by Sarah Davis
It wasn’t until mid-February when the sun provided more than six hours of sunlight. Marie and Penny met one Saturday for afternoon coffee. Eelyn was happy to cover baby duty during her brief absence, almost too happy over the potential girl pal Penny might gain. Lucy not so much.
Watch that one, Lucy thought as Penny left.
The get-together started out enjoyable. Until Marie opened her mouth and bombarded Penny with questions. How can she stand the lack of sunlight? Isn’t the foggy weather insane? Didn’t Penny shop outside of town?
Penny surreptitiously glanced down at her clothes as Marie ogled the restaurant patrons. Her blue plaid shirt that Noah gave her (it was too small for him) was unbuttoned and the yellow and blue “Utqiaġvik Pride” peeked from beneath.
Did you just roll your eyes at her? Her sister remarked.
And here I roll my mental eyes at you, she retorted. I like my clothes.
“Ah, I wish there was some place to go out dancing here,” Marie complained.
“There’s dancing every Sunday night at the Lodge,” Penny replied, knowing already that the lodge was not the kind of dancing Marie would like. Noah had asked her to play guitar with Army and him in a couple of weeks at the lodge, but she was still waffling about performing in front of a crowd. Small groups of friends were okay, but crowds…the thoughts churned her stomach.
Marie scoffed, and Penny responded with a smile.
“Noah and I go there occasionally. It’s not that bad. Nice time to visit with people.”
This comment sparked a string of questioning involving Noah. Penny was reluctant to give up much, not that she had really given many answers since the visit started. Marie either talked over her or seemed completely uninterested in her responses. That was until now. Marie seemed annoyed at her shrugs and one-word responses
“You two are very chummy. Well, do you like him or what?” Marie asked.
A long pause followed.
“I am beginning to think your silence is a definite yes.” Marie smirked.
Penny wanted to tell her yes but no at the same time. She wanted the voluptuous blond girl to stay away from Noah, but then again, she held no claim on him. She held no claim on anyone. She recalled the innumerable times his fingers brushed her hand or touched her shoulder. She focused on wiping the condensation from her glass, secretly hoping Marie would let the topic go.
If Marie's intense stare was any indication, the added throat clearing struck her point home.
“Yes, of course I like him. Everyone does. We work together. We are neighbors. He is my closest friend.” Penny pulled her right shoulder up in a half shrug.
He takes me on overnight survival trips, visits my house in the middle of the night to feed a polar bear cub, meets me in the bunker to goof off on the guitars, she added to herself.
He finds you attractive and flirts with you, added Lucy. Penny hid a small smile.
It’s been months though. Wouldn’t he have asked me out by now?
“Does he tell you about the girls who ask him out? Word around town is quite a few do, you know.”
Penny didn’t know what the word around town was. For a handsome, single man like Noah, how could she figure girls weren’t trying for his attention? But she didn’t want Marie to know.
“As far as I know, I am the only girl he hangs out with.” Penny smiled with indulgence although she began to wonder to her sister. How many girls ask him out?
You could always ask him. Close friends and all that, Lucy chided.
“And you two are seriously not a couple?” Marie asked, as she eyed the pendant hanging around her neck. Penny fingered the claw unconsciously. “That is a strange necklace. Matches your wardrobe.” Marie then smiled sweetly. “Well, maybe he hasn’t been asked by the right girl yet.”
Penny considered that. Was there a way she could find out if he wanted to date her without ruining their friendship? Did she even want to date him? She snorted at that. Marie gave her an odd look.
Fortunately there was no more talk of Noah.
The week passed quickly without a chance to ask Noah much of anything. Penny agreed to a second coffee excursion with Marie during which she gossiped about the town folk and their children. The only time she included Penny was to ask if she agreed with her. A noncommittal “hmm” was the only response Penny gave.
Penny refrained from commenting and was having a hard time not staring at the girl in shock. Marie’s apparent fondness for criticizing people didn’t sit well with Penny. After all, the girl was a teacher—someone children could look up to— a model for civil behavior and good manners.
The waitress, Gigi, stopped by to check on their orders. Marie complained her coffee was too cold. Penny barely kept from shaking her head in bewilderment as she had watched Marie add ice cubes to her coffee to cool it down. Instead, she gave her attention to the tall, dark-haired girl waiting on them.
Penny knew Gigi from self-defense classes, which the girl attended on an infrequent basis. Looking more closely at the tight smile Gigi was giving, Penny wondered if it was just Marie’s complaints and shallow comments on the restaurant that weighed on her.
A shiver of foreboding fell down Penny's spine.
“Hey, how are things, Gigi? You haven’t been at classes lately. Been busy?” Penny pushed down the rising sick. What was wrong with her?
“Are you still dating Robbie?” Marie probed in a soft, sugary-sweet voice, sticky upon Penny’s ears.
Gigi glanced at Marie, her eyes troubled. She ran the back of her hand across her forehead before responding in a breaking voice, her eyes glistening.
“Things are alright. Thanks for asking, Penny. No, Robbie and I are taking a break, Marie. But you would know that, I think. Let me know if you need anything further.” Gigi left their bills and spun around, her long black hair flying up, trailing her like ribbons on a kite.
Marie smirked. “He wasn’t worth it, not if he grazed in other pastures.”
Penny wondered in whose pasture Robbie grazed. Had it been Marie’s? Even so, in a debauched way, Marie was right. Penny readied to bid Marie goodbye, feeling more than a little uncouth for associating with the young teacher. Before she worked up an excuse to leave, Marie caught her attention.
“Did you hear about the girl they discovered in Juneau? They think she was murdered. Possibly by the same one who killed the girls around here.”
Stunned by the comment, Penny sorted through recent conversations with Army and Noah. Neither had mentioned any additional killings.
Marie showed Penny an article on her phone. The photo of the deceased girl looked familiar. But her name was unfamiliar. Troubled, Penny knew she would ask Army and Noah about it later.
“Wow, that is very scary,” Penny said as she handed the phone back to the girl.
“Scary? I’m glad it was in Juneau. Must mean the killer moved away. Well,” Marie drew her coat over her shoulders, “I best be going.”
Anxious to get back to resume bear duty, she paid the bill and left wondering if she really wanted to hang out with the girl again. Penny also wondered about Marie’s words. Would Noah go out if someone asked him? The thought troubled her.
Maybe girls around here just know he isn’t interested and don’t ask, Lucy offered.
It is not like that is a topic we discuss. I mean, I ask him about doing things, not date things.
Lucy snorted. Yeah, okay. Cooking him dinner and watching a movie is not a date night kinda thing.
Oh, come on. Friends do that, too. And he has asked me to do things. We go out to movies, go to the restaurant. If he started dating someone, I would lose all of that.
And you would be hurt. Come on, admit it. You like him. You should just tell him.
Penny blocked her sister for a few moments, a gift she had improved to hide her constant state of weariness from Lucy. What was the point? If Noah had any interest, wouldn’t he have initiated something? Their brand of flirting was mild. No different than Army “fli
rting” with the waitress or her mother for that matter. Compliments are not equivalent to flirting, except in Lucy’s mind. Harry’s brand was overbearing. Noah’s and her bantering was…warm. Friendly.
Life goes on, Lu. If something is meant to be. Penny returned to their connection.
I get it. You are too afraid to do something. To take a chance. To see if you could be happy having someone closer to you than a friend. Whatever. Why would you listen to me anyway? Like I know anything about real life. I am a watcher. Not a doer. How could I know anything, except for what I wish I would do in your place?
Lucy closed herself off after she finished her rant and Penny could not get her to open again. She mulled over what Lucy said and what Marie mentioned at lunch. She felt a connection with Noah, but was it all in her head?
Later that night, curled up in bed with a book, dog, and bear, Penny's phone alerted her to a text.
Noah: Hey Momma Bear, lights out.
She checked the clock: 9:42 p.m. Lucy and her mother were still out at the clinic to check on a patient.
Penny: Meet you out front.
She left the slumbering pair of animals in her bed, pulled on a pair of jeans, and headed outside.
A heavy fog had developed soon after her lunch with Marie. It matched her mood up until now. The fog clung nearer to the ground, not as heavy as earlier, and glowing orbs from the lights from town showed here and there. Even with the fog, intense ribbons of green and red wove through the heavens above her. Noah quietly approached as Winter nosed her hand in greeting.
She thanked Noah as he gazed transfixed at the sky. He glanced down and gave her a wink. Penny’s happiness at Noah’s calls or messages whenever the aurora displayed itself seemed to spike with each flare of the lights. Whether it was 3:00 a.m. or 5:00 a.m. didn’t matter. Both were accustomed to sleepless nights, either due to dreams or night cub duty.
Thoughts about what Marie said earlier in the day and Lucy’s comments invaded her mind. But then the image of the red-haired girl, the one found in Juneau, flashed in her memory. The blood drained from her face as recollection set in. The reason the girl seemed so familiar to Penny was that Penny had seen her before. Not in person, but in a vision. The one she had already spoke to both men about.
“Hey, where did you go? You look haunted,” Noah touched her cheek with a cool hand.
“Noah, remember before I found Fjord, I had a vision that showed a girl’s face? The one that didn’t seem familiar?” she croaked.
He squinted at her as he dropped his hand. Then he nodded once.
“I saw her earlier today,” she began.
“Where? In town?” he asked, his brows drawn together.
“No, not in town. In a picture. She was found dead in a hunting shack in Juneau, and the authorities said she was missing for months. She disappeared after work one day. In September.” She paused, swallowing back the bile. In a whisper, she continued, “I think that was about when I saw her and heard her scream in my head.”
The silent lights, reflected in Noah’s eyes, shifted and danced above them.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her in the direction of his house.
Army dozed on the couch, a newspaper draped across his chest. When Noah shook him gently, Army shot up, yelling a garbled word that sounded very much like a curse.
“Sorry. We need to talk,” Noah said.
Penny relayed her story. While Army made a few calls for more information, she paced the living room floor.
“Well, kids. Penny ought to go home. Nothing more we can do. The authorities will look at every possible connection, but for now we should all get some sleep.”
Penny glanced at the clock, surprised it read 11:13 p.m. Noah walked her back home beneath the lights that still danced overhead.
The next day, Lucy agreed to go to The FrostBite with Penny for lunch to find Gigi was once again working.
She keeps looking over her shoulder, her sister commented.
Lucy left to use the restroom before Gigi delivered the drinks. It did not go unnoticed by Penny that the girl slammed the glasses down harder than necessary.
“Where's your friend?” Gigi asked.
“My sister…”
The other girl shook her head. Penny cocked her head to the side and began, “Noah?”
“No, the blond.”
“Ahh, well, I have no idea. Causing problems for someone, I would imagine. We aren't close friends, Gigi. I am very sorry, for what it is worth.”
Gigi responded by lifting her chin before turning to go.
“Hey, are you okay?” Penny called after her.
The girl turned back and smoothed down her apron. Dark blemishes stood out beneath her eyes. She sighed.
“I’m okay, Penny. Just tired.” She huffed. “My roommate’s been staying with her boyfriend more and coming home to an empty place is lonely. My phone has been ringing at odd hours, private number but no one answers. Stupid robocalls. Kinda freaking me out, I guess.”
“Really? You don't know who’s calling?”
“No, I thought maybe it was Robbie at the beginning, but he said it wasn’t. And I believe him. It’s just that…” She broke off, looking around the crowded room.
“What?” Penny motioned the girl to sit in the empty red bench seat across from her. Gigi fell into the cushioned seat.
“Well, I remember Katie told me she got calls like that. She would answer them at first. That was the week before she disappeared. Then she called in sick for work and never showed up.”
The hairs rose on Penny’s neck. Katie was the girl found dead a few days after Penny arrived.
“It's probably nothing. I get those robocalls, too. Let me know if you need anything,” Penny put a hand on the girl’s arm. Gigi nodded her thanks before returning to work.
A throbbing temple headache descended on Penny, and she apologized to her sister for her desire to leave early.
On her way out of the restaurant, the cold and vertigo hit Penny simultaneously, and she fell to her knees. Faintly, as if in the distance, Lucy called her name. Danger pulsed through Penny’s veins as the Shadowed Man flashed in her mind.
Someone grabbed her arms and hauled her upright. Noah gazed down at her.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
She shook her head, clearing the cobwebs. “Sure, I’m fine.”
“When a woman says she is fine, she most certainly isn’t,” he rebuked. Lucy stood off to the side, shadowing Penny, a protective hand resting on the small of her back.
“I saw the shadowy person again.”
“No one else?”
“No, no one else.” She fought off the disorientation. “But Gigi said she was getting phone calls from a silent caller. Just like Kate Kingston did before she disappeared. Has there been any more word on the deceased girls?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. No suspects either. And I overheard Army mention repeat calls from an untraceable phone the week prior to her disappearance.”
“Do you still think I am having premonitions of the killer?” she asked, her voice close to a whisper.
“I have no doubt.”
“Noah, I am worried about Gigi. I just have this feeling. I think she may be a target.”
“Tell me as soon as you have a vision, okay Penny? Call me. Message me. Knock on my door. Anytime. Alright?”
She nodded.
“Do you need me to drive you home?” Goosebumps pricked her skin as she became aware of their nearness. She placed her hands on his chest, steadying herself. She turned away, guilty for wanting to ride with him when her sister was waiting for her.
“No, I am fine, Noah, really.”
His skeptic gaze suggested he was aware of her lie. “In that case, I think I might have a chat with Gigi. Make sure she lets me know if anything odd happens. Sound like a plan?”
Heart falling, Penny nodded. It was for the best, to advise the girl to be extra careful. What better way to be extra careful than to have
Noah looking out for her? Penny hoped he still had time for her.
Jealous
Turned out Noah had plenty of time for Penny. Several weeks later, Valentine’s day, he convinced her to play guitar with Army and him at the lodge. Eelyn kindly offered to watch the cub so Penny could have more than a couple of hours off. Her mother also planned to visit between feedings, so she could enjoy the evening, too. Lucy tagged along and sat at a table, mentally singing along with her sister while clapping like a fool after each song.
Penny had played guitar almost her entire life but never played in front of a crowd like this.
The bright lights shining in her face made it difficult to see the crowd, so all the people she saw as she entered the lodge could have up and left and she wouldn’t have known, excepting for the applause after each song.
During a break for the performers, a server brought refreshments. As she grabbed a water, she was hit suddenly with vertigo. Once again, she saw the face of the polar bear, but without blood on his face. He was looking away from her, rather than at her. His profile dissolved, and a shadowy human form took its place, piercing eyes of ice staring into her soul. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She broke out in cold sweat, and her hands began to shake. She pulled the water bottle in tight to her chest and willed the image to disappear. It didn’t.
She jumped as a hand touched her lower back.
“Hey, you okay?” came the quiet voice of Noah. He searched her face, his brow furrowed. “What’s up? Are you sick?”
Nodding was all she could do as a surge of nausea rose within. He pulled her over into a corner, and as she sat, he mothered her, feeling her forehead and checking her pupils. Laughter bubbled up her throat only to come out as a gasp. It was fortunate her mother and sister left earlier so that they did not have to see her like this.
“Was the playing too much?” he asked, genuinely concerned.