Bill wasn’t the only neighbor with a plane. The knowledge came to Duncan early in his Alaskan experience. It seems in Alaska you owned a 4x4 truck and a plane the way people Outside owned two cars. The skiff was the bicycle around the lake.
“Yeah, probably our last trip in on floats though. We’ll have to wait until after freeze-up to make another trip. By then I’ll have the skis on.” Bill got out of the rocking boat and pumped Duncan’s hand in greeting. “Are you going to have room for two extra at lunch? Must be some local news or gossip to catch up on.”
Duncan laughed. “Sure, we’ll find something to talk about. It’s started to slow down now. I just put my last customers on the plane until the weekend.”
“Great. We brought Nell’s jacket too. She left it in the plane yesterday.”
“Nell?” A mix of curious irritation spread through Duncan’s middle. He didn’t want to alienate people. Everyone seemed to love the old woman.
“Yeah,” Bill continued. “It was a little funny. She was waiting at the place in Willow where we keep the plane. She said she thought maybe she’d mixed up the day she was scheduled to come out to the lake, but since we were coming anyhow we just brought her along.”
The reality of how much time had lapsed hit Duncan. His world went into slow motion as his mind split between standing on the shore of the lake, here and now, and searching through yesterday afternoon’s events.
“She’s getting spacey, but she’s always been a sweetheart.” Bill continued to chatter amiably while he helped his wife from the boat and secured it to the dock.
Duncan could feel blood pool in the pit of his stomach. “Bill, when did you leave her? She isn’t here. We haven’t seen her for weeks.”
Bill’s ebony face paled. His wife lifted her hand to cover her mouth, “But—we dropped her right here. We—It was yesterday afternoon. What—Oh my God—are you sure she isn’t here?”
“Let’s not get too excited.” Duncan wanted to bolt for the lodge. “She probably just went over to Edna’s and spent the night.”
They hurried to the lodge. After a brief explanation, Alice grabbed the mic on the CB. “Break 12—This is the lodge. I have an emergency. Anybody on? Over.” Alice waited anxiously.
Finally the dead air scratched. “Hi Alice, this is Naomi. What’s wrong? Over.”
“Nell was dropped off at the lodge last night, but we didn’t know it. She isn’t here. Has anyone seen her? Over.”
The silence was only there for a moment. The clicks and snatches of answers crackled through the room as listeners picked up and talked over each other on the one-at-a-time conduit of channel twelve. At last the flush of excitement returned to everyone taking impatient turns.
“Mathew here, I’ll ride the four-wheeler trail from here to the lodge and check the empty cabins. Over”
“This is Edna. I haven’t seen her. I’ll look around my place. Over.”
Jacob reported he would take his skiff down the far side of the lake. Two other families called to relay information. They hadn’t seen her either but would immediately start a search.
Tom and Duncan, with Bill’s help, searched every building at the lodge. Then Bill and his wife went back across the lake in their skiff. They would resume the search in their plane.
While Duncan fielded calls on the CB, Alice went to her own cabin and quickly examined Hanna’s house, too, before she returned.
People called in from all over the lake. They searched and reported what they found or didn’t find. When Alice came back from searching her cabin, a sense of urgency knotted Duncan’s stomach.
“Alice, I’m going with Tom. We’ll take the four-wheelers out the old mining road. I’ll have the cell phone if anything comes up, maybe it’ll work today.”
Alice nodded, she touched Tom’s arm and as he walked past her, her hand drifted from his elbow to his hand, ending in a brief squeeze. Duncan envied the subtle exchange between the two. “Should we call the Troopers yet?” she asked in a subdued voice
“Yes, I think we should.” Tom’s reply settled like a pall of fog in the room.
Tom’s deliberate and measured pace held Duncan’s temptation to roar out the road in check. At Tom’s methodical speed, it took a while to break out of the brush and tall trees behind the lake.
In Nell’s state of mind, there would be no rhyme or reasoning to follow, so a random search was as good as any. Still, the idea of an old woman being out in the elements overnight sharpened the men’s anxiety. It hadn’t frozen last night, but the temperature hovered around thirty-eight degrees.
Tom pointed to the trail, and went on. Fresh bear scat made Duncan acutely aware that bears and wolves weren’t the only dangers present in this beautiful and desolate place.
The rough track was slow going. Tom took the lead, and they stopped and turned off the four-wheelers every quarter mile or less. The quiet was dense in the expanse of tundra surrounding them. “Nell,” Tom shouted. “Hello, Nell?” They listened intently. Bird song and emptiness were the only reply.
Four hours into the ordeal Tom stopped, again. The quiet was marked by the sound of a plane low and close. Duncan’s heart leaped when he recognized the plane. It passed and circled ahead of them then it turned and came back.
When Tom waved, the plane tipped its wings in return and circled even lower. It was Hanna in the cockpit, and she pointed ahead of where Tom and Duncan were headed on the rutted and infrequently used trail. Tom fired up his machine, and Duncan followed, this time they didn’t stop, they moved forward at a purposeful speed.
After a long mile, Duncan could see two figures moving slowly toward them.
Nell walked in slow motion. Even though she was taller than the Shaman, he appeared to tower over her. Her frail shuffle matched his tenacious short stride.
The missing dog remained close to Nell. His hackles raised, and they relaxed only when Tom and Duncan stopped and swung down from their machines. Embarrassment and concern washed over Nameless when he approached Duncan. He slunk in close and stayed out of reach from Duncan’s fingers.
“Come here you good boy.” Duncan squatted down, and the pup allowed himself to be petted only briefly. He nervously returned to Nell’s side.
Duncan stood up, taking in the strange scene.
Nell, disheveled and remote, was holding hands with the Shaman. His hands were creased with grime, and his clothes showed no change from the last time Duncan had seen him. Nameless circled anxiously around Nell and the Shaman.
Duncan tenderly took Nell’s arm and guided her to the four-wheeler. He lifted her gently and set her sidesaddle on the seat. “I got lost,” Nell whispered.
“I know, but you’re safe now.” Duncan put his oversized fleece jacket on her, directing her arms into the sleeves as if she were a four-year-old.
Her sad and frightened ambiguity touched Duncan. “I’ve never been lost before,” she said.
“We’re going to get you back to the lodge and you’ll be fine. You don’t have to be afraid.” Duncan started to turn and Nell grasped his arm.
“Please.” A tear spun its way down her cheek. “Take care of my lodge. I love it so much, but I’m too old now. I can’t stay.”
Duncan couldn’t think of any empty platitudes so he put an arm around her shoulders. “Nell, it’s time to move on.”
She rested her head on his chest. Her shoulders shook briefly, and Duncan thought for a moment she was crying. Then he heard a chuckle, “Oh, Harry. I know you’re right. I was being obstinate. I love you, too.”
Duncan stood by the machine and let Nell lean into him. He tossed the cell phone over to Tom, who dialed the lodge. It only took two scratchy, dropped calls to confirm they had found Nell.
“Hanna called ’um too,” Tom said as he dropped the phone into his chest pocket.
Duncan resettled Nell’s legs straddling the seat.
Tom climbed onto his machine and started to turn it around. “Hey, wait.” Tom called to the Shaman, “Ride
with us.”
The little man shook his head and walked past Tom to stand in front of Nell.
Prickles crawled up the back of Duncan’s neck as he stood aside. He glanced over at Tom and was reassured by his calm shrug.
Nell sat calmly, her eyes locked to the Shaman’s as he placed his hands on either side of her head. Her shoulders relaxed, and her eyes cleared. A faint smile drifted across her face.
The Shaman took his hands away and looked at Tom. “I don’t want to go to the lodge.”
“Okay,” Tom drawled. He touched the bill of his cap. “You’re a good neighbor. Thank you.”
The Shaman dipped his head with a shy vacant smile and began to walk back the way he’d come.
Nameless followed him for a couple of yards and stopped. He studied the departing figure and then turned and came back to sit at Duncan’s feet.
“Thanks,” Duncan said. He leaned over and gave a gentle scratch behind the dog’s ears. Then he pointed, “You ride with Tom.” Tom patted the seat behind him and Nameless scampered up, balancing on the back of the machine.
Six low flying tundra swans broke the silence as they passed overhead calling back and forth to one another. Nell lifted her head, and her gaze followed the birds. “They’re starting to bunch up. They’ll leave soon, ya’ know,” she said. “Maybe I’ll come visit in the spring when they come back.”
Duncan watched the beautiful white swans until they were specks on the horizon. “That would be nice, Nell.” This time he meant it.
Chapter 26
Hanna had been gone from Cotton Grass Lake for almost three weeks, and she wanted to go home.
The trip to Dillingham had not done what she expected. Her uncle was kind, but he didn’t tell her what to do, he let her babble about all her options and then said it was her decision. Which wasn’t what she wanted.
After returning from Dillingham, she had more business with Charlie’s estate which required a leave of absence from Arctic Cargo.
During the day the new routine kept her hands busy and her mind occupied. She rambled around her apartment waiting for the mail to give her a direction to go. People to see, calls to make, but she wanted to go home. She rewrote the list from the day before again and again and stared off into space.
In her cold, lifeless apartment, she couldn’t stay warm. She went to bed, often with all her clothes on. The sad tears she cried morphed from missing Charlie to hating Duncan and back. She needed to wrap herself in Cotton Grass Lake and wallow in her misery. She needed to feel grounded again, not scattered and afraid and unsure of herself. Her life had always been so assured and well ordered. Now, she had only chaos and uncertainty.
Duncan had been a terrible mistake, and she had paid the price with tears and guilt. She’d known how this love affair was going to work out, and she’d been right. She needed someone to help her with the sadness of Charlie’s death and what she got was a no-show. Like most of the men in her life, a no-show.
Duncan’s voice on her answering machine elicited an angry punch on the delete button. She didn’t even listen to the message.
Two weeks of tension took its toll. Her body hurt all over, breathing burned the muscles in her chest. Now, she wanted to go home, and Duncan was there keeping her away from everything she needed to heal the pain.
The phone rang. Hanna sat on the edge of her bed and waited for the answering machine to screen the call. Don’t be Duncan, don’t be Duncan, don’t be…
Alice’s breathless voice tumbled into the room. “Oh, Hanna please, please, please…be home, pick up…”
Not Duncan. Damn it, why didn’t he call? Hanna clenched a sob behind her jaws and snatched up the phone. “I’m here, what’s wrong?” Fear clogged her throat. Was he hurt? Why was Alice calling?
“Thank God. Hanna we need you. Nell is lost. We called the troopers, but...” Alice, calm and stoic Alice, began to cry. “I’m scared. She’s been gone since about four o’clock yesterday.” Alice told the tale, and Hanna took no more than ten minutes to dress for a trip to the lake.
The drive down Minnesota to Northern Lights Boulevard seemed to take forever, and by the time Hanna careened onto Post Road and into the parking lot at Charlie’s Air Service. her breath was coming in short anxious bursts.
She fumbled with the keys for the padlock on the gate and ran to pull the hanger doors open. They glided on well-greased rails, and Hanna was running toward the plane before they clanged to a stop.
She took a deep breath and rested her hand on the fuselage of the plane. Charlie wouldn’t allow her to get off the ground until she’d controlled her emotions. He always said, “If you make a bad decision on the ground you can’t fix it at eight hundred feet in the air.” So she stopped. She rested her head on her hand and breathed again. The hanger wrapped around her.
She loved the smell of machine oil and Av-gas with a light undertone of cigarette smoke and old dog. It was the smell of accomplishment and industry. It was the smell of love. But now, she was on her own, Charlie wasn’t there to remind her of the safety check-lists. Hanna took another deep breath.
She jogged into the hanger and punched the on button for the radio. Rock ‘n roll swelled into the far reaches of the building.
She pushed the plane out of the dim hanger, walking around it touching and examining. She tested the fuel. She’d learned Charlie’s lessons well. The plane was never put away without being fueled and ready to fly.
She had to be patient. There were procedures and expectations, no rushing. Do it right the first time.
Clearing her air space she took off, turned the plane north and concentrated on flying for forty-five minutes.
When Hanna got close to the lake she keyed the mic, “Cotton Grass Lake, one-seven one-four Alpha.” Bill Johnson answered from his plane. He let her know where he was and where he’d already searched. He’d used a grid pattern and had worked most of three sides of the lake from north and east to south.
“I’ll work the west side,” Hanna said.
She called the lodge when she flew over and checked in with Alice. Then she began the tedious process working from the south end of the lake and west toward the mine road.
Fear for Nell drove Hanna lower and lower. When she crossed over the trees toward the rolling tundra she decided to follow a hunch and the path of least resistance.
Her heart throbbed in her throat. It had been three weeks since she’d seen Duncan and there he was, two hundred feet below her, looking like the man of her dreams. She could see his broad shoulders. She could all but feel his warm skin. Her body betrayed her. She’d spent three weeks making sure she was over the deceitful devil. And now, her mouth filled with the taste of him and she could feel his hands sliding down over her breasts. “Stop it.” She yelled at the windscreen, “Just, stop it!”
She focused on instruments, she focused on the red fall-colored tundra, she focused on a point ahead on the trail and when it moved she refocused her attention.
From her vantage point two hundred feet above the road she breathed a sigh of relief. She saw the Shaman and Nell.
She flew ahead and circled the two then she flew back and circled Duncan and Tom and pointed ahead.
She’d spent two weeks berating herself for a fool. She’d spent two weeks of sleepless nights. After the first week she’d wanted to turn off the answering machine. Instead, she let it screen all the calls, Duncan sounded so business-like. Call me, he demanded. “No!” she screamed at the phone.
She keyed the mic. “Cotton Grass Field, one-seven-one-four Alpha, Duncan and Tom have Nell. I repeat, Nell has been found. One-seven-one-four Alpha clear.”
The emotionless replies came back to her. First Bill responded with his tail number.
Another tail number responded, and Hanna recognized it as the trooper’s plane.
Hanna flew back to the strip and landed. While she tied down her plane, the troopers Alice had called landed.
They were old friends, and she shook hands
with each man and reported what she knew. When she took her leave of them she didn’t go to the lodge.
I knew it would be like this. I have to avoid Duncan and avoiding him means avoiding everyone I want to see at the lodge. Damn it. Damn him.
She could wait. He wouldn’t be here long. He’d close up the lodge for the winter and sell in the spring. She could wait.
She advanced on her cabin calculating all the most difficult chores.
Hanna welcomed her purpose-filled movement. Three weeks of inactivity made her aware of every stride. First she filled the water barrels. Which required starting the generator for the power needed to run the water pump. She flipped the switch and watched impatiently as the water splashed into the barrels under her kitchen counter. She didn’t dare leave to do anything else or there was the real possibility she would have lake water gushing onto the floor of the cabin.
Last year when she dug the trench for the power and water lines from the cabin to the lake, she didn’t think she’d ever miss the exertion of having to carry water from the lake in five gallon buckets. Now, she did.
After the barrels finished filling, she let the generator run for a while and hooked up the charger to top off the batteries for her twelve-volt system.
She packed firewood into the cabin from the woodshed. She started the small woodstove to take the chill off and wiped the spotless counters, again and again. Fury quivered through her body, fighting with reawakened desire.
A scream started deep in her middle. Her hands knotted the dishtowel in a frenzy as the shriek escaped from her locked jaws. A long keening anguish rent the air of the little cabin and tears came as she shredded the dishtowel. Rage sent her out the door of the cabin, a tiny rational thought reminded her she would eventually get a grip, but the dishes would all be broken if she stayed inside.
Hanna planned to chop wood until she couldn’t lift the maul, to fall into exhaustion, to get over another mistake in judgment.
The door exploded backward when she slammed out of the cabin and there he stood.
She screamed again. Her hands clenched at her sides. “Go away! Leave me alone! I don’t want you here.”
Cotton Grass Lodge Page 19