Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.
Exposition
Even the Dead Tell Stories
When Sig's dad dies, he's not sure what to do, so he goes to the body to find out what happened to his old man out on the ice. He might have died of frost out there on the arctic lake, but Sig's not sure why his dad would have been outside in these below-freezing temps in the first place. This is our exposition because it sets the story in the motion. Even though Sig doesn't find out a lot of details about his dad yet, this is when he begins asking questions.
Rising Action
There's a Wolff at the Door
A guy with no left thumb and a monster face shows up at Sig's door, and he's got no clue who the dude is or what he wants. It quickly becomes clear that it doesn't really matter if Sig wants the stranger named Wolff to stay or not, because he comes on in and makes himself right at home. Sig feels uncomfortable with the scary bearded man in his house, but he can't really stop the guy, now can he? We're not sure what Wolff wants, but we're pretty sure his "business" with Einar isn't talking stocks and bonds.
Climax
We Are Totally Saying He's a Gold-Digger
With Wolff still in the house and no one else around, Sig learns that his dad apparently had some kind of deal with the stranger when they were back in Nome. It goes a little something like this: Einar promised to give Wolff half of his gold.
Sig is super confused by this revelation, since his dad didn't have any gold. He's also scared for his life, especially when Wolff whips out a gun and threatens Sig with it. When Anna gets home and she doesn't know anything about the mysterious deal either, Sig's got a crisis: confess to a crime he knows nothing about, watch his sister die, or die himself. Good times.
Falling Action
A Bible with a Treasure Map
Sig takes Wolff to where his dad's stuff is, only to find his mom's old Bible there. He's not sure why, but he wants it—perhaps because it's the only thing he has of his mom's, or maybe because it was right by his dad's body when he found it. Wolf searches through the papers and can't find what he's looking for, and when they get back to the cabin, they start fighting. Eventually, Sig and Anna escape, and Wolff accidentally shoots himself in the hand. As the siblings run off to find help, things start to get all tied up (in a good way) for them.
Resolution
Nice Guys Finish First
Fifty years later, Sig looks back on his life and tells us how things ended up. It turns out his dad did steal the gold, and left it for them in a secret location—luckily they found the map after Wolff was taken off to prison (where he died). We hear that Sig invested the money in the iron mine and made a boatload. Hmm… funny, isn't it? Sig and Anna (the nice guys) get the gold, while Wolff (the baddie) dies poor and alone in prison. Maybe the author's trying to teach us something about morality… Either way, all's well that ends well for Sig and sis.