Heart of Ice

by Barbara Pietron

Chapter 4

  Ice called Nik as soon as his phone showed service bars. "We need to talk," was all he was willing to say. "We'll be there in twenty minutes."

  Nik opened his side door and held it while Ice and Corey got out of the Jeep. His gaze took in Ice's friend and one eyebrow twitched briefly. "You guys hungry? I've got spaghetti."

  Ice shook his head vehemently and mumbled, "No, thanks." Corey didn't reply, just followed Ice's lead and kicked off his shoes at the door.

  "This is Corey," Ice said. "He knows I'm your apprentice." The phrase let his mentor know that the other boy understood who—and what—Nik was.

  Nik nodded to Corey and then motioned toward the living room where the boys obediently sank into the couch. The older man looked from one face to the other. "So, what happened?" He took a seat in his recliner.

  Ice began by telling Nik about Nesbitt's neighbor who mentioned the man had a cabin. "When I didn't get you on the phone, I figured I should at least see if he was out there. I asked Corey if he wanted to go for a ride. He's seen Nesbitt at school, so I figured he could identify him." That wasn't exactly Ice's train of thought earlier, but it was close enough. "And he's heard Windigo stories," Ice added and met Nik's gaze. "He knows not to say anything."

  The medicine man's face was stoic, leaving Ice no indication how the man felt about his decision to reveal their investigation to his friend. Ice took a breath and continued, describing the cabin, Nesbitt's disheveled appearance, and the glimpse of the man allegedly butchering something. "We were going to watch from the behind the shed." Ice swallowed hard and glanced at Corey. "But when we got there we found a… a pile of remains…"

  "Remains?" Nik leaned forward in his chair.

  Ice nodded. "Bones and… guts." He crossed his arms over his stomach as if it might help the sick feeling roiling inside him.

  "Okay… you told me he was a hunter. He's got to dispose of the innards somehow." Nik prompted.

  "There was a ribcage," Corey finally spoke up. "Pretty big." He curved his hands around the sides of his torso, measuring the validity of his claim.

  "And a hand, Nik." Ice stared into the medicine man's eyes. "A hand." He'd turned the gruesome sight over and over in his mind on the drive back to Cass Lake, testing the possibility that the skeletal hand had been a trick of the light. But the white bones had absorbed enough of the dying light to stand out clearly against the dark ground.

  Deep creases marked the older man's forehead. "Did either of you see a skull? Human or animal?"

  Ice shook his head and looked at Corey. "No," his friend said.

  Nik reclined into his chair, a troubled look on his face. "Animal bones can be mistaken for human bones, but I can't make an assumption in either direction without taking a look myself."

  "Go back?" Ice responded, drawing back. "Can't we just call the police?"

  "Sure. And how will you explain what you were doing there?"

  Corey turned to Ice. "Dude, can we leave me out of this? I don't need a visit from the cops. My parents would freak." He drew his phone from his pocket and checked the time. "Shh…oot," he recovered with a quick glance at Nik. "I gotta go."

  Nik rose. "Go ahead and get him home, Ice. Call me later."

  Ice nodded. His mentor was clearly not happy and Ice wasn't sure if his behavior was to blame or simply the turn of events.

  In the car, Ice apologized to Corey for bringing him into the situation. His friend said nothing for a moment and then shrugged. "Hey, you told me exactly what we were doing. I could've bailed while we were still in town."

  "Thanks, then. At least I had someone to back me up."

  Corey emitted an unexpected chuckle and Ice stole a sideways look at him. "Besides, when this is over—assuming it ends well—this is going to make a great story."

  "We can only hope," Ice replied, the words 'assuming it ends well' echoing in his head.

  On the way home from Corey's, Ice heard his text tone and guessed it was his mom, wondering where he was and if he'd be home for dinner. Waiting until the Jeep was in the driveway to check his phone, he discovered he was wrong. The text was from Lynn.

  "Hey Ice  I wanted to make plans for the dance since it's only two days away. I hoped you could drive but now I've got a situation… "

  Ice frowned and typed, "I can drive. What's up?" then got out of the car and headed for the house, eyes fixed on his phone.

  "My parents just told me that we can either double date or they'll drop me off and pick me up."

  That didn't seem like a big deal to Ice. "What would you rather do?" he sent. Although he'd planned to pick her up, he was okay with meeting her at the school—it would get him out of the inevitable awkwardness of meeting her parents.

  "I'd rather go with friends than have my parents drive me!"

  The exclamation point made Ice chuckle; he certainly didn't miss having his mom drive him everywhere. "Do you know someone who'd want to ride with us?" He unlocked the front door and stepped inside, where he was enveloped by the aroma of cumin, chili peppers, and beef. He was relieved to find that chili actually sounded appetizing.

  "As a matter of fact I do lol do you know Audrey Hayes?"

  Ice let loose an exasperated exhale as he slipped his jacket off and tossed it on the arm of the couch. Seriously? Audrey Hayes? She was Corey's ex-girlfriend. "Not really." He sent. It was the truth. Corey had introduced her to Ice, but the most he'd ever exchanged with her was a nod or a one-word pleasantry.

  "I'm pretty sure they'd go with us. I know her boyfriend doesn't have a car."

  "Awesome," Ice breathed sarcastically. He typed, "Sure. Works for me."

  "Is that you, Ice?" his mom called from the kitchen. A moment later, she appeared in the archway. "I thought I heard you come in."

  He held up his phone. "Yeah, Lynn texted me just as I pulled in. We're finalizing plans for the dance Friday." Lowering his gaze to the phone, he saw Lynn's reply. “Great. I'll ask her and let you know."

  He glanced back up to find his mom's eyebrows peaked in interest. "Apparently we're double dating," he explained.

  Ice could see that she was trying to evaluate his opinion on the circumstances. "That could be fun," she said.

  He sent Lynn an "Ok" and pocketed the phone. "It'd be more fun for me if they were my friends, but it'll be a stranger and Corey's ex."

  "Oh." She slowly bowed her head in a knowing nod. "Well, you're really just riding together; there will be a lot of other kids at the dance." She retreated back into the kitchen, calling over her shoulder, "I'm going to put the cornbread in the oven now that you're here. It'll be done in twenty minutes."

  Ice considered the game controller but decided twenty minutes would fly by so fast it wasn't really worth it. Instead he went to his bedroom and fired up his laptop. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he tossed it on the end of the bed and then flopped down next to it. As he reached for the computer, he noticed Lynn had sent another text.

  Apparently she didn't regard their last exchange as the end to their conversation. Instead she'd asked a tough question: "So do you like to dance?"

  Shoot. How was he supposed to answer that? Most of his dancing experiences had been at tribal ceremonies, which he did enjoy, but wasn't about to admit to a girl. However, he knew he had rhythm and didn't mind dancing in front of other people, but none of that compared to a school dance. Feeling the longer time stretched, the more phony his answer would sound, Ice hastily sent, "Sometimes."

  He assumed he'd have to explain, but he'd bought himself a few more seconds to think.

  Lynn's response, however, came back immediately. "Sometimes?"

  Ice sighed. Then he typed, "Yeah, it depends-" he paused, trying to think of what he could say without getting into the whole tribal ceremony subject. Then a broad grin spread across his face as he finished, "it depends on who I'm dancing with."

  "Haha. Good answer."

  "But true!" Ice sent, warming up to text-flirting—so much easier with a little t
ime to think.

  "Well I love to dance so it sounds like we'll have a good time  "

  "That’s the plan."

  "Great! I'll see what I can find out from Audrey and get back with you later tonight."

  "Sounds good." Ice tossed the phone down, feeling pleased with how the conversation went. His stomach rumbled and he decided he might as well go set the table or whatever might move the dinner process along. He pushed off the bed and left the room, a smile still lingering at the corner of his mouth.