really bothered to understand the people and their culture because they believe the