Chapter Three
February 1899
Camphor--For Chapped Hands, etc.
Lard, wax and almond or olive oil, equal parts, with a little powdered camphor. Used to rub over the hands after washing to prevent chaps.
After two days in Seattle, Aurora had nearly forgotten Wilma Thompkins, who had pointedly avoided her until the older woman disembarked at her stop in Montana. She obviously disapproved of Aurora’s behavior. Mr. DeValle, before disappearing into the misty racket of the city, had given Aurora the name of a tourist home which "catered to women."
Seattle was overcast with a freezing drizzle coating the streets, yet legions of bicyclists skidded around the city going to their jobs and attending to business. She had never seen so many bicycles. The tourist home, a new building with intricate mauve and maroon wood trim, even a porte cochere for delivery carriages, was impressive. She checked the number several times to make sure this was the place. Yes, a small brass plaque
beside the bell pull discreetly announced Mountain View Tourist Home for Ladies.
Later, sitting at the window in her sumptuous room, she watched the clouds lift and Mount Rainier loom up, seeming to rise from the streets of Seattle. She could not stop looking at it; it absorbed her so she could no longer discern where she ended and the mountain began. Then as if someone had drawn heavy drapes across the scene, the mountain disappeared behind a bank of clouds. Aurora took this as a good omen: she would find Martin, thin but in good health. He and his party would have found gold somewhere along the Liard, enough so that he could return home with a sense of accomplishment.
