True North (The Bears of Blackrock Book 4)

by Michaela Wright

Her mother pulled her hand away, looking up to Sinead’s face. “There we go. All clean.”

  The pain intensified – a burning, searing pain that began to build and build until Sinead felt as though her toes were being held over a fire. Her face tightened as she closed her eyes tight against the pain.

  “Sinead!?”

  She didn’t respond. The pain was so intense. Why wouldn’t her mother fix it? Why was it getting worse?

  “Sinead, can you hear me?”

  “Momma, it hurts,” she said, and she wanted to cry. Yet, the tears had stopped. She could no more cry than she could move her fingers. Or any part of her body for that matter. She felt weak and helpless, as though half dreaming.

  A figure caught her eye as she waited for her mother to acknowledge her pain. There was a man sitting at the kitchen table, dark hair, warm brown skin, and a gentle smile on his face as he watched in silence, like some ghost or an angel that only she could see.

  She knew that face. How did she know that face?

  The pain returned, three fold this time, and she winced, turning her face away. She couldn’t move her foot to take it away from the source of the pain.

  “Come on, Dalton. Stay in it. I got money on ya.”

  That voice wasn’t her mother’s. That voice was Darrell Holden.

  Who was Darrell Holden, again?

  Sinead opened her eyes, and the kitchen, the sunshine through the curtained windows – and her mother’s loving face - were gone.

  In their place she saw another expression, familiar and clearly in anguish, hovering just inches from her.

  The man from the kitchen table. He wasn’t smiling anymore.

  “Theron,” she said, and despite the pain she felt, she smiled.

  The pressure she felt around her body tightened, and she realized Theron was holding her. They were talking – an agitated exchange about radios and cars and ‘where was Charlie?’ She opened her eyes, fighting to focus on the world around her, but there was no use. She wanted to sleep.

  She wanted nothing more than to sleep.

  “I was making cookies,” she said.

  “What?”

  “Cookies. I dropped the eggs, though. My toes hurt.”

  Theron’s arms moved around her, shifting his hold as she fell back onto the soft shape beneath her. Sinead looked around again, trying to understand the dark place.

  A car. She was back in that car.

  Instantly, Sinead started crying. There was nowhere on earth more miserable than that car.

  “Charlie, are you there? Do you copy?”

  Sinead glared toward the sound of the voice. Darrell was hollering into a small black box. She glared at him. “Sh, you’re very loud. What are you doing? Don’t do that, I’ll be naked.”

  Theron was unzipping her jacket. She tried to swat at him, but her hands were completely useless.

  The wind picked up outside with such a fury, the windows rattled in the car doors. The sound startled her. Theron responded to it by holding her a little tighter. Now he was in the jacket with her, and she was burning up.

  “I’m here. Have you found them? Are they alright?”

  “You’re naked!” She said, her eyes wide as she looked up at Theron. He ignored her, wrapping the open coat around his bare form and pressing himself against her.

  She shook her head and began to cry. “It’s too hot. Stop it, it’s too hot.”

  Yet, Theron didn’t listen. He couldn’t listen, because she hadn’t actually said the words out loud.

  “We should go to the beach. It’s too hot today.”

  “You think so? That sounds like a very good idea, baby.”

  Sinead opened her eyes, and her mother was there again, the warm glow of the sun shining in through the curtains.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  THERON

  “Bunny’s fine. Theron’s doing his best to warm Shinny up. She’s not looking good,” Darrell called into the radio. The wind was picking up outside, making conversation harder with each passing moment.

  “She’s out again. Fuck! She won’t wake up!” Theron was holding onto Sinead for dear life, squeezing her as though he might warm her by will alone.

  The radio clicked on before Darrell was even finished speaking. “Tell Theron to go slow! If he burns as hot as he says he does, she could go into shock. You can’t warm her up too fast.”

  Theron shot a look up at Darrell and swallowed, scolding himself. Of all the details Deacon shared in idle conversation, he’d forgotten that one. For an instant, for the first time in his life, he almost loathed what he was.

  A normal man could keep her warm now, save her life now.

  He could kill her with comfort.

  Darrell quickly relayed their plan to Charlie. Charlie directed Darrell to rip the panel from beneath the steering wheel. He did as he was told.

  Theron listened as Darrell flicked the wires together. There was a subtle clicking sound, but nothing more.

  Theron began screaming in his mind. What if the cold killed the battery?

  If he could, Theron would’ve killed Davenport all over again.

  Theron lost his patience as Darrell began to grow frustrated. He grabbed Darrell’s bare shoulder. “Here!”

  Darrell took his meaning and moved without another word, jumping over the seat to settle in beside Sinead. Theron had to squint against the rising wind as he climbed out of the car, the sheer force of it picking up particles of ice from the ground. They hit his skin like shards of glass. Theron climbed into the driver’s seat, shutting the door behind him, and snatched up the wires. He flicked them together in the dark.

  No spark.

  He flicked them together again. Nothing.

  Theron glanced back at Sinead, at her trembling lips and Darrell’s awkward embrace around the massive shape of her jacket. Theron flicked the wires, again.

  Why wasn’t the car starting?

  There was a soft tap at the glass. Grandma Pearl stood at the passenger side of the car again, her hand up to her temple to shield her face from the wind.

  “Pop the hood, boy,” she said. The calm yet stern tone to her voice was almost comforting. Without further word, it said, ‘I’ll fix this. Don’t you worry.’

  Theron wanted to believe that tone.

  He did as he was told and watched Pearl disappear beyond the hood of the car.

  “Try it now,” she called.

  Theron felt his hands freeze for a moment. He murmured softly to himself, praying to whatever gods might hear him in that nothingness.

  He flicked the wires together again. The car engine rumbled and turned over, instantly blasting cold air through the fans. Theron let out a cry of relief, fidgeting with the knobs to make sure the heat was at full blast. He pressed his hand to the fan vent, waiting for a sign of heat. Pearl appeared at the driver’s side door, signaling for Theron to climb in the back.

  Theron did as he was told, taking back his post at Sinead’s side. She was still unconscious, but her lips were trembling.

  “Bastard unhooked the battery. That man was a special brand of evil. Come on, baby. Enough of that. Get in,” Pearl called out to the darkness before shutting the driver’s side door. A small flash of white darted in front of the now lit headlights, then Buniq appeared at the passenger door and climbed inside. An instant later, Pearl Holden threw that run down Volvo into reverse and followed the wheel path back toward the main dirt road.

  They hit the road with a jolt, Pearl wasting no time cutting the wheel toward the south. That car wasn’t built for these roads, but Pearl clearly didn’t care one lick about the suspension. She had a fire in her eyes, even in the quick instances that Theron caught her eye in the rear view. They were on the main drag less than a minute when truck lights appeared in the rear view.

  Theron didn’t bother glancing back. He had more important things to worry about.

  “Sinead, baby. Can you hear me?”

  She didn’t respond. When Theron couldn’t fin
d anything fabric to wrap Sinead’s bare foot in, he made Darrell tuck the foot under his thigh to warm her up.

  It was only then that Theron realized how strange it might look when they came careening into Kilikut, four bareassed naked natives in a Volvo with a half frozen Nova Scotian.

  Buniq’s face hovered at the front seat, watching her teacher lying there, still blue lipped and motionless. Theron reached up and tussled her hair. Seeing the grief, and he was sure guilt, on Buniq’s face hurt his heart. He knew damn well there was nothing his little cousin could have done differently to change what had happened. And the thought that Baird Davenport had put such a little girl in the situation in the first place made him seethe. He remembered the frightened figures that ran scurrying off into the wilderness to escape his clan. He hoped they were now trudging into the dark, naked and delirious.

  He hoped some hungry animal would find them and feast by dawn.

  It was the only thought that quelled his fury.

  “Let me take point. I’ll go into the station first.”

  Charlie’s voice came through the radio as his truck closed in behind. Pearl glanced into the rear view, then down to the front seat. She snatched up the radio and brought it to her lips.

  “I don’t need you holding my hand, officer.”

  There was a pause. Then Charlie’s voice returned. “I’m not holding your hand, Mrs. Holden, but I do know a little something about ‘protocol.’ She may well need to be airlifted, and the boy in that station is no more equipped to handle this than a god damn sea urchin.”

  Pearl brought the radio up again, inhaling as though she were about to unload on him. Then she took a moment, clicked the radio, and spoke. “Alright, fine then. We’ll go in together.”

  No more than an instant later, the lights of Kilikut came into view. Theron scanned the cars as they passed the first few trailers and small homes. No familiar cars parked outside, no trucks from the Extension that night. Everyone and everything that happened by the Extension gate remained in the wilderness, unknown to the people of the small fishing town.

  Pearl cut the wheel and came careening into the center of town before she finally slammed on the brakes. “Alright, where the hell am I going, damn it!?” She said, roaring into the radio.

  Charlie’s truck snuck past them, leading her the rest of the way to the station. It was as though a silent pissing contest was in full swing between the senior officer of Blackrock’s police force, and the chief of the Holden clan. Theron would have bet Pearl the victor in such a match, but as they pulled up outside the station, and Charlie lunged out of the driver’s side door of his truck in mid stride, Theron was beginning to question.

  Theron didn’t think twice as he grabbed Sinead and hauled her out of the car. He could feel the cold air against his bare skin, but he didn’t care. Clearly, neither did Grandma Pearl, as she climbed out of the driver’s side door and marched right up the wooden steps and into the small police station.

  Theron was barely two steps from the car before he heard the young desk clerk within. “Ma’am! Are you alright?!”

  Pearl took no time responding. “No, I’m not alright!”

  Darrell stayed in the car with Buniq as Theron hoisted poor Sinead up into his arms and followed Charlie and Pearl.

  “Hold on, son. Hold on.”

  Theron turned just in time to see Uncle Gregory climb out of Charlie’s stolen truck, holding up a pair of jeans. Gregory had managed to find some of their clothes left down by Charlie’s truck.

  He followed Theron up into the trailer, holding the door open for him to get Sinead inside. Theron heard Jared’s concerned calls, but he ignored them Let Pearl and Charlie take care of the explanations. He needed to settle Sinead. He slumped her on a small couch, fighting to drown out the cacophony of Charlie trying to get the young man to call in emergency services while Pearl threatened to throttle the young man for the simple act of wearing a badge.

  “I didn’t know, Ma’am! I’m sorry, I didn’t know. What did you say they were doing?”

  Charlie gave an exasperated sigh and stormed behind the desk, snatching up the phone. Theron couldn’t make sense out of any words between them as Uncle Gregory tried without success to calm Pearl down. She wanted an explanation as to how the entire town of Kilikut could allow the near extinction of her entire family through years of internment and near starvation. Theron couldn’t blame her. Still, he fought to ignore them, holding Sinead in his arms, the jeans waiting on the arm of the couch beside him.

  “Ma’am, we didn’t know! I swear I’ve never been out to the Extension. I’m just here to answer phones, Ma’am. I can call someone. Can I call someone for you?”

  “Here.”

  The voice was strangely calm compared to the row going on by the desk. Theron turned to find Uncle Gregory standing over him, holding a steaming cup of hot cocoa. Theron gasped at the sight. He helped prop Sinead upright, touching his hand to her cheeks to try to coax her awake. It was no use. She wouldn’t wake up.

  “Yes, we have a Miss Sinead Dalton, here. She’s in need of emergency services. Thank you,” Charlie said, then hung up the phone. “There’s no clinic here in Kilikut, is there?”

  Jared frowned, shaking his head as Pearl continued to demand his undivided attention. Uncle Gregory was up at Pearl’s side now, softly asserting himself, trying to explain that her uproar wasn’t helping Sinead.

  Theron shifted her in his arms, lifting her legs across the couch. He caught a glimpse of her bare toes and cringed. They were turning black.

  “Hello. Yes, this is Officer Charles Black of Blackrock, Maine jurisdiction. I’m currently in Kilikut, Labrador and we have an emergency situation.”

  Pearl was still regaling both Gregory and Jared now, throwing her own interjections toward Charlie, despite having no clue who he was speaking to. Suddenly, the door to the trailer opened, and Darrell stepped inside wearing Pearl’s sweater and jeans, Buniq curled up in his arms in his own flannel shirt. He glanced across the room toward Theron, but didn’t say a word as Gregory appeared before him, offering up another cup of that hot cocoa.

  Buniq took it and devoured it in one swallow. Just as the door began to close, another unfamiliar face appeared in the doorway. She scanned the faces, clearly taken aback by the sight of Pearl standing naked by the desk. She touched Pearl’s shoulder, but Charlie waved at her from behind the desk, pointing toward Sinead. The woman turned her warm eyes toward Theron and rushed across the room.

  Charlie continued his conversation. “We’re on the tail end of a kidnapping and hostage situation. Shots were fired.”

  Pearl hollered at Jared. “You hear that? You sons of bitches did this!”

  The woman’s concerned face leaned in to Theron, her voice hushed. “I’m Laurel Cabot. I’m an EMT – or as close to it up in these parts. How long was she out there?”

  Theron swallowed. He hadn’t prepared himself for this. He could see the calm concern on her face and suddenly found himself on the verge of tears.

  He couldn’t answer her. He shook his head, and two tears poured from his eyes, falling onto Sinead’s down coat.

  “Alright, I’m gonna get an IV set up, get some warm fluids in her, then we’re going to need to transport her to Black Tickle. My partner is on his way with the ambulance.”

  “You tell them everything, you! Leave nothing out!” Pearl hollered.

  Laurel began a quick inspection of Sinead, making a soft hissing sound when she saw Sinead’s toes. Theron frowned to hear it.

  “Hey. Hey,” Laurel said, touching her hand to Theron’s bare arm. “We’re gonna take care of her, ok. We’ll warm her up.”

  Theron tried to force a smile as Charlie’s eerily calm cadence picked up again.

  Pearl stood there by the desk, still naked from head to toe, her long gray hair swaying just below her backside.

  “Yes, sir,” Charlie continued. “Suspect’s name is Baird Davenport. He was dead on the scene. Two other officers i
nvolved in the event – one Officer Reed and Officer Miller -are both injured and still on scene. I did not have backup and was forced to leave the scene for the safety of the victims. I cannot attest to the suspects’ status.”

  Laurel’s hands stilled. She looked up at Theron, her expression one of shock and disbelief.

  Charlie continued. “I was placed in a position where Deadly Force was required. Yes, sir, I shot Baird Davenport.”

  The room went silent, and Pearl Holden stood slack jawed, staring at Charlie Black.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  SINEAD

  “This little piggy went to market. This little piggy stayed home. This little piggy had roast beef, and then shanked the other two piggies for lookin at his sweet meats.”

  Sinead giggled, kicking her foot free of Theron’s fingers. She’d been self-conscious about the loss of two toes when she first woke up in the clinic, but as the days wore on, and Theron kept trying to make light of it, she was growing used to it.

  Sinead lay on her parents’ couch, watching Netflix for a full week with Theron always at her side.

  Her parents, notified of her status once she reached the clinic in Black Tickle, had hopped every flight and ferry they could to get to her.

  It turned out Baird Davenport hadn’t been sending her letters all that time. There’d been a missing person’s report on her for two years.

  They’d thought she was dead.

  Her mother was understandably doting. “Are you hungry, baby? Do you two need anything?”

  Sinead glanced toward the living room door and smiled. “No, Mom. I’m fine.”

  Sinead hadn’t told her mother that it was her childhood home and her kitchen that she’d escaped to in the moments of her death. She hadn’t told Theron that he’d been there in that room, sitting at the kitchen table watching her bake with her mother, as though he’d always been hidden in her memories, waiting to make himself known.

  Frances and Kevin Dalton worshipped Theron Talbot. As far as either of them were concerned, he could do no wrong. Officer Black relayed much of the story to her parents when they arrived in the clinic – Sinead moved with her students to the Extension, refused to leave them, electric fence, the death of several tribe members, deliberate malnutrition, et cetera, et cetera.