Stabenow, Dana - Liam Campbell 03 - Nothing Gold Can Stay

by Nothing Gold Can Stay(lit)

  Moses, his arms full of wood, stood still, looking to the west.

  “What? Tim said.

  “I thought I heard

  “What? The snow stung Tims cheeks and he shivered.

  Moses looked at him. “Go on, get back in the house.

  Tim went inside ahead of him. Moses stood on the front porch for a minute longer, listening, but the raven didnt speak again.

  They built up the fire and Amelia made more cocoa, lumpy, just the way Tim liked it. He looked at her with his heart in his eyes.

  She looked up and saw him. The color in her cheeks deepened, and her smile was part shyness, part mischief and part warm wealth of shared knowledge.

  Moses shoved the table into a corner and tossed blankets and pillows down on the floor. He turned down all the lanterns and opened the fire door. They gathered in a half circle around the flames, light flickering across their faces. “Story time, Moses said with that evil grin.

  Bill settled down next to him. “Which one?

  Moses sampled his cocoa. “No contest. On a night like this, Uuiliriq.

  “The Hairy Man? Oh brother.

  Tim jumped. Amelia gave him a questioning look.

  “Quiet, woman. Moses fixed a piercing eye on the two younger members of the group, and began to speak.

  It was hard to say, afterward, just what it was about his voice that so compelled the attention. It dropped to a low tone you had to strain to hear, it fell into a cadenced rhythm that had your head nodding in almost hypnotic attention. He donned finger fans, made of woven straw and trimmed with caribou ruff, and used them to help tell the story, palms out, forefingers crooked around the tiny handles, hands moving in minute, precise jerks back and forth, up and down, side to side, expressing joy, fear, laughter, pain. Once Tim thought he heard drums sounding faintly in the background. Once Amelia looked around for the other singers. Even Bill was seduced, hearing the stamp of mukluks, the rustle of kuspuks, the cheers of the crowd.

  It was an old story, never written down, known only to those who told it and those who listened, deep in the tiny settlements and villages of the Yupik. It was a story your grandfather told your father, and that your father told you, and that you would tell your children, in hopes that it would keep them safe inside after dark. It was a story that gave meaning to otherwise mysterious disappearances when it did not.

  And it was a way to maintain a sense of cultural identity in a world increasingly white and Western.

  “Uuiliriq lived in the mountains, Moses began.

  “High in the mountains he lived.

  “High in the mountains, in a dark cave.

  “High in the mountains, in a dark cave.

  “That cave so high, nobody climb there.

  “That cave so high, nobody see it.

  “That cave so high, nobody find it.

  “Only Uuiliriq.

  “All alone he live in this cave.

  “He have no mothers.

  “He have no fathers.

  “He have no brothers.

  “He have no sisters.

  “All alone he.

  “All alone he sleep.

  “All alone long he sleep.

  “Sometime he wake up.

  Moses voice deepened. “Sometime Uuiliriq he wake up.

  “Sometime he wake up hungry.

  Something not quite a shiver passed up Tims spine. “Are you okay? Amelia whispered.

  He managed a smile and nodded.

  “Sometime he wake up so hungry, he go get food.

  The beat quickened.

  “Sometime he leave that cave so high up in the mountains.

  “Sometime he come down from those mountains.

  “From those mountains sometime he come to village.

  “One time he come to our village.

  “Our little village by the river.

  “The river she is wide.

  “The river she is deep.

  “The elders tell children to stay inside after dark.

  “Children stay inside or the river will get them.

  “But this one young boy he dont listen.

  “This boy he wait till everybody sleeping.

  “Everybody sleeping he go outside.

  “Go outside he go down to the river.

  “Cant catch me! he yell to her.

  “Cant catch me! he yell to the lights in the sky.

  “Cant catch me! he yell to the mountains.

  “He yelling so loud.

  “So loud Uuiliriq creep up behind.

  “Creep up behind and grab him.

  “Grab him and take him up the mountain.

  “Up the mountain to that cave he got there.

  “That cave so high, nobody climb there.

  “That cave so high, nobody see it.

  “That cave so high, nobody find it.

  “The village it wakes.

  “It wakes and that boy gone.

  “The men they light torches.

  “Light torches and climb those mountains.

  “Climb those mountains and search all night long.

  “All night long they see the torches from the village.

  “From the village they see the torches go far away.

  “Go far away and come back.

  “Come back without that boy.

  “Without that boy and his mother cry.

  “His mother cry and his father cry.

  “His father cry and his sisters cry.

  “His sisters cry and his brothers cry.

  “His brothers cry and his aunties cry.

  “His aunties cry and his uncles cry.

  “That boy gone.

  “That boy long gone.

  “That boy gone forever.

  The fans slowed again, beating a dirge against the air. Moses voice dropped to the merest breath of sound.

  “Some nights.

  “Some night when dark outside.

  “Some night when dark outside that village wake up.

  “That village wake up and hear something.

  “Hear something crying

  “Crying far off in that night.

  “Maybe that boy.

  “Maybe that boy he crying for home.

  “Crying for home.

  “Those people they lay in their beds.

  “They lay in their beds and they listen to that crying.

  “They listen to that crying.

  “But they dont go out.

  The fans beat the air, the white strands of caribou fanning the air in precise, graceful arcs.

  “Stay inside after dark.

  “After dark stay inside.

  “Stay inside after dark or Uuiliriq come.

  “Uuiliriq come.

  The fans stopped in midair. The room was still, the wind only a faint howl outside, the lamps the merest hiss of sound. Did a dark shape shift in the shadow near the door?

  “AND GET YOU!

  Amelia screamed and grabbed Tim. Tim, to his everlasting shame, yelled and jumped. Bill spilled the rest of her cocoa and cursed roundly.

  Moses fell backward laughing, a deep bellow of a laugh that rolled out of his chest and reverberated off the patchwork ceiling.

  “Uncle! Tim said. “Youre scaring the women.

  “Yeah, like you werent peeing your pants afraid, Amelia said, and patted her chest as if reassuring her heart that everything was all right. “Uncle, you sure know how to tell a story.

  Moses sat up again, still laughing, and stripped the fans from his fingers. “Gotcha, he said.

  “Okay, thats it, Bill said, rising to her feet. “Story times over. Everybody hit the rack. And as for you, old man. She leveled a glance at him. He grinned back at her irrepressibly.

  “Youve got to sleep sometime, she warned him.

  She stoked the stove while Moses turned out the lanterns. A lecherous murmur and a reproving slap came from their bunk, followed by the sound of a long kiss and a rustle of covers as the two elders nestled together like
spoons and settled in for the night.

  Tim stretched out in his sleeping bag, arranging things so his head was near the head of Amelias bunk. He wished he could crawl in with her, but he hadnt been invited. Besides, he didnt know how Bill and Moses would feel about it.

  The howl of the wind, held in temporary abeyance by Moses voice, was back with a vengeance, snarling and snapping, making the trees outside creak and the cabin shudder.

  “Im sure glad Im not outside in this, he said unthinkingly.

  “Me, too, Amelia whispered.

  “You awake?

  “Yeah. You?

  “Yeah.

  She was silent for a moment. “How come you jumped?

  “What? Oh. You jumped, too. So did Bill.

  “Not then. Before. When he said the story was about the Little Hairy Man.

  “Oh. Caught in the spell of the old mans story, hed forgotten his initial reaction.

  He was silent for a long time, so long that she thought he had fallen asleep. “In my village, there was this girl, he said finally. His head twisted on his pillow and he looked up at the face pressed against the side of the bunk. “She was teaching me Yupik.

  “You didnt grow up speaking it?

  “My birth mother wouldnt. She said it was a dead language of a dead people, and if I wanted to get anywhere in life I had to speak English. She spoke only English at home.

  His voice was matter-of-fact, but the undertone of bitterness betrayed him.

  “But in school, you had to be fluent in both. So the teacher got a girl from the high school to teach me. She was really nice, so nice. She showed me how to learn. I never knew I could learn anything before her, but I could. She gave me that.

  He stopped.

  “Did you learn Yupik? she said.

  “Some. Before she went away.

  “Went away? Where did she go?

  “I dont know. Nobody knew. One day she just wasnt there anymore.

  “Did shehow did she leave?

  “Nobody knew, he repeated.

  “Nobody found her?

  “They looked. But nobody found her. He looked up at her. “Some said it was the Hairy Man. That he came down from the mountains because he was hungry. And he took her.

  They were both silent. “Im sorry, she said finally.

  “Yeah. Me, too.

  “Her name was Christine, she heard him say just before she slid into sleep. “She was pretty.

  And then, words so indistinct she might have dreamed them, “She looked like you.

  Newenham, September 6

  “Im willing to try it if you are, Prince said hopefully.

  Liam took one look at the clouds, so low that if he went outside and reached up he thought he might touch them, and said firmly, “Im not.

  “Im grounded, Wy said. “At least until this afternoon.

  Prince pounced. “Why, did you hear something on the forecast? Is it going to clear?

  Wy shook her head, almost amused. “Not likely. Theres a gale warning out for Area 5A. Itll be moving north.

  Prince stared out at the dark skies with a gloomy expression. The third interrogation of Teddy Engebretsen and John Kvichak the night before had produced no changes in their story, the result of which was that Prince now wanted very much to talk to Rebecca Hanover. She had shown up at Wys house at first light on the off chance that the weather might look better out of Wys window than it did from the trooper post. Liam had invited her to stay for breakfast.

  “At least it isnt snowing anymore, Jo said, refilling coffee mugs all around.

  A timer dinged and Bridget opened the oven door. The heavenly aroma of Bisquick coffee cake wafted through the room. Jim and Luke were sitting on the couch with their feet propped on the coffee table, Liam in the armchair. Jo replaced the coffeepot and perched on a stool at the counter next to Wy. Bridget cut the cake into squares and handed the squares around on saucers. For a while the only sounds were the dulcet growlings of Bob Edwards on the radio, the creaking of the house beneath the undiminished onslaught of wind, and grunts of pleasure as the coffee cake went down. Bridget was complimented lavishly all around, and she put her finger in her chin and curtsied in response.

  Prince paced restlessly in front of the windows, until Liam said, “Why dont you go on down to the post?

  “What for?

  He shrugged. “Somebody might call in a triple homicide.

  “Like we could respond in this, she said, but she picked up her hat.

  When the door shut behind her Jim said, “What a hot dog.

  Liam gave a tolerant shrug. “Shes smart and quick and ambitious. All she needs is a little seasoning.

  “She had two different homicides, one a multiple, the first day she got here, Jo said. “She got her name in the paper and everything.

  “Thanks to you, Liam said.

  Jo refused to curtsy, but she did bow her head in arrogant acceptance of what wasnt exactly an accolade. “In fact, you both did.

  “Yeah, I was thrilled.

  Jo snorted. “If you didnt want your name in the paper, you shouldnt have become a trooper.

  “More coffee, anyone? Bridget said brightly.

  Jo gave Wy a long look. Wy wasnt talking much, and she noticed that her friend was keeping to the opposite side of whatever part of the room Liam was in. She wondered what had happened out at Nenevok Creek. She noticed Jim looking at Liam and wondering the same thing.

  Bridget was still standing in front of her with the coffeepot and a smile. “Sorry, Jo said, and held out her mug. “Sure, and thanks.

  Wy and Liam had come in separately the night before, and had exchanged perhaps ten words total before Liam went out to his camper for the night. There was no sneaking back in, either, not that there would have to be with Tim out of town. It wasnt like there hadnt been plenty of noise already to contend with from the back bedroom, she thought acidly. Not that she hadnt done her best to put Luke through his paces on the living room couch.

  She looked at Luke. She should have known better. Beautiful men, like beautiful women, knew that their faces were their fortune. They didnt have to do anything but be beautiful. Luke, it must be admitted, was extremely beautiful, but beauty went only so far in bed, and even less far out of bed.

  Bridget was beautiful, too, but she was also smart and funny. Jo hated to admit it, but Jims taste in the opposite sex might be better than her own. “So you think Rebecca Hanover killed her husband and ran off because she didnt like being stuck out in the Bush for three months? she said out loud.

  “Thats not for publication, Jo, Liam said sternly.

  Jos fair skin, the bane of her existence, flushed right up to the roots of her hair. “I heard you the first time, she said between clenched teeth.

  He examined her expression for a moment, and then, amazingly, backed down. “I know. Im sorry, Jo.

  She managed a brief nod, and to salvage her pride added, “I didnt say I wouldnt write about it. But I wont use anything you tell us here today without your say-so. She looked at Wy, who was glaring at Liam.

  “I know, Liam said again.

  “I thought Woodward and Bernstein used two sources for every story, Jim said.

  Jo appreciated the effort he was making to lighten the air. “They did.

  “You dont?

  She matched his effort. “Not if the first source is a state trooper with twelve years on the job and a reputation for upholding truth, justice and the American way.

  There was a round of nervous laughter. Everybody looked at Liam, who sighed. “Yeah, okay. He looked at Wy, who was studiously examining her coffee mug. His lips tightened.

  “From the beginning, Jo prompted him. She didnt know what was going on there, but she was willing to act like the lightning rod for the time being.

  Liam didnt strike. Instead, he told the story simply, beginning with the Mayday intercepted by the Alaska Airlines flight deck crew and his and Princes arrival at the scene. He put together the case against Engebret
sen and Kvichak in clipped, disinterested terms, including their passionate denials.

  “I never met anyone who was arrested who ever was guilty of anything, Jo observed.

  “Yeah. I know.

  Liams smile was thin and strained, and Wy tried not to feel guilty. What else could I do? she thought. He had to know. Maybe hes right, I should have told him sooner, but its only five months since I saw him again, only a month that weve been together.

  She thought back to the afternoon at the mining camp. I love you, Wy, Liam had said, and so she had told him, then and there, and he, at first disbelieving and then enraged, had stalked up to the cabin in a huff, ostensibly to search for evidence to help solve the mystery of Mark Hanovers murder but really, she knew full well, to put her far enough out of reach that he wouldnt be tempted to deck her.

  She didnt blame him, but she wouldnt fall into the trap of blaming herself, either, not a second time. Shit happens. You cant let it define you, you cant let it define the rest of your life. She hadnt, and she wouldnt let him do so, either.

  Jos voice recalled her to the present. “But you still dont like them for it.

  The trooper shrugged his shoulders. “I dont know. It doesnt feel right. Whyd they call in the Mayday? According to Wy the Hanovers werent due to be picked up until Labor Day. If they did it, they could have left the body lying where it was, ready for the nearest grizzly to wander out of the woods and eat the evidence.

  “In that case, wheres Rebecca? Jo said.

  Labor Day, Wy thought, and remembered the last time shed delivered supplies to Nenevok Creek. Three fishermen getting restive as she fought the cargo netting and the bungee cords. Rebecca watching with a wistful expression on her face, arms cradling the stack of magazines Wy had brought in for her. Mark Hanover coming up the path andoh. “Oh hell, Wy said.

  Everyone looked at her.

  “Im sorry, she said sheepishly. “I totally forgot.

  “What? Liam said.

  “The fishermen were in a hurry to get to the lodge and I was humping it to get the plane unloaded and wed hit an air pocket on the way in and the cargo had shifted a little in flight, you know, just enough to wedge itself into

  “Wy, Liam said. “What did you forget?

  Wy took a deep breath. “The last time I made a supply run into Nenevok Creek, Mark Hanover pulled me to one side and said they might need another order of supplies, a big one this time. Like I said, my passengers were in a hurry and I wasnt paying much attention. I told him to get me a list and he said he would and we took off.