by Sarah Davis
She answered slowly, working through the potential benefit. If it worked. “I can try. I wouldn’t know where to start, though.”
“Army’ll guide you through the meditation. He is a guru or something,” he said.
If she were honest, she did mind a smidgeon. “Would you mind not sharing my visions with him?” At his inhale, she interjected, “At least for right now.” Don’t need him thinking I’m weirder than he already does.
Noah agreed.
Folk Style
She researched meditation after Noah left and decided she would try some techniques before bed. Her sister allowed her mental space, retreating to the top bunk once again. Penny sat cross legged on her lower bunk, and as she attempted to clear her mind of all thought, her attention was overcome with aberrant thoughts and worries. She eventually fell asleep, but it was not a peaceful sleep. Nightmarish images of a mutilated body startled her awake multiple times.
The following morning, giving up on sleep, Penny attempted her own type of meditation with a run at the school gym. As she was finishing, Harry and Noah walked in, surprising her. Then again, per Noah’s request, she had sent him a message alerting him to her whereabouts. Alone. She sighed at the thought of having one more person knowing where she was and what she was always doing.
Oh please, it’s for your own safety, her sister grumped.
That I know, that I know…
Penny gave a brief wave as she cleaned up her treadmill and grabbed her water bottle.
“How far did you run?” Noah found her distances interesting.
“Umm, five,” she said.
“Just five, are you kidding me? How far do you normally run?” Harry asked.
Penny shrugged.
“Well, you must run a lot to keep so fit.” His sticky sweet words irritated her, and she longed to leave them.
As Penny tightened her ponytail, Harry perked up.
“Is that another tattoo?” His eyes focused in on her right inner elbow.
“Obviously,” Penny bristled.
Sheesh, calm down, sis, her sister’s thoughts interjected.
Penny didn’t understand the anger but stomped it down. She was tired after all.
“Can I see it?” he asked, breaking her from her sour thoughts.
She groaned inwardly but held out her arm close enough for Harry to see and yet far enough away to pull back if he tried to touch her. He did not. He peered at the outline of a polar bear walking amidst a color washed aurora in the starry night sky.
“How many do you have?” he asked. Her grey sweats and sweaty black tee covered the others.
“Hey man, leave her be,” Noah said, coming to her rescue.
With a grateful smile to Noah, she told them. “That’s okay. I believe I displayed the others yesterday. There’s the dragon on my ankle I got when I was sixteen. The wings—I got those after my father died. This polar bear…right before I moved here. So. Just the three.”
She threw her towel over her shoulder and was ready to bid them good morning when Harry asked if she wanted to stay and watch them wrestle. Something in her snapped.
With a Cheshire cat grin and a sugar-rich voice, “Oh, like you really want me to watch you two big guys wrestle. That sounds like…so…much…fun!”
Noah appeared taken aback by her sudden change in attitude. Harry seemed surprised, as well as encouraged.
“And if you find yourself so inclined, maybe you could wrestle me afterwards.” Harry’s trademark smirk was in full force as he stepped toward Penny.
“Oh, I don’t know about that. You might hurt me,” she said, her sugary tone lowered as she took a step back.
“Nah, I would never hurt you. We could even make it interesting by adding some stakes. Winner gets granted one request by the loser.”
“Well, I am already warmed up, shall we go now?” She smiled as sweetly as she could.
Harry was all but salivating. “I’ll go change.”
As he ran off to the locker room, Noah asked, “You know, he is a very good wrestler. You sure you want to do this?” His gaze was full of concern.
“Ahh, it will be fun. I doubt he will try to hurt me. And I can handle myself, Noah.”
“He’s harmless with his words, but with wrestling…that is a different story. He’s ruthless. No taekwondo moves.”
“I know I can’t kick and punch him. What makes you think I am not ruthless as well?” At his raised eyebrows, she said, “Sorry, my runner’s high is more of an aggressive grouch.”
A small smile appeared on his face. “Be honest, do you know how to wrestle? It’s not like taekwondo.”
“Yes.” She returned a small smile of her own.
“Yes, you have, or yes, you know?” His smile widened.
There was a pause that drug out into a bit longer silence.
“Not really into sharing information about yourself, are you?” Noah ran a hand through his black curls.
“Isn’t that like the pot calling the kettle black? Mr. Tightlips.” She rested her weight on one leg, hand on her hip.
“Alright, Miss Sassypants. Keep your secrets.” He chuckled as he shook his head.
Harry burst out of the locker at a jog, interrupting her doubts on challenging Noah’s younger brother.
Noah agreed to referee, reminding them both that it was a friendly match. Penny asked about the rules, to which Noah explained that there would be three two-minute bouts. A win occurs when one wrestler causes a fall or pin, ends with the most points, or scores fifteen points more than the other wrestler.
“Okay, folk-style,” Penny said, rolling her shoulders and loosening up her neck. “I’m sure it will be over quick.” She batted her eyes at Harry, flashing what she hoped was innocence.
Noah dropped his hand and whistled. Penny briefly wondered where Noah got the whistle before she made her first move. Then, reaching out with her left hand, she grabbed Harry’s left wrist and threw a flying headlock. She threw him on his back, pinning him in less than eight seconds.
As he lay under her hold struggling, she whispered, “As winner, my request is that you treat me with respect. As a friend. Not as an object. You may be pretty, but you are not my type.” With that she let him go. He lay there on the mat, looking slightly confused.
“Did you see how fast she moved? I think we got hustled.”
“No, little brother. You got hustled. You should know better than to underestimate your opponent. Especially in her family.” He turned to Penny. “Confess.”
“I did participate in a wrestling club in middle school. And it was only for a year. For complete disclosure, I hold a second-degree black belt in taekwondo. This past year I advanced to level nine of Krav Maga and just started learning grappling techniques. And I ran cross country in high school. As for this match, I planned to take you off your guard and move faster than expected.”
“And Harry here was two-time state champion, so I guess you two both failed to air out your levels prior to the match.”
“So, Noah teaches self-defense at the school during the school year, did you know that? And that he also dabbles in Krav Maga?” Harry asked, seeming to want to enter their conversation in a more mature way.
Penny’s eyes lit up. “You do? Do you instruct here?”
“Not officially. I teach self-defense and oversee fitness programs here in the afternoons during the school year, like Harry said. I also assist coaching wrestling.”
“You coach wrestling?” Now who was withholding information? “Seriously.” Penny met his gaze. “How does that work? With your security job at the rigs?”
“I usually take a lengthy vacation to cover for Army when he is gone teaching. To take care of the dogs and such.”
“I’ve been taking care of the dogs, though,” she spit out without thinking.
Nice, sis.
Shut it.
“Sorry, already planned. You’ll have to put up with me full-time.”
“Well, would you consider spa
rring and working on Krav Maga techniques with me during the classes? I mean, the better I am at defending myself, the less likely I would ever be a target.” She looked meaningfully at Harry, who smiled.
“If you are level nine, I would recommend you help me coach wrestling, so you can work on those skills. During self-defense classes, I would be more than happy to work on advanced techniques, so long as you would agree to help me teach the less advanced.”
Penny thought on this. “So, you are asking me to fight for my right to fight?” They both smiled. “Sounds like a deal to me.”
Harry chimed in. “Great! Now that the deals are made, how about the winner treats the loser and his brother to a nice hearty breakfast?”
“Don’t you need to work out? Or work on your headlock deflection?” Noah was laughing as he threw a play headlock on his younger brother, rubbing his hair with his free hand.
“Hey, back off. I didn’t see you jump to challenge her.” Harry sulked.
“I suspect I will get the opportunity. Loser pays for breakfast.”
“I need to run out to the station and pack up some equipment for Army first,” Penny said.
“If you hold off, I will come with you to help,” Noah offered.
I don’t need a babysitter. “That’s alright, I’ll take Blue.”
“Yeah, I’ll come, too. We can stop by The FrostBite and grab breakfast from Dolores on the way,” Harry said, making every attempt to stay in the conversation.
“Oh, okay.” Guess I don’t have a choice.
The boys dropped her off at home after their trip to the research station, insisting they carry all the boxes of equipment to Army’s house. Blue bounded up to her mother, who was relaxing in the living room area. Penny stopped to give Edgar a scratch on her way to the living area. Edgar lifted a leg, indicating he wanted her to hold him. She placed him on her shoulder and sat down on the couch.
“Hey, bud, what have you and Penny been up to?” Eelyn asked as Blue jumped into her lap and licked her face. “Wow, I missed you, too!”
“Went to the stations. Are you off the rest of the day?” Penny asked.
Eelyn pushed the energetic dog off her lap and slowly stood up from the worn brown recliner. She wiped her face and shook her head. “Nothing scheduled for this afternoon, so I thought I would hang out here. But I fell asleep.” She yawned and stretched her arms overhead, her back popping as she twisted and bent. Dark circles stood out beneath her mother’s brown eyes, and her normal smile was absent.
She looks so tired, Penny thought.
“A nap, huh?” Penny’s own body felt weary and not from carrying heavy boxes. “I could use one, too, I guess.”
“This whole dead girl…thing…” her mother’s voice trailed off.
“Does Army really believe there could be a serial killer?” Penny dropped her bag in her room quietly to not wake her sleeping sister.
“He seems convinced.”
The small hunting cabins where the women were found had been decimated. A bear, or bears, made certain that evidence discovery was unsuccessful.
“Well, a birthday party for Noah should help, hey?” Eelyn said attempting to lighten the mood.
Yeah, cause the last birthday party didn’t result in everyone scattering after a dead girl was discovered.
So negative, Lu. I thought you were sleeping, too?
Only stating the obvious. And I heard you come in. Rather, I heard the dog.
“He isn’t too excited about having a party,” Penny said.
Noah had grumbled about being too old not that long ago, which brought on a snarling response from Army. “Too old? Wait until you are my age. Then birthdays will be a celebration that you made it to such an old age.” He then smacked Noah on the top of the head. “Be respectful. If your family or friends want to celebrate your birth, then go with it.”
Two days later, as Penny got ready to head to the Volkov residence next door for said party, Eelyn wondered aloud about them being invited to family functions.
“I think Army feels like he is our foster host or something. Wants to make sure we feel comfortable here, have things to do. You know, so we don’t sit inside our house and shrivel up from no use.” Penny said. “Or maybe Army likes you.”
Eelyn looked aghast. “He is at least twenty-five years older than me!” She shook her head. “I am still in love with your father. No, if there are any seedlings of love, my dear, it would between you and—”
Penny held up an open palm, cutting her off. Lucy snickered. She decided to tag along for which Penny was grateful.
“No, no, no, nonono. You will not mess up my head with your maniacal mumblings. It’s hard enough with my own. I get it, you and Army are friends. Just like Noah and me.”
Eelyn snorted. “Yeah, okay.”
Am I missing something here? Penny wondered.
You two do seem kinda chummy, more so than you and Liam. And you weren’t so defensive about Liam when someone teased you about him, Lucy responded.
“I am just teasing. I realize you and Noah are friends. He wouldn’t be a bad catch though. Very polite, helpful, hardworking, empathetic,” Eelyn said.
Penny rolled her eyes. “Empathetic.”
“Strong relationships are good, and the Volkov family has treated us with nothing but open arms. I just hope they invite us because they genuinely like us, not out of charity,” Eelyn said. “You know, one day I was bumming. This job…this climate.” Eelyn cleared her throat. “I’m probably bummed more days than not. But this one day, Dolores found out I was alone. I think you were out messing with Noah—oh quit with your eyerolling. I mean, running with Noah and the dogs. Dolores asked me to go out to lunch, but I declined. She showed up on our doorstep. Brought me soup and a flowering plant.” Eelyn paused and glanced away.
Oh, that’s where the violas came from.
“That is something family or very good friends would do. It’s just nice is all I’m saying.” She smiled and they, including Blue, headed outside across the yard to the neighboring house.
It was a small gathering: Dolores, Harry, Army, Noah, Vale, Penny, Lucy and Eelyn. Plus, Winter and Blue. Vale, Tiki, and their mom dropped by earlier in the day and left gifts, which were already opened and sitting on the table. Rose had not been up to celebrating after attending the call the night before, but Vale was at least able to celebrate her birthday with her family as planned.
Penny placed her card, including a gift card for fuel, on the table. She always offered to fill up the bikes when they took them out, and Noah always refused. So, she thought that a gift card for fuel might be an okay present.
There was cake and ice cream. Rita brought Penny’s new favorite, caramel apple pie with a top crust that looked like a dahlia. Penny also brought along French toast cupcakes.
They played board and card games, talked about the Christmas holiday, and made plans to see Harry again. Sanna called to wish Noah a happy birthday and to tell him that she already booked her flight for Christmas vacation.
A small cloud hung over the party. The apprehension over the recent dead woman, Pam Iverson, finally worked its way into the conversation.
“No, there hasn’t been any further word from the police. There seems to be a lot of accusations. Pam’s brother returned yesterday and wants to blame Pam’s boyfriend, Doug, because he had been previously abusive. Doug has a solid alibi, though. He was with his other girlfriend, which doesn’t exactly paint the best picture.”
“You don’t see any connection between the three women, do you?” Eelyn asked Army.
He shrugged and shook his head ruefully. “Aside from how they were found, not yet. But I have suspicions. The forensic specialist in Juneau should complete the autopsy soon. Maybe it will confirm the possibility of a serial killer or maybe not. I’m guessing any findings suggestive of murder will lead to more civil unrest and finger pointing. I would say to keep this information to yourselves. No need to encourage gossip.”
Mosquit
oes and Dogs and Bears (Oh My!)
The day before Harry left was predicted to be gorgeous and unusually warm with a high of seventy degrees and a light southern wind. Army gave Penny the day off so that he could spend time with his nephews, beginning with an early morning flight to watch the 5:18 a.m. sunrise. By mid-morning temperatures were in the sixties, which felt downright hot to Penny. She realized that it would also mean an increase in the insect population, but a truck went by last night spraying what she hoped was insecticide.
After pulling her hair back into a ponytail, she donned a pair of shorts and a tee and headed outdoors with Blue for a walk. His growing frame, already knee-high to Penny, led the way but not so far as to tighten the leash. The bug population that blossomed overnight whirred around them as they crossed the lawn between the two houses on the property. Army’s truck and SUV sat parked in front of his house, and she wondered how the morning flight went. If she were honest with herself, she was a bit put out she hadn’t been invited.
Suddenly Blue stopped. His hackles rose, and he growled. Penny walked up beside him, wondering at his behavior. Nothing out of the ordinary appeared between the dog shed and the back of Army’s house. Blue faced straight ahead, between the two.
Penny’s mouth went dry, and her eyes narrowed as the reason lumbered around Army’s house. Before them paced a large, very dirty polar bear. It stopped when it saw them, nose lifting in the air. Hyper-focused and momentarily paralyzed, her grip loosened on Blue’s leash. Her heartbeat pounded loudly in her ears. No premonitions had warned her of the beast before them.
She willed herself to action and took her phone out of her pocket. Her ear bud was in place. As she began recording the situation, she simultaneously video dialed Noah. He answered, but if he was surprised to see the bear instead of Penny, she knew not.
“Are you back?” she whispered. Glancing down, she saw his questioning face.
“Yeah, we are at the house. Where are you?” he asked.
“Out between your house and the dog kennels. Please come out and help me,” she said.
Blue lunged forward, jerking his leash out of Penny’s hand. He rushed up to the bear, and the bear sat down on its haunches. Blue stopped before it and yowled a greeting. The bear’s arms rested on its hind legs at first, and then it raised one giant paw up as if in a wave and cocked its head to the side.