Heart of the Wild

By Doreen Milstead

Heart of the Wild — A family struggles to survive in the Alaskan wilderness, until a tragic accident changes their lives forever. A stranger arrives at their door and all have to survive through a bitter winter. There is a reward at the end to their story. Love and prayer can conquer all obstacles.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Susan Hart
• Release date: Feb 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463005941

Book preview

Heart of the Wild

by

Doreen Milstead

Copyright 2020 Susan Hart

Heart of the Wild

Synopsis: A family struggles to survive in the Alaskan wilderness, until a tragic accident changes their lives forever. A stranger arrives at their door and all have to survive through a bitter winter. There is a reward at the end to their story: Love and prayer can conquer all obstacles.

The cold of winter had just begun, but then again winter started so much earlier in the Alaska territory. There was no snow yet, just the frost in the morning and a biting cold that you could feel in your bones. The silence of the forest was only broken by the crackling sounds coming from the trees as the ice forming on them broke branches and snapped twigs. Even the familiar birdsong of Tanagers was silent, as the birds had migrated south several weeks ago. It was a vault of natural silence, like a kind of church of nature. It was certainly God’s country, for it did not belong to any man.

The silence was only broken by the soft steps of a hard man. A man who didn’t mind being alone, and in fact wished not to be found at all. His heavily booted feet cracked and popped as it walked through the stands of trees, trampling ferns and other small plants. He had snow shoes tied to his hefty pack, but he has no cause to use them yet. When the snows fell, however, they would be the only thing to keep him moving. There were no tracks or trails to find because there was nothing to find and little reason for a man to be there. It was very possible that his were the first human feet to ever touch this land.

Turn here the voice said. Turn east.

He had heard the voice before. He knew what it was, but it had been so long since he had heard that still, small voice that he was sure what to do at first. Was it a voice that he had obeyed before? If so, had that been a good idea? He didn’t remember. So many decisions along the way had been wrong that it was hard to tell which ones, if any, to blame on that soothing inner voice. He checked his compass, and reckoned that east was to his left.

The compulsion to turn left