RUNAWAY TWINS and RUNAWAY TWINS IN ALASKA: BOXED SET (19 page)

"Don't like the looks of these men," said Janie softly. "Remind me of the two guys our friend from Nome saved us from."

Rachel murmured in agreement.

Rex and Martha were in uniform, and Justin was dressed like the twins in boots, jeans, and a flannel shirt, except he was still wearing his jacket.

Rex spoke first, "Morning, gentlemen."

The twins exchanged skeptical glances regarding the four men's gentlemanly status.

Justin stood to one side, examining the two large green canoes that were beached a few yards away.

The men stood facing the visitors. An unshaven fat man took the lead and stepped forward. He was decked out in a khaki and green outfit that appeared to have been removed intact from a dummy at the Sportman's Warehouse in Fairbanks; and despite his new clothes or perhaps because of them, he seemed uncomfortable. He continually tugged at his collar and shrugged his shoulders, as if to force a better fit. "Rangers getting pretty young these days," he said.

Martha motioned toward the three teenagers. "Interns," she said, "new program."

"We would advise you to relocate your campsite," said Rex. "The Yuktapah is unpredictable in this region. You might find yourselves swimming in the middle of the night."

The fat man said, "Really? Good thing you dropped in. We didn't know. We'll find a spot higher up right away."

While their leader continued to express his gratitude for the warning, the other three men turned their attention to the teenagers, first to Justin, as if they were evaluating his capabilities, and then to the twins, slowly, salaciously, unmindful of how their attention might be interpreted. One of the men, tall, angular, long-faced, advanced toward Janie and seemed ready to reach out and touch her. She flinched and backed up several paces. He checked his forward progress, but kept his eyes on her.

Janie felt creepy, like a sled dog about to be brought to auction. She coughed. Couldn't she and Rachel ever escape such men—even here in the wilderness? Degenerate men with degenerate thoughts.

The fat leader appeared to be occupied with Rex and Martha, but even he was casting quick glances toward the twins.

Martha asked, "What're your plans this far up river?"

"Fishing, of course," said the fat man, motioning toward the teepee of expensive poles.

"For what?" asked Rex.

"Graylings, but we'll be happy to catch whatever we can…if the earthquake didn't scare the fish into hidey holes. Quake was something, wasn't it? River seemed to back up and flow in the opposite direction for a time. Straightened out, though. Quakes common up here?...Mountain smoking, too. What's up with that?"

"New to us," said Martha. "We're working on answers."

"Where're you boys from?" Rex asked.

"…I'm Joe. Me from Idaho, Mike from Montana, Jack and Ernie from Washington."

"How'd you get together? Where do you know each other from?"

The fat man hesitated. "Family. We're cousins. This trip is part of our cousin reunion in Missoula."

Jack and Ernie, wiry men of medium height and indeterminate age, were holding beer cans.

Martha asked, "Do you men have guns?"

Montana Mike, the tall, long-faced man, motioned toward the community tent. "Yeah, for protection, rifles and pistols."

"You can't hunt up here without a guide," Martha said. "And you can't drink and shoot firearms."

Mike nodded and fat Joe from Idaho nodded as well. Jack and Ernie tossed their beer cans into a small barrel.

"We're not here to hunt," said Joe, "…Protection. Bears around here. Don't want to be helpless."

Justin cut in, "You can't shoot sows with cubs or any bears with collars. This is a special bear-management region, inside and outside the preserve."

"Not our intention, son," said Mike. "Fish…we're here for fish."

"No law against drinking and fishing is there?" said Ernie.

Rex loosened his tight expression. "No, and if there were, no one would pay any attention. Just exercise care at all times."

"Yes, sir," said Idaho Joe.

Martha said, "Remember what you said. You're in bear country. Any fish you kill—wash in the river. If you don't, the grizzlies will be all over you."

In the helicopter, Rachel looked
down on the camp and at the four men who had now resumed their ease in their canvas chairs. "They don't look like cousins."

"They're not," said Janie. "They're lying for some reason."

Martha smiled at the girls and Justin. "Some people lie for no good reason—just by force of habit."

Justin looked back at the camp. "Or for reasons we don't know. Everything new—like they stopped off at the Sportsman's Warehouse and bought what they needed. A lot of money for a fishing trip."

"Maybe you're right about their being rich," said Rex.

Martha shook her head. "Didn't look rich to me. Bad teeth."

7
Trophy Fever

They had now reached the
Bilboa and Barnes outfitter's camp at the bend in the Yuktapah River. Rex landed the helicopter on a long sandbar, and the rangers and interns waded across the shallows to greet the two guides and three hunters who had come to the water's edge to greet them. The contrast between the location of the fishermen's camp and the camp of the outfitters was apparent at once. The hunters' tents were well-worn, and their canoes though scarred and dented, were perched safely on the high bank. There was trash on the ground, but the site was dry and pitched in the best possible location—a rise above the river's hook that was unlikely to flood, even under the worst conditions.

Janie's prejudice against guns and violence of all kinds caused her to stand aloof, looking for signs that these were the same kind of men she had seen upriver; but though she strained to make a connection, she could not do so. The gray-bearded guides, Barnes and Bilboa, were shifty-looking, it was true; and she wouldn't trust them to hold her purse, but they seemed to be good, honest crooks who would die before they'd harm underaged girls. And the three hunters appeared to be poured from similar molds—smiling country boys, awkward, macho, but basically straightforward. Of course, these were first impressions based on no hard information; but Janie had learned to trust her own judgment and to trust it quickly.

There were no dead bears, brown or black, being processed anywhere in camp, and no bearskins drying nearby. It was apparent that this was not yet a successful hunt.

Rex and Martha talked to the hunters about alcohol, guns, sows with cubs, the special protection in the area for sows with GPS collars, and washing fish kill in the river. Then the rangers shared all they knew regarding the earthquake and the smoke that had spurted from Mount Yuktapah.

Justin watched and listened carefully and concluded there was no way these men would follow rules and regulations when money and the pride of the hunt were at stake. The faces of Bilboa and Barnes, the guides, were lean and hungry; and the faces of the three hunters were determined and eager. All five men were likely to do whatever was necessary to see that their goals were met. They didn't look like criminals, but neither did they look trustworthy.

Justin gazed toward the southeast. He wished that Big Bertha at least would soon cross the river and make her way back to the preserve. The thought of one of these men ending her life with a bullet was more than he could tolerate.

The three sows were up
and foraging in the same valley where they'd been tranquilized. The residual effects of the drug were still present, and the teenagers found it amusing to watch the bears waddling on unsteady legs, chasing ground squirrels and gophers.

"They're not heading back to the Glacier Lake area," said Janie. "What does it mean?"

"Maybe nothing," said Martha. "They're still full of Immobilon. The idea of a long trek home isn't very appealing to them yet. Might start moving later."

"Or might not," said Rex, "but we can't wait around to see. Need to take you kids back to the cabin, gas up the 407, and take off for Denali. Headquarters has been on the radio and they want our input—earthquake and Mount Yuktapah. All the outlying rangers are coming in. The superintendent will stuff everything into his computer to see if he can figure out what the tectonic plates are up to. USGS is coming, too."

Janie made a face. "What about our cubs? What if the sows don't come home while you're gone? What about Little Bertha and Umbriago?"

"And the four other cubs," said Rachel. "They can't make it without their mothers."

Rex and Martha talked to one another in low voices the teenagers couldn't hear without straining. Finally Rex turned around in his seat. "You guys are right, so there's only one answer. We'll set up the screens back there and take the cubs with us to Denali. That is if we can find them. A few extra hours won't matter."

8
Spring Cubs

Late in the afternoon, as
the sun was declining in the western sky, the screens were up in the cargo section of the Bell 407 and five nervous grizzly cubs were staring forlornly through the wire. Their mothers were gone, they hadn't eaten since the previous day, and though the teenagers tried to bottle feed them, the cubs demurred, hoping perhaps for rich, sweet sow's milk.

"Denali will have something," said Martha. "New mixtures—cubs will think they're at their mothers' teats."

"Hope so," said Rachel, withdrawing a still-full milk bottle through the small door in the screens.

"Sorry about Umbriago," said Martha. "Wish we could've found him, too."

Justin said, "He was always the most adventurous. Wouldn't be surprised if he went looking for Big Bertha."

"He'll die out there by himself," said Janie. "Can't you wait until tomorrow to go to Denali? Give us more time to find him."

"No," said Rex. "We've got to take off now. Orders."

Martha hugged Janie. "You'll find him around here somewhere. And when you do, keep trying to feed him. He gets hungry enough, he'll start eating."

At that moment Mount Yuktapah belched loudly and sent a plume of rusty smoke high into the sky.

"Different color," said Rachel.

"Hiccup," said Rex.

Janie clutched Rachel's hand. "Should we go to Denali?"

"You'll be fine," said Rex, "just an old volcano getting irritated."

"That's what they said about Mount Saint Helens," said Janie.

After saying their goodbyes to
the two senior rangers, Justin, Rachel, and Janie hurried down the path from the plateau to the cabin. They wanted to get a quick bite to eat and then utilize the remaining daylight to search for Umbriago. Every moment he was out there alone increased the chances they would find him dead in a ravine with his bones picked clean by predators.

"Let's split up," said Rachel. "I'll search to the north, Janie to the south, and Justin, you head west. We'll meet back here before dark."

The hours of available daylight had extended appreciably since the onset of spring, and almost two hours passed by the time the three friends regathered at the cabin. But the extra light made little difference. No one had caught sight of Umbriago.

When they went inside Rachel and Justin were shocked to see that Janie's face was drained of color and her eyes were red and moist. "What's wrong?" Rachel asked quickly.

In an unsteady voice Janie replied, "I don't want to go out alone like that again. I want to stay close to you two. Every sound, every shadow made me jump." She stumbled to the sofa and drew her legs to her chest, grasping them with both arms.

Justin and Rachel sat down on either side of her. "I don't understand," said Justin. "You've been out there alone a hundred times since we got here."

Janie closed her eyes. "I know…I think I'm losing my confidence. Too much…all pressed together. Montana, Father, Mother, corrupt men, guns, bears, the earthquake, the mountain. I just don't want to be alone for a while."

Rachel took her sister's hand. "Then you won't be, dear. Whenever you turn around, one of us will be beside you. I promise."

Rex and Martha called late
that evening from Denali to check on them and to tell them about the progress of Little Bertha and the four other cubs. "They've got a sweet milk mixture here the little ones can't get enough of," said Martha. "They're wrestling and tumbling like they were back in Yuktapah."

"What's going to happen to them?" asked Janie.

Rex answered, "Depends on the sows. Keep your eyes open, see if you can spot them. Best scenario for the cubs would be to load them up again and bring them home. But their mothers have to be nearby. They can't survive on their own in the preserve. Maybe they can here in Denali. What's the story on Umbriago?"

"Still can't find him," said Justin. "We'll start looking again in the morning. I know a valley to the east where he might be hanging out."

In the middle of the night, the cabin began to shake and rattle once again, and Justin and the girls ran out the front door to wait for the ground to undulate and the waves of Glacier Lake to roll. But this time there was no follow up; and after waiting a half hour, they went back inside to get more sleep.

This time, however, Janie crawled in bed with her sister, and though room in the small bed was limited, Rachel didn't object.

The twins fixed a large
breakfast of bacon, eggs, and potatoes while Justin went out for an early morning reconnoiter to see if Umbriago might have wandered back toward the south end of Glacier Lake. No such luck. So, after gathering supplies for the trail from the bear-proof storage bin on a platform atop a twenty-five foot retractable ladder, he returned inside.

"We'll pack a lunch and a late meal, too. No telling how long it'll take to find him."

"We shouldn't give up too easily," said Janie.

"We won't," said Rachel.

After breakfast, Janie and Justin cleaned up and Rachel went to the tracking receiver to check on the progress of Big Bertha and the other two sows. "Bad news," she called out, "they haven't started toward home. Looks like they're pretty close to where we left them."