Floyd had no one holding him back. He dashed through the swinging door next to the counter and jumped on the man. Luckily Nikolai’s arm was in front of his face as the half-wolf went for his throat.
“Floyd!” I yelled. Aeryn released her grip and let me go. When I got to him, Floyd had already backed off. Nikolai was holding his arm where a ragged-looking bite was freely bleeding. Blood continued to flow down his face from his nose and split lip. He was a mess.
“Fire up the truck!” I yelled toward the door, hoping that someone would act. I looked at Bill. “You’re in charge here. Now fix things and get trade flowing again.”
“I’ve got it, Dad! Jeez, what did you do?” Aeryn said, shocked by what she saw.
“You wanted me to stop the feud. Well, it’s stopped,” I told her, feeling the sting of the hurt look on her face. “I’ll take him to Colleen,” I said softly.
I tried to help Nikolai to his feet, but he pushed me away. Floyd barked and jumped toward the man. Nik fell over, scrambled back to his feet and ran toward the back door of the warehouse.
“Maybe you should take him, make sure he gets the help he needs. I’ll stay here. It’s my mess, so I’ll clean it up.” I held Aeryn’s shoulders and then pulled her close for a hug. “I’ll go talk with Chris,” I committed in a whisper. If someone ever had a problem, Chris was the one to talk to. I hadn’t talked with him about Madison’s death. It seemed like the time was right.
Although I would suggest that Nikolai should not have grabbed me. We weren’t barbarians. I laughed to myself. When I looked up, Bill’s expression said that he thought I’d lost my mind.
Not quite yet. I thought I was finding it again.
Most importantly, Floyd seemed happy. “Come on, Floyd. We have work to do. What do you need, Bill. Take the counter, man! There are people waiting,” I said expansively, trying to be encouraging. Bill leaned away from me while calling for the next person.
The warehouse was back in business. The scuffle was soon forgotten by all, except for Nikolai and Aeryn.
The Community counted on me, but they had helped me carry the burden when I couldn’t carry it alone. With the newcomers, the burden had become considerable. They should have known Madison’s strength held me up, but by how much had to have become clear only after she was gone. There were two versions of me who survived her – the angry me and the depressed me. Neither brought us together as a group.
Charles was right. I needed to snap out of it.
IT’S JUST A BEAR
Charles’ rifle was a 45/70, but unlike my short barrel, his was twenty-two inches which also gave him two extra rounds. Mine only held four in the magazine tube and one in the chamber. His carried six plus one. He also had a low-powered scope. He was a good shot, but liked the edge that the scope gave him. Of course he used more ammunition than I did as he was always bumping his scope and needed to sight it back in.
Or he just liked to shoot. We had a great deal of ammunition hidden. The stocks we’d gotten ten years prior were enough for a lifetime. I thought that Charles was taking that as a personal challenge. I didn’t shoot much anymore, so gave him my quota as well. It seemed that I was too busy to enjoy shooting. But after Madison’s death, I didn’t have the will to go out. So Charles and Aeryn took care of things. They took care of me. With Floyd by my side, I’d go on long walks, ostensibly for the dog, but the walks were more for me. One foot after another, symbolically powering through another day.
Charles rode his bike to the outskirts of the populated area. He continued up a trail, finally stopping near the top, where he leaned his bike against a tree. He unslung his rifle and stood, listening. He waited for the sounds of birds to return. The mosquitos had already found him. He pulled his head net on and rolled his sleeves down. He put on light gloves to complete the outfit. They didn’t have any bug dope, the Alaskan word for mosquito repellant. The easy answer was to stay covered up, and then there weren’t any artificial scents for the game to sniff.
Charles stalked ahead, silently, already hunting. He’d walk miles like that if he had to. But not this day. He smelled it before anything else.
The stench of a bear. He looked quickly around, trying to see where it was. The worst place to be would be between a sow and her cubs. He couldn’t see anything, but the sound of a large animal running through the brush and trees was unmistakable. Charles zeroed in on its approach, aiming from the safety of a thick birch. The bear appeared out of the brush only thirty feet away.
Charles fired once and levered a second round into the chamber. The grizzly covered the distance in that same time. The young man snap fired at point blank range into the chest of the massive bear. It slammed into the tree, threatening to topple it. Charles jumped back and levered another round into the chamber. He fired, already working the action for a fourth round. The bear stepped out from behind the tree and roared its pain and anger.
The teenager aimed into the creature’s mouth and fired, hoping the four-hundred-and-five-grain round would obliterate the bear’s brain.
Charles leapt backward when the grizzly surged toward him. The rifle’s action caught and he cycled it twice, sending a live round to the ground. He’d lost count. He thought he’d seen a round enter the chamber, but the bear was occupying his full attention.
Its front legs collapsed as it dropped to all fours. It struggled back to its feet. Charles stepped forward and sent his last round through its small eye. With a great huff, the beast collapsed and died. Charles cycled the action and confirmed that the rifle was empty. He reloaded before anything else, then circled the area to make sure the bear was alone. On occasion, there would be more than one, but not this time.
Charles looked at his kill and guessed it weighed seven hundred to eight hundred pounds. He pulled his knife and started cleaning. Nothing went to waste. He’d save the hide and tan it, and then the meat would go a long ways, enough for the whole winter. Add one moose for variety and the family would be set.
He felt bad about snapping at me, but it was how things had been lately. That’s what he thought about as he continued cleaning his kill. Charles had not cried during his mother’s impromptu funeral. I was a wreck and suspect he considered himself the bulwark of the family, shoring us up so we could move forward. It helped, but I was unsure how healthy that was for him.
Charles needed help to move the meat once he had the initial cleaning and dressing accomplished. He hoped that I would be home when he returned, so he could impress me with his kill. But I was busy in the warehouse because of what I’d done to Nikolai, so Charles would be disappointed.
In the warehouse, I hadn’t resolved the problem at all. The only thing I did was damage my credibility as the governor, regional administrator, or whatever they were calling my position these days.
Charles spent the rest of the day cleaning the bear, thinking about the way ahead for our family and nothing was coming to him.
MEETING OF THE MINDS
Aeryn took Nikolai to the clinic where Colleen patched up anyone and everyone. Nearly every injury was because of someone doing something they shouldn’t. Not this time, though as Nikolai stumbled in. It was nothing that Colleen hadn’t seen before, but when she heard from Aeryn that it was me who did it, she grew concerned.
“That’s a new phase in his recovery,” Colleen stated matter-of-factly. “Sit still and stop whining. I thought Russians were supposed to be tough!” she scolded Nikolai. He scowled, as much as he could until Colleen straightened his nose, then he gasped and tried to smile. The dog bite required a little more attention.
She cleaned the wound and sewed it up, opting not to give prophylactic antibiotics. Their medicine was always critically low. She had to save her stock for the true emergencies. She wished him on his merry way, but Aeryn stopped him before he could leave.
“Just go home for today. I need to talk with my dad before you
go back to the warehouse. Plan on going to work tomorrow, as usual,” she instructed him.
He looked at her, wondering how she’d been put in charge, but he also knew that she was right and there was more to this than the battle for control of the warehouse. “I’m sorry about your mother,” he said in his Russian accent. “I’ll try to compromise, make peace with Bill.”
“That would help a lot,” she replied with a half-smile, then asked if he needed a ride. He declined, saying it was a beautiful day for a walk.
When she returned to the warehouse, the line was down to two people who had not been waiting earlier. She walked past them and inside where Bill had everything well in hand. He was ordering me around, and I did each task dutifully, although I didn’t move as fast as he wanted; I went as quickly as I could without pushing it to the point where I’d pass out. The steps were kicking my ass, and everything people needed seemed to be on the second or even third floor.
Aeryn helped herself around the counter. “I need to talk to Dad. Can you handle this by yourself?” she asked. Bill made a face and rolled his eyes, looking through the window and seeing that there were only two people, and then he shrugged. Floyd was curled up under the stairs, watching while staying out of the way. Someone had thrown a blanket under there and he had taken ownership of it, twisting his body into it.
“Can’t it wait until we take care of the last customers? Then I can fix whatever Chuck screwed up!” Bill said loud enough for the whole world to hear. Aeryn gave up and asked how she could help, which meant a run to the third floor of the warehouse. She passed me on her way up the steps.
“Hey! How’s Nikolai?” I asked, genuinely concerned.
“I’ll talk to you later,” she called over her shoulder. I watched her go, wondering how she’d gotten like that. She was all of sixteen and didn’t take grief from anyone, while at the same time working to keep everyone going in one direction. She was the peacekeeper. I’d always assumed that Charles would take the mantle from me, which was a sexist presumption on my part. Reality said that Aeryn was a better fit, having already assumed an informal leadership role within the Community. She was the one who people were coming to. She was the one who had solved the Community’s problems over the past year.
And she was in pain, too. I was certain that she had many unasked questions for her mother that she wasn’t comfortable with asking me. I hoped that Colleen was able to help.
I expected I’d get a visit from Chris. He was a good friend, one of the originals from the resort, and I valued his counsel.
I knew that I’d be getting plenty of that. Maybe I was finally ready to talk about it. I was still angry. My house was built on Madison’s bedrock. When that disappeared, my house collapsed.
Terri made advances, which surprised me and confused me. We’d argued a great deal in the early years as co-mayors. I never thought of her in that way. She took my clumsy rebuff well. She’d not had any love interest over the years. I couldn’t believe that she’d chosen me. But it took two and although I told her I wasn’t ready yet, after a year, I thought I would never step out. I hoped that she would understand.
“What the hell are you doing up there? Is there a picnic I don’t know about?” Bill yelled from the counter area, shocking me from my reverie.
“Coming, boss!” I yelled back, hustling down the stairs with the parts I carried.
Aeryn passed me, nudging me and smiling as she raced downward.
We quickly finished off the last customers. Bill said he lied about the break and we needed to finish restocking with the supplies that they’d pulled from the wrecked airplane. I had forgotten about that part. Aeryn told Bill that Nikolai could help him tomorrow. When the man bristled she marched right up to him. I didn’t hear what she said, but soon he was nodding.
You are the one who will carry these people to the future, I thought, feeling proud of my daughter. I’d been miserable for too long. It was time to get drunk and understand that a certain amount of sadness would never go away. But there was a great deal of life left and my children both proved that day that they needed me, the old me as much as I needed them.
I waited until she was done aligning Bill’s attitude, and then we went outside together. She looked at me sternly without saying a word.
“What the hell? I was going to apologize, and now I feel like a little kid on top of it!” I said defensively.
“You better apologize and then you stay away from Kasparoff!” my daughter said sharply. I was sure that I deserved that.
“Is he coming back today?” I asked, hoping to cut my shift at the warehouse short. She shook her head and pointed at the warehouse.
“That’s it? That’s my dressing down? You need to work on that. I was ready for the up one side and down the other approach. Honestly, how is he?” I said as I scratched Floyd’s ears. He stood at my side as he usually did, but not protectively as Aeryn was one of his pack. The other was Charles. He accepted the three of us, but he also considered the children of the Community to be under him in the pecking order. Darren and Becca’s children, Little Bill and his sister Maddie seemed to be his favorites, although Hermione had gotten more than a scratch or two from playing with the half-wolf. Even Diane, who was already a teenager, was in his pack.
That’s what I got for hanging out by the school and watching the kids play. Floyd hadn’t been intimidated by the low fence around the schoolyard. With two steps, he jumped over it and ran into the middle of the kids playing. I was alarmed the first time he did it, because of the wolf in him, but it was the Alaskan Husky that ran through the yard, playing tag with the kids.
“I made my point, didn’t I?” It wasn’t a question as she looked at me triumphantly. “Now, back to work with you! Don’t forget, the Council meets tonight. It’s time you started coming again. Things aren’t how they used to be, and they need to get back that way. I love you, Dad.” She ended with a peck on my cheek and waved goodbye to Floyd as she walked toward her bike.
A MINOR SCUFFLE
Charles cleaned the bear and bagged the meat, hanging it in trees to keep the other predators away until he could return for it. It had taken him more than half the day. He hurried back to his bike and raced downhill, hoping to quickly find help.
When he burst into the cabin, he found his sister half-dressed with her boyfriend, Toby. She pulled a piece of clothing from the floor to cover herself. It was Toby’s shirt. Charles gritted his teeth and glared at the young man, only a few years older than the twins.
“Am I supposed to knock before entering my own home?” Charles asked sarcastically. His sister glared back at him, then waved an arm.
“Go outside and give us a minute. What do you want, anyway?” She looked both angry and embarrassed. He knew her better than anyone and was confused, probably because he felt the need to protect her as they’d protected each other for nearly their whole lives. He wished he could talk with his mother, but she was gone. He knew that I would be no help. Charles would ask his sister later if I knew about her and Toby.
I didn’t know and when I found out, I wouldn’t take it well.
“I got a bear,” he said, chest puffing in what he’d accomplished. “A big grizzly, maybe seven hundred pounds. I’ve got it cleaned, but I need help carrying it,” he said, pointedly looking at Toby, who was much bigger than Charles.
“Sure, we’ll help. Now give us a minute.” She pointed at the door. Charles shook his head and walked out.
True to her word, it was only a minute later that the two stepped outside and joined him. There were only two bikes which made Charles wonder how Toby had gotten to their house. He didn’t ask.
“Where’d you kill him?” Aeryn asked, putting herself between her brother and her boyfriend as the staredown seemed to be underway.
“Top of the hill, back side past Miller’s,” he answered, finally looking at his sister.
“A grizzly was that close?” she exclaimed, eyes wide as she put a hand on her brother’s arm. She was concerned for his safety and the safety of others, even though he was standing in front of her and the predator was a carcass.
“Yeah, I thought about that, too. He won’t be bothering anyone else. Did anyone lose dogs up that way?” She shook her head. They left the bikes, opting to take two hand carts, pushing them in front as they walked. Although it was late afternoon, they weren’t in a hurry. They had another six hours of daylight. Charles hoped they didn’t need that much time.
They studiously avoided any discussion about what Charles had seen. He didn’t want to ask his sister about that in front of Toby.
“You came here what, three years ago?” Charles asked, turning to Toby.
“Five, actually. We spent the first two down south near Denali before making it up here. My dad’s the furrier and fisherman and Mom works the fields. We have a tanning shack not far down the road,” he said cautiously as if feeling out an opponent during a sparring match. Charles knew exactly where they’d lived before Toby said anything. It was a small Community. Aeryn watched her brother closely, looking for cues that might suggest he liked her boyfriend.
She hoped he did.
“How big did you say that bear was?” Toby asked.
“Big. Seven, maybe even eight feet tall,” Charles said with a smile.
“My dad will tan that up real nice,” Toby said, looking at Aeryn. They smiled at each other.
Charles instantly felt the fury rise within. He saw the looks. A bear rug, in front of the fire, two naked bodies nestled in the deep hair. With a yell, Charles dropped the cart handles and launched himself at the bigger man.
Charles grabbed Toby’s head in both hands and jumped, kneeing him in the abdomen. They went over together. Toby was trying to get a grip on Charles’ arms, but the younger man held tightly. Charles tried to headbutt the bridge of Toby’s nose. He turned at the last instant, catching the blow on his cheekbone and eye socket. Stars sparked before his eyes.
Fury (End Times Alaska Book 4) Page 2