by Marisa Logan
This last part she said with a dubious look at Lauren’s high heels and fancy skirt. “I do hope you’ve brought some jeans…”
Lauren laughed at the look on her cousin’ face and that broke some of the tension. It was clear they had some catching up to do and she was looking forward to it. Giving her cousin a quick hug, she shook off her jet lag and took a deep breath of the cleanest air she’d ever breathed. The mountains seemed close enough to touch and the wilderness seemed to press in along the edges of the airfield that ran next to the building. She half expected a moose or a bear to step out of the trees and wave hello. She was in Alaska!
Chapter 4
The next couple of days were a flurry of shopping and packing as Amber explained that her job with Carson involved scheduling his flights and deliveries for several remote homesteads on his route. She explained how she and Carson were often the only link these people had with the outside world during the long, dark winter months. They handled everything from food deliveries to transporting someone with a medical emergency including women about to give birth. Amber had plenty of stories to fill in the moments where the years between them left the two women wondering if they were doing the right thing.
It was through her job here that this opportunity came for her and Lauren. One of Carson’s clients needed someone to ‘house-sit’ for their very remote homestead. The couple that owned the homestead were going to spend a year in Greenland to continue their genetic study of the caribou’s DNA pools and compare their findings with their research here in Alaska.
Carson wasn’t too happy about losing his personal secretary/receptionist/general manager, but he was resigned to her need for a change. Amber didn’t explain any more than that and Lauren sensed it was better not to ask.
***
As they drove to Wasilla on yet another shopping expedition, Lauren marveled at the juxtaposition of wilderness with stores and strip malls. Moose and bear walked the streets of these cities as freely as any stray dog in Boston. Wiping the sweat from the back of her neck, Lauren commented on how hot it was for Alaska. Amber laughed and said that anytime you didn’t like the weather, just wait a little while. It would change and not always for the better.
Suddenly she jammed on the brakes and swung into the parking lot of a little strip mall. Lauren studied the shops looking for a clue to her cousin’s sudden move, but didn’t see what had caught her eye. Pulling up next to a panel van with a hand-lettered sign, Amber threw the truck into park and jumped out.
“Come on! We’ve got to get you a pair of bunny boots,” she said as she disappeared around the corner of the truck.
Sure enough, the sign on the truck said, “BUNNY BOOTS”, and Lauren could only wonder why she needed new boots. She made it to the back of the van just as the back door slid up and her cousin shoved a bulbous pair of hideous white boots at her.
“Try them on,” she ordered Lauren. “Make sure you’ve got plenty of toe-wiggle room for a pair of wool socks.”
Lauren nearly staggered at the size and the weight of the boots her cousin handed her and wondered how she was even going to be able to walk in these monstrosities.
“Are you kidding,” she asked. “What are the purpose of these?”
“These will keep your little tootsies toasty warm at 50 below and then, you will thank me for making you buy them,” Amber retorted with a grin.
Lauren groaned at the thought of even considering going outside at 50 below, but figured this was one area that she’d best leave to her cousin’s expertise. Shoving her feet into the boots, she wondered just what kind of outfit would be complemented by a pair of bunny boots. They sure wouldn’t look good with any of her skirts. She had to giggle at the mental picture that came with that idea.
The bored ‘bunny boots’ vendor took her $100 bill with barely a glance and closed the back of the van before disappearing around the corner. Lauren heaved her latest purchase into the back of the pickup with a sigh. Money was flying out of her wallet a lot faster than she’d expected or planned. She hoped that she wouldn’t find herself sitting outside a shopping mall with a sign asking for donations to get home when all this was over.
The two women finished their shopping and headed back to their warehouse accommodations. Carson was flying in the next morning with Amber’s replacement and within the next couple of days, they’d be heading out into the wilderness to begin their training program. Amber hadn’t shared too many details of what kind of training they were going to need and Lauren was afraid to ask.
***
The next morning, Lauren was the first one up and she quickly made a pot of coffee before stepping outside to see what kind of day had arrived. She was surprised and delighted to find a mama moose with a cute little calf standing near the pick-up. She pulled out her cell phone hoping to snap a close-up to send to her grandmother.
]The moose eyed her warily, but didn’t seem to mind her presence. She took a couple of steps closer hoping to capture the baby’s cute face. She failed to notice the mama’s ears falling back and the look in her eye.
Suddenly, a strong arm came around her waist and jerked her backwards towards the door. At the same time, the mama moose lunged towards her with definite intent. Lauren gasped as she was pulled back into the building and the door was slammed shut. The thud of both hooves against the side of the door literally shook the building. Lauren was stunned by force of the blow and struggled to catch her breath and her composure.
Turning to face her rescuer, she found herself looking up into the bluest eyes she’d ever seen close up. The anger and confusion mixed with concern on the handsome face was almost funny under the sleep-mussed blond hair, and Lauren didn’t know whether she should laugh or cry in that moment.
Carson was more upset with her stupidity than he was concerned, but he tempered his response with a sudden awareness of her soft brown eyes and silky red hair framing her face. His body still felt the warmth of hers against him as he’d pulled her inside. He swallowed hard to clear his thoughts before he spoke.
“Do you have any idea of what you were doing out there,” he asked through clenched teeth. “Never! Never approach a wild animal with their young. A mother moose can stomp you clear to China if you make her mad enough.”
“I didn’t realize…I just wanted a picture of the baby….it was so cute,” Lauren faltered.
“What happened,” Amber asked as she came around the corner with a cup of coffee in her hand.
“Your ‘cheechako’ cousin here just tried to get a close-up of a cute little baby moose,” Carson answered. “Didn’t you bother to explain anything to her about the local wildlife?”
Amber managed to look annoyed and concerned at the same time as she reached out to pull Lauren away from Carson’s sarcasm.
“There hasn’t been any time for that as we’ve been running around trying to take care of your business,” she retorted. “Come on, Cuz. Let’s get you a fresh cup of coffee. You look like you need another cup, and its excellent coffee.”
Lauren realized in that moment her first cup of coffee was soaking the leg of her jeans as she followed Amber. She had no idea where her cup or her phone had ended up. Maybe the moose had stomped them to China in revenge for her escape. Somehow, she managed to keep her composure as she went to the little bedroom to change her jeans. Her thoughts kept slipping back to blue eyes and tousled blond hair.
Chapter 5
Amber was kept busy for the next two days trying to train her replacement on a million little details that existed only in her head. She’d been running Carson’s operation for something like five years and documentation was the last thing that got any attention. It was a ‘fly by the seat of the pants’ set-up that only worked because the need was far greater than the inept way that Carson ran his business.
Lauren was left with little to do so she busied herself with sorting through her wardrobe and taking inventory of her cosmetics and personal toiletries. There wasn’t going to be any shopping
for such things once they left the city and she wasn’t sure what she really needed out in the wilderness. It wasn’t like she’d be dressing for work, business dinners or dates. She quickly realized that most of her clothes would be of little use on the homestead and packed up almost all of her dresses and skirts to lighten her load. Amber assured her that she could safely store whatever she didn’t need here at Carson’s warehouse. There was plenty of unused space available.
She’d recovered her cell phone which the moose had fortunately ignored in her haste to get her baby away from the mishap created by Lauren’s ignorance. The pictures actually turned out great and her grandmother and her parents enjoyed her e-mails outlining her little misadventure. She managed to gloss over most of the details of her ‘rescue’ by her cousin’s handsome boss.
Carson was away much of the time on business matters, but his anger had faded that same day he’d rescued her, and he was quite charming towards her when he was around. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but there was a definite tension in the air between Amber and him. She suspected there was a story, but no one was talking. There wasn’t a water cooler either. If she hadn’t sworn off men, Carson might have held a little more interest to her….if.
***
Finally, the day arrived for the two women to travel north to their final destination. Amber explained how the area they were going to didn’t have any road access. The only way in or out was by plane or dogsled.
The homestead was located between two major wildlife refuges on the migratory path of the caribou. It was the last stop on Carson’s north run before he’d head back south to Anchorage. He only made this trip once per month and that was weather permitting. She also mentioned, with a sly look at her cousin, that Carson usually stayed overnight on his runs before heading back south.
In addition to their own research, the Dorman’s provided a way station with food and housing for anyone passing through the area, so the occasional visitors were to be expected. There were geologists that monitored the volcanic activity and forestry teams passing through and stopping by every now and then. They also had a couple of neighbors they traded with for supplies and relied on in times of trouble. The station was off-the-grid and self-sufficient, most of the time. Amber assured Lauren it wouldn’t be a boring winter for either of them.
Lauren listened to everything her cousin said with an air of trepidation. Her encounter with the moose had made her painfully aware of her ignorance of wilderness life. She dreaded the thought of coming face to face with a bear or a wolf.
The long, cold darkness of winter also loomed large in her mind and she was starting to wonder what she’d gotten herself into by coming to Alaska. She was a city girl, ‘a cheechako’, the Alaskan term for someone ignorant about life on the tundra. It wasn’t like she could read a book or study a manual to prepare for what lay ahead.
She decided that her last action before leaving Anchorage was to indulge in a nice long chat with her grandmother. She hoped it would give her some confidence to face what lay ahead.
Chapter 6
As Lauren squeezed into the tiny seat behind Carson’s, she looked around the heavily laden plane with dread. Every bit of available space was packed with ‘stuff’. Her seat was the only clear area in the back and even Maggie had to squeeze in next to her as there was no room in the co-pilot’s seat where Amber was sitting. The dog looked as nonchalant as if she were just hopping into the pick-up for her usual ride and didn’t seem to mind sharing space with Lauren.
Carson was running through his pre-flight checklist and Amber was giving last minute advice to her replacement on her cell phone. The poor woman sounded clearly panicked to be left in charge of everything and Lauren felt a bit sorry for her. Two days clearly wasn’t enough time to learn everything that Amber had spent years working out on her boss’s behalf. Lauren wondered who would fold first, Amber’s replacement or herself. A year looked like a very long time from this end of things.
Lauren wriggled into her seatbelt and felt the plane shudder as Carson fired up the engine. The rough sound soon smoothed out as the Cessna’s engine warmed up, but the roar was so up close and personal that Lauren felt sick. She was sure she wasn’t going to enjoy this part of her trip at all.
As they taxied to the end of the pavement, her heart was in her throat and she wondered what would happen if she suddenly demanded to be let out. The words were actually on her lips as Carson hit the throttle and the heavy plane waddled down the runway.
Amber turned and smiled at the look on her face and from somewhere deep inside, Lauren’s courage rose up and answered the unspoken dare the two of them had always used to push each other beyond their fears.
In that moment the plane lifted into the air and the tops of the trees passed underneath the wings. Lauren was sure that if she could open the window, she could reach out and touch the nearest ones. She was torn between wanting to go up higher and needing to get back down on the ground. She squeezed her eyes shut and threw up a quick prayer. This wasn’t the way she wanted her life to end.
As they flew along, a sudden break in the clouds to the east revealed Mount Denali in all of her glory, and Lauren gasped at the sight. Seeing the mountain from a 747 was impressive enough, but the view from the Cessna was astounding.
It was clear why the native Athabascan’s called the mountain ‘Denali’, which meant ‘Great One”. There was no way for her cell phone camera to capture the magnitude of what they were seeing in that moment. She just stared at the stunning vista trying to imprint this image on her mind forever.
Tears ran down her face as she realized the importance of everything that mattered to her right now. All of her fears and worries melted away right there through the magic of the majestic mountain.
Their flight lasted only a few hours and Lauren spent her time watching the passing scenery with interest. All signs of human habitation fell away the longer they flew and soon there was nothing to see but raw, nearly untouched wilderness.
The thick trees and sparkling lakes passed underneath them in a dizzying array of greens and blues dotted with mountains capped with snow, and the meandering rivers. Lauren could only wonder at the knowledge and experience that guided Carson along the right path. To her, everything looked like a blur of wilderness, but he kept the plane pointed in a northeasterly direction that soon brought them to their destination.
As he circled the private airstrip, Lauren quickly noticed the lack of pavement. There was only a cleared area of grassy dirt with a windsock marking one end. She had a sudden insight into the meaning of ‘bush’ pilot as she looked at the makeshift runway and considered the rough take-off back in Anchorage. It was clear to her the landing wasn’t going to be better. She braced herself in her seat and tried not to think about anything that might go wrong.
All of her fears were unfounded and Carson put the Cessna on the ground with barely a bounce to mark their arrival. It was clear to anyone watching that he’d done this many times before. Lauren struggled to contain her eagerness to get out of the plane as they taxied over to the side. Maggie shared her enthusiasm with a quick wag of her tail.
Flying wasn’t high on her list either, Lauren guessed.
***
The Dorman’s appeared at the near end of the runway in an old pick-up truck and headed for the plane. Lauren was surprised by it as Amber had clearly told her there were no roads into this area. She realized there was a lot to learn about the wilderness and the people that lived in it. They seemed to find ways to accomplish things far beyond her expectations.
The first order of business was to unload the plane and that took all of their attention for the next half hour or so. Introductions were kept to a minimum as the five of them hurried to get everything packed into the back of the pickup truck. Lauren thought there was far more than would fit, but the arrival of another couple from the other end of the runway on their ATV subtracted several boxes from the load.
Lauren didn’t have a cha
nce to meet the other couple, but she did notice they were native Alaskans and had very little to say to anyone. When she ventured a ‘hello’ to them, the woman just stared back at her and the man grunted in response. They finished their business with Carson and sped off in the direction they’d came without another word. Lauren wondered if they could even speak English.
There was one final package on the plane and no room for the five of them in the pickup so she and Carson were volunteered to walk along the path back to the house. Amber cast her one last worried look before she climbed into the truck with the others. Just as the truck moved into the trees, a single rider on a tall black horse burst from the trees on the other side of the clearing. Carson didn’t appear to be surprised so Lauren guessed the remaining package was for this person.
As the rider drew near to them, Lauren spied a large wolf running alongside the horse. It apparently was accompanying them, as neither the horse nor the rider were concerned about there being any danger. She stared at the man riding towards them with a mixture of excitement and intrigue. In the gathering dusk, it was hard to make out his features, but he was clearly striking a primal chord in her.
As the rider came abreast of the plane, he reined in the horse abruptly causing it to rear slightly off the ground on its hind legs. The wolf continued on past them and disappeared into the trees without pause. The man quickly dismounted and walked towards them. Lauren suppressed the urge to duck in behind Carson and forced herself to stand at her full height.
