Duncan stopped in front of the cabin and shut off the roaring engine. He dismounted and massaged the cramp out of his leg. The old injury always told him when he had pushed his physical limits. This week it talked to him often. Nell stepped off behind him.
The noise had alerted the cabin’s occupant to visitors. A bull of a man, somewhere between the ages of thirty and fifty, stepped out of the cabin door. He had long brown hair, tied back with a leather thong, and a dense beard hanging over his thick chest.
He ducked his head. “Howdy, Nell.” His gray eyes were openly curious when he turned to Duncan. “Howdy.”
Nell marched up close to him. “Are you sober?”
The man opened his arms and raised his hands palms up. His eyes traveled from the buttons on his flannel shirt to the toes of his boots. He lifted his head and without changing his position looked Nell in the face. “So it appears, but the day is young.”
“Good, we’ve got business.” Nell peered hard into the man’s face and added, “Are you growing a beard again?”
“You’re wandering, Nell. I haven’t shaved in three years.”
Nell loudly blew between her lips and shook her head. “Oh. Whatever. This is Duncan, he just bought the lodge. I told him you worked for him, but he got pissy about want’n to know you first.” She turned to Duncan. “You talk to Tom; I’m gonna use the outhouse.”
They watched Nell disappear around the corner of the cabin, joined in mutual exasperation.
Duncan spoke first, “Good morning Tom, I’m Duncan Mahoney.” He stuck his hand out, and the two men shook hands. “Like Nell said, I bought the lodge, and this morning is the first time I heard anything about an employee.”
“Tom Franklin.” The man smiled without conviction. “Welcome to Cotton Grass Lake. I’m not really an employee.” Tom moved closer to the ATV, and as he talked, he fished a multi-tool from his pants pocket and opened it. “I’m the local handyman. When I work, you pay me.” He reached into the engine compartment and adjusted a small screw. “I’m also the local drunk. Try that.”
Duncan deduced he was to start the engine of the four-wheeler. A low rumble rocked the machine instead of the screaming roar he expected. “What did you do?” Duncan asked.
Tom jerked his head at the machine. “Just a little out of adjustment.” He scrubbed his ham-sized hand over his face. “How’s she doing?”
Duncan turned off the purring engine. “What do you mean?”
“Nell.” Tom said. “Have you known her long? Did her kids set this up?”
“I don’t know her kids, and I met her about a week and a half ago.” Duncan couldn’t quite put his finger on the anxiety blowing quickly across the big man’s hard-worn face.
“She has some kind of old timers’ disease,” Tom said. “You know what I mean? She drifts, but it comes and goes. If you haven’t noticed then—” Tom shrugged. “Good.” The door to the outhouse slammed, and Tom’s eyes flicked toward the sound, he raised both eyebrows and didn’t continue talking.
Nell raised her voice at the two men before she rounded the corner of the cabin and came into sight. “Tom, you keep the same schedule as before. Just remember, Duncan’s a damn green Cheechoko so don’t take advantage of him.” She continued when she saw Duncan, “Let’s go. I gotta talk to Edna. I want her to feed the dog while we’re gone.”
“Nell,” Duncan said, “who’s Edna?”
Tom stood with his hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his tattered work pants. “Nell, Edna ain’t there. Remember? She went Outside to see her daughter last month.”
Nell narrowed her eyes and cocked her head. “Oh, well damn. I forgot.” Her face brightened. “Saves a trip, you feed the dog and don’t forget the cat. We’ll be back in a couple of days.”
The one-sided exchange annoyed Duncan. He could see how Nell’s assumption ruffled Tom too. “Actually, Nell is going to be leaving for Arizona, I’m only going to be gone a couple of days. Tom, if you can’t watch the lodge, I’ll make other arrangements.”
“Tom doesn’t have anything else to do. Let’s go.” Nell didn’t seem to notice her rudeness.
Tom exchanged a look with Duncan. “I’ll be around. I’ll feed the dog.”
Duncan stepped closer to Tom and stuck his hand out. “Thank you,” he said. “I’d like to talk to you when I get back. If all goes well, I’ll see you day after tomorrow.”
Duncan released Tom’s hand and stepped back. He could read nothing from the man’s heavy lidded eyes.
Chapter 5
The Cessna landed at the lake the next morning. Duncan impatiently paced along the shore. His head buzzed with plans. He couldn’t wait to talk to Carl about the strategy he’d laid out for the rest of the summer.
When Hanna exited the plane, Duncan’s day looked much brighter. “I didn’t expect to see you today.” He’d thought about her several times over the week. Her arrival refreshed his speculation on how attractive she was under all the clothes she’d had on when they met.
“Scheduling changes gave me some time off.” She had deep brown, fall-into-them-and-get-lost eyes and he liked her perky smile, too. “I’m all about time in the air,” she said.
Nell approached, dressed for her trip in a nice peach colored pants suit. “I’m gonna just leave the four-wheeler over there.” She pointed toward an overgrown tie-down. “It’ll be there when we get back.”
Another slip of the tongue, Duncan had noticed an escalation of forgetfulness this week. He took one of Nell’s bags and his own backpack and ducked his head to put them into the plane.
Hanna hefted Nell’s other suitcase into the plane. “Is this all you’re taking out?” She shifted, silently questioning Duncan.
“I’ll get the rest when I get back from Arizona.” Nell turned to Duncan. “I’m going to visit my sister.”
He nodded, she had told him three times this morning where she was going. “Yes,” he said, “I’ve agreed to store things until she returns.”
This trip to Anchorage jammed Duncan’s mind to overload. One week since he’d flown this route and many ponds had broken skims of opaque ice, vast swaths of snow were gone, and Hanna’s distracting fragrance of vanilla and flowers filled the cabin of the plane.
Once they landed, any idea Duncan may have had to loiter and chat with Hanna evaporated. She briskly walked into the office, dropped Nell’s suitcase, and looked at the multi-lined schedule board.
“Charlie, I’ve got a back-haul here.” She used her fist to scrub a mark off the black board. “It’ll save time for me to fly here first.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Charlie said. He shoved a clipboard at her. “Git off the ground.”
Her concentration on business was a pleasure to watch, and then she turned to him he actually blushed.
“You can use the phone to call a cab. I got to get this old man off my behind,” she said.
Ten minutes later, he and Nell stood in front of Charlie’s hanger waiting for his taxi. When it signaled a turn off the roadway, Nell turned Duncan’s hand shake into a hug. “I’ll be check’n up on you,” she said as she backed away.
“Thank you, Nell. I’m sure I have lots to learn, but I’ll be fine. You have a good trip to Arizona.”
The cab pulled into the rutted gravel parking lot, and Nell’s eyes flicked up and down the roadway. “My daughter is coming to pick me up. I hope she isn’t late.”
Duncan recognized her insecurity. He sympathized with her, change always comes with uncertainty. But he hadn’t ever been this excited about starting a new project. His pulse thundered in his throat. The taxi dropped him at Carl’s office building.
The breathtaking panorama of snow covered mountains filled the entire bank of windows at the end of the second floor hall, and Duncan stopped for a moment to stare. After the quiet of the lodge, he felt the bustle of the city vibrate in his chest.
When he opened the door to the office, Carl turned from where he stood beside his secretary’s desk. In three bounding steps, he covered the short distance and enveloped Duncan in a mighty bear hug. “You made it. One whole week.”
Duncan extracted himself. “It sounds like you didn’t expect me to make it. I did—last a week—and you’re fired. I told you last week how bad I thought it was. I officially declare Cotton Grass Lodge to be a disaster.”
Carl stepped back, and his whole body smiled. His short, square stature belied the fact he was a dynamo. He looked as thick as he was wide and not an ounce of fat to be found. He nodded his balding head sagaciously. “I do not believe you’ve properly evaluated the potential of the establishment we now own, so you can’t fire me.”
Duncan grabbed Carl by the lapel of his fleece vest. He would have continued the farce except both men exploded into gut-busting laughter. “Properly evaluated? You have no idea.” Duncan waved the battered notebook toward Carl. “Cancel all your appointments for the rest of the day. We have some evaluating to do.”
The two men spent the afternoon intensely pouring over the list Duncan had brought back with him. “At first I thought you’d dragged me into a boondoggle, but the potential is there. If we had some equipment and a crew—”
Carl laughed at Duncan’s excitement. “Duncan. Slow down. You can’t do it all at once.” Carl leaned across the desk toward his old friend. “Expect the unexpected, we’re in Alaska. Plan for nothing to go the way you plan.”
“You can’t be serious.”
Carl stood. “I’m deadly serious. If you can’t be flexible, you’ll go crazy. Have fun my friend, work hard, and we’ll make a little money on this deal.”
“Okay, give me the list—what’s left?” Duncan took a yellow tablet away from Carl and flipped the page. “I got the boots last week; I don’t really need a jacket and sweatshirts though. It’s summer. Right?”
Carl shook his head, “Wrong, and you only got one pair of boots. You need a pair of Xtratufs and a dozen pairs of orange rubber fish gloves—to start. You really ought to have a pair of hip-waders and a set of Hellys too.” He took the tablet away from Duncan. “Did you bring any other work clothes?”
Duncan looked down at his torn pants, “Aren’t jeans work clothes?”
Carl zipped his fleece vest. “Anchorage’s box stores and the Commercial are gonna love us, there’s always the military surplus, too.” He looked at his watch and grinned. “We might get it done today.”
They got run out of one store at closing time but they did get all the shopping done in one day. Duncan’s head swam with wonder as he and Carl loaded package after package into Carl’s truck. “Are you sure we have to do all this now?” Duncan asked. “It isn’t like the stores are going to run out.”
Carl took a deep breath and pointed across the parking lot to two gray-haired ladies loading the contents of three push-carts into a van. “See those two women?”
“Yeah,” Duncan said.
“I know the place they keep near Glennallen. It’s a three hour drive from here and believe me. If there was a place to shop between here and there they would.” Carl slumped against the truck looking tired. “They can drive to Anchorage. You can fly. At least we don’t have to box all this stuff and haul it to the post office and mail it.”
“Oh, please.” Duncan rolled his eyes in disbelief.
Carl sobered. “You aren’t in Kansas anymore, Dorothy. In Alaska, lots of folks get their groceries by mail.”
“You’re serious? Really.” Duncan checked his watch again to confirm the time. Daylight had dimmed but not gone away, and his head thought it should be dark. It was just after ten o’clock.
“Yes,” Carl’s optimism rebounded. “Now, one more stop and my sweet wife has the guest room turned down and dinner waiting. Tomorrow is another day on your journey.”
Chapter 6
Early the next morning they drove Carl’s heavily loaded truck to the airport at Lake Hood and parked in front of the gate at Charlie’s. From there they could watch the early morning bee hive of activity on the gravel strip. Beyond it, the now open water of Lake Hood’s sea plane base bustled.
“This is crazy-busy compared to Cotton Grass,” Duncan said.
“Just wait. It’s early in the season.” Carl yawned and stretched. “You’ll be surprised before long.”
The truck idled quietly keeping the defroster at work on the damp windshield. “Do you think Hanna will be here today?” Duncan asked as they sat watching another plane take off.
Carl waited for the noise to abate as the plane passed overhead. “Doubt it, but you never know.” Carl grinned in Duncan’s direction. “Doesn’t sound like idle curiosity.”
“Of course it is; she’s an interesting woman. I like keeping up with the neighbors.” Duncan was glad Carl couldn’t read minds. Hanna was a very interesting neighbor. “Oh good, there’s Charlie now.” He poked his thumb toward the rear as a faded pick-up turned into the lot and pulled up beside Carl’s truck.
Charlie acknowledged the two with a nod, got out of the truck, and went to the office door. He let the old husky out before he returned to open the chain link gate into the area in front of the hanger doors.
Carl drove through the gate. He waited as Charlie rolled a plane out of the hanger then carefully backed as close to the plane as he could.
Duncan was favoring his bad leg this morning so he felt a kinship with the dog as she ambled in a three-legged shuffle through the still open gate. She greeted each man as they stepped around her. “Git outa the way, damn Dog.” Charlie admonished the animal. He bent down and gently pointed her away from where they walked and she circled back. The men continued stepping over and around the dog as they carried packages, bags, and plastic totes to the plane.
Duncan bit down on being annoyed. Did all the dogs in his life have to be underfoot? Dog looked up at him with foggy old eyes, and he ran a hand over her head.
“Now, you’re in trouble,” Charlie said. “She’s in love.” Dog leaned heavily into Duncan’s leg.
When they finished loading the plane, Charlie’s gravel voice was low and somber, he held his hand out toward Duncan. “Take your nail clippers outta your pocket.”