“How’s the hero this morning?” Thomas asked her.
“Happy to be warm and dry. I wasn’t sure I ever would be again.” Zoey looked Thomas in the eye and whispered so no one else would hear, “Mom wants Patrick to take us all back to Anchorage.”
“Isn’t that what you wanted all along?” Thomas whispered back.
Zoey sighed. “Anchorage seems like a lifetime ago. I miss Bethany, but she’ll just want to hang out at the mall. For some reason, that doesn’t sound so good anymore. Plus, if I stay here, I could earn some more money.” But Zoey knew there was more to it than that.
“Money! That’s all you women think about.” Thomas pretended to cry.
Zoey laughed. “Does that mean you’ll miss me?”
Thomas grabbed one of Kenai’s old chew toys off the floor and began tossing it back and forth between his hands. If she hadn’t known him better, Zoey would have thought he was nervous.
“Is making money the only reason you want to stay?”
“No fair, I asked my question first.”
Thomas looked intently at the ceiling, as if deciding whether it might fall on their heads. “I suppose I’ll miss you a little bit.” He threw the chew toy at her. “Okay, I answered. Now it’s your turn.”
Zoey grinned, “No, money’s not the only reason I want to stay.”
She was rescued from saying more when her mom called out, “Come on, guys. Let’s eat.”
When everyone was seated, Eliot said, “Zoey, aren’t you happy? Mom says we have to go home now?”
Zoey finished chewing. “Not really.”
“Me neither,” said Eliot, sticking another forkful of pancake in his mouth.
“Where are Patrick and Harold?” Zoey changed the subject.
“They’re setting out the fishing gear,” Carolyn answered. “They said they would look for your tent after they were done. The water is still pretty churned up from the storm, but the salmon will be back soon. Maybe a week or so left of the run.” Carolyn shook her head. “It’s gonna be a pretty lean crew without you guys.” She smiled at Zoey. “It’s been great having you here. Plus this one seems a lot happier.” She nodded toward Thomas, who compressed himself into his sweatshirt like a turtle into its shell. Eliot giggled.
Zoey saw her chance. “You know, Mom, I don’t really have to go back yet. I could stay and help Patrick and the Gambles. I don’t mind sleeping on the floor for a few more days, if it’s okay with them.”
Carolyn jumped in, “We’d love that. And I was thinking, Rose’s birthday is today. I was hoping Thomas would run into Naknek to take her a present I made her and also pick up some supplies. Better today than tomorrow, since the fish might be back then. He might like Zoey to go along and keep him company. I sure would—safety in numbers.” She looked at Zoey’s mom.
Zoey couldn’t believe her good luck. Carolyn’s suggestion was a complete surprise, but it was just the extra leverage she needed to win her mom over. She gulped down her last bite of pancake.
“Can I, Mom?”
“Today? Don’t you think you need a day to rest?”
“Mom, I’m fine.”
Zoey’s mom held up both hands. “I know when I’m outnumbered. Have you guys been plotting this?” She laughed. “Anyway, I guess skiff rides are no big deal for Zoey anymore.”
“I want to go! All I remember from last time is Zoey’s drawing,” Eliot broke in.
Zoey’s mom grabbed Eliot by the shoulders and bent her face into his mussed hair. “Sorry, buddy, but I need you in Anchorage with me, and that’s that.
“No fair!” Eliot made his best pouty face.
“Zoey, first I have to talk to Patrick and make sure it’s okay with him. Come on, let’s help Carolyn get this place cleaned up. Then we can head over to the campsite and start working.”
“What’s Rose’s present?” Zoey rolled up the sleeping bag.
“Oh, just a scarf I crocheted.” Carolyn reached in a drawer and pulled out a pretty white scarf. She handed it to Zoey.
Zoey slid her hands over the delicate blue flowers skillfully stitched into each end. “Wow! This is so cool! They look like real forget-me-nots, even the yellow center. Rose will love it.”
“I still haven’t had a chance to show you how to crochet, have I? Next summer maybe?”
Zoey thought about that. Where would she be in a year?
“Sounds good to me,” she answered. She was tying the sleeping bag roll when the door opened and in stepped Patrick with a bundle in his arms.
The pup tent!
“Harold and I checked up beyond the old boat and noticed a tent pole sticking out of some bushes. Good thing the door netting was zipped up tight. A bunch of stuff was still inside, including this.” He grinned and handed Zoey a slightly soggy sleeping bag. “Another good reason to keep your tent closed. Good job, you two!”
“Anything else in there?” Zoey grabbed the tent. The zipper was stuck so Patrick helped her. After a few tugs, it opened and Zoey felt around inside until she found what she was looking for. She didn’t want to draw attention to either the rain-soaked letters or the little carving bag, so she smiled and said, “It’s all here,” before tucking them into her sweater.
Harold walked in looking rushed. “You are a lucky bunch. Can’t believe how much you found. Sorry I can’t help you set it back up. Quick cup of coffee and then I gotta go down and work on the next set.”
“No problem, Harold,” said Patrick. “I’m going to take the kids and their mom over to Dillingham to catch the jet home. Then I’ll patch the tent and finish the season with you. Stay as long as you need.”
“No fair!” yelled Eliot. He threw a sugar cube at Zoey. “You get to do all the good stuff.” Then to Patrick he said, “Why does Zoey get to stay here if I don’t?”
Patrick wrinkled his nose and knit his eyebrows. “Who says Zoey gets to stay?”
“Zoey wants to stay here with you and help the Gambles until the end of the season,” her mom explained.
Zoey turned and faced Patrick directly. “I’d like to keep working if you say it’s okay.”
Patrick looked shocked, but let out a laugh. “Well, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised when the ‘I’m-not-going’ girl says she doesn’t want to go again.”
“I won’t take up much space,” Zoey continued. “And I can help Thomas pick the net and maybe fly with you if you need company in the plane.”
Patrick plucked a cube of sugar from the little porcelain bowl in the middle of the table and sucked on it.
“For that matter, with a little creativity, maybe everyone could stick around,” he said. “Alice, I think I can salvage enough of the big tent to get us by for a while. As long as we don’t get another storm.”
Her mother put her hands on her hips. “You know, Patrick, honestly, I’ve had enough wilderness living for one summer.”
“Mom, can’t we please stay?” said Eliot.
“Oh, Eliot. It’s more than that. If I can get back to Anchorage in the next couple of days, I can get an application in for a teaching job. That would pay a lot better than the piano lessons.”
She went on, “Zoey, you’re thirteen now, and you’ve grown up a lot since we got here. I’m proud of you. You’ve earned the right to finish out the season if that’s what you want.”
Thomas caught Zoey’s eyes across the table, and Zoey felt her stomach tingle.
Patrick sipped his coffee. “Our food supply is pretty much gone, except for the canned stuff and a couple of bins, and I don’t think any of the air mattresses are salvageable.”
Zoey’s mom stood and cleared her cup. “If you take Eliot and me to catch the jet, you can pick up more food at the same time.”
“And you can eat your meals here, with us, for these last few days,” Carolyn piped in.
“Thanks, Carolyn,” Patrick said, “that will be a big help. We’ll bring whatever food the storm didn’t get over to your place. Okay then, I guess it’s settled.”
> Eliot started to cry.
Zoey took pity on him. “Eliot, remember you wanted to use your money to buy a new bike,” said Zoey. “Now you can get it before school starts and have time to break it in. And it’s only one week. We both have jobs to do. I’m going to help catch the rest of the salmon and you need to take care of Mom.”
“Yes, Eliot,” said their mom, “I’m going to need a man around the house. You think you can handle that?”
“It’s not fair,” said Eliot.
“How about if Lhasa comes with us?” their mom offered.
Eliot crossed his arms and pouted fiercely, but Zoey could tell the battle was over.
“Wait a minute. I’ve got something for you.” Carolyn sorted through some mail in a basket near the sink. She pulled out two envelopes and handed one to Eliot and one to Zoey.
They looked at each other, not sure what to do.
“Go ahead, open them. They won’t bite.”
Eliot ripped the envelope open and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill.
Zoey got another hundred and fifty. “This is too much Carolyn. I didn’t do that much.”
Carolyn waved her off. “You had a hard job and you did real good. I’d take you back anytime.” She looked at Eliot. “And as for you, young man, next year we’ll show you how to pick that net.”
Both Zoey and Eliot thanked her and slipped the money in their pockets.
Outside the sky was clear. The only signs of the storm were a chill in the wind and a scattering of whitecaps on the bay. Zoey caught up with her mom, who wrapped an arm around her as Eliot sped ahead toward their old campsite.
“What time is Thomas picking you up for the run to Naknek?” Zoey’s mom pulled Zoey’s hat down over her ears.
“As soon as we get the camp sorted out and you and Patrick take off, I think.” She pushed her hat back up. They watched Harold carry the raft down to the shore.
“Better get a move on if you’re going to catch that tide,” Harold yelled. “I’m expecting my work crew back tonight.” He moved off toward the setnet, the raft bouncing with each step. Still facing the watery expanse of Bristol Bay, he called, “If you pick up some more ice cream, I won’t complain.”
Zoey smiled.
Later that morning, Zoey once again watched Patrick and her mom load the plane. Lhasa sat in the back with Eliot. Zoey would miss her. She’d miss Eliot and her mom, too. This time Zoey would be the only one standing on the beach waving good-bye.
She hoped she was doing the right thing staying behind. It was all happening so fast now. What would her mom think when she found out she’d taken off for Colorado? What would Patrick do?
But she couldn’t think about that now. If she did, she might chicken out. And then she might never find her dad.
The engine whirred to life and she jumped up and down waving her arms in the air as the plane taxied down the beach and lifted off. The tiny yellow speck disappeared over the horizon. The storm clouds were gone. The sky was cornflower blue.
31
Dad
This time the skiff ride across the Bay seemed like no big deal to Zoey. Of course, the weather was better than their last crossing—not as rough, and, for now, no rain. Zoey was surprised at how many more driftnet boats there were. At least fifty within a mile or two, and she knew there were lots more she couldn’t see.
But Zoey’s mind was on other things. She had stuffed as much as she could into her little backpack, in case everything worked and she really did end up on a jet to Colorado. She had packed a change of clothes, her birthday sweatshirt, the hat from Carolyn, her carving set, and the dried-out letters. She patted her chest and felt her necklace under her shirt. Finally, she made sure Thomas’s abalone shell was stashed safely in a pocket.
The skiff engine was too noisy for much conversation with Thomas, and they both kept their eyes on the water. But Zoey felt relaxed. Their silences didn’t feel awkward anymore. What would it be like not seeing him every day? She hadn’t really tried to imagine that.
The closer they got to Naknek, the more she wondered if she was doing the right thing. Ever since she, her mom, and Eliot had arrived in Anchorage, Zoey had focused all her energy on somehow recapturing their old life in Colorado. Now she wasn’t sure if that was even what she wanted. She looked at the waves shooting from the skiff’s propeller. They were big and intense at first, but they shrank as they rolled out toward the faraway shores, until finally, they melted into the vastness of Bristol Bay.
Zoey’s old life was starting to feel like those waves. So powerful when she was back there in the middle of it, but slipping away now, smaller and smaller, into the past.
Like before, Thomas beached the skiff in front of Roy and Clara’s. Only this time no one was around. “Probably in town,” Thomas said.
He waved down a big truck that lumbered along the beach and chatted with the driver, obviously someone he knew. Did everyone know everyone here? After a minute or two he and Zoey climbed in the back and sandwiched themselves between totes of salmon. Zoey let herself lean lightly against Thomas’s back and he didn’t move away.
The driver pulled into the Naknek Trading Company and Zoey and Thomas hopped out. As Thomas took out his list, Zoey eyed the pay phone and told him she’d meet him inside the store. She still hadn’t told Thomas about her plan. She was afraid he would try to talk her out of it, or maybe even stop her. She had decided to call her uncle before she bought the plane ticket. She wasn’t sure if she would tell Uncle Ron she was coming, but she at least wanted to make sure he was home before she showed up on his doorstep. His house would be the best place to start looking for her dad.
Also, when the time came, she could tell Thomas that someone would meet her at the airport when she got to Colorado. That might help convince him.
Zoey dialed the number for information and waited.
“Yes, I need the phone number for Ron Morley please. In Denver.” She waited. It was chilly in the phone booth. The wind had picked up and a little rain dripped off the roof.
The operator read the number and asked, “Would you like me to connect you?”
Zoey pawed through her pack for a pen and paper, but gave up.
“Yes, please.”
“One moment.”
Zoey’s heart was in her throat. What would she say if someone picked up?
“Hi,” said a strange voice. It sounded like a little boy.
“Is Ron there?”
The boy hollered, “Uncle Ron, it’s for you.”
Zoey was puzzled. Who could that be? She and Eliot were the only kids in the family as far as she knew.
Zoey wanted to hang up. If she did, no one would know she had called. But she also wouldn’t get the answer to the questions that had haunted her for so long. She resisted and held the phone tighter.
“Hello, Ron here.”
“Uncle Ron?”
Silence.
“Uncle Ron?” Pause.
“Zoey? Is that you?”
“Yes, it’s me! How are you?”
“Oh, about the same as always. But this is a big surprise. Where are you calling from? Are you in Anchorage?”
“No, we’re in Bristol Bay now.”
“Where in the heck is Bristol Bay?”
“Way out west on the edge of Alaska. Almost to Japan.”
“Japan?! Well, that’s a heckuva long ways away.”
“Uncle Ron, I’m calling because I’m trying to find my dad. I haven’t heard from him in a long time, and I thought maybe he’s been trying to reach us but didn’t know where we were.”
There was a long pause on the line. “I guess your dad’s been pretty busy.”
“Busy? Like with work?”
“When’s the last time you talked to him?”
“I’m not sure, but I think it was when we first got to Anchorage….”
Ron cut her off. “Wait a minute. You mean my brother hasn’t talked to you guys for almost year?”
Zoey was getting
worried. Uncle Ron sounded mad.
“Hey, Zoey, I think you’re in luck. Your dad’s right here. I’ll get him and he can explain himself.”
Zoey heard her uncle call out, “James, it’s for you. Get your butt over here!”
She heard muffled sounds, the phone changing hands. Zoey felt like her skin was stretched so tight around her she could barely breath.
Suddenly, Thomas was there, knocking on the pay-phone window. “Bethany?” he mouthed.
Zoey nodded and held up a finger for him to wait. At the same time, she heard the voice she had been waiting for all this time.
“H’llo.”
He said it just the way he always used to answer the phone back home. Without the “e,” like he was in a big hurry and didn’t have time to say the whole word.
“Dad? Hi. It’s me, Zoey.”
“Zoey! Is that really you? What a surprise!”
The voice in the receiver was both familiar and strange.
Zoey felt the words she had thought about for so long pour out of her. “Why haven’t you written, Dad? Or called? We moved to Bristol Bay and I was worried you didn’t know where we were….”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down. I haven’t talked to you in a long time. Back up. How are you? And what’s this Bay you’re at?”
But Zoey didn’t want to explain all that now. “I told you all about it in my letters. I wrote you a bunch. But after the first one came back, I didn’t know where to send the rest. But I saved them all so I can give them to you when I see you.”
“Sorry about the mail. I moved a while back. Must not have given them the new address. But I’m glad to hear you’re a better letter writer than your old dad. I don’t write much. Never have. But there are lots of things I’ve wanted to tell you, Zoey. Things have really changed for me.” Now he sounded excited.
“I got married! Katie’s her name and she’s got two kids about the same age as you and Eliot. That kid that answered? That’s Spencer, my new stepson. Today’s his seventh birthday. Everyone’s over here having a party.”
Bristol Bay Summer Page 16