Authors: Marisa Logan
Jumping onto the ATV, she motioned for Lauren to get on behind her. They would be able to travel together faster in the thick underbrush and low-hanging limbs that threatened to dislodge a rider on a tall horse. Kuzih would follow behind on Trace at a slower pace.
The two of them made good time as Nasnan pushed the ATV over the rough places and went even faster through the clearer areas. It was apparent that her driving skills were equal to her husband’s as she wrestled the tough little machine over the broken trail. Lauren was left to hang on as best she could, torn between her fears and concern for her cousin.
When they reached sight of the homestead, Lauren was surprised to see Afon munching grass at the edge of the yard with his reins trailing in the dirt. She barely had time to consider the matter before Nasnan had parked the ATV and was headed into the lodgehouse.
Even more shocking was the sight of Sergei kneeling next to the couch where he was holding an icepack to Amber’s cheek. The look of concern on his face was apparent and Lauren was left to wonder about her presumptions. This was her first time to see him inside the house, but it was clear that he knew his way around.
He looked relieved to see Nasnan and stepped back to give her room to assess the ‘patient’. She picked up a mug sitting on the coffee table and gave it a quick sniff. Giving Sergei a nod, she talked to Amber to try and determine the level of her pain. It was clear to Lauren that Amber was clearly feeling some relief.
“The birch tea is good. It helps the pain and the infection,” Nasnan affirmed. “The tooth will have to come out, but it’s better for you to have one of your dentists for that. The tea and some herbs I brought will help you until Carson can come.”
Sergei nodded in agreement with her assessment and turned his attention to Lauren.
“Amber was very concerned about you. She couldn’t decide if she wanted me to help her or go after you. I told her to give you the chance to prove to yourself what you can do. You did well.”
Sergei’s words were followed with a sincere smile that warmed Lauren’s heart all the way to her toes. He turned and left the room without saying anything else as she stood there basking in his admiration.
For that kind of attention, she’d ride to the moon and back
, she swooned inside.
When she finally came down off her cloud, she realized that he’d gone out to the barn and done the milking and collected the eggs. She’d managed to make some coffee and a pan of sweet rolls by the time he reappeared with Kuzih. Amber was safely tucked into her own bed and was sleeping soundly, thanks to the herbs Nasnan prepared for her. The four of them sat down at the table to consider what would happen next.
“Carson will have to fly Amber back to the city,” Sergei began. “She’s going to be away for at least two weeks before she can be treated and he can bring her back. You understand…” he said looking at Lauren pointedly.
Lauren nodded, but for once her nod was sure as she basked in the glow of her success. For the first time, she was confident that she could handle everything on her own, at least for a short time.
“We won’t be able to help much,” Kuzih began to explain. “It’s the time for the ‘gathering’ and our people will join together for the celebration of the harvest before winter begins. We must travel two days journey away.”
Lauren hurried to assure the couple that she would be able to handle things until Amber came back. Sergei added his commitment to check on her as often as he could and the matter was settled.
Lauren divided the rest of the sweet rolls, the eggs Sergei had brought in and several bars of goat milk soap into two packs. She was proud to be able to give something back to her neighbors for their kindness. She showed Nasnan some of the different soaps she’d made and asked if there would be anyone interested in trading for them at their gathering.
“There’s always an interest in trading for soap,” Nasnan said. “Especially fine soap like this. I’m sure I can make some good trades for you. Is there anything in particular you’d like to trade for?”
Lauren had the presence of mind to look embarrassed before she whispered, “I’d really like some chocolate…”
Nasnan burst out laughing, which caught the attention of the two men. Her husband asked what was so funny and she answered in their native language. Sergei looked confused until Kuzih explained the joke, then he too started to laugh.
“Chocolate’s a pretty rare commodity out here in the bush,” he stated. “You’re going to come up short on that end of the deal.”
Noting Lauren’s discomfort, Nasnan patted her arm.
“Don’t worry. Some of our clan are coming upriver from Galena. I’ll put the word out and see what I can do. We’ll try and find you some chocolate.”
With that said, the TwoRivers couple gathered their things and headed outside. After a quick peek into Amber’s room, Sergei followed them and Lauren was left to consider the events of the morning. She’d learned a lot of new things in a very short time and her mind was struggling to process all of it. The one thing that surprised her most of all was the fact that she really wasn’t afraid to handle things on her own for the next couple of weeks. Besides, what could go wrong…?
Chapter 9
Amber’s ‘mini-vacation’, if one could call it that went smoothly on both sides and Lauren surprised everyone by handling the homestead like an old pro.
Sergei was true to his word and stopped by every couple of days to check on things. She suspected that he came by a little more often than that, but just took a quick look around without alerting her to his presence. She’d never caught him at spying on her, but little things were picked up and put away, like hay forks and such that she remembered leaving here or there. He never came into the house and usually appeared when she was milking the goats or bringing in the eggs. She’d hoped for some quiet time together over a cup of coffee and baked several kinds of goodies hoping to tempt him inside, but he always made his exit before she could invite him.
Amber was fully recovered from her ordeal and welcomed Lauren’s newfound interest in helping to care for the animals. They finished up the final harvest from the outside garden and picked all of the lingonberries they could stand to pick. The area was full of raspberries and blueberries and the two women ate their fill of them. Frost was on the ground every morning and Sergei had activated the heating system for the long winter run.
Kuzih and Nasnan came back from the ‘gathering’ with a small pile of goods and more than a few stories to tell. Lauren was touched to see some chocolate bars on top of the pile. She quickly squirreled them away in her pocket when she thought no one was looking. Then she caught a wink passed between the couple and she knew they’d seen her.
As they chattered on and on about their harvest festival, Lauren realized their shyness was gone and they felt like old friends. She was surprised to find how much she enjoyed their company. It was clear the two of them were a couple in every way and relied on each other for their survival as well as their place in the native community. She wondered what it would be like to have someone like that in her life. She couldn’t imagine being with someone 24/7 and liking it. It wasn’t the normal way of life in her world.
Sure her parents spent their days together now that they were retired, but their volunteer work and other activities weren’t shared. The closest relationship that Lauren knew of was her grandparents and they each had their own areas of responsibility. Her grandmother was usually in the house or the garden while her grandfather spent his days in the barn or the fields. They didn’t do everything together like the TwoRivers.
“Lauren, I was wondering,” Nasnan’s voice broke into her thoughts. “What does your name mean?”
“I don’t really know. I just know my mother had a famous actress she liked and I was named after her. I never really considered my name had any meaning beyond that.”
“Interesting,” Nasnan said. “Athabascan names always have meanings. They’re supposed to define our personality. For instance, my name, Nasnan, means ‘surrounded by song’.”
“That’s beautiful,” Lauren agreed nodding her head. “You know Sergei’s horse, Afon? His name means ‘immortal’ in Russian.”
So, what does ‘Kuzih’ mean,” Amber asked with a grin.
He proudly puffed up his chest before answering her with a grin of his own.
“It means, ‘great talker’!”
The four of them burst into laughter at the obvious truth in his name.
***
On a side note, one very interesting revelation had come forth from Amber’s mishap.
When Carson picked her up, he flew her up to Fairbanks to see the dentist. The man was an old friend of Carson’s and was willing to work a trade for his services.
Amber received all of the care that she needed at no monetary expense to her in exchange for Carson’s plane to take the doctor and his team out to some of the more remote villages for their program, “A Day of Dentistry”. Carson figured he owed Amber a great deal more than he’d ever paid her for her services and was happy to be part of the deal.
When it came time to bring Amber back to the homestead, Carson told her he needed to make an extra stop along the way. He didn’t share any more details and she didn’t ask. After all, he was in the business of making deliveries. He landed the plane on a rough airstrip and Amber was surprised to see several native children running from the trees towards the plane. She was even more surprised when she heard them shouting, “Dad! Dad” as they ran to greet their father.
Carson jumped out of the plane as soon as it rolled to a stop and was caught up in a group hug that expanded by the minute as the younger children joined in as fast as their little legs could carry them.
Everyone was laughing and talking at the same time and as Amber tried to take all of this in, she noticed a very pregnant woman waddling in their direction. The look on her face spoke volumes and Amber realized that this was the reason Carson had never responded to her attempts to move beyond the ‘friend’ stage. He was obviously a
very
married man with a large brood to show for it.
As the woman reached her offspring and her mate, Carson remembered his sketchy manners and stood up to introduce his family to Amber. He didn’t say anything about her apparent surprise, but she could see he was enjoying her discomfort.
As he reeled off the names and ages of each of his children, he’d reach into his pocket and pull something out for them. He was just giving them little things like sticks of gum or pieces of candy, but it was clear that he was giving each child their own special treat. He saved his wife for last and patted her swollen belly as he presented her to Amber.
His wife received the last little packet from his pocket as he turned with her to walk towards the trees. The children gathered around Amber and asked her question after question. She was delighted with their exuberance and soon they were playing a game of tag scaled down for the littlest ones.
The game ended much too soon when Carson came back and sent the children off to follow their mother home. He promised them, he’d stay much longer on his next trip and hugged each one of them as they headed off.
When they got back into the air, Amber had only one question, “Why didn’t you ever tell me about your family?”
“They’re my family and my business. It’s the Alaskan way to take care of your own business. You know that. It’s in your blood too,” he retorted. “People have all kinds of negative ideas and stereotypes about the native peoples. It’s better for my family to stay right here in their own culture and I’ll do everything I can to help them do that for their own sakes.”
Amber was silenced by his words. He was right and she knew it. It really wasn’t any of her business. She wondered if he knew how much personal agony his silence had cost her though. She knew he’d never given her any encouragement to fall in love with him and it was her own fault she’d suffered. Knowing what she did now didn’t erase any of the hurt she’d carried for the last couple of years, but at least she finally understood what was behind his silence.
Chapter 9
Grady and Riley came through in mid-September for Riley’s final expedition before he headed back to the lower ’48. He persuaded Amber to make one final trip to the Horner Hot Springs with him before he headed home. She obliged him his request and they planned an overnight camping trip.
Grady took this opportunity to convince Lauren to let him cook dinner for her. He made her promise to stay away from the kitchen until everything was done.
“It’s not that I don’t like your cooking,” he laughed. “I just want to give you a chance to eat something cooked by someone else. It’s not like I can take you out to a restaurant to say thanks.”
He surprised her with a wonderful ‘bou stew’ that he’d cooked in the electric pressure cooker.
“Wow!” she said on her first bite. “If I’d known you could cook like this, I’d have let you cook for me a long time ago. Where did you find roast beef?”
“Oh no,” he protested. “That’s not roast beef. That’s caribou meat with your garden vegetables and some of the local herbs.”
She took another bite and chewed the tender meat carefully.
“I don’t know how you did it. When I tried to cook some of that meat, it was tougher than shoe leather and had no taste,” she admitted.
“Aha! See! That’s where the pressure cooker is your friend. The cooking process is so good that it can make even shoe leather taste good. I’ll show you how to use it before I go.”
The two of them cleaned their plates and ate most of the stew before they finally pushed themselves away from the table with a groan.
“I’d offer you some ice cream,” Lauren said, “but I think you’d have to wear it. I can’t imagine you have any room left to eat anymore.”
Grady nodded at her comment and grabbed their mugs of hot cocoa before heading for the sofa. She saw him setting out the Scrabble game as she cleared the table. She managed to put the last of the stew into the refrigerator before joining him. The dishes could wait until later, much later.
Like tomorrow
, she thought with a grin.
***
One day, the sound of Carson’s plane surprised them all. Usually, he radioed or texted ahead that he was coming their way. Everyone scrambled for the pickup to meet him at the airstrip. It was time for the two geologists to head back to base and winter was clearly upon them as there was now snow on the ground. Lauren was anxious to see how Carson would land on the icy airstrip. It was rough enough landing on dirt and grass. She wondered how snow would be better. She’d struggled to learn how to make the short trip from the lodgehouse to the barn on her snowshoes and it wasn’t even very deep. She’d never seen snowshoes for a plane.
Much to her surprise, Carson’s plane was outfitted with a pair of skis. He landed with ease and swooshed his way across the snow to meet the truck with ease. No one could say the snow offered a softer or a smoother landing, but it worked as well as grass and dirt. Everyone turned at the chorus of barks, yips and howls coming from the other side of the clearing just in time to see Sergei emerge from the bare trees on the back of his sled.
Lauren missed the sight of Afon, but the beautiful huskie-mixes running as a precision team were almost as impressive in their own way. The dogs pulled the sled easily down the airstrip with looks of joy on their faces. This was what they’d been bred and born to do and they relished the task. As they responded to Sergei’s command to stop, every dog dropped to their belly and looked back at him. It was clear his training skills weren’t limited to horses.
Carson quickly unloaded the few packages from the front of the plane and then he dragged out four
very
large boxes. Clearly stamped on the outside of each box was a single word, ‘Tampons’.
“Ladies,” he began. “I’m sure there’s some
logical
explanation for this.”
Amber turned to Lauren with a pointed look.
“What did you do?” she asked.
“Uh, you told me to order you some more tampons,” Lauren faltered. “I must have checked the wrong box on the ‘Bush Mail Shopper’ order form…”
“Uh, yeah! Instead of checking ‘box’ you must have checked ‘case’. There’s more tampons here than we could use in the next five years,” Amber groaned.
The four men were trying to hide their amusement at this little faux pas unsuccessfully and it only took Carson to break out into full blown laughing before everyone joined in, everyone but Lauren. She was mortified by her error and didn’t find anything funny about it.
“If that isn’t a ‘cheechako’ move…” Carson started to say, but couldn’t finish as a new wave of laughter came over him.
“Well...well, at least I’m not a ‘sourpuss’!” Lauren nearly shouted at him in her frustration of having her status so publicly slandered. This brought another wave of laughter even louder than the first that left her even more angry and frustrated.
Trying to show some support for her cousin, Amber attempted to bring some clarity to her words. “It’s ‘sourdough’, not ‘sourpuss’ though I’ve seen him act that way more than a few times,” Amber said.
Lauren ignored everyone and stomped her way back to the truck. She felt totally humiliated and only wanted to go home. She didn’t know what four cases of tampons had cost her, but that sign outside a shopping mall was looming ahead of her.
Only in Alaska would something like this happen
, she thought.
***
In the flurry of packing up their equipment and other belongings, Lauren’s minor meltdown was swept aside.
She quickly pulled together the makings of a nice supper in the hopes of redeeming herself and everyone gathered as soon as it was ready. Carson made an effort to be particularly nice to her and nearly succeeded in convincing her she was wrong about him, nearly.
Grady tried a couple of times to catch her aside for a few private words, but something or somebody managed to keep that from happening. Lauren kept watching for some sign that Amber and Riley were revealing anything between them, but they acted in their usual friendly way without any overt romantic overtones.
The biggest surprise of the evening came when Sergei accepted Amber’s invitation to join them for dinner. This was the first time he’d ever sat at their table and Lauren was nearly beside herself as she pulled out jars and cans of everything she would think of to throw together a nice meal. Her real crowning achievement came when she made Grady’s ‘bou stew’ all on her own much to everyone’s surprise and delight. She happily shared all of the credit with Grady as her mentor.
Fueled by good food and the pleasure of the company, their talk lingered on long past supper and it was well after dark when Sergei headed home with his team.
Amber and Lauren urged him to stay, but he was adamant that he needed to get back to his own place for the night. The other animals at his place needed to be cared for and there wasn’t anyone else to do it. Besides, he assured them, soon the darkness would be complete and there wouldn’t be more than a couple of hours of daylight. They all needed to get used to moving around in the dark.
The rest of them headed off to bed as Carson insisted on getting an early start in the morning. He explained that a large weather system was heading their way and it was possibly bringing a
lot
of snow. He wanted to be back at base before it hit the Interior.
***
True to his word, Carson was up before the sun and hustling everyone along. Gulping coffee and chomping on sourdough pancakes with reindeer sausage was interspersed with jumping up to run out and grab this or that forgotten cable or battery pack. There was no more time for idle chit chat.
The sun was just reaching for the horizon when everyone piled into the pickup and headed for the airstrip.
Grady took charge of loading their gear on the plane while Carson went through his pre-flight checklist. He may have run his business in a slipshod manner, but he took his flying very seriously. A plane crash out here usually ended badly for the errant bush pilot. The sun was just clear of the trees by the time they were ready for take-off.
Rushing through their good-byes, Grady came over to Lauren and took hold of her arms. He paused for a long moment to look deep into her eyes. As he started to lean forward to kiss her, she turned her cheek to him. As he let go of her and turned away, she caught a flash of hurt in his eyes and wondered at his feelings in that moment. She’d considered Grady as a friend and hadn’t found him to be a threat to her vow of ‘no men’. Now she was forced to face the idea that he might have been thinking something very different about her.
There was no more time to think about the matter as the men got into the plane and Carson started up the engine.
Amber and Lauren retreated to the relative warmth of the truck to watch their take-off. Carson deftly maneuvered the plane to the far end of the runway and gunned the engine. The two women watched in amazement as the plane skied down the runway and lifted off easily. A final circle around the airfield, a last tip of the wings and the plane was gone. For the next few months, it was just going to be the two women for most of the time. Carson would only come once a month and Sergei, well, he would come and go whenever he pleased.