True North (The Bears of Blackrock Book 4)

by Michaela Wright

  “Where are they taking him?” Buniq asked, dusting the crumbs from her skirt as she stood up.

  “I don’t know, sweetie. Did you get any stones for me when you were out there?”

  Sinead didn’t listen to the response, but instead marched across the schoolhouse to where Theron had been standing.

  He’d left his backpack.

  Let’s see who you really are, then.

  Sinead pulled the pack open and began rifling through. A couple button down shirts, a Dead Kennedy’s t-shirt, some boxers and socks. Nothing to betray his trekking into the arctic for a long haul.

  Unless –

  Sinead’s fingers bumped into something hard. A cell phone. She felt her heart shoot into her throat. Despite knowing full well there would be no signal on the Extension, just the thought of seeing a cell phone again made her heart race. This small contraption reminded her for an instant that there was a world outside those fences. That there was a bustling world of news, and cars and busses, of soap operas and radio djs. She pulled up the screen to find it locked, a single text message waiting on the lock screen.

  Where the hell are you off to, jackass?

  It was from a Maggie. Her stomach dropped for an instant, but she ignored the sensation and continued to search.

  “No, no! Dar is taking him out to the fence! Miss Dalton! They’re going to the fence!”

  Sinead didn’t compute the words. She was too riled up by her search. Buniq rushed past her toward the school door and disappeared outside.

  “Buniq, honey,” she said in idle protest, but she didn’t move.

  She’d found his wallet.

  The leather billfold opened to a smudged Maine license – Theron Talbot, b. 9/13/85.

  There was a frequent coffee card from the Blackrock Inn, a Machias Savings Bank card, and a worn piece of paper tucked into the back. Sinead pulled it out and unfolded it.

  The picture showed a family, two girls, one boy, and their stoic, but smiling parents. Sinead stared at the mother’s face in the picture and held her breath. She recognized that half smile.

  Suddenly, Buniq’s words registered in Sinead’s mind. They were going out to the fence.

  Shit!

  Sinead lunged for the door and burst out into the cold. She didn’t stop to scan the horizon as she ran down the stairs.

  “Buniq!” She yelled, but there was no sign of the girl.

  Sinead turned toward the gate, flecks of snow whirling around her face. She ran as fast as her worn out shoes would take her, but stopped not too long after. There was male laughter coming from the east – down toward the water. Sinead cut across the field and started trudging toward the sound.

  “Hey!” She yelled. “Darrell!”

  The laughter echoed again, and she doubled her speed. The cold wasn’t too desperate, but she hadn’t bothered to grab her scarf or mittens, and her teeth were beginning to chatter.

  “Darrell!!”

  The figures came into clear view up ahead, Theron standing with his hand just inches from the fence. Darrell was trying to get Theron to touch the wires.

  “Don’t touch it! It’ll kill you!”

  Sinead stopped short, turning to find Buniq running up from the north side of the Extension.

  Theron turned to glare at Darrell, but before he could speak, Darrell knocked him on his ass with a punch to the gut.

  He wound up to hit Theron again, but Buniq roared across the field, her teeth bared, and threw herself at Darrell, punching and slapping his face and chest.

  Darrell held onto his sister, trying to calm her, but Buniq wasn’t alone. “Step aside! Buniq says this man was nearly shot by the Kabloonuk. Will you get off him?”

  Pearl stood over the prone man and glared with an all too familiar expression.

  The same expression Sinead saw in Theron’s photograph.

  Pearl turned back down to Theron, searching his face as though words might be written there. “We don’t have enough to feed another mouth. Why did he bring you?”

  Theron shook his head, but didn’t speak. It looked as though the wind was knocked out of him.

  The older woman smacked Darrell upside the head, took Buniq’s hand and began to walk away. “Miss Dalton, would you help the visitor back to the school house while I deal with these idiots. We’ll deliver him back to the gate this evening. Hopefully, they’ll come collect their little spy.”

  Sinead dropped down to Theron, touching her hands gently to his bruised cheek. “Wait! Miss Pearl.”

  Theron’s touched his hand to his head and groaned as he forced himself to a seated position.

  “Pearl?” He called, forcing it out in the little breath he could manage. “Pearl Holden?”

  Everyone went silent a moment.

  Finally, the chief stepped back toward them. Sinead felt small there in her gaze.

  “Yes. That is my name.”

  Theron gasped, rolling up onto his knees to greet her properly, his hand still holding his stomach. Sinead watched him try to rise, but he couldn’t. He remained on all fours a moment. It looked as though he might be sick.

  Theron managed another deep breath. “I’m your grandson.”

  There was a murmur among the people gathered, then the sound of Pearl smacking Darrell again, harder this time.

  “Theron, honey?” Pearl said, crouching down to him.

  Theron’s face contorted, and Sinead’s heart hurt. It was as though the term of endearment hurt him.

  “God damn it, someone get him up. Bring him to my house,” Pearl said, turning to those now gathered around. “Everyone! You know the drill. Scatter before they notice we were all here.”

  Sinead watched Pearl turn toward Darrell as Pauloosie and Dave helped Theron to his feet She glared with such fury, Sinead thought Pearl meant to drill a hole through him with her eyes.

  “Nice job, idiot,” she said. “You almost killed your cousin.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  THERON

  “You can climb on through here? I’ll spot ya. Some of the best fishing you’ll see in your life just up the shore here.”

  Darrell pointed northward as Theron’s hand tightened on the fishing rod the three men handed him just outside the schoolhouse. He swallowed, glancing at the other two men who’d yet to say a single word. Theron offered a smile and walked over to join Darrell by the fence.

  “Just climb through?” He asked, feeling a tightness in his chest. He eyed the fence. This was the closest he’d come to it and there was no question in his mind that this fence was meant to carry a charge.

  “Yeah. If you wouldn’t mind going first, I need you to spot me when I come through. Bad knees. The rocks always give me trouble.”

  Theron’s brow furrowed, but he didn’t want to be rude.

  Still, something felt wrong. The teacher had been so displeased with his presence, so suspicious, yet these men were all smiles and pats on the shoulder. Theron took a step forward, eyeing the fence. “It’s not carrying a charge?”

  The three men shifted where they stood.

  “What? Up here? We run on generators, friend. There’s no juice to -”

  “Don’t touch it! It’ll kill you!”

  Theron and the three men turned just in time to see Sinead running over the rocky terrain, her long red curls bouncing behind her.

  “Sinead?” Darrell said, half under his breath.

  Theron turned to look at Darrell just as the air left his lungs in a violent burst. Darrell had punched him square in the gut. Theron hunched over, dropping backward to the ground.

  Theron fought to catch his breath, looking up at Darrell as he tried to speak. The man’s fist hit Theron’s cheek, knocking him down onto his side. Voices were picking up in the distance, the sound of men, women, and children running toward the drama.

  “Stop! The children are following. They’ll see!” Someone said. Suddenly, a blur of pigtails flew into view, knocking Darrell back.

  Theron’s head pounded and hi
s ears rang, leaving him deaf and dumb to the cacophony around him. People were coming closer, some yelling, some moving around him. Theron pressed his hand to his ribs and heard a name he recognized.

  “Pearl?” He called, forcing it out in the little breath he could manage. “Pearl Holden?”

  Everyone went silent a moment.

  “Yes. That is my name.”

  Theron gasped, rolling up onto his knees to greet her properly, his hand still holding his stomach. Yet he couldn’t rise. He remained on all fours a moment, fearing he would be sick. Theron managed another deep breath. “I’m your grandson.”

  A long moment passed, a moment filled with voices and murmurs he just didn’t have the strength to give attention to. Then in the noise, a voice pulled him from the haze.

  “Theron, honey?”

  Theron’s face contorted. Familiarity overwhelmed him at that moment. He hadn’t heard this woman’s voice for well over a decade, but hearing it now – that same gentle tone that called every year on his birthday when he was a child – it was enough to bring tears to his eyes.

  “God damn it, someone get him up -”

  With that, hands gripped under Theron’s arms and hoisted him to his feet. A moment later, Theron’s arms were draped over the shoulders of two men, supporting his weight as they hauled him over the grass toward his grandmother’s home. The same men who moments earlier stood by in wait of his touching what he now knew was an electrified fence.

  Theron didn’t look back at Darrell Holden. He fought to steady himself between the arms of his cousins. He didn’t know them by name, but he was sure that if their name was Holden, they were his blood, nonetheless.

  Theron hissed as he put weight on his ankle again, then shot a glance back at the fiery, red haired teacher. She stood just a few yards off, her puffy coat pushing her wild hair up around her ears.

  Her teeth were chattering. She was cold.

  Theron turned away, hoping she hadn’t seen him staring.

  She was cold, he thought. She wasn’t a shifter.

  Then what the hell was she doing up here with the Holden clan?

  He didn’t have his wits about him enough to ponder it. It was taking all he could muster just to put one foot in front of the other.

  Theron was settled onto Grandma Pearl’s couch moments later, and soon Buniq appeared, sneakily passing him half of a granola bar as his cousins were given orders to go collect the commodity boxes from the road.

  Her energy was tense, touching Theron repeatedly as she sat nearby. He’d heard her screaming down by the fence, raging at her brother for what he’d almost done. It made Theron fond of her, but also a little wary. Why was she so protective of him? She didn’t know him at all.

  Theron argued against Pearl’s orders that he sit there for the afternoon with his foot up, but she would hear none of it. There was no time to converse or get acquainted. Pearl was chief there on the Extension, and she had more important matters to attend to. Theron felt like a lump there on her couch, watching as she came and went about the house.

  The living room looked like any other. Blankets with designs he recognized from his mother’s bedroom when he was a child were tossed over the couch. There was no TV, no picture frames on the wall. Just a tired pair of armchairs and a couch. The wallpaper looked straight out of a 1970’s sitcom, and that was only where it hadn’t peeled off. There were water stains on the ceiling, and the entire house felt hauntingly quiet. He couldn’t quite place why it felt so still, even with Pearl milling about.

  It wasn’t until she headed out to handle inventory and divvying up the month’s supplies that Theron had a moment to himself. Theron sprawled out on the couch, staring up at the sad looking ceiling.

  The moment was short lived.

  “Are you still hurting?”

  Theron shot a look toward the front door. Miss Dalton stood just inside the living room, his backpack dangling from her right hand. He exhaled. He’d almost completely forgotten it in the drama of the afternoon.

  Nothing like almost being murdered to make you forget you need a change of boxers at some point.

  Theron nodded, but didn’t meet her gaze. “I am. As I’m sure you’ll be happy to know.”

  She stared at him a long moment. She huffed finally, a wordless complaint against the cold. Her long hair hanging in ringlets down over her shoulders. She frowned, but didn’t speak.

  “School’s out, I take it?”

  “Yeah. Too much excitement today to expect kids to pay attention to geography. So what ails you, then?”

  Theron shot a look toward his bum foot. “Other than the fact someone tried to kill me this afternoon, not much. Jammed my ankle when I got here.”

  She took a deep breath. “Yeah, that was going to be my next question -”

  “Look, what do you want?”

  Sinead stopped, staring at him with a stricken expression.

  “Did you know they were going to take me down to the fence? Were you in on that? Is that a common practice up here?”

  “No!”

  “Because you sure as shit weren’t too friendly just an hour or two ago. Now you’re concerned with my well-being?”

  “Well, maybe I shouldn’t be!”

  “Yeah, maybe you shouldn’t!” He snapped back.

  The two of them remained in silence for a long moment. He could hear her breathing, a little faster than normal. She was agitated.

  It was in that silence that Theron realized why the house was so quiet.

  It was the stillness of a house without electricity.

  Sinead took a step toward him, licking her lips. She opened her mouth to speak, but took a second to form words. “I’m sorry. If you knew what life was like up here, you would understand.”

  “Sure, I would.”

  Sinead blew out through pursed lips and turned for the door. The sight of her living made his heart leap into his throat. “So what then? You let them drag me off to fry, but then decide to grow a conscience and come running to stop them before the job was done.”

  “No,” she said, and the tone was deliberately calm. Theron realized he could rile this woman if he wanted to. She was barely holding in her temper. “I looked through your things.”

  Theron’s head fell back onto the arm of the couch with a thud. He regretted it, but pretended it hadn’t hurt. “Well, that’s just fucking great. Find anything good? Wanna know my blood type?”

  “God damn it, you’re intolerable. Shut up.” Her tone had changed, and she was moving across the room toward the couch before he could say another word. Sinead reached down to his hurt ankle.

  “And you’re a ray of fucking sunshine?”

  The touch of her fingers grazed his bare skin, and his whole body tensed.

  He hadn’t been expecting that.

  Sinead dropped to her knees by the side of the couch. “I’m going to patch up your ankle, alright? I’ll try not to kill you in the process.”

  “Oh, please. Don’t try too hard.”

  Theron swallowed back his bile and turned away.

  “You know, if you knew what life was like here, you wouldn’t be so quick to judge.”

  Theron shot her a glare, but didn’t speak.

  “How did you get here, anyway?”

  Theron chuckled, sadly. “That psycho cop dropped me off.”

  “Oh, psycho cop doesn’t even begin to cover it,” she said, moving toward the end of the couch. Her hand was on the laces of his boots before he could protest.

  He stiffened at the touch, trying to straighten up on the couch. “Yeah, I’ve had my fair share of run ins with those, recently. Psycho cops. Psycho family members. Psycho school teachers.”

  She pinched him and he shot her a frustrated, ‘Hey!’

  She ignored him. “Psycho cops? Sorry to hear that. Nice job keeping the boot on.”

  “What?” Theron asked. Sinead sat down at the edge of the couch and loosened his boot. She was making him nervous, but he didn’t wa
nt her to see.

  The woman grumbled under her breath as she moved closer. Theron could only make out, ‘fucking Baird.’ She seemed to catch herself and gave him the side eye. “Keeping the boot on. It keeps the ankle from swelling up like a melon. Hopefully, we can ice it now and set it to sorts.”

  The teacher’s fingers grazed the skin of his ankle again and chilled him. She stopped. She seemed startled by the sensation, too.

  “So what is this? Good cop, bad cop type thing, but you’re both?”

  Sinead frowned. “If it is, you better stop trying to piss me off, I’d say.”

  He stared at her from beneath a curtain of his hair. “Fuck that. I’m just waiting for someone to throttle me in my sleep at this point.”

  She gave the boot a tug and he winced, gritting his teeth as she pulled the heel of the boot. He hissed, letting her hold the pillow in place as he lowered his foot back down. “Is there a chance you might have a phone? I need to call home and let them know -”

  “No. There’s no phone here.”

  Her tone stopped him.

  “No phones. No cars. No TV. No power outside the generators. No cell service. No computers. And no way out,” she said, finishing the run of words with the uninvested tone of a flight attendant.

  “What do you mean?” He asked. He didn’t need to hear the answer. He’d heard the hum of that fence. He’d seen the gate slide shut behind him when Baird brought him onto the Extension.

  Sinead held up a hand, and she was carting two rolled up ace bandages. “We do have a first aid kit down at the school, though. Small miracles. I don’t have any ice, but we can get you braced up.”

  She eyed him from her perch on her knees before him. He almost shuddered at the touch as she ran her hand up the back of his calf.

  “They don’t let you leave?”

  Sinead gave him a sad smile. “Not in two years.”

  Two years? He’d come north with the intention of hiding out til winter. The thought of being stuck there indefinitely made his stomach drop.

  Her fingers pushed his jeans upward, leaving his skin bare to the touch. He shivered just so as her hand crept higher. Theron shifted in his seat, fearing he might embarrass himself if he kept shivering at her touch. “That’s – they can’t fucking do that.”