Stepping back, a little caught off guard at the realization she’d just found a dead body, Nora slipped and fell backward into the cold water. In an attempt to catch herself, she let go of the fish and the rod. Her reflexes were too slow. She landed solidly on her back on a large rock lying a few inches under the surface of the water. Nora lay there for a moment, stunned, as the pain shot up her spine. The force of the water gently pushed her sideways.
A little dazed, she turned her head and saw the fish floating near the surface of the water downstream from her. The fish was motionless for a few seconds, and then the water seemed to revive it and it took off downstream, getting as far away from Nora as it could. Probably better that way, she thought. She would have likely hacked the thing to pieces trying to clean it. No fish deserved that.
Nora slowly pushed herself up to a sitting position, looked around for her fishing pole, and carefully stood up. The pole had floated downstream a few dozen feet and was caught between a couple large rocks jutting up over the surface of the water. She had landed hard on that rock and it hurt to stand, but the pain was the least of her worries right now. Nora retrieved the pole and then glanced back over at the man. She had a dead body to deal with.
Chapter 10
The initial shock of finding a dead body wore off quickly for Nora. She told herself there was nothing to be afraid of. This wasn’t the first dead person she’d seen.
“Get a grip, Nora,” she said out loud as she stepped toward the man’s body. She’d been to a couple funerals, seen people in caskets, caked with makeup in a sad attempt to make them look like they were sleeping. “This is nothing. I’ve been around dead people before,” she told herself, still hesitant to get close to the dead man.
Gathering her courage, she leaned over and quickly rummaged through the man’s pockets, looking for a wallet or any type of identification. She went through the pockets on the heavy wool coat first. She found only a few empty candy bar wrappers. Under that, the man wore a fleece jacket. Those pockets were completely empty. Nora unzipped the fleece to check the inside pockets, which were also empty. Not wanting to disturb the body too much, she decided against rolling him over to check for a wallet in his back pockets. She’d leave that to the professionals. If he did have a wallet, maybe they would find it, she decided as she zipped the man’s fleece jacket back up and re-buttoned his wool coat.
Standing up, she briefly thought about what to do next. The body was too big for her to move. She wasn’t even going to attempt to haul it to her skiff and take it into town. No, she’d have to go into town and report it. That’s all she could do.
Nora took one last look at the man, turned and left. So sad to see someone cut off in his prime like that, she thought as she walked downstream through the water. She wondered how he had died. Probably hypothermia. Nora was no expert, but to her it looked like he had been trying to keep warm, all huddled up like that. Nora only had three neighbors she knew of and she’d only met one. If the man had lived out there, he would have been her second closest neighbor, and she hadn’t even known him. Or maybe he didn’t live out there at all. He could have gone for a long hike and gotten lost. That would be pretty easy to do out there. If he had gotten lost, he may have been following the stream, hoping it would lead him to the inlet. Or maybe he had fallen and sprained an ankle. If something had crippled him, then he would have been helpless, unable to go any further. Perhaps he had spent days by the creek, waiting for someone to find him, with no way to call for help. Who knew how long he’d been there before he succumbed to the frigid temperatures? So many questions ran through Nora’s head as she made her way out of the creek and onto solid ground. The walking got easier from there, but she was still a long way from the cabin.
Nora hadn’t realized how far she’d wandered upstream. Maybe the man had done the same thing, gone farther than he had planned and didn’t have time to get back before nightfall set in. He could have been alone in the woods all night long, hoping someone would find him or he’d make it through until morning. If the temperatures had dropped down far enough, one night in the forest could easily claim a man’s life. Then Nora thought about all the wild animals lurking in the forest. It was a wonder his body hadn’t been picked apart by wolves or bears or who knows what. The possibilities were endless.
A large growth of some kind of thorny bush made the bank of the creek impassable up ahead, Nora saw, so she stepped back into the water, preparing to go around it. The thought of wild animals eating away at the man’s body put Nora a little on edge. She hadn’t been paying much attention to her surroundings, she realized. Out there, that could be a fatal mistake if she wandered upon a wild animal. Just as the thought popped into her head, Nora abruptly stopped. Maybe she was letting her imagination get the better of her, but she thought she noticed something moving in quickly from her left.
Out of the corner of her eye, it was a big brown blur, and before she even turned her head to look, she already had a good idea of what it was. Definitely not her imagination, she realized, as time seemed to slow to a crawl.
The enormous brown bear was interested in a fish that had just jumped out of the water directly between them. Nora watched as the bear moved toward the middle of the stream, a mere 20 yards away from where she stood. She closed her eyes for a moment, hoping the bear wasn’t real and praying that if it was, it would be content to take the fish and leave her alone. She opened her eyes again. Terrified, she took a step backwards and felt her foot slip on the rocks below the surface of the water. Leaning to the right to catch herself, she grabbed hold of a large boulder and tried to steady herself as she took another step away from the bear. But Nora’s sudden movement was enough to catch bear’s attention. The bear, which had been focused solely on the fish, turned its head and looked squarely at Nora. It had spotted her.
Seconds passed while Nora’s mind raced with thoughts of what to do in case of a bear attack. She didn’t know if she should play dead or stand her ground and let it know she wasn’t going to back down. The only thing Nora knew for sure was she wanted to get out of there. She took another step back, feeling the soft mud at the edge of the stream, and then another step and she was entirely back on solid ground.
When the bear opened its alarmingly large set of jaws and let out a deep snarl, Nora’s heart nearly stopped beating. Her muscles were frozen in place by the intense fear that crept through every ounce of her being. She couldn’t do anything but watch as the bear swung its head from side to side, an eerie growling noise coming from deep within.
Quickly glancing around at her surroundings, Nora tried to figure out how far she was from her cabin. She spotted a group of large boulders she recognized and she realized the cabin was still quite far away. Running was not an option. Even if the cabin were within sight, she had no doubt in her mind the bear would catch her before she made it halfway there.
Nora stood, frozen in fear, as the bear took a step in her direction, letting out another long snarl of warning. Standing on all fours, the bear stood at least four foot tall by Nora’s best guess, an enormous mass of muscle and teeth and claws.
The standoff continued for what seemed like an eternity, though it was really only a matter of seconds. Nora didn’t take her eyes off the bear as she tried to figure a way out of the situation. But when the bear slanted its ears back and began making a woofing noise, she realized there was no way out.
Unbelievably, she stood her ground as the bear started to charge, hoping the bear would see she wasn’t going to back down. But her courage wavered at the sight of the enormous animal rapidly closing the distance between them. Instinctively, she took a step back. Her ankle struck something and she tripped, landing hard on her tailbone.
This is it. I’m going to die. Right here. Right now.
Then, as quickly as it had started charging, the bear abruptly stopped. Just a few feet away from where Nora lay on the ground, the bear opened its jaws again and let out another growl. It was so close, she could fe
el the warmth of its breath on her skin.
She wasn’t going to get out of this alive. The icy clear waters of the stream would soon turn to bright red as the blood drained from her mauled body, she imagined. Death by bear mauling. The absolute worst way to die.
She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable. Like the man who had died upstream, she would lie there for days, maybe months, before anyone found her body. Assuming they ever found her. Just a few days earlier, hadn’t Barbara told her people disappeared in the wilderness and were never found? This is why they’re never found, Nora thought. Because they get eaten.
The seconds seemed like minutes.
The bear looked at Nora and then back toward the fish and then back toward Nora. It snarled again, taking one step toward her and stopping. If you’re going to kill me, just get it over with. Don’t drag this out any longer.
As the bear stared her down, trying to decide whether Nora was a threat, Nora felt the anger begin to set in. She wasn’t angry with the bear, though. She was angry with herself. How could I have been so naïve? I’m not an idiot. I know not to wander into the woods without anything to protect myself. So, what the hell am I doing here, on my ass, waiting to become dinner for a bear? She was furious now. It didn’t matter how close she was to the perceived safety of the cabin. She should have been on guard the entire time. Instead, she had let herself get lost in thought and never even noticed the bear until it was too late.
The massive beast was still several feet away from Nora, and even though it hadn’t attacked her yet, it wasn’t backing down. But if she was going to die, Nora decided she wasn’t going to die sitting on her ass on the ground.
“You want me, then come and get me,” she hollered at the bear as she struggled to stand up.
The bear seemed startled, but didn’t move.
Nora’s voice cracked, both in fear and in anger. She stretched her arms out in resignation, frustration, defeat.
“No more playing around. Just do it! Tear me to pieces! And then when you’re done eating me and that fish over there, you can go raid the cabin. It’s full of food. I’m not going to need it anymore, anyway,” she said as her eyes welled up with tears.
Yeah, now’s a great time to start crying, she thought as she sobbed uncontrollably.
“It’s my own fault, anyway,” she choked out between sobs. “I shouldn’t even be out here. I might as well have been asking to get eaten by bears.”
Then the tears stopped, almost as quickly as they’d started, on the roller coaster of emotions sweeping through her. The self-pity was replaced by a resurgence of anger and rage. Nora began chastising herself, yelling at herself for being irresponsible. Her ranting continued and only got louder as she berated herself for being so stupid.
“I don’t even know what the hell I’m doing in Alaska,” she started rambling. Her frustration was so great, she didn’t even notice the bear’s reaction.
“Believe me, if I could have gone somewhere else, anywhere else, I would have. But, here I am, in the middle of bear country, and I’m surprised when a bear decides to make me his dinner? I completely deserve this. Yeah, I deserve this.”
By that time, the bear had completely lost interest in her. It looked back at the fish and then turned, snatched it up, and started walking across the stream and away from her.
Nora watched, shocked, as the bear lumbered off at a slow gait with the fish in its mouth. She realized then, she was holding her breath and she gulped for air. She still wasn’t safe, but if she was going to get herself out of this situation, now was the time to move. Quicker now, Nora backed away from the bear, moving in the direction of the cabin as fast as she could. She never took her eyes off the bear as she backed away. Even when the massive animal disappeared into the brush on the other side of the stream, Nora kept her eyes fixed on that spot, making sure the bear didn’t change its mind and decide to come after her, after all.
When she reached the cabin, she stumbled inside and closed the door behind her, latching it shut. She still wasn’t convinced she was out of harm’s way. She kept backing up, eyes fixed on the door, until her back was up against the wall of the tiny cabin. Her heart was racing. Take deep breaths, she told herself. The fast-paced beats of her heart thrummed in her head. She forced herself to take another deep breath in and out, trying to calm herself. She closed her eyes. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Nora thought it was working. She opened her eyes and took another deep breath. Her heart rate was still fast, but it was slowing getting back to normal.
Looking down, she noticed her hands were shaking and the enormity of the situation hit her again. Nora felt the overwhelming need to flee, and she couldn’t get out of the cabin quickly enough. Swinging open the door, she ran for the skiff about a dozen yards away on the shore. She pushed it out into the water, jumped in, and started up the outboard motor, eager to get as far away from the cabin as possible.
Nora opened up the throttle, barely noticing the blue skies were turning to gray as a cloud cover moved in from the south. The skiff bounced along on the waves as Nora sped toward town. The wind was picking up and the water was becoming choppy, making the trip treacherous in such a small boat. On any other day, Nora would have come to her senses and turned back toward the cabin, not willing to take the risk of capsizing her skiff in the icy waters of the inlet. But there was no chance she was going to turn back this time. A shiver ran though her, and Nora opened up the throttle all the way, eager to get out of the cold wind, away from the wild, and back to some sort of civilization. As the boat crashed into the waves, the cold water sprayed Nora, stinging her face and making her even more determined to reach the small community. When she saw the dock for the Alaska Marine Highway jutting out into the inlet, Nora relaxed a little. The end was in sight. She was safe from the wilds, back among people. What a relief it was.
A few minutes later, Nora pulled up to store’s dock, grabbed the rope tied to the bow of the skiff, and tied the other end to a post on the floating dock. The dock was unusually empty, the deck surrounding the store unusually quiet, but Nora didn’t even notice as she strode into store, grateful to be out of the bone-chilling wind. Nate was not behind the counter and the store appeared to be empty.
“Nate, are you here?” she called out, hoping to find somebody, anybody, to help her out. There was no answer. This was not what Nora needed right now. She needed to tell somebody about the body so they could call whoever to come and take care of it and then she really wanted to go get a drink. She had never been much of a drinker, other than the occasional glass of wine, but she really needed something to calm her nerves.
Nora paced back and forth in front of the check-out counter, waiting to see if anybody was going to show up and trying to figure out what to do if they didn’t.
Her hands were still shaking from the shock. She didn’t know if it was the shock of finding a dead body or the shock of having just been charged by a bear. It didn’t matter which. Both had been equally disturbing, she realized. The former had been enough to ruin anyone’s day. Finding a dead body was not the most pleasant experience. The latter, well, that had just plain scared the crap out of her.
“Hey, there,” someone said from behind. Nora jumped at the sound of his voice and turned around to see it was just Nate. “Sorry if I startled you. Didn’t mean to sneak up.”
Nora shook her head and waved off his remark. She sighed. “It wasn’t you, believe me,” she said.
He looked at her, a little concerned, but he prided himself on not being the type to meddle into other people’s business. Nora noticed he had one big bushy brown eyebrow cocked up suspiciously. No, it wasn’t raised in suspicion, she realized. It was naturally that way. She hadn’t noticed it before, but all of the features on his face were slightly misplaced. His right eye seemed a fraction higher than his left, and even his smile was a little crooked.
Nate stood there, patiently waiting for Nora to tell him what she needed. He didn’t like to pry and he also
didn’t like to invite people to unload their troubles onto him. So he didn’t even bother to ask what was troubling her. Nate was all business and that’s the way he liked to keep it.
“Well, what can I do for you,” he asked expectantly.
“Got a coffin?” Nora responded flippantly.
He raised an eyebrow, this time on purpose, but didn’t say anything. Nora almost chuckled as she saw his eyebrows were actually level with each other. She welcomed the distraction, even if it only took her mind off the day’s events for a moment. She actually smiled a little at the thought of Nate’s crooked face. Nate thought she was smiling about her last comment, she realized. But she hadn’t been joking about the coffin.
“Found a body today not far from my place. I don’t suppose you know who I would report it to?”
He nodded and picked up the telephone hanging on the wall behind the counter. He dialed some numbers and then handed the phone to her. “State Troopers,” he said.
Nora put the phone up to her ear and listened to it ring once, twice. A woman answered on the third ring. For a man who didn’t like to directly pry into other people’s business, Nate sure didn’t mind listening in. As Nora began telling the woman on the other end of the line about the body, she watched Nate walk into an office behind the counter and pick up a second phone. Nate listened long enough to hear all of the details of how Nora stumbled upon the man and he stayed on the line while the woman asked Nora a series of questions about the body, its exact location, and anything else she might have noticed. As the woman’s questions came to a close, Nora noticed the faint click of Nate hanging his phone back up. Then he disappeared through the side door of his office.
Nora stayed on the line for a few more minutes while the woman instructed her to stay in town and wait for the Alaska State Troopers to arrive. A couple of investigators would be flying into town and she needed to lead them to the body.
Water's Edge (Alaskan Frontier Romance Book 1) Page 13