Flight To Pandemonium

by Murray, Edward

  Much to Mac’s surprise, Judy was reluctant. “Guys, I know this fellowship thing was my idea, but this past year has been the most unpleasant of my life. I’m not emotionally ready just yet. I’ll give you a taste and then begin with Nome… okay?”

  “My former husband is a pediatrician… and together we ran a pediatric clinic in Fairbanks. We contracted with native corporations to provide care for children referred to us. At first, the clinic was successful, but neither of us was skilled at business. The costs mounted over the years and so did the stress and personal disagreement. The clinic failed and soon, so did our marriage.

  “I was depressed, so when the Kotzebue hospital offered me a position as a pediatric nurse, I accepted because it was far from Fairbanks and a chance for a new life.

  The experience was rejuvenating and I became director of outpatient nursing. One night I entertained a visiting physician for dinner who was delightful and charming. Our relationship developed into an affair and when his volunteer service ended after spring break, he left and I was pregnant.

  “I slipped into another bout of depression. In May when school let out, the nuns arrived to begin their nursing assistance. When Sister Helena arrived, she became a pillar of compassion for my sadness. But I should have known better. Feigning sympathy she ferreted out my affair and my pregnancy, and began a campaign of fault finding and recrimination… her supremely cultivated skills.

  “I frequently counseled young native girls telling them that life would be better by choosing abstinence or some form of birth control to avoid unwanted pregnancy. Sister Helena then used my hypocrisy to full advantage…belittling me as a scandalous adulteress unfit as a counselor and worse as a compromised nurse. I had difficulty getting comfortable with my pregnancy in the face of such vilification.

  “Sister Helena used every opportunity at the hospital to oppose my suggestions and criticize my management style. She wasn’t about to remain subordinate to anyone… especially a tarnished lay person.

  “About that time, our affiliate hospital in Anchorage was having difficulty with the epidemic and requested our help. I had already decided to have my baby far away. So we all boarded a flight to Anchorage which landed in Nome instead. All passengers were ordered off, and the airplane left, leaving us stranded.

  “Without clear authority in our reassignment, Sister Helena pressed for control. Whoever addressed our group usually turned to the formally dressed nun. Sister Helena took on the role of leader despite repeated reprimands, and refused to redirect any communication intended for me. When Linda delivered her message to the Nugget offering us a flight out of town, the clerk handed the note to Sister Helena.

  “When the nurses gathered in the lobby to leave, I was still in my room. Since I was responsible for the hotel bill, the clerk called me down, related the message and presented the hotel bill. He insisted on trading the entire tab for a seat on our flight. All I had to do was verify that he was to be included on the flight. But the lobby was filled with other people waiting for a way out of Nome. I told him his scheme was outlandish and would likely jeopardize all of us. I worried he might trouble us anyway.

  “When the airport shuttle arrived, the hotel clerk hailed the driver. He followed nine of us on the bus. Linda demanded the clerk get off. He put up a terrible fuss and I was sure we’d see more of him.

  “Sure enough as we prepared to depart, he stirred up the crowd to stop us and you all saw what happened, so I’ll skip all that and go on after I heat more tea.”

  Mac hadn’t seen all that Judy skipped over and was disappointed with having another gap in his journal. The Captain was asleep when Judy resumed.

  “I must say, that radio broadcast during the flight separated my mind from reality. Hearing that reporter recommend dying together shocked all of us… even Craig despite his high minded accusations later. After that, some were pliant to Sister Helena’s spiritual explanation of the plague… the devil was behind it all. And I think she really believed what she said. In her mind there could be no other explanation.

  “After the crash landing, she blamed our hardships and wretched living conditions on the Captain’s criminal conspiracy. That thinking didn’t begin with Craig as you might remember; it originated with Sister Helena from the very first moment we landed. Inside the cabin, Sister Helena belittled anyone who disagreed with her, especially Martha who tried to act as mediator. Her denigration of the Captain’s team was merciless. Alarmed from the first day and now demoralized, we all fell silent rather than suffer her tongue lashings. Richard was especially low after that broadcast… heartbroken that he had forsaken his family as a runaway coward as Sister Helena characterized him.

  “Sister Helena’s manner of interrupting the Captain wasn’t casual. Each time she began a prayer, everyone stopped to listen, so she carried on…until the Captain finally recognized her ploy to subordinate his leadership. Even then, she continued to berate him ‘privately’ among her group. That’s when I sought Mac, warning him to go easy, but back then I had no hint of how badly things would play out.

  “Tlingit’s arrival was the most fortuitous circumstance of all for Sister Helena. She seized upon his diabolical clothing to cultivate her prophecy of the end times. The devil himself had been visited upon them, she pronounced, and… most telling of all, had displayed sympathy for me and my love child. That night in the cabin, Sister Helena pointed at me and said, “Beware of her… the devil himself has given her comfort!”

  As our dedicated man with tireless help, Tlingit’s kind words landed Tony in the heap of evildoers. Mac, your cynical remark about the end times condemned you as well. Each of us inadvertently slipped into her cauldron as hatchlings of the devil... all of us!

  “She even played on the disease. A plague of death brought on by bats… on the wings of the devil… surely a sign of the apocalypse. And such a bloody choking death could only be another sign of the devil. We heard about it every night during vespers!

  “Andrew was the murky character in our cabin. He didn’t buy an ounce of Sister Helena’s apocalypse babble and she was wary of him. While she terrorized the nursing team, he gave them comfort later. When Sister Helena watched the Captain’s preparations to leave, she insisted Ted confront you. Andrew chose that moment to make his move.

  “He persuaded Greg to nominate him as their leader and call for a vote. When Sister Helena called me the devil’s handmaiden, they wanted no more of her bullying. Except for Ted, they didn’t want a confrontation with Jack either. Andrew was elected but couldn’t persuade Ted to surrender the pistol. Ted blundered out of the cabin with the pistol in his belt without telling anyone. What happened next is too sad for me to talk about.

  “I know that Martha and your ticket agent, Linda, might have joined us, but they didn’t have the fortitude to confront Sister Helena. I didn’t either, I’m sorry to say. As Tlingit said, she’s an evil woman… a truly frightening, self-righteous crazy!

  “Now, I feel like a burden has been lifted from my shoulders. Given what‘s happening in the world, that might sound shocking in comparison but I feel recharged. Thank God, and I love you all for helping me.”

  Mac said, “Tlingit was the first to figure it out. Had we listened to him…”

  “He didn’t need insight to understand what was happening,” Judy interrupted. “He slept every night in the baggage compartment. He must have overheard Sister Helena’s ranting through the thin partition. And there’s more to it… at night she reigned over the airplane cabin while all of you slept outside. Outside of your hearing, she bullied whomever she chose.”

  “Right!” said Mac. “Your story explains a lot. I wanted to leave that crazy place. I didn’t really consider anyone but myself… and you, Judy.”

  “Imagine what it must be like right now exposed on that ridge with no heat. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought up William’s death so
soon but that’s why I was reluctant to talk.”

  “Now or later, what happened wouldn’t change my mind a whit,” said Jack. “We tried to help those people and they turned on us… even pulled a gun. My pard here nearly got plugged for his trouble. And he’s the guy had the most sympathy for ‘em, ‘specially the women. They chose their fate… leaving was a matter of survival. No choice at all.”

  Tony replied, “We might ‘a helped the two women, but I’m not lookin’ back. Had we stayed there, we would ‘of starved. We can barely keep ourselves fed. Imagine three times this bunch and none of ‘em pulling their own weight.”

  “Well that nun surely had something in mind besides starving,” pondered Mac. “She ever let on where they might go once she got control?”

  “She mentioned the Catholic mission near Talkeetna,” replied Judy, “Maybe that’s where she was headed. I can’t imagine she or her sister wanted to die.”

  “I remember,” said Pappy, “right on the highway at Trapper Creek, just west of Talkeetna. That’s why we chose to land in Talkeetna. Then we flew right over them trying to land on the highway and could have been rid of ‘em.”

  “But enough of that flight! Jack, what happened hunting with you all?” asked Mac.

  “Hadn’t been for Cap’s moose troubles, our hunt would ‘a counted as a good trip. We were right. The game’s moved down, together with the wolves. The packs keep the game on the run. The caribou were always spooked. We couldn’t get close enough without good cover. That’s why we went lookin’ for moose. Wolves don’t bother ‘em when there’s easier feed. Got one right away. Had a good chance for another, too.”

  Mac asked, “Captain’s injuries cause the delay in getting back?”

  “Yea, you saw him. Hurtin’ bad. First day was worse… had trouble breathing. Cap couldn’t keep up even without pullin’ the sled. Broke off early to let him rest.”

  Pappy spoke up, “For once, Jack’s holding back some. Truth be told, we shouldn’t have brought him along. He held us back even healthy.”

  “Doesn’t have much sense in the woods, either. But I do have sympathy for the guy. The man’s never been camping in his life and what a terrible way to start. Wasn’t much help, but did whatever he could and didn’t whimper even when he was hurtin’… and never quit plugging along. Can’t ask for more’n that.”

  “Perhaps, when he’s better, he might help me, instead” Mac said. “Fishing’s a lot less strenuous and I can pull the sled by myself.”

  “Speaking of fishin’, you do any good?” asked Jack.

  “Couple of dozen the first day, but the pond froze over clear across. I broke ice on the creek, but got skunked. We ought to go back to the creek and try using bait in the morning. We haven’t tried the one south, either. Might have better luck using nets rather than plugs through the ice.”

  “Is that your handiwork on the counter?” asked Jack, referring to the broken bow.

  Tony answered, “Yea, well… that didn’t work out. Got close, but then it busted. Can’t find flexible material.”

  “If we ever get back to my house in Talkeetna, I’ve got a good bow,” said Pappy, “and other things we could use… like a rifle, for one… and my float plane, even better.”

  “And go just where?” asked Jack. “Any place better than this you can think of?”

  “If you’d rather walk, you can do that,” said Pappy irritated with Jack’s tone of voice. “Damn sight easier to get around in my airplane.”

  “Time will tell,” said Judy, seeking patience. “We shouldn’t leave here just yet.”

  Judy suggested packing preserves in back packs to be ready to leave when the time came. “I see heads nodding, so I ask…where are we going?”

  “Wherever we go, Talkeetna should be our first stop,” said Pappy. “We should reach my home in two or three days. I’ve got useful travel gear we’ll need and you can decide if you’ll join me at my lodge.”

  “We’ll be nearly defenseless on our way out,” said Jack. “If any rogue still roams the streets, he’d likely be better armed than we are. Remember those two in the jeep? We need to stay outta sight until we can improve our weapons.”

  “We need to stay out of sight for a better reason,” replied Judy. “Who knows when that bug will run its course? Maybe never, God forbid. And about those guys in the jeep… With all that new snow, no one could get this far even in a jeep. Maybe on foot, but Choc will warn us. We’re safe for now. We should stay here.”

  “I’m with ya’ so long as we can still feed ourselves. But let’s get real,” said Jack. “Those two dozen fish Mac caught day before yesterday are good for two meals, max. And that was a good day, but now the lake’s frozen. And our veggies are gettin’ real marginal. We need a lotta game to keep us going. Our cave man spears aren’t worth much. We’ve been lucky so far, ‘cept for Cap’s injuries.”

  “Okay, we leave when we get hungry, but we shouldn’t until then,” replied Judy.

  By morning with more heavy snow, Pappy warned that no one should venture out beyond sight of the cabin... another snow day without fishing. They ate the last of the fish. Six people consume an astonishing amount of fish when it’s the only protein on the menu. The root cellar continued to yield a modicum of tired vegetables and overripe apples. Judy roasted moose, made jerky and packed all of the trail reserve in William’s framed backpack.

  The Captain, still immobile, turned to the cabin’s battery powered short wave radio scanning the bands. Everyone listened but nothing was intelligible until the Captain caught a clear transmission in Morse code. The Captain said, “The message has begun to repeat so it must be recorded,” and abruptly shut off the set.

  “Well… please translate for us,” Mac asked.

  The Captain sighed, “It was a message of a dying man to his children, should they ever happen to hear it. It was haunting. At least we know the radio works fine.”

  “I think returning to civilization will be a haunting experience of our own,” said Mac. “Imagine how spooky a whole town will be without people.”

  “I’d rather have it that way,” said Jack… “Defenseless as we are, we’d be prey.”

  Pappy decided to map the country they must travel through after leaving the cabin. From his flight map, he traced the streams to the Talkeetna River past town to its confluence with the Susitna River and plotted the Trans-Alaska Railroad and the highway to Anchorage on a hand drawn map. Mac folded the map and slipped it into his journal.

  “Two huge satellite dishes east of town stand out on a ridge which we should be able to see for miles,” Pappy explained. “They’ll guide us through the forest to a backwoods trail taking us to my home. Christiansen Lake is where I keep my floatplane.

  “There’s room to fly all of you to my lodge if you like,” Pappy offered.

  “Is that where you took the willing ladies?” asked the Captain.

  Judy shook her head thinking the question wholly inappropriate, but Pappy was long past being sensitive about the subject. “If there’s a more beautiful place on the planet, I don’t know where. The lodge was just as impressive to the ladies.” he replied.

  “So your lodge is where you planned to go all along?” Judy asked.

  “If I spent the rest of my days there, life couldn’t be better, especially with all of you for company,” said Pappy.

  “Who knows, maybe you’ll go again someday,” said Judy.

  “The longer we wait, walking out of here could get worse,” said Mac.

  “Look outside,” said Jack. “I doubt it’ll get much worse than this.”

  “Things could get much worse,” said Pappy. “We could get lost in a blizzard or slog through a muddy thaw, but we need to get ready so we can choose our moment.”

  Judy soothed the anxiety by saying, “Guys, all this ta
lk comes down to just two things… fear of the flu on the one hand and the hardship of staying put all winter on the other. Why not just let that bug cool off as long as we have food? We can’t pack all we have anyway, and we’ve set aside a travel reserve. Cap’s ribs haven’t healed properly either. When food gets scarce, that should be our cue to move on.”

  “Always comes down to food, dudn’t it,” said Jack. “Snow’s too deep for huntin’ so Mac, how goes the fishin’?”

  “We’ve hit all the nearby creeks pretty hard. We ought to try Sheep River south of here, ‘bout a three mile walk. We haven’t fished that one yet. With four of us, we could break up a good stretch of ice, place our nets on either side, and flush what there is both ways.”

  “Sounds like a plan for the mornin’.”

  Rising early, Tony helped Mac strap on his harness to the plastic boat sled. The four men high stepped south through the snow past the cabin. Pappy abruptly pointed, “Look there on the roof! Do we have a chimney fire?” Smoke and flames were pouring from the flue.

  “Sure as shit do!” said Tony.

  Pappy and Tony ran back to the cabin while Mac struggled to get out of his harness. Noise shrieked like a jet engine from air rushing into the stove and up the flue. Tony and Jack closed the damper and poured water onto towels to wrap the glowing stove and flue. Steam erupted and the cabin filled with smoky vapor driving everyone out on the deck.

  Finally, with the stove cooling and the noise silenced, Judy said, “Sure glad you guys were still here. I heard the fire start, but didn’t realize...”

  “Pard, I think there’s a fire in the attic… listen!” interrupted Tony. Hearing the muffled popping of fire, four men rushed inside.