by Meris Lee
“Did you know about the deal he made with O’Brien?”
“Yes, Wolfe told me. Andy did what he had to do.” Katy sighed, and then she cast her glance beyond Elias’s shoulders. “Hey, here comes Sam, ever so dashing in his ranger uniform and that campaign hat of his. He kept you out late last night. Is there anything you want to tell me?”
Elias’s cheeks burned as she quietly relived having Sam’s warm and clammy skin on hers the night before. “Nothing…”
“Nothing? It looks like something happened to me.”
“Good morning, Katy,” said Sam as he came to stand next to them. “To you as well, Elias.”
“And he’s back to old Stuffy Sam.” Katy shook her head and rolled her eyes.
Elias nudged Katy on the arm. “Go and call Andy again.”
“Okay, okay.” Katy chuckled and turned, heading toward the exit of the tent.
Sam stepped closer to Elias and reached for her hand, pulling her to him and smiled. “I love you,” he whispered in her ear.
Elias’s spine tingled at those words. His compelling presence had her surrounded like a force field that was difficult to escape from. She didn’t want to escape, but the feeling of losing control and completely submitting oneself to another was also terrifying. So instead, she said, impulsively, “Is that something you tell everyone you had a one-night stand with?”
“One-night stand?” Sam pulled Elias closer, but his smile had faded into a frown. “I’ve not ever taken up such a vulgar habit, and you shouldn’t think so lowly of yourself.”
Elias’s first instinct was to tell Sam she was just joking and she loved him as well, but somehow, the words “vulgar” and “lowly” reminded her of how Victoria had made her feel at dinner, and so she blurted out, “I’ll never measure up to your ex.”
“Who’s measuring?”
Elias pulled away from Sam. “I just don’t feel I’m worthy.”
Sam held her arms. “You may not feel that way, but you are. And I hope to be the man that can someday change your estimation of yourself, for the better.”
“Sam, you’re so kind. But I think you’re confusing love with charity.”
Sam had a harrowing look on his face. “What are you doing? Why are you pushing me away?”
Elias shook her head. She didn’t know why. Was she pushing him away? That was not her intent. She was merely voicing her anxieties. Why did most discussions she had with Sam turn into arguments? Could this prove they shouldn’t be together? Her heart sank, and she felt cold. What was she doing? She was not supposed to drag someone else into her troubled life, someone she loved so deeply and helplessly.
“I just need some time to think,” she finally said.
He let go of her. “I’ll be outside.” He looked defeated as he walked out of the tent.
Elias watched him go away, a pain cutting slowly across her heart as she imagined they were finished for good. How could the magic of the night before vanish so quickly? If she could’ve, would’ve, just tamed the impulsive child within her, then at least she’d be able to hold on to Sam until she could no longer hide from the law.
But perhaps it was just as well. What was the difference between ending it now versus ending it later if it were going to end regardless? Maybe the pain she’d have if she were to end it later would be a whole lot worse, and so, in fact, she was doing herself, and maybe Sam as well, a huge favor by carry out the inevitable now. Maybe, she shouldn’t have let last night happen to begin with.
She was tangled up in a web of doubts and emotions when she saw Katy standing by the exit of the tent, looking forlornly into the distance. She walked toward Katy, but before she could reach Katy, Andy’s father, Joe, had gotten there first.
“Katy,” said Joe drunkenly, a bottle of whiskey in his hand. “Andy loves you so much he threw all his money into your friend Chloe’s husband’s fishing business in Cordova. He told me he did it because you wanted him to make a big buck, like Chloe’s husband. Well, guess what, Chloe’s husband went belly up, and Andy lost all his money.”
“What?” Katy exclaimed. “That can’t be. They just got married, and they built that big house by the sea—”
“That house belongs to the bank now.” Joe sniggered. “When’s the last time you talk to this good friend of yours?”
Katy stared at Joe with both confusion and disdain. “You’re lying.”
“Call your friend, why don’t you?” Joe staggered. “Andy loves you too much to tell you the truth. Yes, it’s your fault my son lost all his money. But no matter, it cleared his head, and he made that deal with O’Brien he should’ve made long ago. So, no hard feelings.” Joe opened his arms as if expecting a hug from Katy.
“Leave her alone.” Elias pulled Katy back from Joe. “You’re a disgrace to be drunk on the day of your mother’s memorial.”
“And who are you, drifter?” Joe threw his empty bottle of whiskey on the ground, and it shattered loudly into pieces, causing Elias to cringe for a moment. Joe’s glance veered away for a moment. “Here comes Sergeant Wolfe. He might have some news for us all.”
Wolfe was taking long strides toward them from the parking lot. Sam apparently had caught sight of him and decided to walk back into the tent to stand beside Elias and encircled her with his arms. This warmed Elias’s heart. Despite the quarrel earlier, Sam seemed to care about her still and want to protect her.
Then she saw unforgiving condemnation on Wolfe’s face, and a sense of doom came down on her like a net.
“You’re supposed to be on parole in Texas, Elias Dotson,” said Wolfe, his eyes cutting Elias like a knife, spelling out her real last name. “You were sentenced to twenty years in prison for the shooting death of a minor while intoxicated when you were seventeen. You’re here illegally, and I should have you arrested and sent back right away.”
It shredded her heart to hear the accusation again after so many years. Elias swallowed hard, trying to calm her trembling hands. She turned around to see Sam’s face when he suddenly dropped his arms away from her. Sam’s eyes told her he was shocked, repulsed even. “Sam…” Elias muttered. She wanted to explain but didn’t know how.
“Is it true?” asked Katy, looking at Elias incredulously.
Which part was Katy’s question concerning, the part regarding the shooting or the part regarding her parole violation? Elias had made up her mind never to betray Ce’Rainitee and divulge the truth of the event. Slowly, she lifted her pant leg to reveal the inactive ankle monitor. “It’s true,” said Elias. “I was locked up and just recently paroled, and I was not supposed to leave Texas.”
“What I don’t understand,” said Wolfe, “is how come your parole officer hasn’t reported you missing?”
Elias was shocked. “If she hasn’t reported me, how did you find out about me?”
“I looked into it with the help of my friends in Texas, and I found out your incarceration and parole status, but strangely, according to your parole officer’s reports, you’re following rules and doing just fine, and she’s downgraded you, so you don’t have to wear a monitor anymore. So, how much did you pay your parole officer to help you get away?”
“What? I didn’t pay her,” said Elias. “I don’t know why she reports I’m still in Texas.”
“Katy,” said Wolfe, “this is why I always have to look into these random people you let stay in your cabin. First Gina, and now Elias…I’m going to have to take your new best friend to the station and give Texas a call to see about extradition.”
Elias felt sick. She thought she was going to faint right there. A tunnel began closing in on her as her racing heart throbbed in pain. She looked at Sam again. He seemed so far away now, his eyes hard and punitive. Why? Last night, he seemed so forgiving of the fact she was on parole. Was he now abhorred by the nature of the crime she was convicted of? Or was he outraged by the fact she was running from the law?
Suddenly, there was shouting. “Andy’s out there with a gun!”
; Chaotically, people darted for the exit of the tent. Elias was jolted from her state of stupor, and she followed everyone out.
Andy was standing in the middle of the parking lot holding a hunting rifle, its muzzle under his chin.
“Andy,” Katy shouted. “Don’t do it!”
“I have sold my grandmother’s soul out,” Andy cried. “I have brought shame to her name. Now, I will take the punishment I deserve.”
“Andy, put the gun down,” Wolfe said as soon as he came on the scene.
Andy stared at Wolfe severely. “You! I should take you out first so you can’t make another one of us sell out our lands.” Andy pointed his rifle at Wolfe.
“No!” Katy stepped in front of Wolfe just as Andy pulled the trigger.
Elias had no time to think. She instinctively threw her body at Katy, pushing her out of the way. Something burned her arm, and she was knocked down to the ground.
She could barely breathe as she turned to look at her left arm. It was bleeding. She looked over at Andy, who once again had the muzzle under his chin. He closed his eyes. And Elias saw Sam pounce at Andy as Katy screamed.
Shots went off.
And Elias’s world went dark.
Chapter Thirty
When Elias saw light again, Katy was sobbing next to Andy, who was holding his bloody head but was conscious and mumbling about how he had dishonored his family and killed his best friend.
“It was just a graze.” Wolfe came into sight, kneeling in front of Elias, pointing at her left arm. Someone had bandaged it up. “Thanks for saving Katy’s, and…my life.”
Elias looked toward where Sam was before she passed out, but there were now many people there, obscuring her view. She stood up slowly and stumbled over, pushing through the crowd.
Sam was lying there, motionless, blood soaking through his chest. He didn’t seem to be breathing. Elias felt weak again. A shadow of tremendous fear and wretchedness had descended upon her, engulfing her whole.
Elias collapsed by the side of Sam, but someone told her to move away. “Let the paramedics do their thing, lady.”
“Elias…” said a voice nearby.
“Josh?” She looked up at the paramedic holding an oxygen mask to Sam, who was now intubated.
“It’s okay,” Josh said. “Give us some space to help him.”
She nodded, pushed back her tears, and moved back toward the crowd. The scene was chaotic and frantic as they pulled out various devices to revive Sam.
“There’s no breath sound on the left,” a paramedic yelled.
Josh put his hand on Sam’s neck. “He’s got a tension pneumo,” Josh yelled. “Needle decompression!”
Someone took over ventilation while Josh crouched by Sam’s side, and Elias watched in fright as Josh plunged a long needle into Sam’s chest. “We need to get him on the chopper now,” Josh commanded.
The paramedics loaded Sam onto a gurney and moved him into the waiting helicopter. The loud, whirling rotor blades swept up moisture from the grass and the droplets hit Elias’s face like cold, icy daggers. Andy was also being transported onto the helicopter, and he seemed reluctant to let go of Katy’s hand as they prepared for liftoff.
“Thank you,” Elias said to Josh as he climbed onboard.
“I’ve been a weekend paramedic for years and today’s my first day as team lead,” said Josh. “I can’t believe your boyfriend is my first patient.”
“Will you take care of him?” asked Elias, remembering the animosity Josh had shown toward Sam.
“As much as I might be jealous or resentful of him,” said Josh, “I took an oath to care for all equally, and I do truly believe in the sanctity of all lives.”
The words comforted Elias as Josh signaled for the pilot to take to the air. When the helicopter disappeared on the horizon, Elias saw Wolfe stare at her from a distance while talking to Joe. She wondered whether the trooper would arrest her now but only saw him shake his head at Joe. Within a minute, they both disappeared into the patrol car and drove off.
Katy found her way to Elias, and they threw their arms around each other and wept together for a long time. Then, Katy wiped her tears with the back of her hand and said, “I know we need to go to the hospital in Anchorage, but I want to see my mother first.”
“Your mother? Why?”
“My mother’s a healer. She’s not far from here.” Katy pushed Elias toward Andy’s truck, the key still in the ignition. “I need her right now.”
»»•««
Katy drove Elias up the mountain. The forest was dark with a thick canopy of trees, the trail almost impassable with underbrushes above which a cold, white mist hung low. As they approached a log cabin, Elias could see a woman tending to her vegetable garden. The woman, whom Elias assumed to be Nara, had her graying hair in a braid down her back, wearing a beaded vest and the most peculiar necklace, a string of long, white sticks which Katy explained to be whale teeth.
Nara looked up when Katy and Elias entered the garden. “Why don’t you take your friend to the cabin and change into some fresh clothes?” said Nara. “We’ll talk after.”
Elias looked down at her clothes and saw she was covered in blood.
“Wait. Did you know Andy was going to—” Katy stared hard at her mother. “And you said nothing?”
“I only know you’re in distress and you’ve got blood all over you,” said Nara calmly. “But you’re alive, so, it means whatever you need to say is not an emergency, and therefore we can chat after you clean up.”
“Unbelievable,” said Katy. She wiped her tears and took Elias’s hand. They went into Nara’s cabin. Elias surveyed the collection of dry herbs and animal parts stored in a cabinet hung on one wall. The opposite wall was adorned by various stone amulets and wooden masks carved with animal motifs. There were moose-hide hand drums and whale teeth necklaces hanging on another wall. The whole place smelled like medicine.
Elias and Katy took turns to change into fresh clothes they found in the chest of drawers in Nara’s room.
“I don’t know why I always get so mad as soon as I see my mother,” said Katy, after they both cleaned up and sat down on the chairs in the front of the cabin by the wall of amulets and masks.
“Well, if you thought your mother knew what was going to happen and didn’t tell you…”
“I don’t think she knew,” said Katy, “even though she does have a knack for knowing many things before they happen. Healers in these parts are said to have the ability to dream about things that happen in the future, but most of my people are Christians, and we don’t want to be associated with all that magic stuff.”
“So how does your mother know ahead of everyone else?”
“She claims she just pays attention to the little things that indicate possible disasters. For example, she goes around these mountains and checks out fire-prone areas such as old cabins with overgrown grass around. Also, she constantly looks at the clouds and feels the wind and temperature in the atmosphere and observes what the birds and the animals are doing. She then sends a homing pigeon to warn us when there might be a lightning storm or a fire. She’s usually right.”
“That’s some gift,” said Elias, amazed. “But what does she do as a healer?”
“She makes you an herbal tea and sings you a prayer,” said Katy. “And a lot of the times that’s all it takes.”
“I’m sorry, but that’s not going to help Andy or Sam.”
“I know, I know,” said Katy. “I’m sorry Elias. I don’t want to drag you into the trouble I have with my mother. She’s never taken care of me in the way most normal mothers do. And yet, what do I do when I need a shoulder to cry on? I come to her.”
“You’re seeking comfort from your mother?”
“I know it’s crazy,” said Katy. “I guess blood is thick like they say. For as long as I remember, no matter how much I resent my mother for not being there for me, I always feel better when I’m with her, even when all we do is fight.”
“Then she is being there for you,” said Elias. “Just not in the way most normal mothers do, as you said.”
Katy laughed through her tears. “No, she’s abnormal. I mean, look at her stuff. Who keeps otter tongues and bear galls on their shelves?”
Nara walked in just now. “These are my collections of shaman paraphernalia from southeast Alaska. I don’t use them, but they’re interesting to look at.” Nara poured hot tea into two cups and offered them to Katy and Elias. “Why don’t you two sit?”
“We have to go to Anchorage,” said Katy, her voice calmer now after sipping some tea.
“Are you going to tell me what happened now?” asked Nara.
“Andy and Sam had a terrible accident, and they’re both hurt badly.” Katy took a deep breath in and told Nara what happened.
“It sounds like Sam may not make it,” said Nara.
Elias’s hands began to shake, the tea rippling inside the cup she was holding.
Katy reached to cover Elias’s hands. “Why would you say that?” she yelled at Nara.
“I’m only making a prediction based on what you just described,” said Nara. “Isn’t that what you came here for, to hear a prediction from me? Because I’m the village voodoo doctor?”
“You know I don’t think that,” said Katy.
“She came here to see you for comfort,” Elias said to Nara and then turned to Katy. “Why don’t you just admit to your mother you love her and need her to hug you sometimes? I wish I could run to my mother now and cry in her arms, too…” Elias’s tears burst from her eyes.
Katy and Nara said nothing to each other, but Elias could tell the tension between them was scaling down. She took another sip of Nara’s tea.
“Let me take a look at that arm,” Nara said, pointing her chin at Elias’s left arm. “Whoever dressed it was not very professional.”
“Sergeant Wolfe did it.” Katy peered curiously at her mother.
“I see,” Nara said, and Elias saw a glint of something tender in her eyes.