Alaskan Catch

by Sue Pethick

  Her mother was right. Uncle Danny’s first concern had always been their well-being rather than his own. As anxious as she was to be with him, for now it was probably best just to send her prayers and good wishes.

  “All right,” she said. “But call me as soon as the doctor tells you what the prognosis is, okay? In the meantime, I promise I’ll have my phone charged the next time I leave the house.”

  “Oh, are you and your roommates getting along better these days?”

  “Not really,” Emily said. “I was at Sam’s.”

  “Sam?” her mother said, an undeniable edge creeping into her voice.

  “He’s just a guy I met. He needed someone to watch his dog while he’s at work and I said I’d help out. It’s no big deal,” she added, hoping her mother would drop the subject.

  She should have known better, of course. Emily’s mother had a keen ear for half truths, and this evasion had not gone unnoticed.

  “Emily, dear, are you sure that’s wise?”

  “Why not? He’s a good dog.”

  “No. Don’t you try and jolly me out of this. You know what I mean. Why are you getting involved with another man when you have someone like Carter back home?”

  “At home, yes, but I’ve barely spoken to him since I got here. I’ve called and left messages and all I’ve gotten back is a couple of texts telling me he’s busy.”

  “Well, of course he’s busy, dear. He’s busy working hard so he can make a good life for you. You can’t blame him for that.”

  Emily could feel her temper rise. It was bad enough being told how to live her life when she was living under her mother’s roof. She wasn’t going to be bossed around from a thousand miles away.

  “That’s funny,” she said. “Because he hasn’t called me once since I got here.”

  “Darling, you must know that Carter adores you. Every time I see him, you’re all we ever talk about.”

  Emily pursed her lips. There were times when she wondered if it was her or her mother that Carter adored.

  “Look, I’m not involved with Sam, okay? I’m just watching his dog. And yes, we’ve struck up a friendship, but I don’t see how that’s any of your business or Carter’s.”

  “How can you say that? Our families have always thought you two would get married someday.”

  “And maybe we will,” Emily said. “But unless and until Carter actually proposes, I’m still a free agent.”

  CHAPTER 15

  On Saturday morning, Emily loaded Bear into the back of Sam’s Jeep and headed over to Marilyn’s to take her to Totem Park, where friends of hers were putting on a carving demonstration. Sam had loaned her the vehicle the night before so she could take Bear along and give Marilyn a break from driving. Her original plan had been to give the dog a walk around the park, but Sam insisted she take Bear’s cart, as well.

  “His cart?”

  “He gives the Tlingit kids rides in it,” he’d said. “Believe me, if you show up anywhere in Saxman with Bear and no cart, you’re going to be sorry.”

  Emily had eyed the homemade dog cart—a cross between a sulky and a buckboard—and had shaken her head.

  “I never heard of a dog pulling a cart. How do you attach it?”

  “Marilyn can show you. The important thing is to get the pulling harness on correctly. Once you do that, attaching the shafts is pretty simple. Stick a couple of kids on the seats and away you go.”

  “I don’t know. . . .”

  Sam laughed at her skepticism.

  “You’ll see,” he said. “Just think of him as a pony that drools.”

  Marilyn was standing by her front door nursing a travel mug of coffee when Emily drove up. When she saw the Jeep, she locked the door behind her and started waddling toward the street.

  “Man,” she said when Emily got out to give her a hand. “This kid is getting heavy.”

  She looked into the back seat, where Bear had been watching her progress through a foggy, drool-streaked window.

  “Hey, big guy. Ready to do some pulling today?”

  Bear barked once, his tail thrashing the interior of the car as she slid into the front passenger seat.

  “Oof!” Marilyn winced and rubbed her belly.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah, yeah. Just Braxton-Hicks contractions. I’ve been getting a lot of them lately.”

  “Would you rather stay home and take it easy? We don’t have to do this today.”

  “No,” she said. “I’d rather get out of the house. Nothing to do in there but sit and watch my belly grow. Besides, the kids know we’re coming; they’d never forgive me if we didn’t show up.”

  Emily put the Jeep in gear and started down the road, doing her best to avoid any bumps along the way. Sam had told her that Marilyn and Kallik had waited a long time for this baby. She figured it was the least she could do to keep from jostling it around.

  “So,” Marilyn said. “You and Sandy still hanging out, huh?”

  “Sandy?”

  “Sandy Sam. That hair, that skin? The man looks like he’s made from a big ol’ pile of sand.”

  Emily laughed. “I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re right.”

  “Yeah,” Marilyn said, glancing out the window. “You can pound that pile with your fist and it don’t move an inch, but if you start picking at it—pick, pick, pick—it can start to crumble. Pretty soon, it’s so weak even a little thing like the wind can blow it all away.”

  The comment, coming out of nowhere as it had, left Emily feeling uneasy. Was this a warning of some sort? Perhaps Marilyn, like Kimberley, thought that a relationship with her wouldn’t be good for Sam.

  “So, you think I’m picking at Sam’s weak spot?”

  “I’m saying it’s already been picked at. The man’s still strong, but not like he once was. He doesn’t need anyone to be messing him around just for fun.”

  “I understand what you’re saying,” Emily said. “But I’m not the sort of person who’d do that.”

  “You sure?”

  “As sure as I can be. I don’t know where things are going right now, but I didn’t come here looking for a summer romance. For now, I think we’re both just keeping an open mind about the future.”

  “That’s fair.” Marilyn shrugged. “I meant no offense.”

  “No offense taken,” Emily told her. “As far as I’m concerned, Sam’s lucky to have friends like you and Kallik.”

  Marilyn grimaced and set her hand on her growing girth, stroking it gently. Emily was tempted to ask again if they should postpone their outing, but a quick frown told her the suggestion would not be welcome. Instead, Marilyn changed the subject.

  “You like being an intern?”

  Emily hesitated. Was she enjoying it? It was hard to tell sometimes, especially since she was living and working with the same people—two of whom had been going out of their way to make her life miserable.

  “It’s all right. I’m learning a lot about how the fish are processed and managed, which was the main reason I signed up, but it would be nice if the workers themselves were a little friendlier.”

  “Why should they be? They’ve got work to do, and it’s not like you’re going to stick around.”

  “I know,” she said. “I just hope it’s not more than that.”

  “Meaning what?”

  “Meaning a couple of the other interns think someone’s trying to make our boss look bad so they can sabotage the internship program.”

  Marilyn pulled a face.

  “Nah, I don’t believe that. Interns, no interns, who cares?”

  “Good question. When I first heard about the problems at the cannery, I thought maybe someone had it in for our supervisor, but the other interns told me they thought the real target was the internship program. Then Sam pointed out that we were all just guessing and that it might be nothing at all. I mean, stuff happens, right? It doesn’t mean anyone’s out to get you.”

  “It also doesn’t mean that somebody
isn’t trying to cause problems for the guy, just maybe not for the reason you think.”

  Emily glanced at her. “You mean someone might be trying to get rid of Tim?”

  “Maybe. Either him or someone he answers to. I guarantee you’ll find plenty of bad stuff going on down there if you look hard enough. I love Ketchikan, but it has problems just like any other place: smuggling, drug running, human trafficking. It’s just a fact of life.”

  “Yeah, there’s plenty of that in San Diego, too,” Emily said. “I think a lot of it has to do with being a port city. Strangers coming in and out all the time, it’s easy to miss something that’s out of the ordinary.”

  “Exactly.”

  Now that the ice had been broken, it occurred to Emily that Marilyn might just be the person to answer some of the questions she had about the work that Sam did and how to keep from worrying about it.

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “Does it ever scare you that Kallik’s job is so dangerous?”

  Marilyn laughed. “Only every minute of every day. Why?”

  “So, what do you do about it?”

  “Do about it? What can I do? Being scared won’t help; worrying won’t help. All that does is make you miserable.”

  “I know, but—”

  “Look, what happens in this life happens. If you make yourself unhappy thinking about all the bad stuff, you’ll miss the good that’s right in front of you.”

  “Easier said than done.”

  “Yeah, I know, but think of it this way. If you worry yourself sick feeling all that pain and nothing bad happens, then you’ve suffered for nothing. And if something bad does happen, then you will have suffered over the same thing twice.”

  Emily thought about that for a second. Isn’t that what she’d done the night Sam had come home late, filled herself with unnecessary pain and suffering?

  “You’re right,” she said. “I’ll have to remember that.”

  Marilyn stroked her belly again and looked out the window.

  “Don’t invite sorrow into your life. When the time comes, believe me, it’ll open the door on its own.”

  * * *

  When Emily drove into Totem Park, she saw a woman standing near the entrance who looked like a tougher version of Marilyn.

  “That’s my sister, Jane,” Marilyn said, pointing. “She’ll take Bear and his cart while the two of us watch the totem makers.”

  Emily hesitated. While Sam was at work, she considered Bear her responsibility. He hadn’t said anything about someone else watching his dog.

  “Has she done this before?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Marilyn said. “Lots of times. Believe me, the kids will behave better with a clan mother in charge than they will with you.”

  Emily took Bear out of the back, and the three of them walked over to say hello. Her apprehension disappeared as soon as Bear and Jane greeted each other.

  “Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Emily asked.

  “Oh, yeah,” Jane said. “Me and Bear make a good team.”

  “Okay,” Emily said, handing her the dog’s lead. “Let me get the cart out for you.”

  Marilyn and Jane chatted away in Tlingit as Emily wrestled the cart from the Jeep. Just as Sam had said, it took only a few minutes to get the dog hitched up and ready to go. It was a good thing, too. Already, word had spread and a crowd of children was gathering nearby.

  “Now you see why I asked Jane to come,” Marilyn said. “Once the kids saw Bear and his cart, we wouldn’t have had a moment’s peace.”

  “Thanks for thinking of it.” Emily turned and smiled at Jane. “And thank you, too.”

  As Jane led Bear away, Emily and Marilyn took the opportunity to walk through the park.

  “Might as well,” Marilyn said. “The demonstration won’t start for another few minutes, and the doc says walking is better for me than just sitting around.”

  The totem poles were spread out across a wide, grassy area. In front of each was a number and a short description of the figures it represented.

  “These are incredible,” Emily said, staring at the colorful poles looming over them. “How old are they?”

  “Most of them were made during the Depression. The Civilian Conservation Corps commissioned Tlingit carvers to copy them from the original poles found around the island, most of which were in bad shape. If it hadn’t been for the New Deal, this part of our history might have been lost forever.”

  Emily marveled at the smoothness of the wood as well as the details and the expressions on the human and animal faces.

  “And these were all made by hand?”

  “No other way to make them. Totems are sacred to us. The tools and the techniques we use came to us from the Creator. The figures on the poles are our family members.” Marilyn pointed. “Bear, Beaver, Eagle, Raven—they all have stories to tell.”

  “So the totem poles are their stories?”

  Marilyn waggled her head.

  “Yes, and no. The stories themselves are passed down orally or through song. The totem poles are more about a clan’s deeds and the interaction between animals and humans that we can learn from.”

  Emily found a pole that particularly interested her. Pole number eleven was the only one without a solid base. Instead, it looked as if it were standing on two legs. As Marilyn lumbered over, Emily stepped closer and read the title: Kats and His Bear Wife.

  “Why is it cut out at the bottom?”

  “It’s a door—or it was. Something like this would have been set up in front of the entrance to the tribal house. On special occasions, the people would pass through it on their way inside. The rest of the time, they went in the other entrance.”

  “What was the significance of that?”

  Marilyn shrugged. “Who knows? You gotta remember, a lot of our culture was wiped out when white folks came.”

  Emily let her eyes travel to the top of the pole.

  “How do you read these things?”

  “You don’t read them, per se; every part relates to every other part.”

  Marilyn pointed to the large human face that dominated the pole.

  “That’s Kats. The thing on top of his head is a she bear.”

  “His wife?”

  “Right. See the faces in Kats’s ears and nose?”

  Emily squinted. “Sort of.”

  “Those symbolize his keen sense of smell and hearing. Kats was the greatest of all bear hunters. He used his superhuman powers to find and kill them.”

  “Wait a minute. I thought his wife was a bear.”

  “What’s your point?”

  “I don’t know. I just thought that, you know, if he was killing bears and she was a bear . . .”

  “Tlingit don’t view death the way you white folks do. When we kill a bear, we thank it for its life and promise to use its body for the benefit of all. Kats’s bear wife would have understood that her husband was honoring the bears he killed.”

  “I guess I’ll have to take your word for it.”

  “By the way, in the context of the story, the opening between the legs symbolizes the entrance to a bear’s den—not something you do lightly.”

  Emily pointed at the smaller human figures at the bottom. “Who are those people supposed to be?”

  “Those are their descendants. We have several people in my tribe who trace their lineage back to Kats and his bear wife.”

  Emily wasn’t sure she believed that, but she wasn’t about to argue with someone about their religious beliefs. If it helped to think that one was descended from a bear, where was the harm?

  “So, whatever happened to Kats and his wife?”

  “Kats was killed.”

  “How?”

  “The stories don’t tell us. Probably by a bear. After he died, though, his wife left their village and went into the hill country, where she sang her songs of mourning.”

  “That’s sad.”

  “Yes, it’
s sad,” Marilyn said. “But sadness is just part of life.”

  “So what’s the point of the story? To explain why bears live in the mountains?”

  “Could be. Remember, though, totems and totem carving are very spiritual. Trying to distill their meaning into one simple lesson ignores their sacred purpose.”

  “Oh, sorry.”

  “No, it’s all right. To me, it’s a lesson about learning to accept what life offers. Just like Kats’s bear wife, we all know sorrow. It’s how we honor those we’ve lost that’s important.”

  Marilyn stroked her distended belly as she spoke, and Emily wondered if she was thinking of the miscarriages she’d suffered. At least it looked like this one would make it, she thought. Marilyn and Kallik didn’t deserve any more sorrow.

  CHAPTER 16

  Monday morning was the day Emily had been dreading: she’d be working in the freezer. Not all day, thank goodness, but even half a day was misery. As the heavy metal door shut behind her, she shuddered. In spite of her heavy coat and gloves, the cold was seeping through her clothes, chilling her to the bone. How people who worked there withstood it every day was a mystery.

  She looked down at her checklist, her frozen fingers fumbling with the pencil. At least there wasn’t any liquid blood in the freezer, she thought, trying to look on the bright side. And the smell wasn’t quite so bad, either.

  Or maybe my nose is just frozen.

  There were two workers in the freezer with her: a man and a woman who checked the boxes of processed fish as they were brought in and put them in neat stacks against the wall. As Emily watched them work, the man ignored her, but the woman flashed her a friendly smile, for which Emily felt pathetically grateful. She hadn’t realized until she mentioned it to Marilyn just how upsetting it was to have people glaring at her every day. It was hard being treated as an enemy when you were just doing your job.

  At least the tension back at the house had eased up a little; whatever Tim had said to Rachel and Kimberley must have gotten through to them. Things might not be as friendly as they’d been at first, but at least the two of them had stopped whispering and giving her dirty looks whenever she walked into a room. Uki, too, was making a point of talking to her more often, which made the house feel a lot less lonely. Still, Emily was glad she still had an excuse to get away and be with Bear for a while, and seeing Sam most days was a huge bonus.