by Kim Baldwin
“Hi, Russ. I’m standing outside Hunter Elementary, where some four hundred students attend kindergarten through sixth-grade classes every day. Fortunately, the place was empty tonight when the quake hit, because the roof caved in. At least one or two nights a week, after-school events take place in the gymnasium.”
Emery switched off the TV. She felt edgy and anxious, and too restless to sleep. She stared at the phone, willing Pasha to call.
It rang less than a minute later.
“I can feel your anxiety from here,” Pasha said as soon as she answered.
“I was trying to get you to call me. I guess it worked.”
“Reliving it all again, aren’t you?” Pasha asked, her voice etched with concern.
“Some. Trying not to. Uncanny, though, you feeling what I felt…right before it hit.”
“I’m sure I only got a taste of what you went through. But it was awful enough.”
“I don’t suppose you’ve finished work?”
“I’m sorry. No time soon. I wish I could be there as much as you do. I’m supposed to be working right now, but I told Dita I needed something from my room. I couldn’t bear the feeling I was getting from you.”
“I’m better now, just talking to you. What about tomorrow?”
“We’re packing for the rafting trip. We didn’t receive some of the supplies we ordered, so we have to improvise. I really hope the rest of the clients make it here from Fairbanks on schedule.”
Emery personally wouldn’t mind a smaller group because Pasha would have less to do. She didn’t want Dita’s business to suffer, though, and she could imagine the nightmare of reshuffling things at the last minute. “I know you should go, so I won’t keep you. I kind of like knowing you can tune in to me. It helps.”
“I’m glad, Emery. I’ll miss you until I see you again.”
“Me, too. And if that’s not for a while, warn me next time before you touch me, will you?” She couldn’t help laughing. “I nearly jumped out of my skin tonight.”
Pasha laughed, too. “I promise. Sleep well, Emery. Can’t wait for our trip.”
“I’m sure it’ll be one to remember, Pasha. Sweet dreams.”
Chapter Twenty-four
Two days later, June 10
Emery woke in a buoyant mood, welcome sunlight streaming through her window. The waiting over, they could leave today. The weather had cleared enough yesterday afternoon to fly all the rafting clients into Bettles, and this morning she saw only blue sky between the Den and the distant Brooks Range. With any luck, they’d be aloft in a few short hours, headed once more into the depths of the wilderness.
Pasha and Dita had missed dinner again, but Karla and Bryson made it, and Megan had recovered enough to come in with Chaz for soup. Being with them had highlighted another day of bed rest, which helped alleviate her aches but made her antsier than ever to get back outdoors.
She’d already packed, so she showered and dressed and headed downstairs for a quick breakfast. She didn’t want to be late.
To her delight, Karla came in the front door just as she stood surveying the room for company, and they sat together at the bar.
“Get any sleep?” Emery asked. Karla had almost dozed during dessert the night before, after spending two nights tossing and turning on her patient’s bedroom floor.
“Like a rock, once I got back to a real bed and Bryson. Keep your fingers crossed no one disturbs my precious day off ’cause I need it.”
“I can’t wait to start on the raft trip. Though I’d appreciate some warmer weather.”
“Bryson really wished she could take you guys. She left a half hour ago. Lots of runs today.”
They made more small talk over reindeer sausage, eggs, and toast. Emery kept eyeing her watch and, at twenty minutes before seven, flagged Grizz for her bill. “See you in ten days,” she told Karla before heading back to her room.
“Have a great time!”
*
Pasha opened the outer door to the office a few minutes before seven when she saw clients already assembling with their bags. “Good morning, ladies. I’m Pasha, one of your guides. Come on in and have a seat. Help yourself to the coffee on the counter. We’ll do introductions and get started as soon as everyone gets here.”
Four clients so far, no one she recognized. Only two more strangers, Toni and Ruth, and Emery. Her power sensed Emery was heading this way, but not too close yet.
Chaz and Dita were finishing up in the back, so she ducked out the side door for a moment alone to gather her thoughts. She felt crazy and jumbled this morning. Maybe by trying to focus she could decipher what the power was trying to tell her.
She’d awakened with a sense of delicious anticipation, counting the minutes until Emery arrived and they began their adventure. The power was clear then, all eager euphoria, and built all morning as her intuition sensed Emery was awake and moving around, perhaps even thinking about her. Everything helped confirm her hope that their ten days together would bring them even closer.
Not long ago, however, as she helped Dita and Chaz pack, something changed. A sense of unease bordering on dread began to compete with her elation; the power was sending off mixed signals and she couldn’t figure out its message. Was it cautioning her against moving too fast with Emery? Or telling her to guard her heart wisely? She leaned against the side of the building, closed her eyes, and tried to clear her mind.
But a battle still raged between desire and doom, and she had no clearer idea of its meaning.
Pasha headed back when she felt Emery growing very near and waved when she spotted Emery entering the front door just as she came in the side. Emery waved back, all smiles, and dumped her duffel by the door before heading her way. Everyone was present and accounted for, including Skeeter, who would fly them to their remote put-in spot.
Her heartbeat accelerated as Emery drew closer, and her nerves and senses sharpened in a glorious tension of anticipation. “Hi. Missed you.”
“Hey there. I thought about you a lot, too.” Emery’s eyes shone with excitement, and she shifted her weight from foot to foot in pent-up restlessness. “Don’t dare touch you in front of all these people,” she said in a low voice. “I’m afraid—”
“Can I have your attention, please?” Dita waited until the room had quieted. Most of the clients took seats, but Emery stayed where she was. “Welcome, all. I’m Dita Eidson and I’d like to introduce your guides, Chaz Herrick…” She paused while Chaz waved. “And Pasha Dunn.”
Pasha smiled and held up a hand.
“And this is Mike Sweeney, your pilot.” Dita put her arm over the burly, red-bearded pilot’s shoulder.
“Call me Skeeter,” he told the clients.
Pasha’s earlier unease reasserted itself, nearly drowning out her heightened sense of blissful calm from standing beside Emery. It quickly ebbed again to a quieter presence but simmered there, festering, refusing to let her ignore it.
As Dita presented the standard briefing about bears, safety, the leave-no-trace tenets of camping, and other assorted matters, Pasha tried to match up the strange faces in the crowd with the client files. The six newcomers included four thirty-something friends from Madison, Wisconsin and an older, butch-looking dyke from Texas with a much-younger blond companion named Lucy. In full makeup, newly painted nails, and designer jeans, Lucy had a Barbie-doll look that suggested she could be a handful.
“The Cessna you’ll be flying in can’t carry everyone and all our gear, so Skeeter will be taking two shifts up,” Dita told them. “The first will leave right away and include Chaz, Terri and Joan, Melissa and Kathy,” she said, referencing the Wisconsin friends, “and Fran and Lucy, along with their personal duffels and this pile of gear.” She pointed to the smaller of two heaps against one wall. “The rest of the supplies will go with Pasha, Emery, Toni, and Ruth in the second flight. That’ll leave as soon as Skeeter gets back.”
“I’m figuring about ninety minutes each way, maybe a little more,�
� Skeeter said. “If everyone’s ready, let’s head down to the runway. If you’re on the second flight, please help carry gear.”
While they transferred the cargo and loaded the green-and-white Cessna, Pasha introduced herself to the clients she hadn’t met. Emery, she noticed, was never far away. She helped tote tents and sleeping bags, and kept an eye on whatever Pasha did. Too close an eye, almost. That nagging feeling of disquiet had resurfaced, and she did her best to conceal it. She didn’t know what it meant and didn’t want to alarm anyone. Surely, she kept telling herself, her gift was telling her to proceed with caution with Emery.
Once the plane took off, Toni and Ruth headed to the Den to wait until the second departure, but Emery followed her and Dita back toward the office. Pasha hung back with her once they got to the entrance and let Dita go inside alone.
“Got a lot more to do?” Emery asked.
“No, actually. Everything’s ready. I suppose I could volunteer to man the phones until we leave, but Dita’s already told me she can handle it.”
Emery grinned. “Super. What shall we do to pass the time?”
“Hungry?”
Emery shook her head. “Just ate, with Karla. You?”
“Nope. Had a big breakfast. Feel like walking?”
“Sure.”
Pasha ducked inside for binoculars and Emery got her camera. She headed downriver along the banks of the Koyukuk, away from town. The rock-strewn beach made for slow and careful walking, but she had a destination in mind that was worth it. “Been this way yet?”
“No. Something special up ahead?”
“I’ll let you be the judge.”
Pasha zipped up her jacket. Despite their exertions, the strong breeze was chilling. A flash of movement from her left caught her eye and she froze. Emery, a couple of steps behind, did as well. “See it?” she whispered.
“Yes.”
An Arctic fox stared at them from the edge of the trees, its bushy tail a shade lighter than the grayish-brown fur of its body. A handsome animal, not much bigger than a cat, with intelligent dark eyes and rounded, fluffy ears.
He watched them for another few seconds, but disappeared into the undergrowth of the forest behind him when Emery reached for her camera.
“That was Willy,” she told Emery.
“You named him?”
“I’ve been seeing him around here since last summer. His mate’s den is a little farther on. That’s where we’re headed.”
“We won’t be bothering her, will we?” Emery asked.
“I won’t take us too close, and Willy’s never seemed to mind. I come out here sometimes with a book and sit for a while, and he’ll reveal himself like that for little visits. You should see his coat in the winter. Thick, and snowy white. Really gorgeous.”
“Beautiful animal.”
A few minutes later, she stopped beside the river and sat on a fallen log. She patted the space next to her and Emery took it. Training her binoculars on the slope of a bank farther downriver, she quickly spotted the entrance to the den. Almost as though responding to a summons, the faces of three young fox pups came into focus. They looked a lot like kittens. “Here.” She handed the binoculars to Emery and pointed. “See the small hill up there? Look about halfway up, near that cluster of rocks.”
Emery trained the binoculars on the hill and focused. “Wow. Babies. They’re so tiny.”
“How many do you see?”
“Two. How many do they have?”
“Five to ten, usually. The babies should be coming out regularly to explore any time now.”
“We’ll have to come back here and keep track of their progress.”
“For sure.”
Emery watched for another couple of minutes, then handed the binoculars back. “Thanks for bringing me here.”
“Mostly selfish. I wanted to get you alone.”
“The last few days, I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” Emery said.
“Good thoughts, I hope.”
“All good. A few wickedly good.”
“Wickedly good, huh? I like the sound of that.”
“I still can’t get over what happens when we touch. The shocks, this feeling of calm happiness I get. It’s almost tangible. I swear I can feel it coming into my body right where you’re touching me, until it fills me up.” Emery shook her head. “Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?”
“No, Emery.” She could hardly have described it better herself. “Not crazy at all. I get the same sort of feeling.”
“So…it’s been a couple of days.” Emery raised her eyebrows in question.
“Should be a pretty good one, I would think. About the same as my touching you under the table.”
Emery laughed. “At least I’ll be expecting it this time.” She held out her hand.
Pasha took it in hers.
The jolt made them laugh. Pasha relished the explosion of bliss that set her heart fluttering in her chest. Her eyes met Emery’s.
Emery’s dark-brown pupils were shining and serene, her whole face lit with joy. “Have you wondered what it’ll be like when we kiss?” she asked.
“I notice you said when, not if.” Pasha stared at Emery’s mouth, The scar bisecting one side of her curved upper lip gave her a roguish character. A badge to her survival spirit and courage.
“Oh, that’s a given.” Emery’s hand curled tighter around hers. “I’ve barely been able to resist since the other night.”
“You know, I considered telling you we should just remain friends.”
Emery’s smile faded. “Why?”
“Because, Emery, even though I know this can only be fleeting, I’m not sure how successfully I can keep from getting emotionally involved. I’m finding you way too damn irresistible. And you make me feel so…well, like this.” She could tell from the strength of the pull between them and the look in Emery’s eyes that Emery had to be feeling much of the same euphoria she floated on right now.
“And if you did get emotionally involved…” Emery searched her face. “It would hurt more when I left, if we’d been intimate?”
Pasha nodded.
“But you said you considered telling me we should just be friends.”
“Yup. I thought about it.” Pasha glanced down at their enjoined hands, epicenter of the tremors of happiness pouring into them. She envisioned kissing Emery, and more—of what it might be like to feel how the thrill of their mouths upon each other and their naked bodies entangled in passion would enhance this very tangible current. How could she ever have imagined she could resist? “I realized very quickly that I don’t want to pass up this opportunity. I’ll happily embrace whatever I can have with you, as long as it lasts.”
“I don’t want to hurt you, Pasha, or have you regret getting involved with me for any reason. But I’m happy that’s your decision. It’d be awfully tough to try to keep my distance.”
“Would it now?”
Emery squeezed her hand. “I didn’t tell you, but I had a talk with Geneva the other night.”
“You did?”
Emery nodded and stared into her eyes. “I told her I couldn’t date her. That I’d become very interested in you, and that’s where I wanted to focus my time and attention while I’m here.”
“I see.” Pasha couldn’t stop grinning. She wants me, and me alone. “You know…when we just talked about kissing, you said you were having a hard time resisting.”
Emery chuckled. “That’s an understatement.”
“So…exactly why have you been resisting?”
Emery put her hand gently against Pasha’s cheek. “Because there’s a time and a place for everything.” She drew closer, her gaze fixed on Pasha’s mouth. “Mostly, I didn’t want to be interrupted.”
And then Emery kissed her, a soft, sensuous kiss that began tentatively, lips brushing hers in discovery and exploration. Pasha’s heartbeat accelerated as a surge of warmth coursed through her veins, her senses so painfully heightened she could hear the rhythmic
whoosh-whoosh-whoosh of blood in her ears.
Emery teased her, tracing the tip of her tongue lightly along Pasha’s lower lip, withdrawing slightly whenever Pasha opened her mouth in an effort to deepen the kiss. Tormenting her to new heights of delicious but maddening anticipation, until finally Emery claimed her with a deep, fierce unleashing of passion that Pasha returned with equal intensity.
Time stood still, and she almost forgot even the spectacular magnitude of their surroundings. Immersed in their kiss, body and mind and soul, the power of their connection, a heady rush, blotted everything else from her consciousness.
Minutes later they separated, both breathing hard, but remained with their faces close together, foreheads touching. In the heat of the moment, she’d ended up with Emery’s arms around her waist and she with her hands laced around Emery’s neck, but she didn’t remember how or when it happened.
“Jesus, Pasha,” Emery managed, which was more than Pasha could accomplish. “I wish I could put into words how you make me feel.”
Desire fogged Pasha’s brain, and her heart took a long while to calm. “At least you can form words,” she finally replied. “Amazing.”
They pulled back to look at each other. “I just feel this incredible sense of serenity,” Emery said, “in addition, of course, to wanting you like crazy mad.”
Pasha nodded. “I know just what you mean.” She glanced at her watch, heartsick to discover they needed to head back, right away. “But we’ve got to go. Skeeter should be getting back soon.”