The Long Trail
By Deborah Hopkinson and Bill Farnsworth
()
About this ebook
Stowing away on the steamer Al-Ki was only the beginning of Davey's daring quest to find his uncle in the Klondike. Now he's camping in the rough-and-tumble town of Skagway, working for his photographer friend Erik Larsen, and preparing for his next challenge -- the steep, treacherous, hundreds-of-miles-long Chilkoot Trail.
When Erik falls ill on the trail, Davey fears he will not be able to go on -- until he gets help from a surprising ally.
Deborah Hopkinson
Deborah Hopkinson is the author of Small Places, Close to Home and Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen, among more than fifty acclaimed works for young readers including picture books, middle-grade fiction, and nonfiction that help bring history and research alive. Deborah lives near Portland, Oregon with her family and a menagerie of pets. You can visit her online at www.deborahhopkinson.com.
Read more from Deborah Hopkinson
Butterflies Belong Here: A Story of One Idea, Thirty Kids, and a World of Butterflies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCabin in the Snow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sailing for Gold Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Adventure in Gold Town Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPioneer Summer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Under the Bodhi Tree: A Story of the Buddha Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Kansas Home Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMindful Day Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On a Summer Night Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Long Trail
Related ebooks
Zoe's Rescue Zoo: The Talkative Tiger Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Orchid Grower Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsField Trip Mysteries: On the Bus, On the Case Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBEYOND THE ATTIC DOOR Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Crunch: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Zoe's Rescue Zoo: The Adventurous Arctic Fox: The Adventurous Arctic Fox Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5River of Peril Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsClash: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsZoe's Rescue Zoo: The Rascally Raccoon: The Rascally Raccoon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDanny Orlis Star Back Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRobbers!: True Stories of the World’s Most Notorious Thieves Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFading Tracks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVaccines Change the World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStorm: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Among the Great: Heroes of Wessex, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Outdoor Girls in a Motor Car; Or, The Haunted Mansion of Shadow Valley Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKai: A Mission for Her Village, Africa 1440 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Space Sneeze Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Bobbsey Twins in the Great West Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Land of the Blue Flower Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Outdoor Girls at Wild Rose Lodge; or, the Hermit of Moonlight Falls Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPerils of the Produce Patch: Brady Street Boys Midwest Adventure Series, #7 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFreddy Goes to the North Pole Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Water Fight Professional Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Night Flyers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Woodcarver's Daughter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Songs of Stones River: A Civil War Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSecrets and Surprises: 3 Stories in 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMissing in Action Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shannon: A Chinatown Adventure, San Francisco 1880 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Children's Historical For You
Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bronze Bow: A Newbery Award Winner Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The First Four Years Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Number the Stars: A Newbery Award Winner Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Alice In Wonderland: The Original 1865 Unabridged and Complete Edition (Lewis Carroll Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mummy Cat Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret Garden: The 100th Anniversary Edition with Tasha Tudor Art and Bonus Materials Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Single Shard: A Newbery Award Winner Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLittle House on the Prairie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Kid's Guide to Native American History: More than 50 Activities Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Long Winter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers: For Crown and Glory! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On the Banks of Plum Creek Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heroes of Olympus Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5By the Shores of Silver Lake Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thunder Rolling in the Mountains Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fever 1793 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Witch of Blackbird Pond: A Newbery Award Winner Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Little House in the Big Woods Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Little Town on the Prairie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sign of the Beaver: A Newbery Honor Award Winner Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sarah, Plain and Tall: A Newbery Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Walk Two Moons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Year of Miss Agnes Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Farmer Boy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Night Before Christmas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Elephant in the Garden: Inspired by a True Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shades of Gray Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lincoln: A Photobiography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Long Trail
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Long Trail - Deborah Hopkinson
CHAPTER ONE
Stowaway
I opened my eyes, and at first I couldn’t remember where I was.
Then muffled shouts reached my ears.
Good luck!
Bring back a sack of gold!
A sharp, familiar whistle pierced the early morning air. I heard my friend Tag yell, Hurray for the Klondike Kid!
It all came back. I was a stowaway, sailing for gold.
• • •
As the steamer Al-ki made its way out of the Seattle harbor the shouts from the dock grew fainter. But it was noisy on the boat. Dogs barked endlessly. People clomped up and down in their heavy boots, talking and laughing. Every so often a horse neighed.
I stretched out my legs as much as I could, hoping my hiding place was a good one. Tag had helped me sneak aboard at midnight. While he distracted the watchman, I’d scurried down to the steamer’s lower deck.
That’s where I was now–in a large wooden chest, under a pile of rain slickers, boots, and coils of thick, salty rope. There were enough small cracks so I could breathe but not be seen.
My stomach growled. Reaching inside my pack, I pulled out one of Cook’s biscuits. Right about now Cook would be waking up to fix breakfast for the gentlemen in the rooming house.
If I closed my eyes, I could imagine her bending down to pick up the sketch I’d slipped under her bedroom door last night. I’d done it one rainy morning while she was kneading bread. On the bottom I’d scribbled, Mabel Cole, best cook in Seattle, drawn by David Hill, age 11, 1897.
It was the only good-bye present I had to give her.
It wouldn’t take Cook long to guess where I was headed. But I knew she wouldn’t give my secret away to Mrs. Tinker, the thin, tough woman who owned the rooming house. I tried to imagine what Cook would tell her.
Davey has run off,
Cook might announce as she poured Mrs. Tinker’s coffee. Mistress, you were kindness itself, letting that boy stay here after his mother died last winter. But it looks like he’s hopped a train to New York, back to his momma’s folks.
Well, in a way I was running off to my momma’s folks. I was searching for my uncle Walt Thomas, Momma’s only brother. But I wasn’t heading to New York.
Like thousands of others, I was heading north–to the Klondike.
Thump! Thump!
Someone began kicking the wooden chest so hard I almost choked on my biscuit. I froze, trying not to make a sound.
Rusty! Russell Clark, you stop that,
came a girl’s voice.
Aw, be a nice sister and help me open it, Hannah,
the boy replied. Maybe there’s gold inside.
Crack! Another hard kick. This one close to my head.
There’s no gold yet, silly. That comes later. Remember, this boat’s taking us to Skagway, Alaska,
the girl told him. Dawson City and the Klondike River are still hundreds of miles from there, in Canada.
"I don’t care. I still want to