The Bear Mountain Secret

by Gayle Siebert

  Xoxox lots of hugs and kisses! yore big teddy bear. Xoxox

  Hunny bun,

  You no I can’t phone you except when I aint in camp. Theres only one phone and its in the Office they don’t let us grunts to use it. Why aint you slept with him all this time you just need to do it now RIte AWAY so when the babies born he will think it is his just early. I wont be mad you slept with him. I never thought you wernt sleeping with him its just some thing you have to do. If you think I dont hate the idea of him being with you like that you can forget it but I wont be mad. Sorry this is so short had to hurry to get it on the truck to be mailed. I will phone you when Im out of camp in a couple weeks.

  You no I love you and will always be yore big Teddy Bear

  xoxox

  Hunny bun,

  You never slept with him? Not never? How the hell does he put up with that? I no FIRST HAND how good you are at other things but JESUS! Really? You call that saving yer self for me but really? What kind of man puts up with that? But anyway, Just cuz I said I wouldnt be mad about you sleeping with him dont mean I been cheating on you. How do you get that?How could I cheat on you anyway Im living with a bunch of men and I aint no fudge packer as you well no ha ha! Yore right, we could live in yore house easy but how many times did we talk about it unless you get rid of him it aint yore house and I got nuthin there and a good paying job here. Thats why Im out here in the bush in the first place and why Im getting a place for us here. Im only out of camp one week in six so I dont have that much time to look thats the only reason I havent found a place yet plus there aint a lot of places to rent in Dark River. Hey you remember Barney Jeffries from school? I run into him out here. Hes got a girl in Pilerton to (like me! I bet she aint as pretty as you tho) If you cant get rid of it thats OK, we will have are own place and a place for the baby to like I said. I cant wait til we get are own place and I can love you any time I want. Its been offel windy here all week. We got blown out 2 days. Lots of time to work on that coarse I told you I was taking but other than that nuthing to do but sit around. Played poker last nite and lost all my money. Even had to bum smokes. Got an advance on my pay so I can win it back tonite.

  Love BIG TEDDY Xoxox

  My sweet little Hunny Bun

  Please honey PLEASE dont be mad I didnt tell you Im married. Yore married to after all. I didnt tell you cuz she dont mean nuthing to me. She aint like you, nuthing like you. Yore so beautiful and shes years older than me the guy’s call her my mother, face like a mud wall besides. Ask Barneys girlfriend who went running to you to blab. I told Barney he better strayten her out about that and make sure she goes and tell’s you the hole story. Why would I hook up with you if I was happy with her? I was so glad you saw me again when I was back home I could not believe I could be so lucky you would love me like you did when we were kids and after, you no, the first baby, after I been away for so long I was sure not going to tell you about her then! I would of if I could of found a good job there so I could stay there. You no I tried but I aint cut out to be no plow boy or to grunt bags at the feed store for minumum wage no future in that so I had to come back here so I thought it was just better not to say nuthing. I will get a divorce for sure as soon as the REALLY BIG DEAL that is going to make me rich is done. Yore the best thing that ever happened to me. I never went looking for a girl why would I when I have you? She was the cook here in camp but dont worry shes gone now and I never see her. Her father own’s the company. I only married her to get cozy with her old man. Hes already gave me a nice piece of land as a bribe to marry her thats how old and ugly she is. Ha ha So if you think Im having a good time with her you can forget it. I only done it to make that REALLY BIG deal I told you Im cooking up with the old man fly. I only love you. Right now the land I got out of him is nuthing but trees but its rite across the road from the mill wich Im gonna get outta him next and you won’t believe the house I’m going to build on it! For me and you and are baby if you bring it. We’ll be together for sure just give me a little more time. When you get rid of him we can sell that old house and all those lots in Pilerton like we talked about. They got to be worth a bundle it will give us a real good start. With that and with what Im getting in this deal Im talking about I will be RICH! I will buy you anything you want just snap yore fingers. Start thinking about what kind of fancy new car you want! And I will buy you the BIGEST DIMUND ring you ever saw.

  I want to tell the world yore mine Hunny Bun and I will soon but right now if my wifes father found out about us he would make a lot of trouble for me FOR US and Id end up with nothing and I want the best for you. So we just need to keep are secret a little while longer and think about us all three of us being together in are little love nest. Yore beautiful how could I love anyone else with you in my life? Every nite I go to sleep and dream about you. Please say yore not mad and you no I love only you.

  You no Im always going to be yore own Teddy Bear and wont never love no one else.

  Xoxox

  Dear Louise,

  Im sorry I was short with you on the phone. The other guys were hanging around the phone booth making faces and smart ass comments waiting to make calls to. Ya of corse Im glad hes gone didn’t I say that? But I told you not to tell him you wanted a divorce until after the baby was born. I have a question. You never ansered me. Did he sine off the property before he left? If he didnt you wont be able to sell it without him sineing. So if you didnt get it sined over make sure you get yore lawyer and get in touch with him and get that donePDQ !!!.

  I cant come live with you, you no that, it would Rock the Boat for yore divorce and that really Big Deal I told you I’m working on and besides we still need moolah or how are we going to live?

  I just got yore letter and had to rite back in such a hurry to catch the mail truck because you no it just turns around and goes rite back.

  Love Hank.

  Louise

  No you wont be able to sell the property if he hasnt sined it over I told you that. I looked into it but you go ahead and ask yore lawyer if you dont believe me. I dont no why yore lawyer never done it in the first place maybe you need to get a better lawyer but it aint to late GET IN TOUCH WITH HIM AND GET HIM TO SINE IT OVER TO YOU NOW get your lawyer to do it if you don’t want to. If you dont get that done you can forget it.

  Hank

  Louise

  Ya yore right my last letter sounded mad cuz I was mad, real mad, and now its worse. You always was as dum as a post but I never new you could be this dam STUPID. Now you cant sell that place not for years maybe not never. I wont tell no one what you done but if you think Im going to wait around you can forget it. Dont blame me you done this yore self you STUPID BICH. I dont believe you that you never slept with him or that baby is mine anyway but dont worry I will fix every thing. Some one will come see you when the baby is born you just give it to them. Make sure NO ONE finds out yore pregnant or there will be questions like what happened to that baby and I cant help you then. If you tell any one that kid is mine or if you make trouble with my wife I will have no choice but to tell them what you got in that old furnace.

  At the family dinner later, they talk about how amazing it is that the tin biscuit box was found intact, the letters inside only slightly water-damaged.

  “Oh, letters to your mom?” Jeanie asks. “Are they all from the same person? Who?”

  “Well,” Kathy begins, “it looks like they’re all written by the same person, but there’s no name or return address. I haven’t had a chance to read them yet. I’ll find out who they’re from when I do.” Heat rises up to her face. She feels the weight of Rick’s stare and looks his way. He’s frowning. Grateful he doesn’t call her on the lie, she gives him a tremulous smile before asking Jeannie, “How is Faith feeling about starting kindergarten?”

  “She’s super excited! Mostly because I won’t let her wear her new sparkly shoes until then.”

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  IN BED LATER, Rick draws her into his arms, strokes her hair and says, “O
kay, Runty, why don’t you tell me why you lied to my family about the letters.”

  Kathy takes a deep breath, snuggles up against his big, comforting male body, and explains why she has to go away for a while.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  “I WISH YOU’D WAIT until I can go with you,” Rick says as he navigates through traffic into the Regina airport, watching for the sign for the hourly parking. “I know you think you only have a slim chance of finding him, but I’m worried about what might happen if you do.”

  “Nothing bad will happen, dear. I have my lucky charm!” She lifts the gold chain with its heavy gold coin pendant to prove it before tucking it back out of sight under her T-shirt.

  “How is that thing lucky?”

  “Oh, it’s not, really. I just like to look at it once in a while, thinking about how close I came to being a millionaire.”

  “Are you really sorry? Would you have married me if you were a millionaire?”

  “Of course I would have! I feel like I am a millionaire, with you for a husband.”

  “Aww, what a perfectly sucky thing to say.” He takes her hand and brings it to his mouth to kiss her knuckles before releasing it again. “But thanks.”

  “Anyway, I look at it and remember how we fell in love in that old house.”

  “Yeah.”

  “But we never found those letters. Sometimes I wish they were never found. But they have been, and I know my father wasn’t who I thought he was, and I have to go and find my real, or at least my biological father.”

  “I know. But will you really be able to approach strangers? Men especially? Will you really be able to go to his house, all on your own? You never know what kind of person he is.”

  “The worst thing, assuming I even find the guy, might be he hasn’t got a clue what I’m talking about.” Kathy pats Rick’s thigh. “You don’t have to park; you can just drop me off.”

  “Not a chance. I’m still hoping to talk you out of going.” He follows the arrows into the parking area and slows to look for an empty spot. “You can’t predict what he’s like now. What reason do you have to think he’s any better than he was back then? He sounds like a bad bastard! Sex with a thirteen year old?”

  “Maybe he was thirteen too? Mom was sixteen when I was born.”

  “Yeah, and then he abandoned you both? Running off is one thing, lots of assholes do that. But stringing her along just to get the property? And he knew your mother killed your, er, the man you thought was your father and didn’t report her! You know someone murdered someone, you even know where the body is, and you don’t report it? A bad bastard in anyone’s books. If he’d turned her in, think how different your life would’ve been.”

  “Yeah, it may have been worse. I might have had to go and live with him! And what happens to kids with no other relatives when their only parent goes to jail for life? You hear horror stories about foster homes.”

  Rick shrugs. “I guess that’s true.”

  She reaches for his hand; he takes it off the steering wheel and tucks her hand in his on his thigh. “I agree he was a bastard,” she continues, “but think about it. How much of a threat can he be? He must be seventy, for Pete’s sake.”

  “Maybe not that old, maybe in his sixties, and unless he’s sick he’ll still be stronger than you, Runty. Besides, that pendant won’t stop a bullet.”

  “Oh, now you’re getting carried away. Gun? This is Canada!” She pulls her hand out of his, gathers up her purse, digging through it to check that she has everything, and scrolls through her phone for her boarding pass.

  “Well, he’s a redneck. He likely has a gun. I have one, after all. Even that old single-shot Cooey of mine can kill a person.”

  “Well, I bet that if he’s even still alive, he’s probably drinking beer, tinkering on his rusted-out pickup behind a one-bedroom bungalow with old chesterfields for patio furniture, thinking he’s doing great if he has steak on Welfare Wednesday and can still walk to the Seven 11 on the corner to buy cigarettes without getting an angina.”

  She reaches across the seat and strokes his thigh. “Anyway, it’s not much to go on, a guy named Hank, last name unknown, not even a previous address, who worked in some kind of camp somewhere around Dark River four decades ago? He’s likely not even still there. But if he is, I want to meet him at least once. And if I have a brother or sister, I have to try and find them. Who knows? I might have a bunch of half-sisters or half-brothers too! A family! You can’t understand, since you’ve always had your sister and aunts and all those cousins. Your whole big family. I’ve never had anyone.”

  “My family is your family now, Runty.”

  “I know. But it’s not the same, at least not now that I know I might have blood relatives.”

  “Yeah, I know. We’ve been over this a dozen times.”

  “I’ve done all the on-line searching I can. Looked for adoption records. Posted it on Facebook, got lots of shares, came up with nothing. I have nowhere else to start looking. Assuming I find him, and assuming he’s willing to talk to me, he might not know where the baby ended up or what his or her name is now. It’s probably a fool’s errand.”

  “Well, I think so, but it looks like you’re determined. How long do you think you’ll be away?”

  “I have no idea. Depends on what I find or if I find out anything at all. Could be a few days maybe? I’ve booked a week off work. Godzilla nearly had a coronary but it’s my vacation time; she shouldn’t begrudge me that, even though it’s short notice. I wish you were going with me, but I know you can’t get away at this time of year.”

  Rick aims the SUV into an empty slot, puts it in park and turns the engine off. “I’ll go pay for parking,” he says, face grim. He slides out of his seat and heads off to the ticket spitter.

  Kathy gets out, pulls her duffle bag out of the back seat, sets the strap of her purse across her body and adjusts her sunglasses. When Rick returns with the ticket, he comes around to her side and puts it on the dash. He takes the duffle bag and holding hands, they walk to the vaulted glass canopy that looms over the building’s entrance. From the sidewalk there’s a view through to the tarmac thanks to banks of windows on both sides of the building. A DeHavilland Dash 8 with WestJet logo is there, door open, staircase in place.

  “Looks like that’s your plane,” Rick says, putting the duffle bag down and drawing her into a hug. “Can I at least tell everyone you’ve gone to visit relatives?”

  Kathy heaves a sigh and shrugs, “Well, I suppose so. I just worry about the questions, you know, about my family. Or should I say, lack of family? When I come back and haven’t found anyone.”

  “And I worry people will think we’ve had a fight and you’ve left me.”

  “Why would anyone think that?”

  “You know people like to believe the worst. There has to be another reason for you being away other than you’ve gone on vacation without me.”

  “It’s not a vacation, but you’re right. We wouldn’t want that. It was scandalous enough when the most popular boy in school married the least popular girl, even if it took you twenty years to get around to it.”

  “I was an idiot, you should’ve been my first wife, I admit it.” He kisses her before releasing her. “We better get you checked in.”

  “I’ll just go right through. You don’t have to come with me.”

  “I want to.”

  “No, let’s not prolong it.” She stops just outside the doors. Her eyes fill. She sniffs. “Please?”

  “You don’t have to go, Runty,” he says softly. He pulls her back into his arms. “If you want to spend money on a holiday, let’s make it Mexico, in February. We can still cancel your ticket and go back home.”

  “No. No, I do have to go. I’m being a baby. It’s just that it’s the first time we’ve been apart.”

  “I know.” After a bit, they stand apart; Rick picks up the duffle bag and hands it to her. “One week, Runty. No longer, okay?”

  “Okay.”
r />   “Promise?”

  “Promise. I’m only taking this one carry-on. When I run out of clean underwear, I’ll come home. Cross my heart and hope to die.”

  As he stands arms akimbo, watching her walk purposefully through the automatic doors, down the concourse and away, not turning to look back, he mutters, “Stubborn!” Still, he wonders why her parting words make him uneasy.

  Five

  The Recruiter

  HE ENTERS THE room, stands for a moment looking around while his eyes adjust to the low light, then goes to the bar and slides onto a stool. The bartender brings a J & B on the rocks; he picks it up and swivels his stool to look past the couples gyrating on the small dance floor to the noise blasting from the jukebox. In a booth on the other side there’s group of three heavily made-up young girls. They appear awkward. Nervous. Maybe worried about being carded. But they have tall drinks in front of them. They’re giggling; two get up to go to the ladies’ room, tugging the hems of their short skirts, a little unsteady on three-inch heels. The drinks on the table are apparently not their first.

  He drains his drink and summons the bartender. “Hit me again,” he says.

  The bartender nods, and when he returns with the fresh drink, says, “I see you spotted the talent I called you about.”