Aliak overflowed with people, natives and Asians and white men, all jostling for position up and down the street that ran through town. Young men climbed onto awnings for better views, and women crowded the windows fronting the street. Excitement tinged the air, racing through the spectators gathered. Vendors hawked their wares—trinkets made from gold and polished rock, feathers for caps and hairpins, intricate carvings in whalebone, hot skewers of roasted meat. A fresh fall of snow covered the street, its pristine carpet already churned a muddy gray in spots. Once the sleds ran through, it would be as dingy as it had the day before.
Jack wrapped Emmett’s scarf around his head like a babushka, obscuring the patch on his right eye. His plan was simple—using the crowd for cover, they’d app
