Polar (Prequel): The Turnagain Arm by Julie Flanders Page A

Mr. Dzubenko was so taken with the area that he’d changed the name of his saloon from Dzubenko’s to the Turnagain Arm. Mr. Dzubenko had said he’d simply liked the name, but Kenneth couldn’t see why. He’d heard that the Turnagain Arm waterway had received its name from the explorer Cook, who had encountered the dangerous tidal bores the water was known for after turning into the arm of what would become the Cook Inlet. He’d told his crew they needed to “turn again” and head back out to sea.
    Kenneth couldn’t see the point in naming anything after something dangerous. But ultimately he didn’t care about the name, all he cared about was that the terrain of this area was the worst he’d encountered along the railway. The tracks were built right along the coast, with nothing on the other side of them but steep, nearly vertical cliffs. The crew was struggling to build tunnels through the mountains that surrounded the area. And now winter was coming back and it was sure to make everything about this place worse.
    Not exactly the place of riches MacNeil had dreamed of back in Tennessee. He could just hear the boys back home laughing and snickering at the sight of him now, freezing his ass off while trying to catch fish for Mrs. Dzubenko to fry up for the camp workers. He didn’t know how he’d managed to get stuck with this detail, but he’d be damned if he’d do it much longer. The winter was just around the corner, and he knew enough about Alaskan winters now to know he wouldn’t be sitting outside on the ice in the middle of the night waiting for fish once winter came. No sir, he wouldn’t.
    Kenneth glanced at the crescent of the moon that now shone nearly level with his gaze. It would be disappearing soon, and the sun would rise to take its place. At least then he may be a little warmer. Not that the sun had a whole hell of a lot of warmth up here in this place. His mind drifted back to the warm bed he’d left to come out to this creek at 4:30 in the morning. It killed him to think of the beautiful Miss Rebecca still sleeping away in it.
    As soon as he could, he’d save up enough money and take Rebecca out of this hellhole. She could go home with him to Tennessee and the two of them could have their own little place up in the mountains. Rebecca was far too much of a lady to be stuck working as a whore anyway. Back in Tennessee, no one would know about all the men she bedded here. She’d just be Kenneth’s woman, like she should be.
    As he daydreamed about his plans for the future, Kenneth heard a faint movement in the trees behind him. He smiled, thinking perhaps Rebecca had changed her mind about coming out here to keep him company. Somebody ought to. God knows there wasn’t a damn fish to be found.
    Kenneth pulled his line from the water and stood up on stiff legs. He picked up the lantern that was his sole source of light and turned towards the trees, but saw nothing.
    “Rebecca? That you, baby?”
    A rustling in the bushes was the only response Kenneth received.
    “Rebecca? Who’s there?”
    Hearing nothing, Kenneth reached for the gun he carried on his belt. He never went anywhere unarmed, not when he knew he could come face to face with a bear at any time. He figured that’s what this noise was now. Some goddamned grizzly foraging for food.
    Kenneth’s head jerked to his right as he heard the unmistakable sound of sticks cracking under a heavy weight. But he didn’t hear the lumbering sound of a bear foraging through the trees and scattering everything in its path. No, he was sure what he heard was the sound of human footfalls. An owl hooted in the distance, causing Kenneth to jump and nearly drop his gun.
    “Who the hell is there?” he shouted, trying to hide his growing anxiety from his voice. “What kind of game are you playing at?”
    Kenneth jumped again as a tall blond man walked out of the trees and straight towards him. He raised his gun and pointed it with shaking hands at