by J C Ryan
“So you reckon he could stand a visit from me?”
“I think he’d welcome it.”
“That’s great news. I’ll call him now and arrange to spend a few days with him this coming week.”
Chapter 19 -
You can do the math
There was a small mirror in Mackenzie's bathroom that she used to fix her hair or make sure she was looking acceptable, not that anyone saw under the jilbab and niqab. She could have painted her face blue, and no one would notice. It was hard seeing the changes in herself as the weeks went by; she was looking tired and stressed, and her red hair looked lank and tired. I suppose it’s to be expected since it’s constantly covered in black and never sees the sunshine anymore, Mackenzie sighed. She didn't feel well either; she lacked energy and had a sense of having put on weight, although she very much doubted it given the limited diet she was afforded.
This morning as she dried herself after her shower she ran her hands over her body, noting its lack of muscle strength, but when looking in the mirror, she was also concerned to see that her nipples were much darker. She frowned then moved the mirror down and saw the brown stain from her navel to her pubis, signifying pregnancy. “That's ridiculous; of course, I'm not," she whispered to herself. As the realization deepened within her, she thought to herself with horror. I can’t be! Not here, not now, not without Carter here to share this with! Then she recalled she hadn't had a period in all her weeks of incarceration, and the nausea was only now beginning to abate.
"But that's normal enough, given the circumstances, I'm sure," she ran her hands over her lower tummy and realized it was not as flat as she was used to.
As her racing mind calmed, she looked at herself in the mirror again, “Good Grief! I’m pregnant.” She quickly recalled the last time she and Carter had been together and then counted the weeks since then. It was three months. “Okay, I’m in my second trimester. Well, Little One, now what are we going to do about you? Here I’ve been thinking you were just bad food and stress, and all the time you were hiding there and not telling me.”
A sudden thrill ran through her even as she had to consider the difficulties she would be facing in the next few months. Unless something happens and we escape. “Hmm… well now, this sort of puts a stop to that doesn’t it, eh?” She told her image in the mirror, “I can’t see myself clambering over walls and running anywhere once this little bundle begins to make its presence known.”
She shook her head with mock severity. She could hear Carter saying, “Mackie you chose the damnedest time to do this. After all, we’ve been trying for almost a year, and I was beginning to worry you would never become pregnant again, and yet here you are, doing it the hard way.”
She pulled her black jilbab over her head and dropped it to the floor, then pulled it out from her body, laughing, well I won’t have to worry about pregnancy clothing will I, this will cover us very nicely. Putting on her niqab, she set forth to find Seema and tell her what she’d discovered.
Seema was never far away, after all, she was her guard, but they had also become friends. She was the only woman Mackenzie felt comfortable with, so it seemed giving the news to Seema was the best thing to do. It also meant that Seema could organize an obstetrician for her when the time came.
To her relief, when she was called away from her work a few days later, it was to be introduced to Dr. Gabor, Ameera Gabor, and Mackenzie liked her immediately.
A thorough check-up confirmed Mackenzie was indeed pregnant, but also stressed and tired, and would need more rest than she had been getting. Dr. Gabor also insisted Mackenzie called her Ameera, which Mackenzie liked - it felt friendly.
Seema had told Nasser of course, and he was distantly pleasant about it, but it was made clear it wasn’t men’s business. Only women get excited over a baby, at least until it was born, and if it was a boy, then things changed.
Mackenzie didn’t care, she had a new life inside her, and that very afternoon she told Liam. Maybe Liam just needed something a little bit extra in his life, for his eyes lit up like sparklers as he hugged her in delight. “Do you think it will be a girl?” he asked. “Mom, I seriously need a little sister.”
“Well, you can do the math Liam, there’s a fifty percent chance it will be.”
“Oh Mommy, very funny. When will you have it? Will we still be here?”
“We have about six more months to wait, and I suppose it will be born here, I can’t imagine us being able to get home in time for it.”
He shook his head, “No I suppose not,” He sighed and turned away, tears welling up in his eyes.
“Liam?” she held his arm.
“Oh Mom, I miss them all so badly. Dad and Bly, Ahote and my pets, I can’t believe we’ll never see them again.”
“I miss them too, Liam, but don’t think that way. I know we will see them again; it’s just that it’s not going to happen quite yet.” Liam had grown a lot over the past three months, gone was the little boy. He'd grown tall and lean, and in many ways looked a lot like her with his bronze hair, but his character was so much like his father’s that it made Mackenzie’s heart lurch at times to see Carter’s image flit across his son’s face.
Chapter 20 -
Where do we start?
Carter met James at Quebec City’s Jean Lesage International Airport, and soon they were in the air again on their way to Freydis in the Piper Seminole. James peered out the windows, once again stunned by the beauty of the landscape below as they spoke of Carter’s physical and emotional health and what he was doing to keep himself busy.
Carter got the espresso machine going while James unpacked his bags and settled into his room, and then they sat down to relax with their coffee on the deck outside the cabin. Jeha, who stayed with Bly and Ahote while Carter went to fetch James, must have heard the plane return for she came charging up the stairs of the deck towards Carter and leaped onto his lap, soon after they sat down.
“Where did this little pup come from?” Rhodes inquired in surprise.
“It’s Jeha, Liam’s dog. She was with my in-laws all this time and came home with me when I left the hospital. The little bugger has crept into my heart, Jim. I can’t tell you how much comfort she has brought me the last few months,” Carter was scratching Jeha’s ears and back.
Jeha jumped off Carter’s lap, ran over to James, gave him one look, and jumped right onto his lap without any invitation. James just laughed as he patted the little animal. He loved dogs. His wife Carolyn kept three of them, and they were like children in their house.
While they were enjoying their coffee, James gave Carter an update on matters at A-Echelon and then got to the main reason for his visit.
“Carter, I guess there is no easy way to approach the subject, so I will just get right to the point.”
Carter nodded for James to continue. “Other than wanting to see you and spend a bit of time with you, I’m here to talk to you about the nuclear project and also Mackenzie’s project. Is it okay with you if we talk about that?”
“No problem Jim. I sort of expected that to be on the agenda.”
“Okay, that’s good,” James smiled. “I’ll start with Mackenzie’s project first. A few months ago, shortly before Hunter went on stress leave, we - Hunter, Irene and I - discussed her project and decided her work is too important not to continue what she started. We agreed it was necessary to find a replacement who can continue her research.”
“I’m pleased to hear that,” Carter said, “and I think she would want that.” A dark shadow of sadness passed through his eyes, and he paused briefly before continuing, “Although Mackie’s research didn’t fall into my area of expertise, I would like to help in any way I can to progress what she started.”
“Thank you for that Carter. It’s good to hear you talk like that.”
“I owe it to her and Liam, Jim.” Carter’s voice trembled a little, and he turned his face away. “Continuing her work and being part of it is one way I can honor
her memory.”
James nodded his head and gave his friend a few moments of silence to regroup. “The second matter is the ancient nuclear project. I’m sure I don’t have to bring up the critical nature of that project again. The problem is, since you’ve been injured, the project has come to a complete stop, and that has become a big worry not only to me, but also to Hunter and the President.
“We’ve been trying to identify someone we can approach to carry on from where you and I left off, but that has not been an easy task. However, I have to admit that part of the delay is because I wanted to talk to you first.” Rhodes took a deep breath and continued, “The thing is Carter, I need you badly; you are about all I have, and trying to find a replacement is proving impossible, and believe me, I’ve tried.”
James didn’t get a chance to continue. Carter was shaking his head vehemently. “No, Jim. Count me out. I will not get involved in that again,” he said emphatically. “My involvement in that project is what caused the death of my family. I’m done, and that’s final.” Carter had risen from his chair and was shaking, clearly very upset.
James was taken aback by Carter’s extreme reaction. It was the first time he understood that Carter was blaming himself and felt guilty for the death of his wife and son. He held his hands up in surrender. “Easy, my friend, I’m sorry. I apologize. I won’t pursue this any further. But please, will you allow me to make just one more comment before we step off the topic?”
Carter’s face was pale, and he hesitated. Finally, he nodded for James to continue.
“I’m not going to tell you that I understand your pain and suffering because I don’t. I can’t even begin to imagine it. But there is one thing I do know, and that is you are wrong to blame yourself for what happened to your family.” Carter started shaking his head again, but James held his hand up again, “Just hear me out. I don’t want to argue with you about it Carter, but there is no valid reason whatsoever to blame yourself.”
“Stop!” Carter said. He opened his mouth to respond further, but instead, turned his back to James and remained quiet, staring at the mountains and trees in the distance. James knew the subject was closed, and he would have to find another scientist.
James got up, gathered their empty mugs, and went inside to make them each another cup of coffee. When he returned to the deck, Carter was once again seated and appeared to have gained a measure of control over his raw emotions. Handing him the cup of fresh coffee, James took his seat, and they drank in silence for a few minutes before Carter told him Ahote and Bly had invited them to dinner and asked if he would like to walk over instead of riding in the cart.
James agreed to the walk, and they were on their way. Jeha bounded ahead of them, chasing grasshoppers and barking at butterflies. They laughed at her antics, and the comfortable companionship descended between them once again.
Seeing Ahote and Bly again was good for James, and during the meal, the three men decided it was time for James to experience trout fishing on Freydis.
***
The sun was just touching the horizon the following morning when they set out on horseback to Ahote and Liam’s favorite fishing spot. Bly made sure they had enough food and drink for a day out in the wild.
Not long after they unsaddled near a patch of trees at a bend in the river, James spotted two wolves and whispered to Carter, “My friend, we’ve got ourselves a problem.” He nodded his head in the direction of the wolves, which were standing about 20 yards away.
Carter immediately saw an opportunity to have a bit of fun at James’ expense. He winked at Ahote, who got the message and played along.
“Don’t move guys. Keep your eyes on them, don’t show them you’re scared, or you could be dead,” Ahote whispered, his eyes sparkling with humor that James couldn’t see.
Planting his two feet shoulder width apart, James folded his arms and tried his best to stare the wolves into retreat. It was clear the man was severely scared.
Ahote had to chuckle at James’ pose. He spoke quietly, “Okay listen to me carefully. You two stay here, keep looking at them, and I will go and talk to them.”
“Shit man! Are you crazy? They’ll rip you apart,” James whispered fiercely.
“Don’t worry James my ancestors were renowned wolf whisperers,” Ahote replied, deadpan. “It’s in my genes as well. This is the only hope we have.”
“Man, I don’t know about that,” Carter played along. “I think that’s a stupid idea.”
Ahote ignored them and started moving forward slowly. The wolves looked perplexed. They must have been wondering what was wrong with their two-legged friends. Loki had turned his head sideways as if to ask, what is wrong with you?
Ahote got to about two yards from them and spoke very softly while he went down on one knee. “Don’t worry we are just having fun with our friend, that new man,” he smiled.
The wolves sat down and looked at Ahote with their heads on one side.
“I’ll be damned!” James exclaimed as quietly as he could while looking at Carter. “Have you ever seen anything like that?”
Carter could not hold it in anymore and fell onto the grass rolling with laughter to James’ considerable consternation.
“Shit man! Stop that before they attack us! If you …” James paused a moment to reconsider the situation. “Carter, what the hell is going on here?” James shouted as he realized he was the center of the joke.
Ahote got up, shaking with laughter as he walked back. The wolves followed him but stopped a few yards away from James and Carter, and sat down again.
When Carter got off the ground and managed to stop laughing, he explained, “Jim those are Mackie’s wolves. Keeva and Loki. They won’t attack us. You can relax …” Carter started laughing again, “I wish I’d had a camera to film what just happened.”
Ahote had a big grin on his face. This was the first time since Carter had returned to Freydis that he’d seen him laugh. It was good to see and hear that again.
James was still a bit wary, and he kept glancing at the two animals. He stepped back to put a little more space between himself and them. When he was about five yards away, he stopped. “Mackie’s wolves? You’re not going to try and tell me she managed to domesticate them?”
“No, Jim they aren’t domesticated,” Carter said “but I will have to give you the history. I’m sure you won’t believe half of what I’m going to tell you, but Ahote is my witness, it’s all true.”
Carter told him about the night when he asked Mackenzie to marry him while they were camped at the cave and the wolves suddenly appeared and didn’t leave, but spent the night a little distance from them. He recounted how he woke up one morning on their honeymoon, and Mackenzie was gone from his side, but before he could start searching for her, she came walking out of the woods with the two wolves keeping pace next to her. “She actually patted them before they went back into the forest.”
James stopped him, “Carter, you’re not pulling another fast one on me, are you?”
“No, Jim, it’s all true. But wait, there’s a lot more.”
James nodded and Carter continued to tell him how the wolves appeared, every time, shortly after they arrived on Freydis. “When we leave, they disappear again.
“That was until the night of the bomb explosion when they turned up at Ahote’s place. I’ll let Ahote tell you about that.”
By now they were sitting in the shade of one of the big trees, the fishing expedition entirely forgotten. James listened with an open mouth as Ahote told him everything that happened that fateful night.
“What do you think it means, Ahote?” James asked. “I know animals have senses that humans don’t have, and I’ve heard some incredible stories about animal intuition in my time, but this is weird, fantastic even.”
Ahote just shook his head. “All I can think of is that they were trying to tell us something had gone wrong with Carter, Mackie and Liam. And as you know, we only found out about the tragedy two days later, w
hen you phoned us.”
“I still owe you and Bly a sincere apology for not calling earlier. It's impossible to express how embarrassed I still feel about it,” James looked at Ahote.
Ahote waved his hand. “That’s water under the bridge Jim, water under the bridge. I might have done the same had fate reversed our situations."
They fell quiet for a bit before Carter spoke again, “Now let me tell you about my most recent experience with Keeva and Loki.”
James looked up to see Carter smiling again. So the story of the gifts was told, and how Keeva had put aside her ‘wolf code’ and taken the gifts up on the porch and put them back into Carter’s hands.
By the time Carter finished his narrative, James was on his feet. His face had paled. While he had been listening to Carter and Ahote, unbeknown to him, his subconscious mind had been working overtime connecting the dots and now all of a sudden it flooded into his conscious mind. He was breathless and overawed.
“Carter, Ahote, we have to get back home now. Please don’t ask me why. I will not tell you until I have spoken to someone I know. No matter the outcome of that conversation I will tell you, but for now, please don’t ask me. Can we go now?”
Carter and Ahote were dumbfounded. They exchanged a look, shrugged, and started saddling the horses. James was almost feverish in his haste to get back to the homestead, and they took off at a gallop, leaving the wolves behind.
Carter and Ahote were worried. They spent the ride wondering, and trying to figure out what was going on in James’ mind.
When they brought the horses to a walk so that the animals could get a breather, James attempted to break the tension.
“Carter, how do the wolves handle Jeha? I would have thought they would see her as a tasty little snack.”
“In the wolf world, they ignore the young unless they are training them. These two don’t recognize her; they ignore her and she, as you will see, behaves so well around them you have to believe she’s terribly impressed with being ignored by such big animals,” he laughed.