The Lobstick Trail, by Douglas Durkin (ePub/pdf)

After five bruising years on the traplines and in the gold-fields of northern Manitoba, a young man from the east is at last ready to go home. He has proved he can stand the cold, the rapids and his own worst mistakes, and he means to slip out on the ice road before spring softens his resolve.

But The Pas is filling with trappers, prospectors and dog-drivers for the annual Derby, and the town has something else on its mind: a brazen theft of furs from the company warehouse, a constable with more clues than answers, and a favourite in the race whose preparations nobody is allowed to see.

Then a telegram arrives from the East, and with it a stylish widow carrying instructions, wagers, and secrets of her own. Rivalries over dogs, money, and a woman sharpen towards the starting line, and the young man must decide where his loyalty truly lies -- and whether the trail home is one he can really take.