Marcia - The Arctic Fox
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This is the story of a young boy who's father is a pilot in the USAF, and moves up to Eielson Air Force Base, near Fairbanks Alaska.
The boy has a problem, however.
He is thirteen, and would normally be entering the seventh grade, but he has been placed in ninth, because he is a genius.
How will the other students react, and will there be other problems when they realize who he really is?
Thank you Malady for editing these.
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TG Themes:
Arctic Fox
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Arctic Fox
This is the continuation of the story of Tricia Chatham, The New Kid.
It is only a little over 5 months since she moved to Eielson, and her mother died on the day after her birthday of this year.
How much will Tricia miss since she won't have that time with her mom that she would have had?
What will her dad do with a teenage trans-daughter and a girl almost 1 year old?
TG Themes:
Arctic Fox Prologue - The New Kid
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The New Kid
This is the story of a young boy who's father is a pilot in the USAF, and moves up to Eielson Air Force Base, near Fairbanks Alaska.
The boy has a problem, however. He is thirteen, and would normally be entering the seventh grade, but he has been placed in ninth, because he is a genius.
How will the other students react, and will there be other problems when they realize who he really is?
TG Themes:
The New Kid - Pt 1
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Author's Note: When the text is alternating colors, please be aware that the scenes are alternating between the heroes.
The New Kid
Patrick Chatham entered the band room and nervously looked around. He was new to the area, as his father was a pilot for an F-35, and had just been transferred to Eielson Air Force Base.. Patrick was two grades ahead for his age, and this was his 2nd semester of ninth grade.
He carried his flute in and went to see the band director, Mr. Thomas. Mr. Thomas had the flutes make room and placed Patrick with the 3rd chair, until he had a chance to challenge.
Looking at his academic record, he didn’t think there would be any problems until he went against his top 1st chair, Michelle. Then, who knew what the outcome would be.
The class got started, and Mr. Thomas looked at Patrick. “Would you introduce yourself?”
“I’d rather not.”
The band director smiled, and asked, “Do you go by Pat?”
“Yes,” Pat said very quietly.
“Alright. Class, this is Pat Chatham just moved in from Joint Base Lewis-McChord.. Am I right, Pat?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Let’s give his family a round of applause of welcome.”
There was a polite patter of applause, but the snare drum started into a roll, and the trumpet players did a fanfare to accompany it.
Pat blushed.
“They love a chance to do that,” the girl sitting next to Pat said to him quietly. “I’m Trish, by the way. I’m glad you just go by Pat. It would be strange having two Trishes sitting side by side.” She flashed a bright smile, and Pat was about to correct her mistake, when Mr. Thomas tapped his baton on his stand.
“Let’s take out Michelle, Eleanor Rigby.” The song was a medley of three Beatles songs, starting with Michelle, then Eleanor Rigby, and ending with Yesterday.
“We’re going to have a cabaret right before spring break,” Trish told him.
“Trish, would you please zip it?” Mr. Thomas said.
Rather than the way a lot of school band directors did it, Mr. Thomas gave a three and four beat, expecting the band to figure the speed of the piece by them.
Pat was surprised. The band was much more in tune than a lot of high school symphonic bands he had heard. As a matter of fact, there was a trumpet player that was slightly flat, and as they were playing Mr. Thomas shouted over the music, “Lit it up, Darryl!”
Immediately, the horn went into tune.
At the end of Michelle, Mr. Thomas brought the band to a halt. “What was that about, Darryl?”
“Sorry, Sir. I was just playing around.”
“Play around on your own time; not mine.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Mr. Thomas looked at Pat. “That was very good, Pat. He turned to the 2nd chair flutes. “You’d better practice more. You’ve got some competition,” but he said it good naturedly.”
The class went well, and by the end, Pat was very impressed in how good they actually were. He could tell that Darryl actually had been playing around, because he was actually the top of the 1st chair trumpets, and was very obviously very talented. Playing through The Magnificent Seven theme was a treat. The syncopation was performed flawlessly.
This class is full of people who could play in a symphony, he thought as he was cleaning his flute at the end.
Darryl came up to him and asked, “What’s your next class?”
Pat took out his schedule. “Biology.”
“Cool. Mine too. Want me to show you where it is?”
“Sure.”
Pat and Darryl became friends that day, and when Darryl walked Pat home, the younger boy said, "I don't want to embarrass you, but you do realize I'm a boy, don't you?"
Darryl took it in stride. "Really? I wouldn't have guessed that. I don't think anyone at the school did either."
Pat sighed. "I suppose that's better than my last school. I was with those kids for three years. We lived off base, and I was picked on pretty bad. I'd be a 7th grader, but I was placed ahead."
Darryl smiled. "So you're a genius too? That's cool."
Pat laughed. "Maybe if I just let everyone think I'm a girl, they wouldn't pick in me."
"There is that possibility."
"But the school has records that refer to me as Patrick."
"All you'd have to do is go to the office and tell them that you're really a girl."
"Probably not, but it could be done."
"I don't want to be a girl."
Darryl looked at him, appraising. "Too bad, " he said finally.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re pretty.”
Pat blushed, then turned to walk toward his house. Darryl chuckled. Pat held his books like a girl would. Granted, he had all his textbooks with him, plus his flute, but he held them in front of him with his arms wrapped around them.
“Would you like me to carry your books,” he asked.
“Why would you want to do that?”
“They’re heavy.”
“I’m not a girl, Darryl.”
“So you said.”
Pat sighed and handed them over. Darryl transferred his trumpet, in it’s leather gig bag, to his left hand, and carried Pat’s in his right. His own books were in a backpack.
“Pat, have you ever looked at your body language in relation to another guy’s?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You know what body language is, right?”
“Sure.” Pat said in a way that invited Darryl to go on.
“It’s not just your looks, Pat. You walk, talk, hold your books. Everything about you says you’re a girl. How come?’
Pat just stood there, staring at Darryl.
“Why didn’t you tell everyone you were a boy?”
Again, Pat said nothing, but Darryl noticed that his eyes were getting moist.
“Pat, please don’t take me wrong, but are you really a boy, or is that an act?”
“Is it that obvious?” Pat asked.
“If you’re really a girl, why are you worried if it’s obvious?”
“Because I don’t want to hurt my parents.” Pat turned and started toward his house again. The crowd that had started out at the school had thinned as kids were turning reaching their houses, or heading down different streets.
“They wouldn’t like it?”
“I know my dad wouldn’t. He always wants to get me interested in sports. I’m not sure about my mom.”
Darryl nodded. “Has your dad always been that way?”
“No. He started when we were at Lewis-McChord. He said I needed to have something the other kids would respect.”
“And?”
“I’m not into sports. This is my house,” Pat told Darryl as they arrived at 250E Northern Lights Drive.
Darryl started to follow as Pat walked up the driveway. “You don’t need to walk me to the door.”
The older boy lifted the books held under his right arm a bit.
“Come on,” Pat said simply. He opened the door and they entered. “I”m home,” he called.
It was Friday, and Pat’s dad didn’t start work until Monday, so they were still working on unpacking the boxes dropped off my Allied Van Lines the day before.
“*$#JFIE^ &kfa dfj9!” came from the master bedroom, followed by a bang and then a yell as if someone was injurred.
Darryl bent down and whispered in Pat’s ear. “Why would they station a Navy guy out here? We’re landlocked.”
Pat started laughing, and he heard his dad call, “You want to assemble this bed Pat?”
“I wasn’t laughing at you, Dad!”
“Uh huh,” his dad called, unconvinced. They heard him walk down the hall, “Oh. Hi,” Major Mike Chatham said when he saw Darryl.
“Hello, Sir. I’m Darryl Johnson.”
“Nice to meet you, Darryl. Are you any relation to the Colonel?”
“Yes, Sir. He’s my dad.”
“Well, it’s nice of you to take Pat under your wing.” He noticed that Pat only had his flute, and that Darryl had a backpack, and a stack of books in his hand. “Are those Pat’s?”
“Uh, Yes, Sir.”
Pat quickly took the books and hurried down the hall.
The major watched him go and shook his head. Then, he turned to Darryl and said, “He’s not a girl, you know.”
“Yes, Sir. I know that,” his eyes following his new friend as well.
“Thanks for carrying his books for her,” Pat’s dad said.
Darryl noticed the abrupt change in pronouns, and looked around at Pat’s dad. He was grinning, and gave Darryl a wink. What the heck?
“I don’t want to keep you,” Major Chatham said.
“I texted my mom and told her I’d be late, Sir. Do you need any help around here?”
“I don’t want anyone thinking I’m getting special treatment from the CO,”
“No problem, Sir. I’m in band along with Pat. I just want to help out a fellow musician.”
“Uh huh,” It was that same doubtful, almost knowing response that he had given his son.
“Pat still has to work on her room. She’d probably appreciate your help.”
“Sir?”
The man indicated the way into the kitchen behind him and stepped in. Darryl followed.
“Shelly and I know know about our son, or rather, daughter. She’s just got to figure it out for herself.”
“Dad?”
Mike Chatham looked around Darryl and saw Pat standing there, looking confused.
“Uh, I should be getting home,” Darryl said glancing at his watch. “It’s later than I thought it was.” With that he was headed out the door. He stopped for a moment, then rertrieved a post-it note pad and pen from his gig bag pocket, and quickly scrawled something on it. He handed it to Pat, who quickly read it and put it in his pocket. Darryl was out the door with a quick “Bye, Pat. Sir.”
“Very polite young man, don’t you think?” Mike asked Pat.
When Pat didn’t respond, he said, “What did the note say?”
“Just his name and phone number.”
“Can I see it?” Darryl had written a bit longer than just his name and number.
“Do you have to?”
“No.” Mike said gently.
Again, Pat was confused.
His dad motioned for his son to follow him, and they walked into the living room where his mom was busy getting unpacking. There was a playpen in the corner and a baby in a pink sleeper was out like a light.
Mike took a look at the baby, then said quietly, “I think the three of us need to talk, Shelly.”
-=#=-
Darryl walked quickly up the street. It was later in the day now, and the sky was clear. It could conceivably get down to minus forty or fifty below. Even colder if it was really angry. There wasn’t a lot of snow on the ground yet. That would be coming soon, he knew.
“What’s going on?” Shelly asked her husband.
As he walked, Darryl was trying to figure out what Major Chatham had said to him. Pat had said his parents didn’t know about him – her. He wasn’t sure which pronoun to use at the moment. What the hell, he figured. Pat is a girl. Plain and simple. And, according to HER, she wanted to be one.
Another band member, Darryl, the CO’s son, walked Pat home from school.
So what was going on? HER parents knew?
So did he know that Pat is a boy?
He walked by the high school, and on another couple of blocks till he came to his own house. He hadn’t told Pat that he lived the other direction. He wanted to walk her home. He didn’t realize that Pat was so young, but what the hell. In a couple of years, that wouldn’t matter at all.
“No Shelly. He knew that Pat is a girl.”
Darryl walked into his house, calling, “I’m home!”
“Didn’t you tell him you’re a boy, Pat?”
“Who was she?” his mom asked.
“Darryl thought for a moment, then said. “I told him, then he said that I acted like a girl.”
“She’s the daughter of Major Chatham. She’s like Margot.”
Chapter 2
“How did he take it when you said you were a boy?” Shelly asked Pat.
“He didn’t even react, Mom. He just said it was too bad I was a boy. That everything about me said I was a girl.”
“What did you think about that?” his dad asked.
This was the moment that Pat had feared for a long time. Whether to tell his parents about himself or not. He had known for a long time. He couldn’t exactly remember when he figured it out. It was like he had always known.
He always played with the neighborhood girls, but when his grandparents visited, his grandma said he shouldn’t do that. That he was a boy.
He was smart, and even for his age, he understood exactly what his grandma had said.
“Mom,” Shelly said. “He’s only three.”
“But he’ll get confused,” Grandma countered.
“Not yet.”
“Yes. you’ve got to get him playing with boys now. Not later. He needs to know now, that he’s not to play with dolls.”
“All kids play with dolls, Mom.”
“They do not,” her mother said, aghast at the thought.
“What do you think action figures are?”
“Boy’s toys.”
“Boy’s dolls,” Shelly argued.
“The key word is boy’s.”
When her mother and father left, Shelly thought that maybe she had been right. Mike really didn’t understand kids very much. We was masculine as the day was long. He had never played with the girls. He played with trucks, and most importantly, toy airplanes.
“You probably understand this more,” he told his wife.
A few years later, when Pat was eight, Mike had been watching his son curiously. He had seen exactly what Darryl had seen. A younger version of it, to be sure, but his son was not acting normal. Not for a boy, anyway. For a little girl, perhaps. He decided to ask Shelly what she thought.
“Yes, I’ve been noticing. He won’t play with the boys in the neighborhood. I’ve tried to follow Mom’s direction. I’ve even talked to her about it. She says I’ve got to be more strict.”
“Have you tried that?”
“For a few days, yes. I kept him in, away from the girls. I heard him playing with his action figures. They were babies! He was treating them just the way a girl would treat a dolly.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to upset you. You’re up there in the sky, flying that plane! I didn’t want you worrying about your son.”
“Honey,” he said, taking Shelly in his arms. “We raise Pat together. I need to know what’s going on too. Don’t worry about me. When I’m up there, I put everything out of my mind, except what I”m doing.”
Immediately, Mike started trying to interest Pat in sports, not to drive away the girl that he knew was there, but to help the boy not be looked on as a pariah.
Pat couldn’t figure sports, though. She simply didn’t understand them. She also wasn’t able to act like a boy.
Mike doubled his efforts. His daughter was extremely smart, and was placed two grades ahead of her peers when they were at Lewis-McChord. Mike and Shelly wouldn’t have allowed it, but they didn’t want Pat to be bored.
Nothing Mike could do would get Pat interested in a boy’s activities. They almost had her put back in her own grade, but couldn’t bring themselves to do it. They discussed having her enrolled as a girl in Eielson, but didn’t think she realized she was trans yet. She had never mentioned it.
Pat, however, never liked her grandmother after she said she was a boy and shouldn’t be allowed to play with girls. She hated the fact that her grandma died, but there was another part of her that said, good.
In her mind, her name was Tricia, but she didn’t dare tell her parents.
Her dad had tried to get her interested in sports, and she had tried to understand. She couldn’t figure any of them out, though. Oh, she understood how they worked. She had memorized the rules, but to actually play? It was almost impossible.
She was constantly picked on, and bullied. Never anything physical, or it would have been reported. Her mom tried talking to the principal about it, but he said, being that Pat was going to be treated that way, no matter what anyone did. Boys would be boys.
She had no problem with the girls, although they didn’t understand the little boy who acted like one of them. They neither picked on her, nor did they encourage her participation in their activities. To them, she was a nobody.
Everyone at this new school had assumed she was just a late bloomer, but a girl. She had taken to androgynous clothes, to try to get the kids at Lewis-McChord to back off. It didn’t work there, but here she could have a fresh start if the kids would just assume.
She almost told Trish that she was a boy. It was so scary being thought of as a girl. What if kids found out?
Then, Darryl walked her home. On one level, she was thrilled. On another, she was scared to death. When it was clear that he was interested in her, she had to tell him the truth. He would find out one way or another, so she did.
He didn’t seem to care! Now what? He had even given her his number and said, call him if she needed anything. He had underlined anything three times!
She mustered all of her courage. “I am a girl.”
Her dad smiled. “We know that. We were letting you figure it out on your own.”
“How long have you known, Pat?” Shelly asked.
“I’ve always known, Mom. I hated Grandma for saying it was wrong for me to play with the other girls.”
She thought about it for a moment, then asked her parents, “Can you call me Tricia, please?”
“Of course,” her dad answered. “We’d be happy to.”
“I’m so sorry, Dad. I know you tried to get me interested in sports. It just seemed so wrong to me.”
“Hey,” Mike said. “That isn’t a problem at all. I wasn’t trying to make you masculine. Well, not because I didn’t want a daughter. I was trying to give you something the boys would respect.”
They talked late into the night, and finally, Tricia went to bed. It was one in the morning. Before she went to sleep, however, she took the paper out of her pocket and sent a text.
They knew! Monday, Mom is coming to the school with me and telling them that I’m trans!
Oh, my name is Tricia!
Chapter 3
Darryl and his parents had talked late into the night as well.
His sister had been born with male genitalia. She had been named Mark, but during high school, she had become Margot. She was also ahead in school, like Pat, but only by a year. She was three years older than Darryl and graduated at the end of last year. Now, she was attending college at the university in Fairbanks. She came home most weekends, but this being her first one back at school since the Christmas holidays, she had decided to stay with her friends. Darryl wondered if she was intending to party, but decided against bringing it up to his folks.
It was nearly 10 AM when Darryl got up. He had sent Tricia a congratulations text the night before and asked if she wanted help unpacking.
A little after 10, his phone rang. He recognized the number as belonging to Tricia, so he answered it. “Hi.”
“Darryl, I can’t believe it! My mom is taking me to the BX to get some new clothes! Can you believe it?”
Wow, Darryl thought. Just like Margot when she came out. A totally different person. “That’s great! Do you still want me to come over and help unpack?”
“Oh,” Tricia said, sounding considerable less enthusiastic. “I forgot about that.”
“Hey, it’s not a problem. What time will you be back?”
“I’m not sure. We have to get me a whole new wardrobe.”
He nodded. Exactly like Margot. He chuckled. “I’ll tell you what. Give me a call when you’re back, and I’ll come over and help you then, okay?”
Suddenly, Tricia was ebullient again, as if a light switch had been flipped on. He was happy to hear it. She was a totally different person. “You’ve got a date!” she enthused. “Um, I mean...”
Once more, he chuckled. “I understand. No need to worry.”
“Oh...” She sounded a bit upset at theat.
“Unless you want me to,” he added.
Now she was completely caught off guard. “Uh… I’m not sure. I’m only 13.”
“Don’t worry. I only want to help. Right now,” There was something about her that said they could become very good friends later, and he didn’t want to blow his chances early.
“Alright.”
“I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Sure!” She was bubbly again.
“I’m sure your dad isn’t going.”
“Well, he was going to, but Mom said this is our time together, and besides. He’d be bored,” she said giggling.
“I can see that.”
They said goodbye, an Tricia started going through some boxes, trying to find her most girly, but androgynous clothes. She sighed. There wasn’t much to choose from. She’d been very careful as Pat.
Darryl waited about an hour, then started toward the Chatham house. He was pleased to see that their car was gone. He knocked on the door, and a few minutes it was opened by the Major.
“Sorry, Darryl. Tricia, or rather Pat, isn’t here.”
“I know, Sir. She called me this morning, and told me she was Tricia now. She sounded so different.”
Mike chuckled. “Come on in, Darryl. It’s really cold outside.”
“Thank you, Sir.
As they moved into the living room, Darryl took stock. There was still a lot to do. He was mildly surprised to see a baby in a playpen in one corner of the room.
She was getting fussy, so Mike picked her up. “This is Amber. She’s about three months old now.”
“I like babies,” Darryl said. “I’m kinda sorry my sister can’t have any. I’d like to be an uncle.”
Mike wondered if Darryl was trying to get on his good side, but he was still focused on the baby, and there was an honest smile on his face.
“Your sister can’t have kids?”
Darryl gulped. He hadn’t intended to say anything that might lead Major Chatham to know that he was interested in his daughter. He decided that honesty was the best. “No, Sir.” he said, “She’s like Tricia.”
“You mean...”
“She’ll be having her surgery after she turns eighteen.”
“I had no idea.”
“Dad doesn’t talk about it, although it was kinda apparent to everyone on base when Mark became Margot.”
Mike nodded.
“So if you knew Tricia wasn’t here right now, how come you came over? Wanting to talk to me about asking her out?” His eyes were twinkling as he said it.
Darryl laughed. “No, sir, although now that you mention it… “ He let the implication be, but explained. “I have to admit. She’s a great girl, and I am interested, but I came over to see if you needed any help setting anything up. Unpacking. Anything.”
“You’re trying to impress her,” Mike laughed.
“I don’t see any reason to let someone else grab her first. If you’ll forgive me, Sir, I’d like first dibs.”
Mike laughed out loud, to which his younger daughter giggled. “When you make a decision, you make it, don’t you.”
“I think I got that from my Dad, Sir.”
“I’ll tell you what, You drop the Sir, and I’ll approve you having first dibs, but the ultimate decision will be hers, deal?”
“Deal.” After the Major gave Amber a bottle, Darryl held her for a few minutes while Mike got the stuff to change her with, and then they got to work.
They assembled the dining room table, then arranged the furniture in the living room. There was an L shaped couch with separate reclining ends that was much easier to put together with two people.
Because of military housing, pictures were hung on the wall with putty instead of nails. Mike had paid particular attention to Shelly when she decided where things should go, and what pictures should be hung where.
Darryl had watched his father and how he treated his wife. It seemed to be different than how the major did it, but he suspected that Shelly was a bit different, and would need a different love language. He wanted to ask the major if he had any say in where things went, but he figured that was just how he was. He did take note of the careful attention to even the littlest details. When the end tables were placed and lamps put on them, the lace doilies under the lamps were carefully set.
Mark was surprised that the furniture hadn’t been placed by Allied. Usually they were really good about that.
Me was also surprised when they moved an antique console stereo into the living room. “This is really nice,” he said, and was honestly impressed.
“I’ll show you what I did,” Mike told him. He opened the front where the old black and white TV was, and Darryl was surprised to see a flat screen mounted inside. Mike plugged it in, and put a record on the turntable. The music was the theme to The Magnificent Seven. The music was beautiful coming out of the console speakers. While he listened, Mike set some surround sound speakers on stands and arranged them around the living room. He plugged the speakers into the back of the console. then, he opened a door on the top, behind the flat screen. He pushed a couple of buttons and the music changed to the surround speakers.
The sound was excellent, but Darryl found that it had changed. The subtle sounds were replaced by the crisp clean sounds of a new setup.
“Honestly, I think it sounds better the other way.”
“Me too. That’s why I left the tubed amp inside. It’s not surround, but these old records, and in my opinion the CDs sound much nicer on it.”
“The sound is mellow.”
“The bass is, but let me show you something.”
He carefully lifted the tonearm, and put a CD into the blue-ray player installed in the hidden compartment. It was the same song. He turned up the volume and hit play. The violins at the beginning was extremely crisp, almost to the point of painful. The bass was also. He could hear the pizzicato strings better, but somehow it just didn’t sound right. He didn’t understand it.
“Most people when they hear music like this on a tube amplifier find it more soothing. If you put romantic music on this and put it on softly...” He stopped, and Darryl saw the, by now familiar twinkle. “Maybe I shouldn’t be telling you this.”
“It’s alright, Mike. I’ll file that for later.”
Both of them laughed, then went into the nursery and worked on it. After that, they entered Tricia’s room.
“I’m not sure what to do in here,” Mike told Darryl. “Of course, we can get her bed set up, and dresser. Decorations, however. Well, I have a feeling they’ll be changing pretty soon.”
Darryl wasn’t surprised in the least by the dresser that was they brought in from the garage. It was an antique painted lavender. Her desk was actually a vanity, also the lavender.
“We got these from Shelly’s dad, when her mother died. I know Tricia didn’t like her very much, as she was set on her being a boy, but in reality, they had very similar tastes.” He laughed. “When we got them, I offered to paint them a different color, but she said, ‘We can do that later. You have too much other things to do.’ I do a lot of woodwork, as you can see. I have a paint sprayer. It wouldn’t have taken more than a few hours to do. She just likes the color.”
Darryl laughed. “Does he know about Tricia?’
“Yeah. He didn’t like the interference. I think he gave these to Tricia as a way to apologize. I suppose Shelly’s mom would be rolling in her grave if she knew.”
“So he approves?”
“I don’t know if he approves, but I know he accepts it.”
They heard the front door open, and Tricia’s excited voice. Suddenly, “Mom! You’ve gotta see this! Daddy got the living room finished!”
Mike finished tightening the last bolt on the soon to be lavender bed, and they went out to the living room.
Shelly’s eyes were bright as she looked around. “Mike! She enthused it’s amazing!”
“I had a lot of good help,” he said.
“Darryl!” Tricia said running up to him. She stopped just short of giving him a hug, and Darryl was somewhat disappointed. He had thought Pat was pretty, but this new Tricia was so exuberant. She was a marvel as far as he was concerned.
“Daddy, I’ve got to show you some things,” she said, but here eyes were happy as she looked at Darryl.
She ran into her room and squealed with joy when she saw her furniture set up.
“Think she liked what we did?” Mike asked Darryl.
“That seems like a reasonable assumption,” Darryl replied.
“Yeah. I think I know what her decision I spoke of earlier will be.”
“What decision is that?” Shelly asked.
“Well,” Mike started. He didn’t know how his wife would react, but Darryl jumped in with both feet.
“I’d like first dibs on dating your daughter.”
“Oh,” was all Shelly could think of to say.
Author’s note: This story was originally going to be a solo, but it kept growing, and growing. Finally, it has become a multi part story. I’m not sure how many parts it will be, but It is certainly not done. I suppose the length will depend on the number of Kudos and comments this gets.
The New Kid - Pt 2
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The New Kid Pt 2
Chapter 4
Tricia modeled her new clothes for her parents and Darryl. Darryl didn't say a lot but was very impressed. He had thought that Tricia was pretty before. Now there was absolutely no doubt of her gender or the beauty that she would have as an adult. He was pleased that he had acted quickly. Not only was she a fox, she was one of the most beautiful inside as well.
Sunday morning came and found both families in church, and interestingly, the same one. Tricia took the opportunity to sit next to Darryl, which pleased him to no end.
Afterward, the colonel invited the Chathams to join his family at the officer's club.
"I'd like to get to know my new pilot, " he told the Major. Not to mention, I'm curious about this young lady that has my son smitten, he thought.
When they sat down, he got a good look at Tricia. He knew that she was young, but then, he had known that. She was small and had light hair, a strawberry blonde. She was quite pretty, and he could see why Darryl was drawn to her. He also knew that she was like his own daughter. He wasn't pleased that his firstborn turned out to be a trans-girl, but he chose not to fight it.
When she started taking flack at school, he backed her with the principal. The head of the school fought it half-heartedly as he didn't figure that he should go too far against the base CO.
That had changed the colonel's view. Not entirely, but enough to where he supported Margot. He still didn't like it, but he was willing to back her however he could.
Looking at Tricia, he saw that she had a lot of developing to do, but she had just come out publicly. Thankfully, it was before her voice even broke. She might be able to transition without some of the problems Margot had.
All through dinner, Tricia was polite and very well mannered, and the colonel learned just how brilliant she was. When asked how she had liked Lewis-McChord, she said she was often bored.
“Why?” asked the colonel.
Tricia blushed. “School. It was so easy.”
“Easy? You’re two years ahead for your age, aren't you?”
“Yes, Sir.”
He looked at her, almost stupefied. “You’re not kidding, are you?”
“No, Sir.”
He looked at Shelly and asked, “How far could she have gone?”
“She could have been a senior. She does a lot of reading. They wanted to put her into ninth grade, and that only because she needs the credits to graduate. We didn’t want her to go to the ninth grade, though. We figured she’d be picked on, a fifth-grader as a high school freshman. A GED was possible, but it doesn’t look as good as a diploma.”
“I was picked on anyway,” Tricia said. “People didn’t like a fifth-grader in seventh grade.”
The colonel didn’t know what to say. He’d never met anyone so advanced for their years. Liz Johnson, Darryl’s mother, finally asked, “Is that why you read so much?”
“Partly. Mom was a science teacher, and she taught me a lot.”
“What do you want to do with your life?”
Tricia glanced at Darryl, hoping none of this would intimidate him, but science was her passion. That and music. “Biology is very interesting, but I think I like geology much more. It’s exciting! When we were in Washington, I loved reading about the volcanoes there. There are so many in just one state alone! I also love music. I taught a couple of my friends how to play some basic flute.”
“So would you do both? Geology and music?”
“Maybe. If I became a geologist, I could teach music on the side.”
“So you take after your mother? You like to teach.”
“Oh, yes!” she enthused. “Passing on what I know is fun!”
Darryl had always admired Margot, but this far surpassed what she was capable of, although he knew she would be thrilled to meet Tricia. Wow! Thought Darryl as he listened to the conversation. I’m glad I got first dibs here. I sure don’t want anyone else getting her! The more he heard, the more he was impressed. Beautiful and a genius!
As much as she had been thrilled at the prospect of being listed as trans, she was nervous entering the office with her mom. She wanted to be as girly as she could be, but she figured it was a bit early. Her mom said that since the kids all thought of her as a girl anyway, there was no problem there, but it might be a surprise for the teachers.
Chuck Grayson was the principal of the high school, and he listened to Shelly as she laid out the facts. Finally, he said, “A genius and a trans-girl. I know this is something that has to be done for her well-being, but you realize this is going to be hard for us. We can do it, but if Tricia is discovered, there could be problems. Our kids are generally decent, but there’s only so much they’re likely to take. I want to be cautious here.”
He addressed Tricia directly now. “Tell me. What did you do about restrooms Friday?”
“I used the staff one,” she said, looking ashamed. “I don’t like boy’s restrooms, and while most of the girls at my old school just treated me like I didn’t exist, there were some that were mean to me. They thought I was trying to be a girl like them.” She giggled. “I was, but they didn’t know that.”
“Excellent,” said Mister Grayson. “Not that you were treated that way, but we can use this to our advantage if you agree to it.” He paused as he thought. “For your own sake, I believe you need the social interaction of school; otherwise, I would suggest that you simply test your way out of as many classes as possible.”
“I wouldn’t want to do that!” she exclaimed.
“Your mother said you were bored in your old school. Don’t you think you will be here?”
Of course, I would, she thought to herself. But I don't want to advance past Darryl and be in a different grade, or worse yet, be out of school!
“That’s not the point,” she said. “As you just said, I need the social interaction.”
He smiled, realizing she must have a crush on someone, but he didn’t pursue it. He’d find out sooner or later.
He glanced at the clock. “Okay. It’s almost time for your first class to start. Go ahead and head there, and I’ll inform Mister Thomas what’s going on. He’s a nice guy. He’s dealt with this in his class before, and he knows not to say anything that will make it harder for you. Keep using the staff restroom, and if any of the kids say anything, just tell them I said you could. If they want to know why you can let them know that people were mean to you about your age at our old school. They should realize that you’re not developed like the other girls are getting to be, so hopefully, they’ll leave it alone after that.”
She thought about it. It would be somewhat embarrassing leaving that impression, but at the same time, it was sensible. “Thank you, Mister Grayson,” she said as she headed out of his office.
She got to class a bit early and found Darryl waiting for her outside the band room. “How did it go?”
Before she could answer, they heard the intercom sound. “Mister Thomas to the office, please. Mister Thomas to the office.”
Suddenly her face went white as Mister Thomas exited the room and hurried to the office. He had to start class soon, and he wasn’t thrilled.
“You okay?” Darryl asked.
“He’s going to find out about me.”
Darryl glanced around to make sure no one was in earshot. “Don’t worry about it. He helped Margot when she came out. It’ll be fine.”
“That’s what Mister Grayson said. Well, he didn’t mention her name, but I suspected that’s who he was talking about.” Darryl nodded. “I’ll use the staff bathrooms. That’s what I did on Friday.”
“Good,” Darryl said. He noticed Mister Thomas coming down the hall. “I was really impressed with what you said about your future yesterday.“ He smiled wide. “You're beautiful and a genius. That’s cool!” Mister Thomas was almost to them, and definitely within earshot. “If anyone gives you trouble, let me know, okay?”
She smiled as Darryl went into the band room. She started to follow, but the band director said, “Just a moment, Miss Chatham. The principal said you’d prefer to be called Tricia. He also told me about the restroom situation.” He lowered his voice a bit. “You’ve got a good friend in Darryl. I’ve known him for a while, as I teach band at the junior high. Your mom told me that he knows. She also told me how he’s expressed interest in you.” His eyes took on a twinkle, and he spoke sotto voce. “Don’t lose him.”
Suddenly, he was speaking so the class could hear him. “Let’s get into class, Miss Chatham.
Chapter 5
School that day went by without a hitch. Tricia and Darryl had four of their six classes together, and every chance he could get, Darryl walked with her to wherever she needed to go. On the way home from school, a sophomore decided to pick on the two.
"Kinda the long way around going this way, huh Johnson?"
"Funny, Chet. I don't remember asking for your opinion."
"Can't get a girl your own age? Have to go for the babies?"
Darryl turned to Tricia and said, "Can you hang on for a moment?" He handed her his backpack.
"It's not necessary, Darryl."
He stopped. "I think it is. I told you I'd protect you."
"Thanks, but let him have his fun. If he can't come up with anything better than calling me a baby, that's his problem."
Chet's face got red as he heard it. He stormed up to the two and got right into Darryl's face. "She's got a pretty face, but no figure. Must be a boy." He started to laugh at his own joke, but suddenly found himself lying on the ground, holding his jaw.
Darryl said to Tricia, "I thought you said it wasn't necessary."
"Well, that was before he messed with your reputation. If I was a boy, you wouldn't be walking me home."
"So, you can protect me, but I can't protect you?"
"Uh, guys?"
Darryl looked down. "Shut up, Chet."
"Well, I didn't think calling me a baby was that bad."
"You're not a baby!"
"Lots of girls are called ‘baby’ by guys!"
"That's not how he meant it!"
"Uh, guys!"
"Darryl told you to shut up, Chet!"
She turned back to Darryl. "That's how I chose to take it!"
Darryl was about to say something else, but Chet had gotten shakily to his feet. "Sorry, guys, " he muttered as he scurried away.
They watched as he hurried to his house, where his mom was apparently waiting on the steps. "I saw what happened Chester. Don't you dare try to make up some sob story! Just wait till your father gets home!" Then she reached up and grabbed his ear, and pulled him into the house.
The two stood staring at the closed door until Tricia asked. "Did we just go through a time warp? I swear June Cleaver was just here.”
“More like Mrs. Haskell.” They both started to laugh, as both knew the references. When their laughter died down, Tricia held up the backpack. "I might have torn the straps on your backpack."
He took it and looked at them. "You hit him hard."
"I hope I didn't break his jaw."
"If you did, that's a good thing. Maybe the hospital will wire it shut, and nobody will have to listen to him for a while."
"But that's considered assault."
"He's not gonna tell anybody he got laid out by a girl."
She stared at him for a while, then giggled. "Sure wouldn't do his reputation any good, would it?"
He grinned and took her arm as they started walking again. "Maybe I should ask for your protection instead of offering mine to you."
"Naw," she said. "I don't have a book bag, and it looks like I'll need to sew up your backpack."
They arrived at Tricia's house without any other incidents. Before he left, she asked. "Do you really live the other direction?"
"Yeah."
"So, why are you walking me home?"
"You really want to know?"
"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't."
"Okay, " he told her. "Like I told your parents, I want to make a good impression on you."
"Uh, huh. You said you wanted first dibs."
"They told you that?"
"Yep. And you know what?"
"Huh?"
"You got 'em." She stood on her tiptoes, kissed his cheek, and hurried into the house.
It was a couple of minutes until he could move from the spot. He was confused but soon raised his arm in victory. "Yes!!!" Then he turned and headed for home, running in joy.
Chapter 6
At the dinner table that night, Tricia told her parents what happened. Mike was impressed and started to compliment her when her mother exploded. "Michael Allen!"
He jerked as if he'd been slapped. Shelly turned to her daughter. "What were you thinking, Patricia Marie Chatham?"
Tricia was sitting up straight, and her eyes were wide. "I didn't like him running down Darryl."
"I understand that, but don't you think keeping a lower profile might be the better thing to do?"
"I suppose so."
"Now, young lady, I have one thing to say to you. Well, two things."
Tricia was not looking forward to this. Here it comes, she thought.
"Number one. Don't you ever do something like that again! And number two, I wish I'd been there to see it." Shelly started to giggle. "The look on his face must have been priceless."
Mike started laughing, and slowly Tricia realized she wasn't in trouble. As she began to giggle, she said, "It was."
The next day at school, Chet's mouth was, in fact, wired shut. The left side of his face was a vivid purple, and several kids were teasing him. Many had heard what happened, and the story had spread.
Mister Grayson met Tricia as she entered the school. "A word, Miss Chatham."
Darryl started to accompany her, but Grayson held up his hand. "I need to speak to Miss Chatham."
"I was there, Sir."
He realized that for appearance's sake, it might be better if Darryl did accompany them. "Alright, Darryl. Come on."
They got into the principal's office, and he sat down, as did the kids. "Tricia, does Darryl know about the restroom problem?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Everything?"
"Darryl knows that I'm trans."
"Alright. You do realize that this messes up our story for why you don't use the girl's bathroom, right? Chet isn't well-liked around here. You're now a hero. No one will pick on you in the restrooms."
She sighed as she realized the implications. "Oh, no."
Darryl asked, "As you said, Sir. Tricia is a hero. Do you think people will pick on her if they know?"
"They got used to Margot being trans,” Mister Grayson said. "We all did, but it's different for Tricia, considering her age."
Mister Grayson sent Darryl to class and called Tricia’s mom. Tricia was afraid this wasn’t going to be a good day.
There was a lot of ribbing, but most of it seemed to be at Chet's expense, more than anything. It seemed people were happy that the new girl was able to take out the big bully. With the help of some textbooks, that is.
Shelly and Mike talked to Mister Grayson that evening. It was decided that Tricia needed this time to become accustomed to being herself rather than Pat, without interference from kids knowing she was trans.
The story was maintained, but the incident on Monday was described as being because she panicked, which was true, after a fashion.
January had started with a bang, but breaking Chet’s jaw did act to minimize the tormenting she had to endure. No one wanted to suffer the same fate.
In February, was the Fur Rendezvous, or Fur Rondy as it was called, and the band made a day of it, marching in the parade, and visiting the exhibits. Unfortunately, it was so cold that the instruments’ valves wouldn’t work, so the band could do nothing more than march.
There was some time for the kids to wander on their own through the exhibits. Tricia and Darryl, along with Trish and Marcus, her boyfriend, made their way to see the dog sled races. Tricia had never seen anything like it in person and found the huskies and malamutes to be beautiful dogs.
On their way back, they stopped to see some ice sculptures and watched a man using a chainsaw to carve. He was incredibly gifted.
Next to the carving was a blanket toss demonstration. Some of the kids were tossed a little bit, including Tricia and Darryl. None, however, went as high as people who were used to it.
Right before Spring break, was the cabaret. It was a great time watching kids as they demonstrated their talents, and the band played better than Tricia had heard it before. She was now playing at the top of second chair, and Mister Thomas knew that if she challenged again, she would be playing first.
Chapter 7
May third was Tricia’s birthday. She turned fourteen and had a wonderful time with her parents, Darryl, Trish, and Margot. Marcus wasn’t there as he and Trish had broken up.
Margot and Tricia had met a few months ago, and despite their age difference, had become fast friends. Margot secretly hoped that Darryl could hold onto her, as she didn’t want to have the friendship tainted with bad feelings between her brother and ex-girlfriend.
Darryl had obtained special permission from Mike to take Tricia to Fairbanks on a date, as long as an adult chaperoned it. Margot had turned eighteen in April, so she was able to go along a chaperone. Darryl agreed to pay for gas, and Margot arranged for Brad, her boyfriend, to take them in his car. Brad would foot the bill for him and Margot.
It was a beautiful day in May, and the temperature was in the high in the sixties, and when Darryl knocked on the door, Tricia was ready. “Darryl’s here!” She called to her mom. “I’ll see ya later!”
“You behave yourself! And no…!” The door was already closed.
Brad and Margot were waiting, and they hurried out to the car and got into the backseat. Margot smiled as she turned to look at them. The backseat was made for three, and Darryl sat on the left, but Tricia didn’t sit on the right. She very deliberately moved to the center and put on the seat belt. Then she grinned at Margot.
“No funny business back there, okay?”
“Oh come on, Sis,” Darryl said as he put his arm around his girlfriend.
“Don’t worry,” Brad said as he pulled away from the curb. “The car’ll tell me if they take off their seat belts.” He picked up a coke can from the drink holder and took a sip.
“There’s a lot they can do with their seat belts on,” Margot said as she turned forward again.
“Like what?” Tricia asked brightly.
Brad sprayed coke all over the windshield as he tried to keep from laughing. He quickly pulled to the curb again and began searching for something to clean the sugary mess up.
Margot turned back to see if Tricia was really so naive. She was sitting up straight, a completely innocent look on her face.
Brad did his best to clean his windshield off, then turned around. “That was good,” he said, still laughing. “Perfect timing.”
The traffic into Fairbanks was light, and they made good time. They caught a matinee at the theater. Originally, they were going to watch a reshowing of Star Wars: A New Hope, but the line was immense because of it being "May the Fourth.” Margot picked out a chick flick instead, but it worked great for Darryl as Tricia snuggled against him, and he was able to hold her tight in the emotional scenes.
They went to a burger joint, and Margot and Tricia talked about the tear-jerker ending they had just watched. Once they finished their food, they started heading to Pioneer Park. Partway there, Margot’s phone rang. She answered it, listened for a moment, and said, “Oh no! I guess we’ll have to cut things short then.”
She hung up and put her hand on top of Brad’s as he pulled off the road into a parking lot. She gave a significant squeeze, then sent a text on her phone. A moment later, Brad picked his up. He read what was there and pulled back onto the road.
Hurry back to the base, but don’t seem like you’re hurrying he had read.
What the hell?
Chapter 8
Brad drove normally, and Margot tried to keep up a light banter, but it was apparent to Darryl and Tricia that something was wrong.
“So, what do you think of Fairbanks?” Margot asked Tricia.
“It hasn’t changed since the last time you asked, really,” was Tricia’s answer. “What’s wrong, Margot?”
“Whaddya mean?” Margot was really trying to sound happy, but it just wasn’t working.
“This is the third time you’ve asked me that today, and this time you sound scared. Plus, you said, ‘Oh no’ on the phone, then texted something to Brad that you didn’t want one of us to see.”
Margot sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy, and she turned around to face her friend. “There’s been an accident, Tricia. Your mom is in the hospital. Beyond that, I don’t know.”
“Who called?”
“My dad. He is at the hospital along with yours.”
“Okay… Wait a minute! Where’s Amber?”
Margot blanched. “I don’t know, Tricia. Daddy didn’t say.”
Tricia was frightened now. “Hurry, Brad.”
“I am,” he answered, and indeed, their speed had picked up considerably, as soon as he heard what was going on.
“Brad, please. Just keep in mind that getting a ticket won’t help us get there faster.”
A moment later, a police car headed the other direction spun around and started pursuing its lights flashing. Rather than slowing down, Brad dialed a number on his phone.
They could all hear the sound of the phone ringing through the car’s speakers, and a moment later, someone answered. “Brad, what the hell are you doing? You know I’m gonna have to write you a ticket. Would you stop!?”
“I thought it was you. Sorry, Dusty. Darryl’s girlfriend’s mom was in an accident, and she’s in the hospital. We don’t know the status. Could we get an escort?”
“Shit! Yeah. Hang on.”
Suddenly, the police car accelerated around them. Brad pushed his foot down, and they started speeding up as well.
They could hear the police officer speaking on his radio, making sure that the way was clear, and Margot turned to look at Tricia, who frankly, was wondering what was happening. “The cop is Brad’s brother. We’ll get there as quick as we can, now.”
Tricia glanced at the speedometer and was astonished to see that they were moving around ninety miles an hour. The frost heaves in the road made it a rough ride, but she wished they could go faster.
It was about fifteen minutes later that they pulled up at the emergency room entrance. Tricia had the door opened even before Brad came to a stop. She hurried into the hospital and was quickly being held by Darryl’s dad.
“What’s going on, Colonel?” she asked, worried.
“Your mom was driving home from North Pole, and another car ran a red light.”
The colonel glanced up and saw Tricia’s dad standing across the room. He had just come from Shelly’s room, and his eyes were red-rimmed. He shook his head.
He hurried across the waiting room and gave his daughter a huge hug.
“Is she alright, Daddy? Can I see her?”
“She didn’t make it, Honey,” her dad responded.
“I want to see her!” Tricia cried.
“She’s dead, Sweetheart.”
“I don’t care! I wanna see Mama!”
Mike glanced over where the CO and his family waited. Darryl and Margot both were crying, and the colonel was looking away as he wiped his face.
A nurse came out of the area where his wife was and told him it was alright to take his daughter back to see her mom.
They made their way back, and all the sounds and smells of the hospital terrified Tricia. She knew what most of the stuff was and what it did, and that made it worse.
Quietly, they entered the room where her mom lay. The last of the nurses was taking the equipment away, and Tricia approached the bedside. Shelly’s face was battered, and there was a bandage covering the right side. It was very bloody.
Tricia gently took her mom’s lifeless hand, knelt down on the floor, and cried.
-=#=-
Author’s note: I know this seems like a horrible place to end this story, and it would be if I said the story was over. However, this story will be continued under the name, “The Arctic Fox.” The story is far from over, for one that started out as a one-shot.
Arctic Fox Chapter 7
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Arctic Fox
Chapter 7
January 7, 2021
“Hi, Darryl,” the girl said when she let him in. “You must be freezing. You want something warm to drink?”
“Sure, Michelle.”
“Why don’t you go on into the living room? There’s a fire going, and I’ll get some coffee for you.”
“Sounds great!” Darryl agreed enthusiastically.
“Mom!” Michelle shouted as she went into the kitchen. “Darryl’s here!”
“Okay!” came a woman’s voice from down the hall. “Be right there!”
Darryl had divested himself of his coat and boots, and was seated by the fire when Michelle entered the living room with two mugs of steaming coffee. “I couldn't believe Foxy beat me for first chair,” Michelle said as she handed Darryl one of the mugs.
“You know I’m the only one who gets to call her that,” Darryl told her grinning.
Michelle giggled. “Well, it’s a fitting name. She’s cute. I’m not going to challenge you for her, but be warned, if you ever let go of her...” She left the warning hanging.
“I’m not at all worried about that,” Darryl told her laughing.
Michelle laughed too. “She’s a real nice girl, but I suppose she’s not into girls at all, is she?”
“Nope. Not your type. Sorry.”
Michelle playfully hit him on the shoulder. “No you’re not!”
Darryl took a sip of coffee, then simply said, “True.”
“So the car will be great for taking her out, won’t it?”
“I think so. I’m impressed that your dad took such great care of it! 1973 was a long time ago.”
“His dad bought it new,” Laura Campbell, Michelle’s mom, said as she walked into the room. “We went on our first date in it, but he just doesn’t have the time, and honestly, parts are getting a bit harder to come by anymore.”
“It’s a good thing it’s grandfathered in for emissions,” Darryl commented.
“Yes, but then again, Vince keeps it running nice. Did he tell you he’d help you if you need to work on it?”
“I think Dad just wants to be near it,” Michelle laughed.
“I can’t blame him,” Darryl said.
“He should be here any moment,” Laura told Darryl. He drove the car to work today, just to make sure everything’s running right. He doesn’t want you to have any problems right off the bat. Have you ever driven a rear wheel drive in the winter?”
Darryl shook his head. “Dad tells me it'sits really different than a front wheel drive.”
“Just keep in mind it doesn’t have traction control, or even anti-lock brakesbreaks.”
Again, Darryl nodded. “I’ll stop by and show it to Marcia...”
“Foxy,” Michelle interrupted.
Darryl went on as if he hadn’t heard her, “but I’m not gonna drive her anywhere in it ‘til I get used to it.”
“That’s a good idea,” Laura told him. The patio window lit up from headlights. “That’s probably Vince now.”
A couple of minutes later, Vince Campbell walked into the living room. “Hey everyone! Hi, Darryl.”
“Lt. Campbell,” Darryl said, standing and holding out his hand.
Vince shook it warmly. “Here to pick up Daisy Mae, huh?”
“Daisy Mae?”
Vince laughed. “That’s what I’ve called her since the late ‘80s. I had a Kawasaki motorcycle back then. Everyone called Kawasakis ‘Cows’, for the Kaw in their name. I figured what better name for a cow, than Daisy. Somehow, my car became Daisy Mae.”
Darryl laughed. “That makes sense.”
“We’re on Daisy Mae V now,” Laura said, but the Mustang is Daisy Mae I.”
Darryl handed Vince the money, and Vince went over to an old china cabinet in the dining area and pulled a couple of papers from a drawer. “Here’s a bill of sale, Darryl, and this is the title. I just need you to sign them here, and here.” He indicated the spots. “You got insurance for her?”
“Yes, Sir,” Darryl told him. “My insurance covers me whatever I’m driving. I’ll add Daisy Mae tomorrow first thing.”
“You’re not gonna drive that girl of yours in it till you get used to the power and a rear wheel drive, are ya’? She’s got the four barrel 351 Cleveland. 266Hp. Well, I think she’s putting out a bit more. Everything’s stock, but I think they were a bit conservative on their power estimates with that Cleveland engine.”
Both were now putting on their boots and coats.
As they went out to the car, Vince asked, “You want to take a spin with me along?”
“Probably be a good idea, Sir.”
As they walked up to the dark green car, Vince tossed a keyring to Darryl. “These are yours now, Darryl.” The keyring had a thick nylon piece with a Mustang insignia on it.
As Darryl looked the car, then the keys, he had a sense of pride for his first car. Especially what it was. It wasn’t one of the real expensive Mustangs. In fact, the DOT had mandated that all sports cars in the ‘70s not have as many horsepower as the ones in the ‘60s, which was a shame, but if someone wanted to, they could really beef up this particular engine. Darryl had no intention of doing that. He liked the idea that Daisy Mae was stock, and intended to keep her that way.
They went a few blocks, then into a vacant parking lot, and Darryl got the feel of how it handled on ice. Certainly not as well as his mom’s Lexus, but there was a sense of freedom to have everything the car did under his control. He liked it.
He took Vince home, then sent Marcia a message. “I want to show you something.”
OK?
He carefully drove over to the Chatham house and parked on the street where the car could be seen, then he rang the bell.
It took a minute, but Marcia opened the door. Darryl didn’t say hello. Instead, he gathered her in a powerful embrace and kissed her. Then, he stepped aside so she could see the street.
It was hard to tell the color in the illumination from the streetlight, but the shape was unmistakable.
“You got the car!” Marcia squealed, all disappointment from the day suddenly gone as she understood.
“Yep!”
She hurriedly put on her boots and coat, and hurried out to look at it. Darryl proudly got in the driver’s seat but told her. “I don’t want to drive you anywhere until I get used to this. It’s a whole lot different than a modern car.”
“Thank you,” she told him. She leaned toward him and got as close as she could, no simple thing with the bucket seats. “I love you,” she whispered in his ear.
“I love you too,” he returned.
-=#=-
January 14, 2021
A week later, Darryl and his dad felt he was competent enough to drive Marcia in his new car.
He proudly pulled up in front of her home early in the morning.
Chet was also there in his pickup, since he had brought Gloria over. He normally left earlier, so he could pick up Trish, but he wanted to see the Mustang. He pulled up alongside Darryl and rolled down his passenger window as Marcia got in. “Wanna race?” he asked as he revved his engine up and down.
Darryl laughed. “I don’t think so, Chet,”
“Good choice,” Chet laughed. “Looks good, Darryl. Congratulations!”
“Thanks!”
They both pulled away, careful of the icy street. It wasn’t really ice, but compact snow that had been pushed down so much that you could ice skate on it if you wanted.
When Darryl steered the car into the high school parking lot, people stared. There were the usual jabs and put downs, mainly about Fords in general, but a few of the rowdier kids challenged Darryl to a race, which he politely declined.
3:15PM
School let out, and the sun was almost below the horizon. Darryl and Marcia walked out to the car, holding hands. Several kids were clustered around Daisy Mae, and they parted as the young couple walked up. Along the driver’s side, scratched into the paint was, “Homo” in big letters. On the passenger side, it said, “Tranny.”
Marcia felt tears welling up in her eyes. This was Darryl’s car, and he was so happy with it, and now someone had vandalized it because of her! She felt awful. She wanted a hug from Darryl, but was afraid that it would just make things worse for him.
Suddenly, she felt someone touch her back. It was Darryl. She pulled away, and tried to run, but she was engulfed in a hug. “Hey, little sister. Don’t turn away from Darryl. He’s not mad at you. Far from it. He wants to protect you.”
“But it’s my fault, Chet. His car was destroyed because of me.”
“No. It’s not. You're being you. That’s it. As far as the car being destroyed, it’s not. It can be repaired. It’s just a thing. You’re not. You’re a beautiful girl, that he loves. I’ve seen how he looks at you. Never doubt that, little Sis.”
“Thanks, Chet.”
“Hey, That’s what a big brother’s for. I’m always here for you.”
She turned, and found Darryl right beside her. Once again, she was enveloped in someone’s arms, only this time it was Darryl’s. “It’s not your fault, Foxy. Someone is just being stupid. If it hadn’t been this, it would have been something else. Never blame yourself. I won’t.”
“I feel conspicuous. Not everyone knew about me before. Now they all do.”
“So what,” Chet said. “Anyone screws with you, they’ve got both Darryl and me to contend with.”
“And my backpack,” Darryl said, grinning at her.
“Oh man! They are gonna be hurting,” Chet said as he rubbed his jaw.
Marcia giggled at that.
Chuck Grayson, the principal, came out of the school, and wanted to speak to the owner of the car.
“That’s me,” Darryl spoke up.
He looked at the damage, and then asked Darryl, “Any idea who would do this?”
“No, Sir.”
“Marcia? Any ideas?”
She shook her head no, and they discussed the damage. While the school wasn’t inside the base gates, it was on government property, so Darryl’s dad would be informed.
Once pictures were taken, and the crowd dispersed, Chet offered to give Marcia a ride home, but she declined. “No offense, Chet, but I’d rather ride with Darryl.”
“None taken, Sis. My only concern is if you want to ride in the car… Well.”
“With ‘Tranny’ scratched in it? I’m not hiding who I am. Some people obviously know, and those that don’t can figure it out.”
“Okay. I’ll see ya later.”
“Thanks, Chet. Marcia gave him a hug, then got into the car.”
Darryl drove away slowly, then took her home. When he arrived at the Chatham house, the Johnson Lexus was there as well as Mike’s car. Chet parked on the street behind Darryl a moment later.
The three walked into the house. In the living room, they found Darryl’s parents sitting along with Mike and Gloria. Amber was sitting on the floor right by the coffee table, industriously playing with a Shap-O® toy. Every so often, she would giggle and jabber about what she was doing.
Mike motioned for them to come in. Darryl sat in the recliner, and Marcia lowered herself down right in front of him, which put her easily able to help Amber if need be.
Chet grabbed a dining room table and took it to where he was sitting by his mom.
“Principal Grayson called me,” Colonel Johnson said. “He told me about the vandalism on the Mustang.”
Marcia was holding her breath. Even though Darryl and Chet had both told her that it wasn’t her fault, she hoped the Colonel saw it that way.
“Marcia?” Mike asked. “Do you have any idea who would be do something like this?”
“They asked us at school. I don’t have any idea. I’m not friends with everyone at school, but I didn’t think I had any real enemies either.”
Chet shook his head. “Marcia is one of the most loved people there. When she got there, I don’t think anyone but the teachers knew about her transgender status. The ninth grade kinda adopted her as their little sister, and the rest of the school just accepted her as cute.”
“I never heard of this,” Mike said.
“I figured it was better than being slammed because of being trans,” Marcia explained to her dad. “I wasn’t going to complain being a little sister. Everyone kinda protects me. When my status started leaking out, I was already friends with so many people, anyone who didn’t like me didn’t have much support.”
“But someone must not like you,” Mike pointed out.
“Obviously not,” Marcia agreed.
She looked at Colonel Johnson and asked in a very small voice, “Should Darryl and I separate?”
He looked aghast as he answered. “For crying out loud. No! We’ve already gone through this stuff with Margot. We know what to expect.”
“If they said we should,” Darryl pointed out, “I wouldn’t pay attention.” He looked at his parents. “Sorry, guys.”
“That’s okay, Darryl. I wouldn’t expect you to. I can give orders, and within limits, I can forbid people developing relationships, but it’s not my choice who people develop friendships.” Darryl started to protest. “I’m not saying your relationship with Marcia is just a friendship, Son. I know it’s more than that. You wouldn’t give a promise ring to someone who is simply a friend, nor they one to you. Even if I insisted that you give up your girlfriend / boyfriend status, I could never bring myself to demand that you not be friends. That’s not my way at all.”
It was decided that, until the situation was better understood, Darryl would be with Marcia at all times on school property, and on the way to and from school, and either with him or a family member (including Chet and Gloria), or close friend – one of the Johnsons, if she was out of the house at other times.
“Not that I’m complaining – being with Darryl all the time at school, but it feels somewhat like house arrest. I have to have a guard all the time.”
“We’ve got to get a handle on this,” her dad explained. “I can’t stand the thought of losing you. That would hurt way too much.” He looked like he wanted to say something more, but didn’t
“Especially so soon after your mother,” Gloria quietly said what Mike didn’t.
“I’m somewhat limited in this,” Robert Johnson said, “but I’m going to put out as many feelers as I can. I want to know who did this. Not only do we not need this kind of behavior around here, but I have a personal investment in this situation.” He smiled at both Marcia and Darryl. Marcia leaned back and gazed up into Darryl’s eyes. She considered herself very lucky indeed.
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The Arctic Circle
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The following story takes place in the Arctic Fox universe, but at this moment isn’t part of canon. It may be later, but I haven’t decided on that. For now, consider it a ‘what if’ story.
Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays.
Thank you to Malady for his help editing, and as usual, bouncing my ideas off of.
Your help is much appreciated!
--Rosemary
The Arctic Circle
Rikki and Granny entered the house together. Tomorrow was Christmas, and it would be special. Rikki and Carl married in the Spring with all their friends present, and this would be their first Christmas together as husband and wife. They’d spent Christmases together before, to be sure, but not as a married couple. Such as the two Christmases before, but they'd been at the Chatham house for one, and the Johnson house for the other.
This year was very different. The Chathams and Johnsons had all moved south to the Anchorage area, leaving the Blaines alone. Granny was still in North Pole, certainly, but even the Matthews were south for Christmas. They were all part of the extended family, but both Blaines were stuck in North Pole due to a storm that had been predicted and just finally hit.
“That was a lot of work,” Rikki said as she pulled her boots off by the door, replacing them with slippers to keep her feet warm.
“It sure was,” Granny agreed as she sat down on the bench beside her and pulled her own off as well.
“I'm glad we have each other here.” Rikki gave Carl a peck on the cheek when he came out of the kitchen to welcome them. Rikki was rewarded by him turning his head, then putting his arms around her, and changing the peck into something more.
Once they came up for air, Rikki said, “I do miss the family though.”
“Do you mean your parents, or Chet and Mage? Our extended family?”
“You know, I don't think of them as extended anymore. They're our real family as far as I'm concerned.”
He smiled. “You're right!”
“What about me?” Granny called from the kitchen where she had gone to make some food for her grandchildren.
“You're family too!” Rikki called out.
They could hear the sadness in Granny's voice. “I miss them too,” she said, referring to the Chathams and Johnsons. “It just doesn't feel the same without them.”
“It couldn't be helped, Granny,” Carl said. “We can't abandon the clients over Christmas.” They had been planning to go south to be with everyone else over Christmas, but the storm had been too harsh for their employees to handle on their own.
Rikki had tried to hire temporary people, and managed in Fairbanks, but not enough for North Pole, so they needed to stay.
“No, and that snow would be a killer to try to drive through anyway,” the older woman agreed.
“Granny,” Carl said as he went back into the kitchen. “You've been working out in the cold. You need to rest and warm up! Would you let me finish this?”
“When I was a kid, this was considered woman's work, you know,” Granny admonished him. “Besides, I’ll warm up over the stove.”
“Granny, I don't exactly look like a guy. I can still do ‘woman’s work’ as you call it.” Carl said, laughing.
“For crying out loud, Carl. You're as much of a guy as Rick was.”
It was Rikki’s turn to laugh now. “Granny, I wasn't much of a guy.”
She glanced at her granddaughter-in-law. “You're not helping.“
“Well I wasn't!”
Granny shooed the two into the living room, and returned to the kitchen while they talked.
“Do you miss Vic?” Carl asked.
“I always loved Vicky. I admired her look. She always dressed beautifully, and I wished I could look like that.”
“What about Vic?”
“He was a surprise. I didn't know that side of her... him.”
“I wish we'd got the chance to know him,” Carl said. He could have shown you so much about being a girl.”
“You've been a great help,” Rikki argued.
“He could have shown you how to get Vicky's look.”
“The best way to not get clocked is to not draw attention to yourself,” Rikki said. “Vicky stood out from the rest of the girls. I prefer the girl-next-door look.”
“Not draw attention to yourself,” Carl said. “That doesn’t work for me. I don't look much like a guy.”
Rikki had to agree, but phrased it deftly, “I love you however you look. Besides, give it some time. It won’t be that long.”
“You know,” Carl said, “Last year at Christmas, I wasn’t sure we would celebrate this way. Me as a guy, and you as a woman.”
“I wanted to respect their wishes,” Rikki said. “With them both in prison, it started to hit me how much their lives had changed. I was hoping to give them something stable in their lives.”
Carl nodded in agreement. “You know they were just lashing out,” he said.
“I didn’t need that. When my bio-dad turned away, I decided I didn’t care. I had to break all ties.”
“Shunning you two days before Christmas,” Carl grimaced. “Will you ever forgive him?”
The day before, Rikki had called her father to wish him a merry Christmas. She had always tried to dress as Rick when talking to him, but her development was now too far to hide. In retrospect, she probably should have worn male clothes, and no makeup, but she was sick of turning back into Rick once a month, just to talk to her dad. She knew he was afraid of the same thing happening to her that had happened to Vic, but she had lots of support. And, her father was in prison, so he wouldn’t be killing her.
Her bio-father had taken one look at his daughter and shook his head. “You mother’s genes,” he said into the phone, quiet but clear.
Maybe he was right, as both Rikki and Vic were trans, but that was just the way it was. Rikki tried to defend her mother, but Fred Blaine would have none of it. He reached forward, and severed the connection. To Rikki, that action also severed the connection between them.
Before any more could be said, Granny called them to the table.
After dinner, they all moved back to the living room where they read the Christmas story from Luke and Matthew, and then they opened presents.
Carl had gotten his wife some rather sexy lingerie, and she had returned the favor by getting him some new pajamas. He eyed them critically, and Rikki defended herself. “I know you don’t like this kind, but they were all the store had.”
Carl nodded. He didn’t mind as much as they were in a basic black color, but it still bothered him. They were obviously women’s pajamas, and to receive them now wasn’t what he wanted.
Granny broke through Carl’s frustration when she handed the couple an envelope. Carl gave her a funny look as he opened it. Inside was the deed to her house.
“I know, I know. You've said over and over that I'm going to live forever, but that's not the case, Carl. My doctor’s given me a bit of a shorter time. Says my days are kinda numbered, so...”
“So why were you out there shoveling snow?” Carl wasn't impressed, and if Rikki’s expression was anything to go on, neither was she.
“Because you needed my help,” she said firmly.
“What’s wrong?” Rikki asked, moving to another line of questioning, although she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
“Apparently I’ve got an inoperable aneurysm.”
“And you were out shoveling show today?!” Carl exploded.
“You needed my help,” Granny repeated firmly.
Rikki sighed with exasperation while Carl shook his head. They both knew Granny could be stubborn as a mule, so they decided to drop the subject.
That left Rikki free to get Granny’s present. She went into her and Carl’s room and grabbed an envelope which was addressed to Granny. In it were two round-trip tickets to Hawaii for the end of January.
“What a perfect time,” the old woman exclaimed. “I think I’ll take that young man I’ve been seeing. If his parents agree.”
The younger couple laughed. Ron was two years older than Granny, but his birthday was the day before hers, hence the joke.
The trio played some games late into the night, and finally decided to go to bed at 12:30.
Two hours later, Carl woke Rikki up gasping.
“I think... I need... to go to... the ER.”
Rikki jumped up and helped her husband out of bed, and then hurried to Granny’s room to tell her what was going on.
Carl was getting clothes on when Rikki hurried returned.
“Let’s just go!” Rikki exclaimed, then grabbed an emergency case from the corner of the room with one hand, and grabbing Carl’s shoulder with the other. She helped him get a robe over his shoulders, and led him out to the car.
“Where’s Granny?” Carl asked as he got into the passenger seat.
“She’s pretty tired,” Rikki said. “I’ll call and let her know what’s happening, once we know a bit more.”
“Okay,” Carl said, through gritted teeth.
Considering road conditions, Rikki made excellent time to the hospital. On the way, they passed a couple of emergency vehicles with their sirens blaring and moving as fast as they dared.
Rikki slid the car to a stop at the Emergency Room doors, got out, and ran to the security guard. She explained that her husband had an emergency, and the guard grabbed a wheelchair and pushed it out to the car.
Rikki opened the door, and the guard caught sight of Carl and said, “I thought you said husband.”
“See… What I… mean?” Carl laughed and gasped to Rikki. “I don’t look much like a man right now.”
The guard recovered his composure and said, “I’m sorry. My mistake.”
Carl took it in good stride as he was pushed toward the sliding doors. When the doors slid open, he called out, “Pregnant man! Coming through!”
Several heads turned toward him, while Rikki giggled. The guard laughed as he saw the triage nurse’s eyes widen.
“Bring her… ah him through here,” the nurse said.
She started to stop Rikki, saying, “I’m sorry, Ma’am. You’ll need to wait out here.”
Rikki did something she almost never did anymore. She allowed her voice to slide to it’s original register as she said, “I’m his wife, and the father.”
She was surprised the Nurse’s eyes didn’t pop out of their sockets as they got even wider than they had been. To her credit, the nurse simply said, “Fair enough,” and allowed Rikki to follow.
The guard parked the wheelchair by the vitals desk and set the brakes. “Great day for a baby,” he said. “God bless!” He shook Carl’s hand, then turned to Rikki and said, “Ma’am,” with a tip of the head.
He made his way out to his guard room with the window to the outside, grinning. What a great start to Christmas. A baby being born!
“What’s your name?” the nurse asked Carl. “Carl Blaine,” he told her.
The couple were hurried through triage and into a room. It was quickly determined that Carl was actually in labor, the contractions coming more and more rapidly.
The ER called Maternity and found they had a free birthing room, so he and Rikki were moved once more.
-=#=-
It was another half hour before the doctor told Carl he could push, something he was very grateful for. Another hour, and a little girl was born.
“What’s her name going to be?” asked a nurse while another took the little girl to be weighed and measured.
“Vicki,” Carl said as Rikki said, “Caroline.”
The two stared at each other for a moment, then Rikki said, “We haven’t really decided yet.”
Carl raised an eyebrow in a decidedly Vulcan expression, but said nothing. As far as he knew, they’d decided to name the baby after Vic, Rikki’s brother who’d been killed by a psychopathic father.
“Well, we’ll leave the name part of the certificate open for now,” said the nurse. “You can discuss it and we can fill that in later. I would recommend you have the name figured out before you leave the hospital. You don’t have to, but we should put something there, cause ‘baby girl’ for the name will just cause problems.”
Carl laughed. “I can imagine.”
“Oh, some people don’t decide by the time they leave, and they find out that they’ve got a world of trouble getting things fixed.”
-=#=-
It was nearly five o'clock in the afternoon when Rikki’s phone chimed. It was an incoming Zoom session.
“Hi, Uncle Darryl,” she said. “Merry Christmas!”
On the screen, Darryl’s image looked around. “She’s born?! Congratulations!”
Carl held up the infant so she could be seen. “About 5:36 this morning. Her name is ‘Coral Victoria.’”
By that time, Darryl had centered the camera where everyone could see. There were several congratulations and Merry Christmases, then Marcia said, “How come Coral?”
Carl’s face took on a sad expression. “Rikki went to wake up Granny when I went into labor, and she was dead.”
“We didn’t have time to wait around, so I called 911 and told them what was happening while we hurried to the ER.”
Everyone on the screen looked somber. “So you named the baby Coral for Granny,” Mage said. Carol Gleason had been ‘Granny’ to all of the members of the extended family for the past three years.
“You’ll let us know any details for a memorial service?” Gloria asked. “We’ll definitely want to be there.”
“Of course,” Rikki told them.
It took a little while for everyone to shake off the sadness and sense of loss over Granny’s death, but the joy of Coral being born on Christmas was wonderful.
Later that night, as she prepared for bed, Rikki thought of the circle things had come in. Yes, they’d lost Granny, but they gained a child.
You planned this, she thought to God. You knew how much we’d miss Granny, so You gave us this wonderful little girl to keep us busy. To not dwell on the loss of a wonderful soul. Thank you!
It was with those grateful thoughts that she fell asleep. Feeling lonely for the loss of Carol, but elated for the arrival of Coral. The Arctic Circle... of Life.
The Arctic Fox by Rosemary Howell - Now on Kindle
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When his family moved to Alaska, Patrick had a new life to begin...in more ways than one.
The new kid is a genius. At thirteen, starting the ninth grade, he just wants to fit in. His Air Force dad moved the family to Alaska and it's a whole new life.
Maybe in a new life he can be his real self, a girl who decides to call herself Marcia to make it more different from her old name.
A new life means new friends, new challenges. Like dealing with bullies and boys who think she's pretty. There is drama—a death in the family, danger in her father's job as a pilot, romantic complications—can Marcia deal with all the changes?
A sweet but sometimes painful story of growing up...different.
Cover Art by Melanie E.
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Arctic Fox Book 2 by Rosemary Howell now on Kindle
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A whole new adventure begins for Marcia, the Arctic Fox, and her family!
A mysterious find on the grounds of the air force base presents the Chathams with a mystery too tempting not to explore. Of course, that can't be the only thing going on in their lives, can it?
Chet and Margot's lives get more complicated as their family and responsibilities grow. Can their fledgling business survive the challenges ahead of them? Or the mischief of a thieving Doxie?
Darryl and Marcia dive into the mystery of the find in earnest, unearthing even more mysteries in the base's -- and North Pole's -- past as they do so. From shipwrecks to lost bush pilots, what can they learn from their home's forgotten history... and how will it change its future?
A former nemesis returns, this time as an unexpected ally. But when tragedy strikes, can the Chathams and their extended family figure out what's happened before it's too late?
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Arctic Fox Chapter 2.1
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The Arctic Fox 2
Once more, special thanks to Malady for his help editing.
– Rosemary
Chapter 2.1
August 19th, 2021
9 AM
Marcia Chatham ran out of the house and jumped into the old Mustang beside her boyfriend, Darryl. After their good morning kiss, they hurried to their first yard of the morning as part of their jobs working for Marcia’s older brother, Chet, doing yardwork for different people on the Air Force Base. They crossed McDonald Place, where two days before, they had discovered something in the ground. They didn’t know what it turned out to be, as Darryl’s dad, the CO of the base, had ordered that it be kept secret until they could determine more about it.
As they passed the street, Darryl slowed to a crawl. There was no one living on that section of the road as it had just been built, and a temporary fence had been erected at the start of the block. In addition, there were black tarps affixed to the fence, blocking anyone's view to what was going on.
Both were wondering what they had discovered. Obviously, something was in the ground there. Darryl had joked the night before that it must be a UFO. Obviously, that wasn’t the case, but what was it?
-=#=-
It was a long morning for the two. They worked on several things, some of which had nothing to do with yardwork at all. In one job, they helped a Sergeant who had a fascination with older cars in detailing a 1977 Ford Granada coupe.
A bit later, they went to the base cafeteria where they met up with Chet and Margot for lunch. Margot was Darryl’s older sister, and had been friends with Chet since they were much younger.
For many years, Margot had been Mark, and when she came out as trans, she and Chet had a falling out. Just recently, however, they had gotten back together, married, and adopted a young boy.
Having an older sister who was trans had prepared Darryl for Marcia. He didn’t bat an eye with her being a trans girl like his sister.
Chet offered to pay for all of their food, but Darryl declined, saying he’d pay for his and Marcia’s.
Their food came, and they took their trays to a table near the back of the hall. Marcia had informed Chet about their find of… well, something, at the house on McDonald Place, and he was curious.
“Any idea what they found?” he asked.
“No,” Darryl said. “Dad told us that night that it had to be kept quiet. At least until they found what they were dealing with?”
“Why keep it quiet?” Margot asked.
“Just in case it’s something that they don’t want anyone to know about,” Darryl told his sister.
“I see,” she said, nodding.
Chet caught his wife’s expression, however. He recognized it from when they were kids. “No, Margot. Don’t bug your dad about it. Or mine, for that matter.”
“I wanna know what they found,” she declared. “Don’t you?”
“Sure I do,” he told her. “But that doesn’t mean I’m gonna bug him until he tells me.”
“Well, that’s just one area where we differ,” she said with a grin. “And he’s never been able to resist telling his daughter what she wants to know.”
Darryl let out an involuntary snort, and covered it up with, “Excuse me.”
Margot flashed him an evil look. “You disagree, Darryl?”
“Who, me? I wouldn’t dare!”
“Uh huh.”
Once lunch was over, they headed back to their jobs, although to break the the monotony, Darryl and Marcia went to North Pole to work in the afternoon, and Chet and Margot worked on base.
At 4:30, when they finished work, Darryl and Marcia went to their older sibling’s house where Liz, Darryl and Margot’s mom, was babysitting her grandson. She had Chet and Marcia’s sister, Amber, along as well, and the toddlers were playing together like there was no tomorrow.
The kids were having a wonderful time on a backyard playset that Chet and Margot had refurbished together. Watching the kids was something that Liz loved to do. She had no idea where they got their energy from, but it was wonderful that they got along so well.
Liz turned around and smiled as Darryl and Marcia, or Foxy, as only he was allowed to call her, came out the sliding glass door. Marcia hurried to where the kids were playing, and Darryl sat down beside his mom.
It was a Thursday, and the three families had made it a habit each week, to have dinner at one of their houses on that night.
Darryl told his mom about the day he and Marcia had. When he came to the conversation at lunch, Liz laughed, but she commented, “I hope neither of them told anyone about you finding something in the ground there.”
“Well, Mom. We had to tell him why there was no payment for that house.”
“I understand, Darryl, but your dad won’t be happy if they did,” Liz said.
“Why would they?” Darryl asked.
“Well, just offhand Margot might.”
It was Darryl’s turn to laugh. “She likes to talk,” he commented. “I hope she didn’t. Dad wouldn’t be very happy.”
“Well, I suppose there’s not a lot that could be done about it. She didn’t know.”
A few minutes later Chet and Margot got home, and Chet immediately went to play with the kids along with Marcia. Amber and Chet had a wonderful relationship. She always wanted to play with her big brother, and he was happy to oblige.
With a smile on her face, Margot watched her husband playing with the kids for a bit, then shook her head. It amazed her how good of a father Chet was to their new son, Sammy. He would run up to both the kids, roaring and with his hands held up, pretending to be a bear. In turn, they would scream and run away giggling. Not only did the children love the play, but Chet genuinely did too.
After a bit, Chet ‘caught’ them both, and all three ended up on the ground, tickling each other.
At 6 PM, Gloria and Mike Chatham, Chet and Marcia’s parents, arrived, and fifteen minutes later, Bob Johnson, Darryl and Margot’s father, arrived. Both sets of parents had brought their own steaks, and Chet excused himself from the kids and fired up the BBQ.
Marcia took over with the kids, and they had fun, but it was clear that the kids wanted Chet to return and play.
Not only did Chet put the steaks on the grill, but Margot brought out some corn cobs, and they went on too. It was now routine for Chet to be grilling, so he didn’t have to ask anyone how their steaks were to be cooked, so it wasn’t long before things were ready. While the steaks were being cooked, Gloria sauteed some onions and mushrooms with some wine and butter, one of her specialties to go along with steak.
It was a wonderful dinner, and a great time was had by all. True to her word, Margot tried to get her father to tell what had been found.
“How did you find out about it, Margot?”
“Well, it was our employees who found it, Daddy. We needed to know why there wasn’t going to be payment for that house.”
“Uh, huh,” Bob replied. He reached for his wallet, asking, “How much was the price for that house?”
Margot got a wicked grin on her face. “Two hundred, fifty dollars.”
Bob froze and looked up. “Say what?”
“Well, Daddy. It’s not going to be a continuing contract. We can’t get there now, so we have to recoup our losses.” She tried to keep a straight face, but she wasn’t nearly as good at it as her sister-in-law.
Bob put his wallet back in his pocket and simply stared at his daughter as she broke into laughter. “How much really?”
“Just tell us what was found.”
“I can’t. Not until I get authorization from my superiors.”
“Please,” she said, trying for Bambi-eyes.
“No, deer,” her father answered, “Pun intended.”
At that, Darryl snorted with laughter. “I told you, Sis. You’re not going to get the information out of him.”
Margot glared at her brother, but had to admit that he was right.
-=#=-
The next day, pieces of whatever it was started to arrive at Mike’s maintenance hanger. When he and Bob had looked into the hole to see the wreck, they had been able to make a fair guess as to what it was, but it was only a guess. He found it amusing that his daughter-in-law was trying so hard to find out what it was, but so was the Air Force.
He resisted the urge to micromanage the investigation, even though he certainly wanted to be out in the hanger, helping. He was very curious.
When he left his office that night, it was with the report that the wreck wasn’t complete.
-=#=-
August 23rd, 2021
1:53 PM
Mike watched as the last of the pieces were brought into the hanger. They littered the floor just outside the window in his office that he used for monitoring what was happening with his crew. He was surprised that in the report, there was a body bag that was taken to the hospital. He wondered who had piloted the thing. It wasn’t assembled yet, and he wondered if the pilot would yield any information.
He told the lead of the investigation that he would be back in a little while, and drove to the hospital. In the hospital, he asked where he would find where autopsies were done, then made his way into one of the lower levels. The base wasn’t designed for such occurrences, so they had to make do with one of the regular doctors.
Mike was surprised when he saw that the doctor performing the investigation was the head of the hospital. Bob was also there, watching from a bit of a distance, and Mike couldn’t blame him.
There were several pieces, but the doctor was able to determine that they came from one body, and that the body, was in fact, a human male.
“That rules out a UFO, then,” Mike said to Bob.
He only received a nod in return.
“Only one man was flying it,” Bob finally said.
“My men will determine what it is,” Mike promised.
“I know, Mike. There’s no doubt about that.” He turned to the doctor. “Can you tell me how long he’s been there?”
“Not really, Colonel. He’s been frozen for quite awhile. I can tell you he probably wasn’t military, though.”
“How can you tell that?” Mike asked, shocked.
“From what I can see of his clothes, they’re civilian. He was wearing a parka, but it’s definitely not military.”
“I see,” Mike replied.
-=#=-
August 26th, 2021
8:10 AM
Mike stood and looked at the wreck. It was an amazing find, and the army engineers who uncovered it and lifted it out of the ground had been ordered not to reveal what they had recovered until the CO heard back from his superiors.
Mike heard footsteps to his right and glanced that way to see who it was. Bob stopped at Mike's side and looked at the destroyed machine.
Mike's people were working on identifying it. It had a metal frame, covered with cloth, and appeared to be a biplane. The engine was made by Kawasaki, and was a V12! It had shattered when the plane hit the ground.
The plane was obviously a fighter, as it had two machine guns mounted on the front. The question was, how did it get to Fairbanks?
The pilot's body had fared relatively well in the ground, as it had been in permafrost. There was a lot of oil spilled at the crash site, but not a lot of fuel. In fact, it was quite likely that the plane went down due to running out of fuel.
But what was it doing there?
Please don’t forget to leave kudos and comment!
Thanks!
-- Rosemary
Arctic Fox Chapter 2.2
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Wow! It's been a little while since I posted a story, or even a chapter. I've had a sore left arm due to a bone spur growing into a ligament. I finally got a shot to reduce the pain, and I've been able to type again.
Once
more, special thanks to Malady for his help editing.
Chapter 2
August 27th, 2021
9 AM
Because of her age, Gloria's doctor was keeping a close eye on her and her baby. Each ultrasound had shown a healthy child, but Gloria was still concerned.
She wanted this baby between her and Mike to be perfect. It was silly, she knew, but she and Chester had a wonderful son in Chet. How much better would a child from her and Mike be?
She tried to put that thought behind her. Chet was an incredible young man, and she was very proud of him. Marcia and Amber were wonderful girls too.
There was something about a child that was both hers and Mike's. It was a testament of their love. She knew, though, that it would be easy for her to favor the new baby over the others, even if only because he or she would need more care than the others, and while Marcia might understand, Amber probably wouldn't.
She was four and a half months into the pregnancy and it was getting noticeable to others. She'd only gained about ten pounds so far, but it was pretty much in one, very obvious location.
She was on her way to the kitchen, when she heard the door open. She smiled as she saw her son open the door, holding her grandson's hand. He also had a bag slung over his shoulder that would hold the necessities for the day. Sammy saw his grandma and pulled his hand out of Chet's. "Gamma!" The little boy yelled as he ran to her, his arms outstretched.
At the same time Sammy was hugging her, a bundle of energy rushed by Gloria, and ran to her big brother. Chet caught Amber and swung her up, tickling her on the way.
"You go work?" Amber asked when she stopped laughing.
"Yep," Chet told her. "I've got work."
"I help!" The little girl exclaimed.
“You bet!” Her big brother said. “I need you to play with Sammy.”
“We both help!”
“You'll both be able to come with me when you get a little bigger.”
“I big girl!” Amber declared.
“You sure are!” Chet agreed. “You need to be a little bigger to use my tools, though.”
Amber's lower lip pushed out, and Chet whispered something into her ear. She turned her head to look at Gloria, and then smiled. Chet put her down, and she walked over to her mom and took her hand.
She told Sammy very solemnly, “We help Mama. She pegnent.” She said the last word very slowly, and with determination.
Gloria raised an eyebrow and looked at her son. “Do you like your ear?” She asked him.
“Sure do,” he replied, “but I like you more -- you and that little baby brother or sister.”
She glared at him and told him, “I'll hold off on the ear twist till you pick up Sammy.”
Chet laughed as he headed out the door. Gloria went into the kitchen and listened to the two toddlers' chatter as they planned their day and how they would help her. She laughed to herself as she reflected that there was no doubt that all of her kids were wonderful -- each one a treasure to love.
11:45 AM
Marcia and Darryl were working on a backyard in North Pole. The teams alternated where they were working. Each week they switched “towns.” Chet and Margot were working in the base housing areas this week.
Chet had initially warned the younger couple about the house they were at now. The backyard was surrounded by a chain-link fence and the owner had a strange dog. It was a breed popularly known as a Dusky, or cross between a dachshund and a husky, and she was named Dusky Doxie. Actually, she was a very beautiful dog, taking her size and shorter legs from the dachshund side of her genealogy, and her markings from the husky side. Her coat was where the “dusky” side of her name fit well, as she was a gray and white husky. The gray covered her almost everywhere except for the white spots over each eye and on each side of her muzzle.
The yard was kept very clean, but the owner had installed a dog door into the opening of his glass patio doors.
Darryl and Marcia walked around the yard, making sure that all dog toys and rocks were out of the way, then just to be certain, Darryl went ahead while Marcia ran the mower.
At present, they were using a rotary mower. Chet was trying to find a good reel mower that he could put an engine on. He had the engine Marcia had gotten him for Christmas, and it would be perfect for what he wanted, but not many of the good, old, well crafted reel mowers were in existence anymore. Thus, in North Pole, a nice, self-propelled Toro was the mower they used, saving Chet’s restored antique mower for the base, where perfect yards were expected.
The mower was a nice one, designed to move at whatever speed the individual was walking at, and they were making good time. The yard was level, and the owner made sure it was pretty well free of obstructions. Out of the corner of her eye, Marcia saw the dog run by. She always had trouble keeping from laughing when she saw the dog running, because of the short legs. She was hoping they'd be able to see it in the winter. She really wanted to see it in the snow.
The dog lay down a little ways from them, and started gnawing on a bone it had carried outside with it. They made another row with the mower, then stopped as Darryl took the bag over to the compost pile. Marcia knelt down and petted the dusky, who rolled over and lay back in ecstacy, tongue lolling out the side of her mouth, begging the girl to scratch her tummy. Marcia obliged and was rewarded by exuberant husky speak. Marcia loved petting her sister-in-law’s husky as well, as the hair was almost like fur on their ears and face.
When Marcia started the mower again, Dusky Doxie ran back to the house, and in through the dog door. Darryl spotted the bone that had been left in the grass and put it in his pocket.
The rest of the afternoon went by without any problem. Once they were through, Marcia ran the mower over to the compost pile and Darryl emptied the bag. Marcia went out to the pickup and got a couple of shovels, and brought them out to the back yard. They turned the compost over a few times, then went back toward the front yard. They stopped at the cabbages, and gazed at the size. The largest was nearly two feet in diameter. Darryl guessed that it was somewhere around 75 pounds. Marcia pulled a few weeds from beside the enormous plants and shook her head. As they left, she quipped, “That’s a lot of coleslaw.”
They took their equipment back to the pickup, loaded it up, and got into the cab. Darryl evidently felt something odd in his pocket, and looked thoughtful for a second. “Hang on, Foxy. I’ll be right back.” He jumped out, and hurried to the door. He was about to ring the bell when the door opened. Mrs. Smith, the owner of the house, handed him a rather large box, overflowing with produce. Marcia watched as they said a few words, then Darryl pulled something out of his pocket. It was Dusky Doxie’s bone. He handed it to Mrs. Smith, and she laughed. The dog was standing beside her, and as soon as she saw the bone, she started giving husky speak, begging to be handed the treat.
Darryl picked up the box that he had set on the porch to hand over the bone, and hurried back to the pickup. He put the box in the bed, turned, waved to Mrs. Smith, and got in the cab. “It’s a tip for all our work. She gave some to Margot and Chet last week, so this is ours. Lots of zucchini, carrots and radishes.”
“Okay. Zucchini, I can understand, but carrots and radishes? Why would she give those away?”
Darryl chuckled. “Yeah, everyone gives away zucchini in the fall. Carrots I can understand too.”
“I like carrots,” Marcia declared. “Just because you don’t.”
“Well,” he replied. “There’s no accounting for taste.”
“Really?” Marcia questioned him. “My taste includes you as very important.”
“You’ve got some good taste, and some bad,” he teased.
“Do I?” she asked, folding her arms and glaring at him.
“Did I just dig a deep hole?”
“Very.”
Darryl nodded and grinned as he steered down the street to their next yard.
2:47 PM
Mike stared at the report on his desk. He had read it three times already, and couldn’t believe it. Well, he believed it, but it didn’t really make sense. Why was a Kawasaki K-10 biplane just a few miles out of Fairbanks? He had googled the plane, and found that it was the last biplane used by the Japanese in World War II. The type of plane was beyond doubt. It was definitely a K-10, but how had it ended up here?
He picked up his phone, and called Bob.
“Hi, Mike,” he heard as soon as Bob picked up his phone. “I’m looking at the report.”
“What do you think?” Mike asked.
“I’m really not sure what to think. I’m pretty sure this had to have happened around World War II.”
“Yes, but how did it end up underground, Bob?”
There was silence for a moment. “I don’t know,” the CO confessed after a moment.
“I think we need to get a survey of this area. Also, we need to contact the World War II History Center and see what a K-10 was doing in this area.”
“Until I get the go ahead from the brass, I can’t do that.”
Mike chuckled. “It’s so tempting to ask Marsh to get all the information she can on all the planes that were in this area in the time frame.”
Bob laughed as well. “She could probably get what we need, knowing her. But she’d also know that our ‘artifact’ was why we were asking.”
“I know. She’s too smart for her own good.”
Bob thought for a moment. “I don’t think finding out about planes in this area would help though.”
“How do you figure?”
“There’s no reason for a biplane like that in this area. Plus the report says it ran out of fuel. The pilot was wearing civvies. I don’t think it was the normal pilot. Anyone familiar with that plane wouldn’t have let it run out of fuel.”
“I agree. So it was in the hands of a civilian. How?”
“I don’t know. I’m going to see if I can disclose some of this information, so we can contact the History Center.” He chuckled. “Maybe we can get Marsh and Chet teamed up to figure it out.”
Mike laughed as well. “Don’t forget Margot.”
As Bob hung up his phone, he thought about how he was going to ask for a release of information. “I suppose it’s nothing to worry about. It’s quite a ways after the fact. There shouldn’t be any reason to keep it secret now.”
Mike also was looking for other information. He suspected that the plane went down elsewhere. There didn’t seem to be any indications of previous repairs. Did the pilot defect? That seemed very unlikely. The plane would never have gotten into the hands of a civilian, especially during the war.
So had the plane landed on Allied soil? If so, what happened to the official pilot? While he agreed with Bob that the official pilot would not have made such a mistake as low fuel easily, it was a possibility, given unfamiliar terrain and wind patterns. But would he have flown his fighter so blatantly over Alaska?
So many questions.
Please don’t forget to leave kudos and comment!
– Rosemary
Arctic Fox Chapter 2.3
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Chapter 3
August 30th, 2021
9 AM
Colonel Johnson sat behind his desk and happily read through the orders he’d gotten from above. The wrecked plane was no longer considered a secret. He was somewhat surprised that the orders came through as quickly as they did, but he wasn’t going to complain about it.
He quickly called Mike and filled him in. As soon as he got off the phone, he knew Mike was going to be making some calls to see if he could figure out anything new.
Speaking of figuring things out... That night, at the Johnson home, after dinner, the two colonels found out how quick their kids were.
“The plane is a Kawasaki K10, probably lost in World War II. The K10 was the last biplane that the Japanese used as a fighter. The one found in the ground even had ammunition for its machine guns.”
“Why was it here?” Chet asked. “This is a bit too far inland, not to mention north for a Japanese fighter.”
“Especially a biplane,” Margot added.
“I put out some feelers today, but I haven’t heard anything back yet,” Mike told them. “We do know that the pilot wasn’t Japanese.”
Marcia pulled out her phone and started tapping the screen. “I wish I had my laptop,” she murmured.
Darryl got up from the table and hurried to his room, coming back with his Windows machine.
Marcia grimaced. “I suppose this will have to do.” She logged in and hurried through several sites she knew.
“What are you thinking, Marcia?” Margot asked.
“Well,” Marcia said looking up for a moment, “it seems strange that a Japanese fighter would be flown by a non-Japanese person, with ammunition for the machine guns, don’t you think?”
Margot gave a snerk. “Sounds reasonable.”
“I’m looking to see when a plane like that would have gotten anywhere close to Alaska, then we’ve at least got a possible timeline,” Marcia explained.
“Check if there’s any report of a K10 lost in Alaska?” Darryl asked.
“I don’t think we’ll find anything that obvious,” Margot said. “The Air Force would have known about it if we can find anything that easy on the internet. Look for the pilot,” she suggested.
“Whattya mean?” Darryl asked.
“See if any Japanese people were found in Alaska around the time.”
“Or bodies,” Chet said quietly.
The suggestions were coming quickly from the two girls. It was like they had tuned into each others’ brains as they continued making suggestions. Margot ousted Darryl from his chair and huddled over the computer with her sister-in-law. Chet sat on the other side of the table, offering suggestions as well.
Darryl moved into the living room with the parents. He was smart, but the three working on the problem had quickly gone way beyond where he was. Every time he had an idea, someone else had already mentioned it.
He watched his sister and girlfriend with pride. Not that his brother-in-law was doing too bad either. It was clear, however, that Marcia was leading the pack.
His mouth opened in astonishment when Marcia suddenly announced. “We might have something.”
Darryl and his dad moved quickly back to the table, as did Marcia’s dad.
“We might have something, Daddy,” Margot told her father with a grin.
“Okay,” Bob replied “what might you have?”
Marcia giggled slightly, then turned serious and said, “We checked for areas where the Japanese and Allied forces fought near or in Alaska in World War II.”
Her dad sat down beside her, and the two mothers joined them as well.
“That makes sense,” Mike said to his daughter. “There were two islands in the Aleutian Chain that were fought over. The Japanese took them over, and the Allies fought them off.”
“Yeah,” Marcia agreed.
“So we looked at the possibility of a plane found there,” Margot supplied.
“I checked on that as well,” Mike said. “I didn’t find any plane found anywhere down there.”
“Did you look for a Japanese body?”
“Yes,” Bob said. “That was one of the first things we looked for.”
“I found,” Marcia said, “the records of some bones found on Unalaska Island, in the early 90s. Some kids were hiking, and they found the bones. They weren’t sure what they were, and started playing with the longest of the bones they could find.” She shuddered a bit. “I guess they were playing sword fighting.”
“And they were found to be Japanese bones?” Liz asked.
“No, but they were human leg bones. The article said a femur and tibia. They also found a fibula, but I guess it wasn’t big enough to really sword fight with.”
“They were a bit on the short side.” Chet had his phone out, and was skimming through the article. “They were clearly adult, but kinda small.”
“Before World War II, Japanese people were somewhat shorter,” Margot was looking at an article on the computer. “Interesting,” she murmured. “Especially in the legs.”
“A search was made,” Marcia went on. “They found some pieces of leather, but nothing identifiable.”
Bob nodded. “Anything more?”
“Not yet,” his daughter told him. “We’re still looking.”
-=#=-
August 31st, 2021
9 AM
Darryl and Marcia got a late start in the morning. Gloria had a doctor’s appointment, and Liz gave her a ride to the clinic. Marcia kept an eye on Amber and Sammy while they were gone, and Darryl did what work he could, but things went slow without Marcia.
At the clinic, the doctor did another ultrasound, and it appeared as though the baby was developing alright, but she had noticed that she was thirstier than normal. She was also having to go pee more often than usual, but had chalked that up to drinking more water and the growing size of the baby.
Her doctor wanted to make sure, however, and checked her blood sugar. It was higher then it should be, and she was warned to watch the carbs that she was taking in.
When she left the clinic, Gloria told Liz that she had type A1 gestational diabetes. “I’m a bit concerned about it. My dad had type 2 diabetes. I suppose I’m going to have to watch what I’m eating, even after I have the baby.”
“What did your dad do to manage his?”
“Not a lot. He managed to control it with his diet.”
They arrived home, before too long, and found the little kids playing outside, with Marcia sitting in a lawn chair, alternating between watching the kids and her laptop.
“Well, we’re back,” Gloria told her. “Are you ready to go help Darryl?” she asked her daughter.
Marcia grinned and texted her boyfriend. Almost done at Sgt Yancys house then will pick u up, came the reply. “He’ll be here in a few, Mom.”
Gloria grinned as she sat down in a chair beside her. “How have they been?”
“Great!” Marcia replied, grinning from ear to ear. “I played with them a little while ago, but I got tired. They’ve got energy to burn.”
Liz laughed from the other side of Gloria. “You’ve got to save some energy for work today.”
“That’s for sure!” She looked closely at her mom. “Everything okay?”
“It will be. I’ve just got to watch out for sugars right now.”
“Diabetes?”
“Just gestational.”
Marcia smiled, then commented. “You’re naturally sweet, Mom. It’s not a surprise that it’s in your blood.”
Gloria laughed, then told her. “Go change for work, young lady. You don’t need to scratch up your legs.”
“Yeah,” she sighed. “Jeans just make my legs hot.”
“I think Darryl likes that,” Liz told her, straight faced.
Marcia stared for a moment, then simply nodded, a smile appearing on her face.
A few minutes later, the women heard “He’s here! See ya!” from inside the house.
“Be careful!” Gloria yelled back.
“Take care!” Liz yelled at the same time.
-=#=-
9 AM
Bob did some checking with the engineers on the surveys for the area. They had learned a lot from the kids the night before, but when he asked how the plane had gotten underground, his daughter gave him a mischievous grin. “We can't do all the work for you, Daddy.”
He looked through the land survey of the area, and photos taken from an air survey. He glanced through them, but there wasn’t a lot of interesting things to notice. The place where the plane crashed contained a pond, formed by a beaver dam. While the photos were black and white, they were quite high quality, and he could even see the lodge.
Probably how the plane ended up underground, he thought. If the plane was sitting in that pond, it could have been covered pretty quickly.
He looked through some more, pictures, then emailed them to Mike.
He wasn't sure how it was going to go over in a report, but he decided to write one including what the kids found out the night before.
He got busy typing.
-=#=-
September 3rd, 2021
11 AM
The week had flown by, and the kids, including Darryl, had made some headway regarding the plane. They were forgoing their usual Friday night Couples’ Only time, and meeting for dinner with both families to fill their dads in.
Chet and Margot were at Mrs. Julie Smith’s house, searching the yard for dog toys and bones. When they found them, they tossed them to the edge of the back yard. Several times, Doxie picked up a ball in her mouth, and happily brought it back to Chet.
“No, Doxie. We’re not playing fetch.” he told her, laughingly. “Besides, you’ve got that ball covered with dog slime now.” He obligingly picked it up and tossed it again. The dog had a habit of picking up all manner of items, and wanting to play with them, and Chet was making headway of about two or three ‘toys’ to every throw of the slimed ball.
Mrs Smith was standing on the back porch getting a good laugh at the young man and dog. She finally descended to the patio and called the dog, who grabbed the ball, and carried it to her master. Julie bent down, picked up the ball, and set it down on the patio table. This was apparently the sign that the game of fetch was over, and the dusky sighed and lay down, her eyes on the toys the couple had tossed off the lawn.
Chet started the mower, and started making passes across the grass, while Margot continued looking for things in the grass. This wasn’t the only place they had to be careful. There were several dogs and children in backyards around the neighborhood, and all of them tended to leave things in the grass.
Chet had made several passes, when there was a loud pop from the mower. He knew immediately that he’d hit something and released the bail, stopping the engine. A few feet away, he saw Margot fall to the ground, clutching her leg.
He hurried to her, and saw the red fluid pouring from beneath her hand. Mrs. Smith, who had been an EMT for several years, hurried over, and gently moved the young woman’s hands from the spot. She was rewarded by a spray of blood.
“Looks like an artery was cut,” the former EMT said, as she pulled her belt off. “Call an ambulance Chet!”
Chet was white faced as sat down on the ground. He couldn’t dial 911, but suddenly remembered his phone was programmed to dial it if he held down the 9 button.
Julie applied a tourniquet to Margot’s leg, and took Chet’s phone out of his trembling hand.
Chet took Margot’s hand and squeezed it tight. Margot was turning white, and he couldn’t seem to do anything except hold her hand and wonder what had happened.
A few minutes later, some people hurried around the house, carrying a stretcher. They examined her for a few moments, then loaded her onto the stretcher.
All the while, Chet felt like he was in a tunnel. He wasn’t able to ride in the ambulance with Margot, and was definitely in no condition to drive, so Julie locked up her house and Chet’s truck. Chet climbed into the car alongside her, and they hurried off to the hospital.
-=#=-
Once more, special thanks to Malady for his help editing.
– Rosemary
Arctic Fox Chapter 2.22 -- Final Chapter
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Cover
photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
As usual, I’m thanking Malady and KymmieLorain for their invaluable help in the writing of this story.
Chapter 22
Saturday, October 2nd, 2021
It had been a rough week. The kids in the high school didn't know how to react to the death of two fellow students. Vic hadn't been a great friend to anyone, but Michelle had been liked. She hung with the same crowd Vic did, but people respected her ability in music.
It had turned out that Vic and Michelle had been raped and subsequently beaten to death. These facts hadn't been acknowledged by the police, but somehow, it was known to be true.
The rumor was that three people raped the two, and they were all closely related to Vic.
-=#=-
10:00 AM
Darryl and Marcia had asked if they could spend the day with Chet and Margot. They wanted to try and figure out what had happened with Vic and Michelle.
When they arrived, Rick and Carla were there as well. Neither of them figured they could compete with the other two couples, but they wanted desperately to know what had happened.
It was getting chilly, so they decided not to go out back.
Sammy was playing with a toy piano. He had already mastered the demo on the toy, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and was experimenting with different melodies he'd heard, although it frustrated him when he couldn't find the right notes. The toy was only one octave and had no sharps or flats. Margot had been planning to get him a regular electric piano, but her mom told her in no uncertain terms not to do that. It had already been purchased for Christmas.
Allie was reading a book, sitting cross-legged by Sammy. When he was able to play a melody, he had to show it multiple times to her, and she dutifully and patiently listened, encouraging him to play.
When Marcia sat down, she watched her brother for a few moments. He himself didn't notice his sister's attention, but instead was watching his kids. The pride on his face was readily apparent. He loved kids so much. She thought back to how he seemed when she first met him, breaking his jaw with Darryl's book bag. It seemed like that first person wasn't Chet at all. He was an entirely different person, that she didn't want to ever see the old one again.
He had been a bad bully. Not just a bad person, but someone trying to be a bully who was bad at it. When he decided to throw off that fake persona, he showed himself as being one of the most wonderful people there could ever be.
Marcia remembered Chet's mom, now her own mom, grabbing his ear and almost dragging him into the house after Marcia had broken his jaw. It was no wonder Gloria was so mad at him. She knew who he really was. And she knew why he was trying to be a bully.
This Chet, watching his kids play with such pride – this was the real Chet, and she was proud to be his sister.
Margot was also watching Chet and the kids and her thoughts had been running similarly to Marcia's.
Finally, Chet glanced at his wife, who was beaming at him. Then he glanced at his sister and found a very similar look on her face. "What?" he said in defense. "I love kids."
“Uh-huh," Marcia grinned.
Chet swiveled around in his recliner until he was facing Rick. He suggested they record the brainstorming session so they'd have a reminder of what was said as they thought about things more. Everyone agreed, so he put his phone on record, laid it on the coffee table, and then asked Rick the latest word.
“Well, I think I can confirm the rumors. The police asked me for a DNA sample. They took one from Dad too. I’m not sure why they'd want one from him, though.”
“So you figure the three relatives theory is true?” Margot asked. “Maybe they think your dad might be related in some way.”
“I sure hope not,” Rick said. “That would make me related to Simmons too.”
“Do you think it’s true?” asked Marcia.
“As disgusting as I find it, yeah,” Rick said, a look of revulsion on his face. “I believe it’s true.”
Marcia nodded, and she seemed to withdraw into herself, a serious scowl on her face as she looked down at her lap.
Both Darryl and Chet had seen the look before, and when Rick asked Chet a question, he simply put a finger in front of his lips, then pointed at his sister.
Rick scowled, but at Carla’s urging, he sat back on the couch and waited.
“What do you think are the possibilities of your dad being related to Simmons?” Marcia finally asked.
“I doubt it. They don’t look anything alike.”
“True,” she agreed, “but that’s not definitive proof.”
“Well, it was proof of Vic not being my dad’s son,” Rick argued.
“No. Vic's birth certificate was proof. At least legally. Their appearance was just a sign of it. At best, evidence."
Thinking about what Marcia said, Rick murmured, "I see," but Marcia was already scowling into her lap again.
They waited for her to speak again, and finally, she said quietly, without looking up: "Go ahead and discuss things. What you say helps too. I'm not going to solve this on my own."
It took a few moments for the other five to start conversing. They had been keeping quiet for Marcia to think, but finally, Darryl said, “I’m really sorry, Rick. I know this idea is disgusting but, can we take it as a fact that Simmons was one of the three who raped them?”
“Not as fact,” Margot said, “But it’s a good possibility.”
“But why would he do that?” Carla asked. “He was his son!”
“There are cases of incest all the time,” Rick said, his revulsion showing again.
“But…” Carla clearly didn’t want to believe that anyone would do that.
Marcia suddenly asked, “Have they found Simmons yet?”
“I don’t think so,” Rick answered.
“What are you thinking, Foxy?” asked Darryl.
Again, Marcia looked at Rick. Hesitantly, she asked, “Where did Crystal go instead of your uncle’s?”
“Why?” he countered.
“We’re not sure,” Carla said. “She won’t tell anyone. Not even Fred.”
Marcia turned to her sister and brother. She was deeply in love with Darryl, but she knew Chet and Margot would follow her logic easier.
“Here’s my theory.” Turning to Rick, she assured him. “It’s only a theory, okay?”
He slowly nodded. He knew very well how perceptive she was. It might be a theory, but a very good one.
“We know that Simmons was Vic’s father,” Marcia began. “I hesitate to use the word ‘dad’ because he really doesn’t seem like much beyond a biological father.
“Anyway. He was always ogling Vicki in class. I noticed it. I’m sure Darryl noticed it.”
Darryl nodded in agreement.
“The thing was, he ogled all the cute girls. It wasn’t a paternal look at all. He was taking in their looks.”
“He didn’t look at you that way,” Darryl said.
“He knew that I was born a boy.”
“His loss.”
“Thanks,” she said and gave his cheek a quick peck, “but I’m just as happy he didn’t look at me that way.”
Darryl raised his eyebrows as if just thinking of the ramifications of that, as he nodded his head and said, “Yeah. Me too.”
“The point is, the way he looked at those girls was distinctly sexual.”
“You aren't thinking…;" Rick stopped what he was saying.
“He eyed girls in our classes the same way, Rick,” Margot pointed out.
“Oh.”
“Could the two guys he was with at Ross’s be the two other people whose… well, seed the police found?” Darryl asked.
Marcia smiled at him. Somehow he'd come up with that theory too. "That's a possibility," Marcia said. "I don't know how likely it is, but… What if they were some of his wide-ranged sons?"
“Oh, wow!” Rick groaned. “This gets worse and worse.”
“I’m sorry,” Marcia said quietly. “I didn’t think you’d want to hear this.”
“No, but once I understood who Vic was, it was like… Well, I suddenly understood him so much better.”
“I know,” Marcia said in the same tone of voice. “Me too.”
“Yeah. I was looking forward to having a brother. Go on. I need to know what happened.”
“It’s only a theory,” Marcia said. “I could have it completely wrong.”
“Yeah,” Rick said. “You could.” He didn’t sound convinced.
“We don’t know where Crystal went, but it wouldn’t have left enough time for her to get to Whitehorse and back, so I don’t think she was the one who used the debit card there. If the two men were sons of Simmons, one of them may have. Where were they from? The lower forty-eight? If so, did they drive here?”
Chet was nodding. “That’s a good question.”
“Might Simmons react the way he did when his daughter came out as his son?” Marcia cocked her head a bit. “And how far would he take his anger?”
Margot was beginning to see where her sister-in-law was going. “So you’re saying that Crystal has something to do with Simmons's disappearance?”
“Do you think he’s dead?” Chet asked.
“I don’t know, but if such a person killed my son, I know how I’d react.”
“How would she know he did it?” Carla asked her.
Marcia shrugged. “My guess is she’d confront him. Maybe she was prepared to kill him, or maybe it was an accident. I don’t know, but I’m sure if she suspected, she went to see him ready to exact revenge.”
They talked a while longer, and around midnight, Darryl took Marcia home. When he arrived at his house, he was still thinking about what had been said.
Chet had made a copy of the recording for everyone, and Darryl played back Marcia’s theory. He figured she was pretty close to the actual truth.
Epilogue
Allie was officially adopted by Chet and Margot. They got a bit of a surprise afterward. Bill and Sylvia explained that their daughter, Lisa, had left the farm in Palmer to them. They thought it best to sell it, for an extremely low price, to the young Chathams, where it would be used to help their granddaughter and her new family.
There was a staff that worked the farm, which had several fields of different vegetables. After visiting the farm and speaking with the staff, Chet and Margot decided to allow the manager to continue to run things. The farm was very profitable, and Lisa had used a local job in a bank to support herself and Allie, and the money from the farm had gone directly to pay off her loan, so she had owned it free and clear.
=#=-
Chris had a few snags while he was in the hospital, but he was released at about the 35-week mark. Everyone was thrilled to have him home, and he seemed to revel in the attention. Marcia was delighted to help in his care, and Amber was absolutely ecstatic to have a little brother.
-=#=-
It was a couple of weeks later that Simmons's body was found. His car was in the river, southeast of North Pole, and his dead body was in the trunk.
A painted, broken bit of fingernail was found inside his shirt. Marcia was right. It came from Crystal.
When confronted at her house, she didn’t deny it. Fred tried to make her wait for an attorney, and it quickly came out that he’d figured out what she’d done.
Both of them were taken into custody, her for murder and him as an accessory after the fact.
That, of course, left Rick in an empty house. It was too hard on him, his entire family being ripped apart in the way it was. He couldn't stay in the place, so he moved into Carla's apartment, and then he and Chet closed up the house for the winter.
At trial, Crystal said that she had confronted Simmons for what he’d done. Simmons was furious that she was allowing Vic to transition.
The two men were the ones who also raped the kids. One was his brother and the other, his nephew. They had been picked up by the police and would be sent back to Alaska to stand trial there, as both lived in the lower forty-eight.
Simmons had decided to show Vic what a girl like her was supposed to be for, so he had his way with her and Michelle. Then his brother and nephew did as well. After they were satisfied, they realized they’d have to get rid of the two, so they stabbed both and put them in Vic’s car. They jammed the gas pedal down and let it run into the river.
Simmons had admitted to Crystal that they followed the two from Ross's to a secluded spot where they were making out and attacked there.
When Crystal confronted him after he bragged about it, he tried to hurt her, but she was backed against the fireplace, where she grabbed the ash shovel.
She was able to hit him across the face, and he stumbled backward and fell. Acting on instinct, she jumped onto him, straddling his chest. She then went to work, driving the shovel again and again into his face.
Had she gone to the police at the time, it would have been self-defense, but since she hid her actions and only admitted when accused by the police, she faced prison.
Fred admitted that he got her to talk about it when he heard that she’d never gone to Talkeetna to see her brother. He knew that she’d be facing prison, so he agreed to keep it quiet.
The two were sentenced to time in prison.
-=#=-
In the spring of 2023, Chet and Margot were best man and matron of honor, respectively, at Rick and Carla's wedding. Darryl was a groomsman, and Marcia was a bridesmaid. Granny sat in the front row, beaming through the entire service as the two said their vows.
At the wedding reception, Chet told them that he was making Rick COO of Chatham Yardworks, which had expanded into Fairbanks, and had quite a staff. He and Margot would be moving to Palmer to manage the farm as the manager had given his notice.
Darryl and Marcia were accompanying them where they would attend Alaska State University in Anchorage. The only stipulation that Gloria and Mike had given their son and daughter-in-law was to make sure they had separate bedrooms!
The End
(of book 2)
Don’t forget to leave kudos and comment!
– Rosemary
P.S. Book 3 is being written now.
Arctic Fox Book 3
Author:
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
Marcia is seventeen, and along with Darryl, has moved south in Alaska to attend the Anchorage campus of the Alaska State University. She wants to pursue her dream, but will it pursue her instead?
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Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 1
Author:
Audience Rating:
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Character Age:
TG Themes:
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
As is always the case, I'd like to thank Malady for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 1
Saturday, May 1st, 2023
Marcia looked at the scenery around her brother’s truck as he turned into the driveway of the farm house. Directly to the south of the farm was the Matanuska River, a river they had followed almost since they passed the glacier that fed it, seventy or so miles to the northeast.
She could see a mountain beyond it, the river that seemed to be all by itself. Looking at the map she had been tracking their progress on, it said the mountain was called Pioneer Peak. Like the river, it was rather majestic, standing almost all alone.
They hadn’t entered Palmer yet, but she supposed they would go to town later.
She glanced at her four-year-old nephew sitting in between her brother, Chet, and herself. He was staring out the windows, totally captivated by what he saw. Marcia assumed that he would be drawing what he saw later in the day. He did that often. He didn’t speak much, but his ‘words’ were in art. Somehow he would convey how he felt through what he put down on paper. He had a well worn set of colored pencils from using them constantly.
About a year ago, Mage, her sister-in-law, walked into her three-year-old son’s room one day to find him decorating his walls with all ninety-six colors in his box of Crayolas. But it wasn’t in the scribble that she would have expected from a child his age. He was drawing grass, trees, mountains, clouds, and a massive brown bear. The picture looked familiar, and without saying anything, she walked out and into the living room. Sitting on the coffee table, was a magazine opened to a photo from Denali National Park, exactly like the one he was drawing.
She picked up the magazine, tapped her husband, Chet’s shoulder, and motioned for him to follow her. Their ten-year-old daughter Allie saw them head to her brother’s room and followed.
What they saw, comparing the picture to Sammy’s artwork was stunning. They were exactly the same; only the one Sammy was making was mural size! He’d moved his chair over to the wall, and was standing on it as he put details on the top of the giant mountain. Mage glanced at the photo, then froze. The details were there too. Even to the shape of the cloud that almost constantly hovered around the summits.
She pointed out each detail to her husband and daughter as Sammy put each of them in. There was no frustration that their child was drawing on his wall. It was a beautiful mural! And he was doing it all from memory.
When his grandparents, aunts and uncles saw the picture, they couldn’t believe it.
Judge Matthews and his wife, Sylvia, were also shown. They were the biological grandparents of Allie, and they had taken on Sammy as an extra set of grandparents as well. In truth, they had unofficially become another couple in the family.
Judge Matthews’ mouth dropped open when he saw the mural. “He did this from memory, you say?” he asked Mage.
“Chet, Allie, and I were standing in the doorway, holding the magazine while he did it. I watched him put in every detail from the photo.”
But it hadn’t stopped there. He got off his chair, and saw his family and smiled at them. He studied each one for a moment, then he drew the family, including himself, not far from the bear, holding hands, and extremely happy. In truth, the family was probably too close to the bear for reality, but he couldn't be faulted for that. Each of them looked as real as the rest of the picture.
Somehow, he managed to convey the love he felt for his family in that little addition of them into the mural, and Mage knew that she was just as happy as the version of her in the picture.
Now, as Marcia looked at the little boy, she knew that he was memorizing each detail as he saw it, and would be churning out pictures of what he saw, before the day was over.
-=#=-
A man, somewhere between forty and sixty years old, walked out of the house when he heard the vehicles pull up. Behind the truck, which was pulling a trailer, was an EcoSport with Mage in the driver’s seat. Beside her in the passenger seat sat her and Chet’s daughter, Allie.
Allie was the reason Chet and Mage now owned the farm. It had been owned by Allie’s biological mother, and transferred to Allie’s grandparents when she was killed in a car accident.
Allie’s grandfather, Bill Matthews, was a judge in Fairbanks, and his wife, Sylvia, was the bailiff in his court. Bill was the only judge who presided over adoption cases in the city, and had been very impressed by Chet and Mage when they adopted Sammy. They talked to the young couple about adopting their granddaughter as well, to which the young couple gladly agreed.
As an extra set of grandparents to the two young Chatham children, the judge and his wife suddenly had a growing family that welcomed them with open arms. They were happy to spend time with them as well.
Behind the EcoSport, another vehicle pulled up. It was a green ‘73 Mustang, absolutely piled high with boxes in the passenger seat and the back seat. It was riding somewhat low because of the weight, and the decision had been to put only light things in the trunk.
As soon as Darryl, the owner and driver of the Mustang, got out of the car, Marcia, his girlfriend, almost flew into his arms, placing a huge kiss on his lips.
After they separated, he smiled at her. “I love the hi, but we did just see each other a hundred miles back.”
“Yes,” Marcia said smiling back. “And I’ve been without you for two and a quarter hours.”
“And what do you do all night?” he asked.
“Dream about you,” she told him.
The man walked up to Chet and shook his hand, then turned to Darryl and Marcia. They were sharing another kiss, and he shook his head, chuckling.
“Hey kids!” Chet hollered. “Get a room!” He paused for a moment, then said, “On second thought, don’t.”
“I was gonna say…” Mage said as she walked up beside her husband.
“Yeah, I know,” Chet said in a fake chagrined manner. He turned back to the farmhouse man and indicated his sister. “Bruce, this is my sister Marcia, and Mage’s brother, Darryl.”
Turning to the younger couple, he told them, “Guys, this is Bruce Huff. He’s the manager of the farm.”
The two shook hands with the man, then Chet leaned close to Bruce, and in a stage whisper said, “Don’t tell them that I told you this… They don’t want anyone to know. Marcia and Darryl are promised to each other. They’ve been dating each other for four years now.”
“Really!?” Bruce said, sounding honestly surprised. “I would never have been able to tell if you hadn’t confided in me.” He gave Chet a wink, then they turned to give everyone the grand tour of the farm.
They went into the barn and found that there were several horses inside.
“Wow!” Marcia exclaimed. “I’d love to learn to ride!”
Suddenly, there was a squeal, and a hurricane rushed by Marcia to a chestnut horse a couple of stalls down. The hurricane climbed the gate and threw her arms around the horse, who nuzzled the little girl.
“I’ve missed you, Elmo!” Allie exclaimed as she hugged the horse’s neck tightly.
“I’m assuming that’s Allie’s horse,” Darryl said as his niece tried to explain that she didn’t have any treats for Elmo, but promised that she’d bring him some as soon as she could.”
“Good assumption, lover boy,” Bruce said.
Darryl glanced at him, and realized that Bruce was only teasing him. There wasn’t any maliciousness on his face at all. It was hard to miss the fact that Darryl and Marcia hadn’t let go of each other’s hands since they met up after the trip.
“I have to ask. Why’d you ride in separate cars?” Bruce queried.
“Sammy can be a handful on a long trip,” Marcia told him. “I rode with Chet and Sammy to keep Sammy amused.”
“That makes sense, I suppose,” Bruce said nodding.
He pointed out a few more things, then took them out to the gardens. There were several patches with vegetables starting to grow. They hadn’t reached the giant sizes that they would achieve later on, but space had been given for that eventuality.
Looking over the gardens, Darryl summed it up. “There’s a lot of work here for the summer.”
At the northeastern edge of the farm was a spread of fireweed that seemed to go on forever. “The farm goes on that way for another mile,” Bruce explained. “I was thinking of opening that parcel up for growing the hay that the horses eat, or at least some of it. But then, Lisa left. I didn’t have any wish to do that afterwards.”
Chet nodded. When they visited here the first time two years ago, Lisa was still present, but about a month after the visit, she packed up and left one day when Bruce was working. The explanation for her disappearance was hard to take. She and a farm worker had fallen for each other, and they packed up that day and left.
Bruce came in from his work, expecting to see his wife, but instead, found an empty house, empty closets, and an empty life.
There was a note on the bed, explaining why Lisa left, and it hurt the man deeply. He had always thought that they had a wonderful relationship, but it was shown to be false.
On their next trip down, which was in the fall of that year, Mage saw that Bruce looked almost ten years older. He was two years younger than her mom, who was 55, but he looked like he was in his sixties now.
He had tried to find Lisa, but no one could tell him anything. Her family was gone, and his hadn’t heard anything from her.
He worked as manager for a couple more years, but he was tired. Mage noticed that he looked much thinner than he had when they saw him in the fall of last year.
The group headed back to the house, and they walked inside. It was a spacious home, that had been built decades ago while the state was being parceled out in homesteads.
In 1962, nearly 1300 acres had been awarded to the homesteader, and the massive house was built in the ‘70s. There were three bedrooms downstairs and three upstairs. The kitchen was very large, as was the living area.
The full scope of the size was now apparent, as much had been removed to make way for the furniture that Chet and Mage would bring with them.
Bruce explained that he had an RV outside that he'd be using for the remainder of his time there while he showed everybody the ropes.
Chet and Mage, of course, took the master bedroom. Darryl got one of the downstairs rooms, while the other three took over the upstairs.
The remaining room downstairs would be used as a guest room, as it was quite often that one of the three sets of grandparents would want to visit.
When Sammy saw the walls in his room he was thrilled with the fresh white paint waiting to be colored, and before anything was unpacked, he pulled out a pencil and started preparations for what he would color. Marcia was in his room helping him unpack and tried getting his attention.
“Where do you want this, Sammy?”
There was no response from the little boy as he was sketching out Pioneer Peak.
Marcia knelt down beside him and asked, “Can you help me set up your room?”
“Wanna draw,” he said.
“I know, honey, but we need to put your things away.”
There was no response, until Marcia told him, “You can draw after dinner.”
He looked at her and asked, “You promise?”
“As long as we can get things finished before dinner, sure.”
He put down his pencil on the floor and hurried over to grab clothes from the box sitting beside his dresser.
It was the same one he'd had in his room in North Pole, and Marcia was careful to set up the room in the same layout he'd had there. Darryl helped her to move the furniture to the locations necessary then went to work on his own room.
-=#=-
Downstairs, Mage and Chet finished getting their furniture into place, and then Chet grinned, and told his wife what he planned. She smiled and said she’d get dinner ready while he did it.
She put their clothes away first, however, giving him time to get a lot done. She surveyed their room and saw that all that was left was a few decorations and some personal items. That could wait until after dinner, so she went into the kitchen and started in on something light. A few minutes later, a very tired Marcia came in.
“Hi,” Mage said. “How’d Sammy do?”
“Well,” the seventeen-year-old said. “He saw the clean white walls and immediately wanted to draw. I got him to help by promising he could draw after dinner. I hope that’s okay.”
Mage smiled. “That’s fine as long as his room’s set up.”
Marcia grinned at her. “I figured things would be easier if I gave him a goal, so that’s exactly what I said.”
“How’s your room?”
“I was too tired even to look at it. I came straight down after Sammy and I finished.”
“I see. Is Sammy drawing?”
Marcia giggled a bit. “He started picking up his pencil and I reminded him ‘after dinner.’ He came downstairs with me, but he had to ‘go potty.’”
While she was talking, Chet entered the kitchen and gave Mage a surreptitious thumbs up and a wink, behind Marcia’s back. Mage pulled a couple of trays of pizzas out of the oven and put a couple more in, and called out, “Dinner!”
Darryl came in and stared at the pizzas, which his brother-in-law was slicing. “Where’s mine?” he asked, straight-faced.
-=#=-
After she’d eaten, Marcia wearily climbed the stairs. She was happy to have helped her nephew, but now she had to deal with her own room. She sighed as she opened the door, then stepped in and looked around in wonder. Everything was done! She had a walk-in closet which she opened, and saw all her clothes removed from their boxes and hung. There were shelves where her shoes were tidily put away, and in her private bathroom, things were put away.
There was a note on her beautifully-made bed and she sat down and picked it up.
“Thanks for helping Sammy, Sis. We really appreciate all you do for the kids. I couldn’t ask for a better sister.
Darryl and I set up your room. I hope everything’s where you want it. If not, let us know and we’ll fix it.
Chet
PS. I didn’t mess with your private things. Darryl put them away.”
Marcia was overwhelmed at the thoughtfulness of her brother and boyfriend. She kicked off her shoes, lay down on her bed and tears of gratitude started to flow. A few minutes later, she was asleep.
Don't forget to leave kudos and comments!
--Rosemary
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 2
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
As is always the case, I'd like to thank Malady for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 2
Sunday, May 2nd, 2023
5:52 AM
Marcia woke up and was disoriented by the unfamiliarity of the room for a moment, then remembered the day before. In two more days, it would be her seventeenth birthday, and she was very much looking forward to it. She and Darryl were planning to spend time heading into Anchorage and exploring before her birthday dinner. Her parents were heading down from Fairbanks, and would be arriving later in the day.
She heard some dogs barking in excitement from outside, followed by a man’s voice. It sounded like Bruce, but was too faint for her to be certain. She picked up her phone and glanced at the time. It was almost six in the morning. Why would Bruce be up so early? she wondered. They were on a farm, but it was more a vegetable farm than a dairy farm or something like that.
To solve the mystery, she sat up and looked out her southeast window. It gave a nice view across the farm and to the river. Past the river were the Chugach Mountains of which Pioneer Peak was one, standing like a lone sentinel watching over the Matanuska Valley laid out below. Sure enough, looking toward the farm dogs below, she saw him heading for the barn where the horses and few cows were.
She got up and quickly got dressed to go outside. She put on some minimal makeup, and then headed toward the stairs.
She stopped by her nephew’s room, and was happy to see he’d taken up approximately a square meter drawing Pioneer Peak. In the foreground, he’d drawn the farm, then the river. Marcia recognized exactly where the scene was drawn from. At the southeast end of the hall, right across from her room, was a window that looked out on the view he’d drawn. The view from her window was almost exactly the same.
The little boy was still asleep, and she could see his chest gently rise and fall. She tiptoed out and then headed down to the first floor. In the kitchen, she found her boyfriend, dishing up some eggs and bacon for himself.
“Hi, Foxy,” he said as he saw her come in.
“Hi,” she said to him, when she separated from the kiss she’d planted on his lips.
“Wow,” Darryl said. “I like this living in the same house!”
She grinned in agreement, then headed for the coffee pot. She got two mugs and poured coffee for both of them, before walking over to the breakfast nook to serve it.
Sitting down opposite him, she handed him his coffee, then stole a piece of bacon off his plate.
“Would you like a plate?” he asked.
“No, I’m fine,” she told him as she took a piece of toast off his plate.
“Uh huh,” he said. “I’ve noticed that everything on my plate is free game, ever since we started dating.”
“Is there a problem with that?” she asked as she took a sip of her coffee.
“No, not really,” he replied. “How come you’re up so early?” he asked her.
“I could ask the same of you! I heard a voice outside. It’s Bruce. I figured I’d help him, then I found you in here.”
“I heard him too. I remember Chet saying Bruce goes to church, so I figured I’d help him get things done.”
Darryl finished his eggs, and saw Marcia was eyeing his last piece of bacon. Gallantly, he handed it to her, and then carried his plate to the sink. He quickly washed it, along with the cutlery and pan he’d used, then they both headed outside.
-=#=-
They found Bruce in the barn, feeding the few cows that were at the end of the stalls. The horses already had some oats and hay. Their water troughs were full also.
“Can we help you with anything?” Marcia asked.
The man glanced their way, and smiled. “Not really,” he told them. “We don’t do a lot on Sunday. I figure it’s the Lord’s day, so I let the help have time off. I feed and water the animals, then I get ready for church myself. I appreciate the offer, though.”
“You’re welcome, Bruce,” Darryl told him, then the couple made their way back into the house.
They sat down at the breakfast nook again, had some more coffee, and discussed what they had planned for the day. After church, they wanted to do some exploring of the area, including the farm, but especially down to the river.
Nearer the glacier that fed it, the river was extremely fast moving. It was full of rapids, and a person wouldn’t want to get into the water there. Not that a person would voluntarily get into the water this far south of the glacier. The water was still cold as ice.
While they were discussing things, Mage walked into the kitchen. She’d set an alarm for seven AM, and had got up as soon as it went off, and headed straight down to the kitchen, given that she was wearing a robe, and slippers. She acknowledged the two while she went straight for the coffee pot. After she poured a cup, she ground more beans, and prepared another pot.
Without turning around, she sipped her mug to the bottom. After she was done, she turned around and smiled. “Good morning, you two.”
“Hi, Sis,” Darryl replied. “Evening out the blood level in your caffeine stream?”
“It’s always best to do that before I talk to people.”
Marcia giggled at that, and Mage came to sit down beside her. “Planning your day?” she asked the couple.
“Yeah,” Marcia said. “I know Palmer isn’t really that big, but we were thinking of seeing some of the sights. I’ve read about Eklutna Lake and the river. I guess it’s fed by a glacier.”
Darryl then added, “We’d also like to visit Eklutna Village. There’s an old Russian Orthodox Church there with a graveyard beside it. There are little decorative spirit houses over the graves.”
“That sounds interesting,” Mage said. “Chet and I are going to take a walk down to the river again. Probably take a picnic down with the kids.”
Marcia smiled. “That sounds like fun. Darryl and I are planning on taking a walk down there when we get back.”
-=#=-
The family went to the same church that Bruce attended, and found that it would undoubtedly be a great place to continue going to.
After service, Darryl and Marcia got into the Mustang and headed off to visit a few sights around the area.
They went to the village, and enjoyed looking at the old church. They read the sign telling why the spirit houses were placed over the graves, then got in the car and headed to the lake and glacier in the mountains. It was very peaceful there, and they sat down to eat some food they’d gotten in town, gazing out at the water.
After eating, they went home, and made a walk down to the Matanuska River. The water still moved quickly, but it was deep enough at this point to where there weren’t any rapids, making it especially peaceful.
-=#=-
6:27 PM
When Darryl and Marcia got back to the farmhouse, they found Chet and Mage playing a game of Pinochle in the kitchen. They asked if they could join in, and were welcomed into a team game.
They played three games, and Marcia and Darryl won each one, although it was mainly due to Marcia. There really wasn’t a match for Marcia’s memory of where the cards were, and she was able to play accordingly.
Eventually, Chet and Darryl decided that they had better get to bed to accompany Bruce in the morning, so Mage and Marcia were left sitting at the breakfast nook. Mage got up and went to the freezer and came back with a couple of ice cream Drumsticks®. She handed one to Marcia, and sat back down.
“I thought these were Chet’s,” Marcia commented.
“That’s one of the things about being married,” Mage told her. “I can get into his snacks without getting in trouble.”
“Yeah,” Marcia agreed. “My breakfast this morning was what I swiped from Darryl’s plate.”
Mage giggled at that. “I don’t know how many times Chet’s supplied breakfast and lunch for me in exactly that way.”
Marcia became a bit more serious and asked, “What’s it like?”
“Stealing Chet’s food?”
“No,” Marcia said, giggling again. “I’ve got a pretty good idea of that.” She cocked her head and said, “Being married. Having kids. Sex.”
Mage almost chocked on her ice cream. “Uh… Well… Being married is wonderful, as is having kids.” She paused a moment. “I never thought I’d have kids, then Chet told me about how you, Amber, and him were adopted. I thought he was crazy at first, but then it happened.”
“I know I’ll never have my own kids,” Marcia said, looking downcast.
“Now that’s just not true,” Mage told her. “Sammy and Allie are our kids just as surely as if we were their biological parents. You can’t have biological kids, but you can have your own kids.”
“But they’re not biological.”
“That doesn’t matter. They’re still your kids. I don’t think I could love either of them any more than I do now. Even if I’d given birth to them.”
Marcia nodded, thinking about what Mage had said. Eventually, she looked her sister-in-law in the eye and asked, “So how’s sex?”
Mage laughed outright. “Well, I’m not sure how much you want to know about your brother’s performance.”
Marcia made a face. “Probably not much. I guess I’m wondering how it feels.”
“I’ll tell you this,” Mage giggled. “Chet’s one of the most gentle people I’ve ever met. Especially in the bedroom.”
“Uh… Yeah... That’s probably TMI.”
Again, Mage giggled. “I thought it might be.” She thought for a moment, then said, “Marcia, it’s incredible. Having someone that you love dedicated to making you feel… Well… incredibly feminine is just… just… indescribable!”
Marcia got a sad look on her face, and said, “I’ve got about 18 months till I can experience it like that.”
“You don’t want to get married till you’ve had your bottom surgery, do you?’
“I don’t want to have homosexual sex.”
“Marcia,” Mage exclaimed. “You are not a boy. You’ve never been a boy.”
“I am physically,” Marcia argued.
“Have you looked in the mirror lately?” Mage asked her. “You’re a beautiful young lady. I don’t see any boy there.”
“But…”
“I’ve heard people talk about plumbing problems, Marcia. That’s all you’ve got, and that can be fixed.”
“I don’t want to experience sex as a boy.”
“Did you hear me, Marcia?” Mage asked, exasperated. “You’re not a boy! You’re a lovely girl. When was the last time you… well, masturbated?”
“What!?”
“You heard me,” Mage told her. “I’ve been very open with you, so I’m asking you something personal.”
“I haven’t been able to for a couple of years. Actually, I haven’t wanted to touch my… plumbing problem. It’s a reminder of when I was… When everyone thought I was a boy.”
“I understand, Sis. The thing is, they were wrong about you. You know that. “ Marcia nodded in agreement, and Mage went on. “Darryl loves you unconditionally. He’ll never change that. In fact, I know Darryl considers what you have as simply a birth defect.”
Again Marcia nodded.
“You’ve gone through a female puberty,” Mage told her. “I wish I’d developed breasts like you have. And, your hips.”
“You look great!” Marcia told her.
“My figure isn’t like yours.”
“I don’t think you’re giving yourself enough credit,” Marcia argued.
The two talked for a bit longer, then mutually decided to head off to bed.
Please don't forget to leave kudos and comments.
--Rosemary
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 3
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
As is always the case, I'd like to thank Malady for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Author’s Note: I apologize. I messed up. For some reason, I was thinking of May 3rd as being the day Shelly Chatham, Marcia’s biological mother, passed away, and May 4th as being Marcia’s birthday. That is backwards, so I’m currently working on fixing my error in the previous two chapters – As well as what was supposed to be chapter 3. Rosemary rolls eyes at this point. LOL
Chapter 3
5 AM
Marcia arose and hurried through her morning routine, then hurried out to help Bruce feed the animals. She really wanted to get to the horses. There was one that she absolutely loved, and secretly wished was hers. He was a palomino, and greatly resembled the horse Roy Rogers rode in all of his movies.
When she realized she would be on a farm where there were horses, she decided that she wanted to learn about them. Thus, she had decided to research all she could. When she came across information on the famous palomino, she’d watched as many films as she could find with the old western star and his master.
Interestingly, the palomino on the farm was named Tigger, presumably as a nod to Trigger. If she ever got to ride Tigger, she hoped that the name wasn’t in reference to his character. Riding a horse that tended to bounce didn’t seem like it would be fun for a person who preferred to hide her plumbing differences.
After she finished helping to feed the horses, she stopped and stroked Tigger’s neck. She’d brought a cut up apple with her, and gave the horse the pieces while she talked to him. In exchange, Tigger nuzzled her neck with his velvet nose, clearly enjoying the attention.
Finally, she reluctantly said her goodbye to the horse, promising to come back and visit him later, and turned to hurry in and see the other guy she loved.
As she left the barn, Bruce turned from watching her and Tigger, a smile on his lips, and a tear in his eye. Tigger had been Lisa’s horse, but in her letter, she told Bruce to dispose of the gelding however she saw fit.
Bruce finished his work, then headed into the house to talk to his bosses.
-=#=-
Darryl and Marcia were exploring. They’d seen Eklutna village and the lake and glacier the day before, so they were heading the thirty miles to Anchorage to see the Cook Inlet. They headed partway down Turnagain Arm, one of the two branches that headed took off in different directions from Anchorage. The Knik arm, went north, and ended up about thirty miles north, near Palmer. The Turnagain, went east, separating the Kenai Peninsula from the rest of the land.
At the end of the arm, was Portage Lake and Portage Glacier, which drained through a short river into the ocean. The pictures they’d seen of the lake showed a mountain at it’s southeastern end that looked like a giant Hershey’s Kiss®. They intended to drive to the lake, and maybe take the cruise on the lake, but first they stopped at Alyeska Ski Resort.
They spent a lot of time at the resort, even riding the tram to the top of the mountain. In May, the weather wasn’t super warm, but it was mild enough that standing at the top, taking in the view, it was glorious instead of dangerous. As they looked at the ocean far below, it was only natural for Darryl to gather his girlfriend in her arms and kiss her deeply. In turn, she found it only natural to reciprocate.
When they separated, she had an impish look in her eyes. “You’ll be happy to know your tonsils are healthy,” she told him.
He could only laugh.
After they had lunch at the restaurant, they found they needed to head back to Anchorage. Time was running short for them. In Anchorage, they would have a little time, but they didn’t have nearly enough to finish the trip to the glacier and then get back for Marcia’s birthday dinner.
As they were passing through the city, they spotted a jewelry store, and on impulse, Darryl pulled in. Beside the jewelry store was a book store as well.
They went into the jewelry store and looked at some rings, one of which was a bit more than they were expecting to pay, but was what they loved.
Darryl took a card from the salesperson that was helping them, then they went to the bookstore.
While they were there, Marcia found a couple of books on geology that she wanted and Darryl found a couple of mysteries that he didn’t have. He was reading a series about a rich detective in Seattle, and when he finished, he’d let Marcia read them. More often than not, she could figure out the solution before the end.
When they got to Palmer, they just had time to head to the airport, where Chet, Mage, and their kids were waiting. A few minutes later, a blue and white Beechcraft Bonanza G36 came into view, and touched down. It taxied into a spot where visitors would park, and Mike and Gloria got out. A moment later, Bob and Liz also exited. Mike waited by the open door and a moment later, Amber jumped out of the plane and into his arms. As soon as she saw Chet, she wriggled free from her dad and ran to her brother, who barely had enough time to let go of Sammy’s hand and grab the little girl up into a hug.
-=#=-
They all sat down in a private room at a restaurant and placed their orders, then Mike surprised his kids and their families by revealing that he was going to be retiring in a couple of months.
“I’ve gotten tired of sitting behind a desk and not in a cockpit. The times I’ve flown again, even in that little plane. Well, I feel like I’m home.”
“Where will you guys live?” asked Chet.
“Well, we’ve been talking to a real estate agent down here. It seems that we might be able to get a place not too far from here,” Mike answered. “We figure we can make a pretty good living chartering from here, don’t we Bob?”
At first, there wasn’t a response to Mike including Bob in what he was saying, then Darryl said, “Wait a minute. Back up a bit. Dad? You’re going to partner with each other?”
Bob grinned and nodded his head. “Yeah. I heard through the grapevine that my transfer from Eilson was imminent, so instead of leaving Alaska, I decided to retire.”
“Your dad and Mike are going to leave the Air Force, needing two colonels replaced at once,” Liz told the kids.
“You’re retiring on the same day?” Mage asked, dumbfounded.
“Mage!” Bob exclaimed. “We wouldn’t do that!”
“I’m retiring the day before Bob,” Mike told them, indignantly. “Retiring on the same day. How rude, that would be!”
Chet and Marcia both tried to hold in their laughter, but it wasn’t working. A minute later, Mage and Darryl joined in.
“Both of us have heard of a couple of houses on Fire Lake, just south of here, and Bob has a line on another Beechcraft, so he’s looking to purchase it.”
“Purchasing both has to be well over a million dollars,” Marcia observed.
Bob nodded as she was entirely correct and told them, “We’ll have a bit of an advantage with the banks.”
Mike turned a bit red, as he knew what his friend was about to say.
“We have the hero of Alaska Airlines as one of the owners and pilots.”
To deflect a bit of Mike’s embarrassment, Gloria put in, “Not to mention his best friend, and commanding officer.”
“That will definitely help,” Chet observed.
“Daddy’s a hero!” Amber exclaimed. She had claimed his lap as soon as they sat down at the table. Suddenly, a server was at their table. She wasn’t carrying food, but looked at Mike. “Did I hear right, Sir?” she asked. “You’re the pilot who landed that plane a couple of years ago? The one that was hijacked?”
Mike blushed again and mumbled, “Yeah.”
“Thank you so much, Sir. My parents were on that plane. You saved their lives!”
She gushed a bit more, to both Mike and Gloria, and as she left, there were tears in Gloria’s eyes. Mike had to wipe his as well.
A few minutes later, their food was brought in.
After they ordered some desert, Chet turned to his sister. “We’ve got a couple of presents for you. One’s from us, and the other’s from Bruce.”
“We were in town with Stephen today, and stopped at a feed store,” Mage told he. “They had a beautiful saddle there that we just knew you’d love and it turns out that the owner of the store also gives riding lessons.”
Marcia was thrilled at the news, but it quickly got even better.
Chet carried on the production by telling her, “It turns out that Tigger was Bruce’s. He saw how quickly you fell in love with him, and he’s given him to you. Happy birthday, Sis!”
Marcia couldn’t believe her ears! Against all hope, she was now the owner of Tigger!
But, the biggest surprise was yet to come.
Darryl surprised everyone by standing up and addressing Mike formally. “Sir, I’d like to ask your permission to marry your daughter.”
Mike’s eyes got wide. He knew that Darryl and Marcia would marry. They gave each other promise rings three years ago, and he was delighted that both Chet and Mage would be married to Bob and Liz’s kids. In a slightly surprised voice, he told Darryl, “Of course, Darryl. You know that.”
“Yeah, but I wanted to do things right.”
Dropping to one knee, he pulled a jewelry box out of his pocket, flipped it open, and held it out to Marcia. “Would you do me the honor of marrying me, Foxy?”
If possible, her eyes were bigger than her dad’s had been. It was obviously the ring they’d seen earlier in the day! How did he… Oh yeah. He said he needed to use the restroom while we were in the book shop. He must have snuck back to the the jewelry store instead!
Wordlessly, she nodded, and he slipped the ring onto her finger. She jumped up and threw her arms around him after he stood up. She found that she needed to double check that his tonsils were still in working order. Hmm… He checked on hers too.
Please don't forget kudos and comments!
--Rosemary
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 4
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
As is always the case, I'd like to thank Malady for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 4
Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023
11:45 PM
The day had been incredible. Marcia kept fingering the ring she wore on her ring finger of her left hand. It was beautiful, and she was so happy Darryl had bought it. Briefly, she had wondered how he afforded it, but then she realized that he had saved a lot of money over the last couple of years.
The surprises had only begun with Darryl’s proposal. When Mike asked for the bill, the server brought a slip of paper. There was no sign of the normal credit card tray. Instead, there was a note. Mike read it, teared up, and then handed it to Gloria. He didn’t speak, and in fact, it appeared as though he couldn’t.
As Gloria read it, tears came to her eyes as well.
“What is it?” Liz asked.
Wordlessly, Gloria handed the note to her friend.
Colonel and Mrs. Chatham, Liz read aloud. Our daughter told us that you were here celebrating your own daughter’s birthday. We would both like to thank you for what you did that day, saving the people on that flight.
My wife and I were returning from our thirtieth anniversary trip to Honolulu, and without your actions, it would have undoubtedly been our last.
Chelsea and I are the owners here, and we feel that we owe you a debt beyond words, and as a small token, your dinner is on the house. Raven, our daughter, told us that you were quite humble in regards to your actions, saying that you didn’t deserve the praise.
Since that is your feeling, and we disagree with you, I would like to offer a compromise.
Happy birthday to Marcia, the daughter of the most incredible, heroic people I’ve ever encountered! Please accept our birthday wishes in giving you all this meal!
Thursday, May 4th, 2023
6 AM
Marcia had spent a couple of hours thinking over the day, and while she’d turned off her alarm, she came fully awake at six anyway. She vaguely remembered rolling over and cancelling her alarm, although she wanted to help Bruce. Especially as he’d give her Tigger.
Tigger! She hurried and got dressed. She almost didn’t even bother with makeup, but her normal routine won out, and so, she put on her normal, minimal day to day amount. Very minimal!
Hurrying to the kitchen, she grabbed an apple and paring knife, then ran out to the barn. Belatedly, she realized it wasn’t a good idea to run with a knife in her hand, but she was already at the door. She hurried in, and to, Tigger’s stall. She slipped the knife into her jacket pocket and threw her arms around the horse.
“I hope you like him,” came Bruce’s voice from behind her.
She turned and beamed at him. “Very much, as you well know.”
The man laughed and stepped closer. “He’s a gentleman when you ride him. He can fly like the wind, but only if you want him to.” He reached up and patted Tigger’s neck. “Yeah, you’re a good lad, aren’t ya, young man?”
“But why give him to me?”
“Because you want him. And I can see you’ll take good care of him.”
“But..” Marcia started.
“That’s why, Lass.”
She decided not to push further. Maybe later.
-=#=-
Once she returned to the kitchen, Marcia started working on breakfast for everyone. For her, unlike yesterday, this day was not a good one. Three years ago, this day after her fourteenth birthday, her biological mother had been t-boned in her car. The impact was on the left side, and she was fatally injured. Marcia didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye.
So on this day, Marcia was hoping to keep herself busy. She was getting an oven omelette ready for everyone, but the tears were beginning to flow.
She glanced up as Chet entered, but she could barely see him through the tears. A moment later, he turned and left. Marcia hurried over to the breakfast nook, grabbed a napkin and dabbed at her eyes. She was thankful that she had used very little makeup that morning, but was afraid what little she had on would probably be filled with tracks where the tears were flowing.
Chet entered his bedroom where Mage was getting dressed. “Marcia’s making breakfast.”
“How’s she doing?” Mage asked, concerned for her sister-in-law, and best friend.
Chet sat down on the edge of the bed and told his wife, “Not well. I’m really surprised she can see enough to cook.” Mage glanced sharply at Chet, but quickly realized he wasn’t joking.
“You want to call your mom?”
“I’d think Dad would be the one to come and see her.”
“Chet, do you really think Dad would be the best person to drive today?”
Chet considered. “You know, Dad always seems to do better than Marcia on the anniversary of Shelly’s death.”
Mage sat down beside Chet and put her arm around him. “It’s got to be hard for Marcia, the excitement of yesterday and then what today signifies to her. I mean, there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that she bonded like crazy with Mom, but shortly after she showed the world her true self, and was able to do all the mother/daughter things with Shelly, she lost her.”
Chet turned his head and frowned at Mage. “I can’t even begin to imagine what she’s going through.”
“I can imagine,” Mage told him, “and it’s not pleasant.”
Chet nodded after a moment, then took his phone from his belt and dialed a number. “I’ll call Mom.”
-=#=-
Marcia was sitting on the couch, leaning on Darryl’s shoulder. She’d stopped crying now, but replaced it with looking blankly at the floor. Most of the time, the absence of Shelly was bearable. She dearly loved Gloria, and considered her to be her mom in every way. The problem was, every year, she felt guilty on this day. Especially after the joys of her birthday, the day before.
This year’s, however, was even worse. She had gotten engaged the night before, to this wonderful man who was holding her while she wept. He was perfect, as far as she was concerned. Her birthday had been perfect. She wished her mother had been there to see what she’d become.
Gloria entered the room, and knelt down in front of the two. “Honey, is there anything I can do?”
Marcia didn’t move for a moment, but finally focused on her mom. “I.. I’m okay. I think.”
Gloria nodded, then Marcia asked, “How’s Dad and Amber?”
Gloria smiled. “Amber is okay, but your Dad always has a rough time of it.”
“Are you trying to give me something to keep me occupied?” Marcia asked suspiciously.
It wasn’t any good to try to pull one over on this girl, Gloria thought to herself, so she simply said, “Yes.”
Marcia slowly sat up, then turned to face Darryl. “I wish you could come with me today, but I think this is something that only Dad and I have in common.”
Darryl gave a sad smile, then a kiss. “I know, Foxy. I’ll see ya tonight, okay?
-=#=-
Mike and Gloria had gotten a motel room for their stay in the Anchorage area, and a little ways down the parking lot, in the same establishment, Bob and Liz also had a room.
Gloria slipped her card into the door, then let Marcia in. Mike was watching a cartoon on Nickelodeon with Amber on his lap, and she was telling her dad all about each person (animal) on the screen.
“Hey, Sweetheart,” he said to Marcia when she entered the room. “Amber has been telling me all about Pippa…”
“Peppa!” Amber corrected.
“Sorry. Peppa Pig. Wanna join us?”
Marcia smiled. “Sure,” she laughed. “I’d love to!”
She pulled out a chair and sat down beside her dad and little sister. A moment later, she leaned her head onto her dad’s shoulder.
Gloria watched for a moment, then touched Mike’s other shoulder. He glanced up and she mouthed, “I’ll see you all later.” Mike smiled, and she quietly exited the room.
Mike understood. This was something that was just for the three of them. Many had been the time that Shelly, Marcia, and him had watched movies together. When Amber came along, the tradition was continued.
Of course, Gloria and Chet had joined in the movies when they became part of the family, but this was a special time, just for the three of them, and he was grateful for it.
-=#=-
11AM
Gloria knocked on the door to the Johnsons’ room. A moment later, Liz opened it and invited her in.
“Mike got the girls?” Bob asked.
Gloria nodded. She could be upset that Mike still carried a torch for Shelly, but why? Shelly and Mike had a wonderful relationship, and she and Mike had their own, wonderful and unique relationship. The two couldn’t really be compared.
Add to that, the fact that she saw how deeply Mike loved his family. She didn’t see any need to be jealous.
“Well, we contacted Adam with Century 21, and he’s able to meet with us,” Bob said.
“Are you sure Mike won’t be upset?” Liz asked.
“He wanted this time with the girls. We think Marcia still feels guilty having a wonderful time on her birthday, then the next day having… Well, you know.”
“That does make sense,” Liz nodded.
They went out to Bob and Liz’s rental and got in. She would have loved to drive herself, but she was a bit uneasy in a strange place. She had only been driving for a year. Mike was adamant that she was doing great, but she didn’t feel it necessary to press her luck.
They drove south, eventually coming to a Tesoro station where they met up with the Realtor. He seemed a bit forward toward Gloria, and when he asked if she’d like to ride with him, she politely declined.
He seemed a bit deflated, but led them to Upper Fire Lake, where there was a house on the north shore that was for sale. It seemed a bit small, and Bob wasn’t sure he wanted to try to land a Beechcraft Bonanza on the smaller lake.
There were a few more places on Lower Fire Lake that were more to their liking, and the group of three decided that there were three they wanted Mike to see the next day.
Once more, Adam invited Gloria to ride with him, which struck her as strange as his office was south of where they were, so she commented that she really wanted to talk to her husband about the houses.
When he continued, Bob stepped forward to where he was standing toe to toe with the Realtor and said, “I believe Mrs. Chatham has made it clear that she’s not interested in being alone with you. You appear to be hitting on her while her husband isn’t able to make it to this meeting. I believe you have crossed a line here, and I will be calling your office and speaking to your superior.
For some reason, Adam thought this wasn’t a good idea, and started to raise his hand in a threatening manner. “You do realize that I’m a Colonel in the Air Force, and I’ve been trained in hand to hand combat, right?” Bob said it in a very quiet voice, but something in his demeanor conveyed a supreme confidence in his ability to hold his own against the much younger man.
The hand that started to raise stopped, then lowered. Adam turned to Gloria and said, “I apologize for my behavior, Ma’am.” He then got into his car and sped out of the parking lot.
Bob was a man of his word. He calmly called the agency and reported the harassment that had been given to Gloria. The call was immediately transferred to the head of the office, where the information was repeated and recorded.
“Would you be willing to sign this statement, Sir?” the woman on the other end asked Bob.
“I hate to have to, but yes.”
“Thank you. This has happened before with Mr. Gregory, and I feel it’s time we separate from him. I apologize for what has happened, and I will personally handle your needs from here on out, Colonel Johnson.”
“Won’t the contract we signed with him prevent that? He’ll still get a commission at least, won’t he?”
“Not without his license, no.”
Bob nodded as he responded. “So this was his last chance?”
“Not you specifically, but he’d been given one more chance. Unfortunately, he blew it with Mrs. Chatham.”
“Will a digital signature do, or do I need to sign personally?”
“Electronic for now, and I’ll bring a copy when we next meet. When is that, by the way?”
“Well we were going to meet with Mr. Gregory tomorrow, but if that doesn’t fit in your schedule…”
“If it doesn’t, Colonel, I’ll change my schedule. You are my priority. Honestly, I shouldn’t have trusted Mr. Gregory again.”
“Thank you, uh… I’m sorry. I didn’t get your name?”
“It’s Wanda Gregory, Colonel.”
“Oh!” was all Bob could think of to say.
Please don't forget kudos and comments!
--Rosemary
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 5
Author:
Audience Rating:
Publication:
Genre:
Character Age:
TG Themes:
Permission:
Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
As is always the case, I'd like to thank Malady for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 5
Thursday, May 4th, 2023
2:05 PM
Darryl was sitting on the porch of the farm house. He had been helping in the gardens, but now was on a break. It was strange. He wasn’t used to being away from Marcia for so long. Even on base, they had worked together, and had dinner together every day. Granted, they had spent the nights without each other, but they were back together the next morning.
His mind drifted to a song he’d heard many times. His dad loved the Beach Boys, and on several albums, he’d heard the song “Wouldn’t it be Nice.” At the moment, he was feeling the spirit of the song.
When they started University in the fall, he knew there would be several classes that they wouldn’t be in together, and he knew that wouldn’t be fun.
Most of the classes they’d taken together in High School, she’d helped him through studying. Naturally, she took the title of Valedictorian, but somehow, he’d managed Salutatorian, which he’d never expected.
Marcia pointed out that if he’d studied the way he did the first semester of his freshman year, he’d probably had beaten her for the title of Valedictorian. It made him feel good to be told that, but he really doubted that would have been the case.
In any case, the question on his mind was if he would he be able to maintain such a GPA in University. Without studying the same classes with Marcia, he wondered.
Marcia had always loved geology, while he had decided he would like to go into veterinary medicine. How they would ever be able to merge the two fields together, he had no idea, but he was determined to try.
-=#=-
At the motel, three people had been watching Peppa Pig episodes all day. Naturally, it wasn’t Mike nor Marcia’s first choice, but Amber was loving it, and they were willing to spend the time with her.
Finally, however, Amber fell asleep, and Mike and his older daughter were able to talk.
Marcia hadn’t wanted to say anything in front of Amber, but she finally was able to cuddle next to her dad and tell him, “I’m gonna miss you, Daddy.”
“Well, if we were going back up to Eileson, I’d be missing you too, Marsh.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Promise you’ll keep a secret?” he asked her.
She shook her head. “You told me one of the things you and Mom do is never keep secrets from each other.” She blushed as she called Gloria ‘Mom’. On the current day, it just didn’t seem proper.
Mike noticed the blush, and deduced what it was from, but decided to not call attention to it. Instead, he addressed what she said regarding secrets. “I did, didn’t I?” He thought for a moment, then said, “I’ll tell you what. Don’t say anything to your brother or his wife.”
She raised her eyebrow and came up with a compromise. “I don’t intend on lying, but I’ll avoid mentioning it. If they ask me directly, though...”
“Well, don’t answer them if they ask directly. Besides,” Mike said, “Why would they ask you? No offense, Marsh, but don’t you think they’d probably ask me or Gloria, instead?”
“Not if they suspected you were hiding something.”
“Hmmm,” Mike mused. “You’re probably right.” He sighed, then said, “Well, I suppose the cat’s out of the bag. I’ve got some leave time coming up. Enough to carry me through to the day before my retirement. I’ll basically have to go up to the base to clear out my desk.”
“If you were planning this, why didn’t you clear it out beforehand?”
He laughed. “Oh, I didn’t mean my personal possessions. I meant any work that I needed to do. Stuff I need to sign. The only thing I left on the desk is a picture of us all together.” He winked at her before saying, “That will remind me why I’m retiring.”
“What about Darryl’s parents?” She asked. Colonel Bob hasn’t taken a vacation in a couple of years either, Daddy.”
“That’s not my place to say, Marsh.”
“But he’s got leave too, doesn’t he?”
Mike smiled and raised an eyebrow in a Vulcan fashion, but said nothing.
Nothing more was said as the door opened and Gloria entered.
Forget about what’s proper! Marcia thought to herself, and jumped up to throw her arms around her Mom. Not biological, but her mom none-the-less. “I love you, Mom!” she exclaimed.
“I love you too, Marsh, but what’s this all about?”
“Daddy told me you weren’t leaving.”
Gloria smiled at her husband. “Oh, he did, did he?”
“Sorry, Hon,” Mike told her. “You know I can’t be dishonest with Marcia. She’s got me wrapped around her little finger.”
“Uh huh. So does Amber and Chris. Even Chet does in his own way.” She chuckled with her husband. “You fight for freedom, but you’re servants of your children.”
“And you’re not?” he laughed along with her. “You wouldn’t know what to do if you couldn’t help people when they need it.” He paused dramatically. “I take that back. It’s not when they need it. You help people no matter if they need it or not.”
“You’re the same way, Mike,” she told him.
“You two are so alike,” Marcia laughed as she led her mom to sit on one of the beds. Then she sat beside her and wrapped her arms around her in a big hug. “I’m glad you’re gonna be down here.”
-=#=-
Friday, May 5th, 2023
9 AM
Marcia was seated in the office, going through the farm’s books. Two years ago, Chet and Mage had brought the farm into Chatham Yardworks, and Marcia had started taking care of the books.
But now, however, she was being more in-depth and checking to make sure everything had been recorded properly on-site. She found no discrepancies, Although she found evidence of several dinners that had been for the workers that hadn’t been charged to the company. It appeared as though Bruce had financed them himself. Why did he do that? she wondered. She’d have to ask her brother if he knew anything about it.
There was a knock on the door, and she absently said, “Come in.”
Speak of the devil, it was Bruce.
“Hi, Marcia,” he greeted her. “How’s it look?”
“Things look great, Bruce. I do have a question, though.”
“What’s that?” Bruce asked.
“There are several meals... Well, special meals on holidays where you paid for the food yourself. How come?”
He looked at the floor. “These people have been real good to me. When Lisa left, they were right there, keeping me sane.” He looked up at the girl. “I just wanted to give something back to them.”
“Bruce, that was a lot of money you spent,” she told him.
“Yeah, it was, but as you’ll find, these people are worth it. They’re something special.”
She considered for a moment, then asked in a quiet voice, “Why are you leaving, Bruce?”
“I’m getting toward retirement age.” As he said it, he seemed uncomfortable.
“You’re not that old,” she countered.
He sighed and pulled up a chair. “Lisa worked with me here for a long time. There are so many memories here, and when I found out that she left me to be with a younger guy – well, let’s just say those memories turned sour.”
Marcia shook her head and asked, “There wasn’t any sign that…?” her voice trailed off. She knew she had no business asking, but Bruce didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he seemed to be happy to talk to her about it.
“As far as I knew, we’d been happy. When she left, the kids couldn’t understand it either. They told me they always considered us a perfect couple.” He laughed sarcastically. “I guess that wasn’t true after all.”
He sat without saying anything for a couple of minutes. Marcia didn’t know what to say either. Finally, Bruce reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a couple of bank cards. One was a company American Express, and the other was a co-op gas card. He handed them to Marcia saying, “I don’t think I’ll be needing these anymore.”
Marcia looked at them, and shook her head. “You’re still showing everyone the ropes, Bruce.”
“Which means I’ll have someone with me all the time. I won’t need the company cards.”
“Keep them until you leave. Just in case.”
He stared at her for a moment, then reluctantly nodded. “Alright. I doubt I’ll use them, but I’ll hold onto them for now.”
-=#=-
Through the rest of the day, Marcia went through the records. By the end of the day she was very impressed by Bruce’s meticulous work.
Chet and Mage came in around 5:30. They had driven around the area with Stephen, Bruce’s right-hand man, meeting the providers of different supplies needed by the farm.
When they got home, Stephen, Chet, and Bruce carried the things into the barn, where things would be sorted out the next day, then Stephen got into his truck and went home.
In the office, Marcia showed her sister-in-law the work she’d done all day, and then told Mage about Bruce paying for holiday meals for the workers.
“I admit, it’s kinda strange, but he’s got a great working relationship with all the people who work here,” Mage replied.
“That’s true. In the records, I saw there were schedules that needed changed for people, and he always accommodated them. He gives Sundays off, something some managers would never do. Not for everyone, anyway.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Mage said. “I think it’s just his character.”
-=#=-
6:08 PM
Mike and Gloria arrived, and came into the living room. Marcia heard their voices, and looked at the clock on the wall by the door. She was surprised at the time, and decided she’d been looking at numbers enough that day.
She closed the books, and set them on a shelf behind her, then went out of the room to see her parents. They were seated in the living room with Chet, Mage, and Darryl, talking about the farm and how profitable it looked to be.
Marcia heard Amber tell Sammy that they were visiting, and she and the little boy hurried downstairs. As soon as Sammy saw his grandfather, he ran to him and launched himself into his arms. Mike’s focus on flying had allowed him to understand the little boy’s single-mindedness very well, and when Sammy drew things, Mike loved to look at every little detail, that attention to the minutia. That same attention to the little things were what kept him alive in the skies.
Bob
understood as well, and had a similar relationship to the little boy.
When both were present, it was hard for Sammy to decide which
Grandpa to spend time with, so he would often grab both of
their hands to show them his latest creation. It never disappointed
either of them, and they never ceased to tell people about his
talent.
“So,” Gloria began. “We’ve got some news.”
Chet had been playing with his littlest sister, and he looked up at his mom’s words. “What’s that?” He asked. “Did you find a house?”
“Yeah,” Mike told them all, ”and we made a bid on it. We’ll have to see what the owner says, as well as the bank.”
“So if they don’t accept it, you’ll have to come back and look again?” Mage asked. “Do you have a second choice?”
“If we need a second choice, we’ll look, but this is perfect,” Gloria told her.
A couple of minutes later, there was a knock on the door, and Darryl went to answer it. He came into the living room a minute later, leading his parents. Chet stood and offered his chair to his mother-in-law, but she chose to sit on a love seat beside her husband.
“Well?” Mike asked his friend.
“Wanda was able to get in touch with the owner. It turns out both houses are owned by the same bank, and they’re more than willing to accept the offers. I probably shouldn’t be telling you this, as she’ll want to tell you officially, but…” Bob trailed off and Mike just grinned.
Mike turned to Mage and said, “Looks like there’ll be no need for a second choice.”
“Which brings me to something I wanted to tell you,” Bob told his daughter.
“You don’t have to go back to Eielson, do you?” Mage said. “Either of you?”
“Marsh!” Mike exclaimed.
“I didn’t tell anyone,” she said, “except Darryl, and he wasn’t bound by any promise.”
“I didn’t tell anyone, though. But I noticed that you’d not taken leave for a couple of years, Dad. And if I can figure that out, Mage certainly can.”
“Well,” Bob said. “I need to go back to sign papers and get things ready for the change of command.”
“And we’ll have to go back to get Chris,” Gloria told them.
Chet nodded. “That makes sense.”
The little boy was doing well, but was staying with Gmma and Gmpa Matt-ewes while his parents looked for a house.
“What about Grandma and Grandpa Matthews?” asked Allie who had come downstairs while they were talking.’
“Oh, sweetie,” Liz said to her, gathering the girl into her arms. “Grandpa Matthews wants to keep helping kids in Fairbanks to find families.”
“But what about us?” Allie asked. “I miss them.”
“I know,” Liz said. “They’re not sure if kids will go to the best home if they’re not there. And they don’t want to let those kids down.”
“Grandpa’s not the only judge,” Allie argued.
“No, he’s not. But he’s the only judge who is such a nice man. You know that he will never let any of those children down, Allie. He knew who the best people to raise both you and Sammy were, and he made sure you’re both with your parents.”
“Then the best place for Grandpa Matthews to work is down here, so more kids can be adopted by Mamma and Daddy!”
Well, I can’t really argue with that, Liz thought to herself, but before the conversation could continue, there was yet another knock on the door.
“Grand central station,” Chet murmured as he made his way to the door. Opening it, he found a couple of men standing there. One of them reached into a jacket pocket and pulled out a badge. “Good evening, sir. I’m Detective Ron Fraiser, and I’d like to talk to Bruce Huff. Is he here?”
Please don't forget to leave kudos and comments!
--Rosemary
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 6
Author:
Audience Rating:
Publication:
Genre:
Character Age:
TG Themes:
Permission:
Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
As is always the case, I'd like to thank Malady for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 6
Thursday, May 5th, 2023
6:37 PM
Chet was surprised, but he pointed with his thumb to Bruce’s trailer. “He’s staying in his camper over there.” He wasn’t sure what was going on, but being police, he really didn’t want to question them.
Detective Fraiser nodded, then stepped off the porch and started toward the trailer.
Chet looked at the second man standing on the porch. He looked familiar, but Chet couldn’t place him. He seemed like he wanted to say something to Chet, but before he could, Detective Fraiser called out, “Are you coming, Brad?”
Brad turned and headed off the porch to follow his partner. Brad. What Brad? Chet thought. Oh! That Brad!
Chet watched them go toward the trailer, wondering what was going on, but then he closed the door and walked back to the living room.
“Who was that?” Mage asked.
“A couple of cops,” Chet said. He thought about it for a moment, then said, “One of them is Brad.”
“Brad?” Mage asked. “What Brad?” She stopped and looked surprised. “Brad Jenkins?”
“Yeah,” Chet said.
“Wasn’t Brad Jenkins your boyfriend before Chet?” Gloria asked Mage.
“Yeah, until he came down here to attend the Anchorage Police Academy.”
Darryl took a deep breath, then sighed. “Oh, great,” he said, sounding disgusted. He’d thought Brad’s disappearance was pretty raunchy at first, but then his sister got together with Chet.
Brad avoided the subject of marriage to Mage, but Chet had turned out to be just what his sister wanted in that department. Chet was her first choice, and Darryl suspected that Mage was Chet’s first choice as well, although he hadn’t recognized the fact until she was right in front of him, showing him how she felt.
“What did they want?” Mage asked.
“They wanted to talk to Bruce.”
“Why Bruce?” Marcia asked.
“You got me. Maybe he witnessed an accident or something.”
-=#=-
In the trailer, Fraiser looked squarely at his friend of several years. “Bruce, I hate to tell you this, but Lisa…” He took a deep breath, then rushed on. “Her body was found up near Knik Glacier.” He looked for any sign that his friend knew anything about the situation. Bruce had a surprised look on his face, which slowly turned into grief.
“How…?” He stumbled to get the word out.
“At first, it was thought to be that she fell off a ledge and broke her neck. Until…” He paused, wondering how to go on. “The coroner found a bullet that went through her heart and lodged in her spine.”
“A hunting accident?” Bruce asked.
“Only if someone was hunting with a 22 long rifle,” Brad informed him.
Bruce drew in a sharp intake of breath. “Murder?” he asked very quietly.
Slowly, Fraiser nodded. Then, very softly, he told Bruce, “I’ve got orders to bring you in.”
“Are you telling me I’m under arrest?”
Fraiser looked away for a moment, so Brad explained, “Sir, we’ve got to follow orders, and frankly, considering how Lisa disappeared, you’re a likely suspect.”
“A likely suspect, you said, lad.”
Brad sighed. “The likely suspect, Sir.”
Reluctantly, Fraiser took out his cuffs and looked at them. He definitely didn’t want to use them. Bruce, however, turned around and placed his hands behind his back. Over his shoulder, he told Fraiser. “I trust you, my friend. But I’m asking you to do one thing for me.”
“What’s that?”
“Talk to my friends in the house.” He looked at Brad. “I believe ye know ‘em, lad.”
Brad nodded, then asked, “Why?”
Rather than answer Brad, Bruce turned to Fraiser. “you won’t be permitted to stay on this. You or the chief. You know that. Tell the Chathams what’s happened. They’ll not rest till they get to the bottom of this. They’ve done it before.”
Brad nodded and said, “I know. Dusty told me.”
-=#=-
It wasn’t long before there was a knock at the door once more, and Chet sighed as he went to answer it again. This time, Mage followed. It was Brad. He smiled when he saw his old girlfriend.
“Hi, Margot,” he said to her.
“Brad,” she said acknowledged.
Brad’s expression shifted slightly at the rather cool greeting. “We’re taking Bruce in for questioning. Just to let you know you’re probably gonna have to take care of your animals yourself tomorrow,” he told them.
“Taking him in for questioning?” Mage was surprised at that revelation.
“His wife’s body was found by some tourists up near Knik Glacier. Off the beaten path, and she seems to have been dead for quite awhile.” He paused a moment, and then said, “It looks like she was murdered.”
At that moment, Fraiser escorted Bruce by. Bruce was wearing handcuffs, and there were tears running down his cheeks.
Chet and Mage were stunned. “And you think Bruce killed him?” Mage asked. “What are you, stupid?”
“Margot,” Brad began.
“I go by Mage now,” she said coldly.
“Okay. Mage, we’re following protocol.”
“Oh. The jilted husband is the first subject? Is that it? Do you have any idea of Bruce’s character?”
Brad sighed. He wasn’t going to get anywhere with Mage, so he said, “I just wanted to let you know he wouldn’t be here for the animals tomorrow. I really didn’t have to do that, but I wanted to extend some courtesy. Sorry for bothering you.”
With that, Brad turned on his heel and followed his partner.
“Thanks, Brad!” Chet called sincerely. Then he shut the door and turned to Mage. “Mind explaining that?”
“He’s an ass.”
“Uh, no. He’s not,” Chet countered, “and you know it.”
“How could he think Bruce would kill his wife!?”
Chet eyed her carefully. “Is that all?”
Mage glared. “He left and didn’t even call when he got down to Anchorage.”
“I’m hoping that’s not a bad thing,” Chet ventured.
“Of course it’s not! You’re who I always wanted!” she exclaimed.
“I’m very glad to hear that,” Chet told her. “Did you consider that maybe he knew that and wanted to give you freedom?”
“Why would he do that?”
Chet shook his head. “I don’t know?” he said in exasperation. “Maybe I’m just being ridiculous.”
Mage stared for a moment, until Chet turned and strode back to the living room. She followed him, exclaiming, “You come back here, Chet!”
He chose to ignore her, as he really didn’t want to get into an argument while their parents were over. Plus, he was concerned about what Brad had told them. Why would Lisa’s body be found near the glacier? How long had she been dead? Did that mean she hadn’t left Bruce under the circumstances the letter led him to believe?
Was Bruce involved in her death? Did he kill her?
He didn’t even want to entertain the possibility, but he supposed it was possible. However much it didn’t seem like Bruce’s character.
He got into the living room with Mage still calling, “Chet!” The two sets of parents were staring, and Marcia and the small kids were not to be seen.
Chet said nothing as he sat down in the chair he’d vacated a few minutes ago, just as Mage came into the room. She realized that the parents had heard their exchange and decided to say nothing either. She followed Chet’s lead and simply sat down. Mike decided that they would settle things themselves, and just asked, “Why did the police want to see Bruce?”
Unknowing, he’d opened another can of worms, and Mage told him, “Bruce’s wife, Lisa. Her body was found near Knik Glacier.”
“What?!” Liz exclaimed. “So why do they want to talk to him?”
“I suppose, considering how she left, they think he could be involved.”
“Well, that’s crazy,” Liz said, ridiculing the idea just as her daughter had. “Bruce wouldn’t kill his wife. I saw them together when we visited before.”
“Yeah, but I would never have thought she’d leave like that either,” Bob put in. “The whole thing has always struck me as too weird.”
“There’s that,” Darryl agreed. “I didn’t know them before, but I’ve seen how Bruce talks about her now. He really loved her.”
“Is he that good of an actor?” Mike asked.
“That’s a real good question,” Marcia said from the bottom of the stairs where she was standing. As she stepped over to sit down beside Darryl, she explained. “The kids are all playing in Allie’s room.”
Chet nodded, then said, “I don’t think he’s that good an actor, but I can understand why they need to check everything out. Even if he’s innocent, they need to establish that.”
Margot started to give him a death glare, then thought better of it. She knew Chet was right, and much as it peeved her, she had to admit that Brad and his partner needed to follow procedure.
Gloria asked, “Has Bruce been arrested?”
Marcia looked strangely at her mom, but Mage confirmed, “Yeah. He has.”
“What about bail?” Mike asked. “Who will pay it?”
“I would,” Chet said, “But what if he’s guilty?”
“He’s not!” Mage said with vehemence.
“Do we really know that?” Chet asked. “Really?”
“I don’t think he’s guilty,” Marcia said. “It doesn’t fit his character.”
“What we know of his character,” Darryl said quietly.
Now it was Marcia’s turn to glare at her man. “I think we can tell enough from how we’ve seen him act. Even what we’ve seen in the past few days says he’s very giving. Do you know, I’ve found that he personally paid for several meals for the farmhands? Banquets for them and their families?!” Darryl didn’t say anything, and Marcia knew that she hadn’t convinced him.
She tried to take another tack. “If. If he did it, why didn’t he run? Considering what the note said, nobody would have blamed him.” She knew there was a very logical reason why he might not have run, and her brother pointed it out.
“Staying here would make him appear innocent. Even when and if her body was found. In fact, I’ll bet the police consider that. I’ll bet the judge considers that.”
They talked for a bit longer, then Marcia decided to go upstairs. Her eyes were glistening as she left the room.
Gloria started to stand, and Mike held her arm. “She needs to talk, Mike.”
Reluctantly, Mike let go and Gloria ascended the stairs. At Marcia’s door she knocked softly.
“Go away!” Marcia yelled.
“It’s Mom, Marcia.”
The girl didn’t answer, but Gloria heard footsteps, then the door unlocked.
Gloria entered and saw Marcia sit down heavily on her bed.
Gloria sat down beside her and put an arm around her. “Are you feeling alone, Marsh?”
Marcia nodded. She sniffed, then said, “Everyone thinks he did it.”
Gloria shook her head. “I don’t think anyone thinks that.”
“Coulda fooled me,” her daughter said.
Gloria nodded, then said, “You’re soft and sweet, Marshmallow. You always have been.”
Marcia smiled and looked toward her mom. “You say that a lot. Right now, I feel like I’m the only one who’s a marshmallow.”
“Naw. You’re not.”
“Than why’s everyone coming up with reasons why Bruce killed Lisa?”
“They are trying to look at this logically.”
“I’m not logical? I’m looking at his character. They’re not.”
“Marsh, you’re looking at recent events. You really don’t know Bruce’s character.”
“I’ve been checking over the books for three years. I know he’s honest.”
Again, Gloria nodded. “I know he’s honest, and I know he didn’t kill Lisa. Your brother and fiancé know that too. Believe me, I recognized the expression on Chet’s face. He doesn’t believe for a moment that Bruce would do that. But he doesn’t want his wife and sister hurt. Darryl is looking at it the same way. He doesn’t want his fiancé and sister hurt.”
Marcia was silent for a few minutes, thinking about what Gloria said. “I hope you’re right, Mom.”
-=#=-
Chet and Darryl fed the animals the next morning, while the men trickled in for their shifts. They had heard what happened, as Fraiser and Brad had stopped by their homes to ask questions. The police didn’t have time to talk to all of them, and some had appointments during the day, so when Fraiser and Brad showed up to talk to the men, Chet allowed them to use the office in the house.
Friday, May 6th, 2023
1:07 PM
Fraiser and Brad had just sat down to talk to Stephen, Bruce’s right-hand man at the farm, when Fraiser’s phone rang.
“Hello,” he said as he answered it.
He listened for a few minutes, then said, “Okay.” He handed the phone to Brad, who listened for a couple of minutes, then said. “We’ll be looking out for them.”
He turned to Fraiser. “Now what?”
“I guess we’re done. You can go, Stephen.”
“Why?”
“Melissa and I are friends with Bruce. The prosecutor thinks this is a conflict of interest, and Judge Daniels agrees with her.”
“You’re more than just a friend! So they’re gonna get someone in who doesn’t give a shit about Bruce!” Stephen exclaimed.
“Do you think I wouldn’t make sure I could explain every bit of evidence I find in a way that it doesn’t implicate Bruce?”
“Would you?” Stephen knew the answer, but he was blinded by his anger. “You went with your mom. Bruce with your dad! How do I know what you’d do?”
“That’s not fair!” Brad exclaimed. “You know the detective better than that.”
“You’re just brown-nosing, kid!”
Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and two people in suits entered. “Greg French, FBI,” the obvious senior man said, as he held out a badge for all to see. His partner also held out an ID, but she didn’t say anything.
“Detective Fraiser?” French said, clarifying who the detective was. “You’re still questioning?”
“No, I…” He didn’t finish.
The woman gave a disgusted sneer and said, “Oh, come on! We know your relationship with the suspect. You kept up the investigation while you could!”
“We did not!” Brad said, raising his voice.
“Shut up if you want to keep your job, kid,” French warned.
“The judge told me you might try this. I’ve already relieved your wife of her position, and now I’m relieving you.” He turned to Brad. “You are ordered to go back to Anchorage where you’ll be assigned to another detective.”
“This is ridiculous!” Brad said. “That’s not what we were doing!”
“One more outburst, Mr. Jenkins, and you’ll be relieved,” said the woman.
“Good! I don’t think I want to work with people who can’t think for themselves.” He took out his badge and tossed it to the woman, hoping it would hit her face. She managed to catch it, however. Damn! thought Brad.
“Not smart, Jenkins.”
“Really? Your partner, whose name I don’t recall getting, called me Mr. Jenkins. Not Officer Jenkins. It seems like you’ve already made up your minds.”
“Brandy Coleridge,” the female agent said.
“Oh thanks! Nice to know who’s relieving me. Without even being my superior.”
“I have the permission of your supervisors,” Coleridge growled.
“Uh huh. You know, I’ve never been fired before.”
“First time for everything,” French told him.
“Especially for something I didn’t do.”
“Sure, Kid.”
Brad turned and walked out the door.
“We need your gun!” Coleridge said.
“My service weapon is in my locker. This is my personal one. It’s a much better gun.”
“If that’s your personal weapon, you can pick it up at the Anchorage FBI office.”
Brad stopped and faced the woman. “You’re taking my gun? On what grounds? You don’t like me?”
“On the grounds that it’s a service weapon, and you don’t want to give it up.”
French looked uncomfortable. “Brandy, if he’s telling the truth, you’re gonna get us both into trouble.”
“He’s not telling the truth,” she replied.
“I’m going on record that I disagree with you.”
“Fine. You don't deserve your rank anyway.”
“Sorry, Jenkins,” French told Brad. “I don’t agree, and I’m backing you up on this.”
“Okay, French.” He pulled the gun out of his shoulder holster with two fingers, and removed the bullets. Holding it by the barrel, he handed it to French.
Coleridge glared at him, but said nothing. He had complied.
He started out of the room again, and she hollered, “Bullets!”
He turned back, completely flabbergasted. “Whaddya think I’m gonna do with them? Throw ‘em at ya?”
“Knock it off, Coleridge!” French exploded.
She decided to leave well enough alone, and directed her next words to Brad, “Whatever. You can go.”
Fraiser didn’t even ask. “Since I no longer have any authority in this case, I’ll be going too.”
“Not so fast, Fraiser.”
“You really think I’d kill my sister-in-law?”
“It’s possible,” French replied.
Fraiser flopped down in a chair and told them, “Question away.”
“You can go, Stephen. We’ll want to talk to you later,” Coleridge said with a smirk on her face.
Please don't forget to leave kudos and/or comments!
--Rosemary
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 7
Author:
Audience Rating:
Publication:
Genre:
Character Age:
TG Themes:
Permission:
Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
As is always the case, I'd like to thank Malady for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 7
Friday, May 6th, 2023
Brad exited the office to find Darryl sitting on a recliner, watching him.
“What was that all about?” Darryl asked.
“I think it was a power grab,” Brad replied.
“I see. So they’re questioning Fraiser?”
Brad nodded and sat down in an overstuffed chair across from Darryl.
“You need to wait for him, or can I give you a ride into Palmer?”
“I’ll wait,” Brad answered.
Suddenly Darryl stood up. “Let’s go into the kitchen. Less chance of being overheard there.”
Brad nodded, and followed the younger man.
Darryl got some coffee for them both, and they sat down at the breakfast nook.
“I suppose you want to know why I left Fairbanks,” Brad speculated.
“Well, it did cross my mind.”
“Darryl, Margot – Mage, is my idea of the perfect girl. She’s exactly what I’m looking for.” Darryl looked skeptical, so Brad went on. “When we were dating, though, she talked incessantly about Chet. She’s my ideal, but Chet’s hers.”
Darryl shook his head. “I’m not sure that’s a reason to leave though. Chet was acting like a jerk for a long time. She says every time any of your friends mentioned marriage, you avoided it.”
“Well, of course I did. I knew it was just a good time. We were having a good time, but it wasn’t gonna last. Then, when Chet turned around… That was it. I knew it was over.”
“No, it wasn’t. Chet was going steady with Trish.”
“Do you really think that would ever have lasted?”
“It could have,” Darryl said.
Brad laughed. “No it wouldn’t have. Chet’s ideal is Margot, or Mage, just like mine is. His ideal is certainly not Trish.” He shook his head again. “When Trish left, that was the absolute end. I was getting ready to go to the police academy anyway, but knew Mage wouldn’t be available to me when I got back. I was right.”
Darryl just nodded. He knew it took just a month for Chet and Mage to get together. And, barely a week after that to get married.
“You know,” Brad said. “If you really love something, or someone, you’ll let her go if she wants to go. Mage wanted Chet, not me. That’s all there is to it.”
“So if she hadn’t always been talking about Chet, you would have stuck around?”
“No, I still would have gone to Anchorage, but I might have married her before I left.” He chuckled a bit, then said, “I certainly wouldn’t have avoided the subject of marriage.”
“I see,” Darryl said. And he really did. He’d seen how Mage had been when Chet started acting up. She’d left for university, but she did so very reluctantly.
Slowly, the kitchen door opened, and Mage entered. Darryl saw the look she had on her face, and stood. “I’ll talk to you later, Brad,” he said.
Brad’s face looked scared, but he nodded. Mage sat down where her brother had been.
-=#=-
In the office, Fraiser felt like he was being beaten by Coleridge. French seemed to have eased off, but Coleridge had a definite chip on her shoulder. He wondered why, and finally he’d had enough.
“Are you arresting me?”
“No,” French said before Coleridge could say yes.
“Then I’m done here.” He stood up and walked up to Coleridge, placing his stocky build in her personal space. “If you want to ask any more questions, I suggest you remember that this is a free country, and people are innocent until proven guilty.”
“I can prove you’re an ass,” she said smugly.
“Can you? I just remembered. My phone has been recording this whole time. I don’t think it will show me as being an ass. It will, however, show you as a bitch.”
“Give me that phone!” she demanded.
“There’s not a chance in hell I’m giving you my phone.”
She started to say something, but French started laughing. “If you want to send a copy of the recording to my superiors, Ron, I’d appreciate it.”
Fraiser jerked his head toward French, and saw the FBI man grinning. “I’ll send a copy, but not my phone,” he said.
“That’s all I ask,” French told him. “I don’t think I need to tell you not to leave town, do I.”
“Not at all, Agent French.”
“Good. I’ll call you if I have any more questions. I don’t think Coleridge will be on this case after today.”
“So this isn’t ‘good cop, bad cop?’” Fraiser asked him.
“Not at all.”
“Sounds good. I’ll talk to you, French. I won’t talk to Coleridge again.”
With that, he left the room.
-=#=-
Fraiser walked into the living room and saw Darryl sitting on the recliner. “Where’s Brad?” he asked.
Darryl pointed his thumb toward the kitchen. Fraiser started walking that way, but Darryl said, “I wouldn’t.”
Fraiser stopped and turned his head toward Darryl. “He talkin’ to Mage?”
“Yep.”
Fraiser went to the overstuffed chair opposite Darryl and asked, “What happened with the murder in Fairbanks?”
“You mean Vic and Michelle?”
“Yeah,” Fraiser answered.
“What do you mean?”
“Marcia solved it, right?”
“She figured out what happened, and told the police, but they had to figure it out for themselves.”
Fraiser nodded. “I get that. They don’t want to be shown up by a fifteen-year-old, do they?”
“You tell me,” Darryl said to him.
Fraiser shook his head. “Darryl, I’ve been pulled off the case.” He turned and looked back at the door to the office. He could hear loud voices coming from the room. It seemed as though the two FBI agents were going at it.
“Can we go somewhere quiet, and preferably private?” Fraiser asked.
“Sure,” Darryl said. He stood up and they went out to the back patio. “So why’ve you been pulled off the case, Detective?”
“Tell you what, Darryl. Call me Ron. I guess I’m not a detective anymore either.”
“Huh?”
“Brad and I’ve both been ‘fired’.”
“Okay, Ron. Why?”
“How long’ve you got?” Ron asked with a smile on his lips.
“As long as you need.”
Suddenly, the back door opened and Marcia came out. “What’s going on in my office?” she asked.
“The FBI agents are having a spat,” Darryl told her.
“FBI agents?”
“Ron was just going to explain the situation to me.”
Marcia sat down without being invited, but Ron figured he’d have to explain a second time if she wasn’t here this time, so he just nodded.
“Well, Bruce is my brother.”
“What?” Marcia asked, shocked.
“Yeah. Lisa was my sister-in-law, of course.”
“So the FBI thought it would be a conflict of interest for you to investigate the case,” Marcia concluded.
“Well, yeah. And so did Melissa’s superiors.”
“Who’s Melissa?” Darryl asked, and Ron answered. “She’s my immediate superior. In the office, anyway. At home, we’re equals.”
“She’s your significant other?” asked Marcia.
“My wife. She’s the chief of police up here.”
“So has she been fired too?”
Ron chuckled and said, “Not to my knowledge, but they won’t let her work on the case either.”
“I’ll bet,” Darryl commented.
“It’s even worse than that, Darryl,” the ex-detective said. “Melissa was Lisa’s little sister.”
Marcia sat with her mouth hanging open for a few seconds, then said, “You can’t be serious. This again?”
“Whaddya mean?” Ron asked.
“Well, some friends of ours were killed in Fairbanks a couple of years ago, and it seemed like everyone was related to everyone else then too.”
“I heard from Brad,” Ron told her. “His brother’s a cop up there.”
“Yeah, I know,” Marcia nodded.
“You solved the case too. The police had to confirm it, but you told them what happened.”
“Well… Not officially.”
“I’m not talking officially, Marcia. You figured it out.”
“Yes.”
Ron leaned forward. “Marcia, the FBI is right about one thing. I would have made sure I examined every piece of evidence to the extreme. I know my brother didn’t kill his wife. Any evidence that says he did is being taken wrong.”
Marcia nodded.
“You figured out what happened in Fairbanks before anyone else did. You’re a genius, Marcia. Will you help me figure out what happened?”
“Chet and Mage are geniuses too. So’s Darryl.”
“I am not!” he proclaimed.
“You just graduated as Salutatorian in our class, Darryl.”
“With your help, Foxy!”
“Oh, come on!” Marcia scoffed. “You’re smart, Darryl!”
“The more the merrier,” Ron told them before they could get seriously arguing. “If Chet and Mage can help too, that’s great.”
“How are we going to convince the FBI if we figure it out?” Marcia asked.
“We have to make sure every I is crossed and T is dotted when we present our findings,” Ron said.
“Uh, you said that backwards,” Darryl pointed out.
Ron chuckled. “It’s a joke between Bruce and me. I accidentally said it that way a long time ago, and Bruce never lets me forget it.”
Marcia giggled at that. “I can understand that,” she said.
“So you’ll help?”
She looked at Darryl who nodded, then she turned back to Ron and said. “Yeah, we will. I can’t promise, but I’m pretty sure Chet and Mage will too.”
-=#=-
“And what if he’s lying?” Bob asked. The group was sitting in the living room, discussing what Ron had asked for.
“Why would he want us to help if he’s lying, Dad?” Mage challenged. “That doesn’t make sense!”
Bob turned towards his best friend. “Mike? A little help here?”
“Well, Bob. I’m a bit hesitant about this too, but Mage has a point. I can’t see any purpose in asking for help if he’s not being truthful.”
Bob started to say something, but Liz poked him in the side and shushed him. “She’s right, Bob, and you know it.”
“Dad? Mom?” Marcia asked. She was still underage, so she wanted to make sure her parents were onboard with her helping.
“Sweetheart, if you’re certain, it’s okay with me, but I think if you’re gonna do something that could be dangerous, you need some good backup,” Gloria told her.
“I’ll have Darryl and Chet.”
“And, you need to clear it with your father first,” Gloria added.
Marcia looked crestfallen. Mike however, told her. “I’ll allow it under that condition, Marcia. And that’s the end of it. No arguments.”
“Okay,” she said reluctantly.
“Marcia,” Chet said. “Dad and Mom are right. We’ve no idea what we’ll run into on this, but we’re all certain Bruce didn’t do it. That means there is the real murderer out there, somewhere. We’re gonna have to be careful in everything we do.”
“Why would Ron ask us to help then?” Mage asked.
“Well, you’ve got four very smart kids and two military men, along with two former cops, all working together,” Liz said.
“What?” Bob exclaimed. “Two military men?”
“Robert Johnson,” Liz said in a firm voice, “Are you going to let your son and daughter, as well as their partners go off and get hurt?”
Bob gave his wife a dirty look but said, “No. I suppose not.”
“You suppose!?”
The dirty look intensified, as he said, “No, I’m not. Happy?”
“Yes, I am,” Liz said, giving a single nod.
Please don't forget to comment and leave kudos!
--Rosemary
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 8
Author:
Audience Rating:
Publication:
Genre:
Character Age:
TG Themes:
Permission:
Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
As is always the case, I'd like to thank Malady for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 8
Saturday, May 8th, 2023
“What in the hell are you doing here, Fraiser?!”
Ron Fraiser spun around to face, of all people, Brandy Coleridge. “Whaddya mean, Agent Coleridge?”
They were standing in the barn of the Chatham Farm. Right beside the former policeman was Chet Chatham, the owner of the farm.
“You’re interfering with a murder investigation,” she snapped.
“Oh!” Chet exclaimed. “Is my barn part of your investigation?”
“No,” said French from the wide open door behind Coleridge. “In fact, the only thing that’s part of any investigation around here is Mr. Huff’s trailer. We’re here to retrieve that, and I’ve got a warrant for it.” He held out the paper to show Chet, who walked to where the agent stood.
Chet looked over the paper, and invited Ron to look it over too.
“He has no right to see that!” shouted Coleridge as she hurried back to where French was standing.
“Sure he does,” Chet said easily. “He’s working in place of Bruce right now.”
“That doesn’t give him the right to see that warrant!” Coleridge seemed ready to explode, and Chet was starting to wonder if this was some type of cycle for her.
“Mr. Fraiser is my assistant when it comes to legal stuff and police procedure,” Chet explained.
“He is?” Coleridge questioned.
Chet turned his head to Fraiser. “You want the job?” he asked.
“Sure, I can do that,” Fraiser answered.
Chet turned back to Coleridge and said, “See?”
French simply snorted with laughter, and the woman turned a glare on him, but there wasn’t much she could say. She did try, however. “You’d be better getting an attorney.”
“Why?” Chet asked. “I think Ron knows police procedure pretty well.”
“He didn’t know to stop an investigation when he was told to,” Coleridge gloated.
“Really?” Chet asked. “I’d say you didn’t know enough to listen to someone else, from what Mr. Fraiser and Mr. Jenkins have both told me.”
“Ya know, Boss,” Fraiser said laconically, “Agent Coleridge entered the barn without reason.” He paused dramatically. “I believe those law enforcement people call that…. Oh, shoot. What is it again?” Another pause as if he was thinking, then he said, “Trespassin’. That’s it! Trespassin’.”
Chet nodded, and said, “You’re right! I don’t remember asking her to come in here. There’s a lot of dangerous stuff in here, and I don’t want my insurance to have to pay for her getting injured.”
“No, boss. That wouldn’t be good at all.”
“Would you like to press charges?” French asked easily, as he pulled out a notebook.
Coleridge looked at her partner like he was crazy, then blanched when she guessed he wasn’t kidding, and ran back to their car like she had just startled a cow moose and her calves.
French shook his head, laughing, then turned to Fraiser. “You’re really startin’ to piss her off, Fraiser.”
“Am I?” Fraiser was trying hard to keep a straight face as he watched Coleridge climb into the driver’s side of the Blazer the two FBI agents arrived in. “She’s done pissed me off completely,” He told the agent. “I thought you were gonna get her pulled.”
“I tried,” French told the two. “Apparently, the judge who gave her the authority to remove you is some kinda relation of hers.”
“Wow,” Chet said. “Everyone is related to everyone in this case.”
French nodded, and turned as they heard a diesel engine chugging down the lane to the house. “Well, gentlemen, I’d better go direct these guys before Coleridge has them pick up your fuel oil tank.”
“Not a bad idea,” Chet told him. “At this point, I wouldn’t put anything past her.”
Before French walked away, however, he turned to Fraiser. “We got off on the wrong foot a couple of days ago, but I promise you; I’ll make sure this investigation is done properly, Ron.”
“Thank you, Greg.”
The FBI man walked back to supervise the retrieval of Bruce’s trailer.
-=#=-
Marcia was doing some paperwork for the farm when she heard someone at the door to the house. Not wanting to stop, she listened for a moment to see if anyone answered it, and heard Mage walking down the hall from the living room to the front door, and felt safe to work again, but then she heard the abrasive tones of Brandy Coleridge.
Wondering what the agent wanted this time, she made her way into the living room, and then to the head of the hallway. She watched with pleasure as her sister-in-law put the presumptive woman in her place.
“You don’t have a cell phone?” Mage asked.
“Of course I do.”
“Then use it,” Mage said and started to close the door.
Coleridge, however, stopped the door with her foot. “You’re interfering with a murder investigation.”
“Really? Your investigation is centered around Bruce Huff. He isn’t here, and you are already taking his home.”
“There may be evidence in this house!”
“I can’t believe this,” Mage muttered, then pointedly told the woman, “Two things, Coleridge. Number one, you told me you wanted to use the phone, not that you were searching the house, and number two, you have shown no warrant to search the house.”
She paused, and Marcia could hear that her sister-in-law was furious.
“I’m telling you right now, that I have no intention of interfering with a murder investigation. I do, however, have an intention of interfering with you. You have been incredibly rude, made insinuations about other law enforcement, and you have now lied to me as to what you intend to do once in my house. You are not investigating a murder. You are on a witch hunt.” Mage paused and took a breath, and as Coleridge started to speak, Marcia’s phone rang.
She answered it, and listened for a moment, then she raised an eyebrow and stepped to her sister’s side.
Coleridge was speaking quickly and forcefully, and Marcia took great joy in yelling at the top of her lungs, “SHUT UP!”
The agent reacted like she’d been slapped, and had pure fury on her face.
“Mage,” Marcia said sweetly, “Chet just told me that Coleridge has already trespassed in the barn. I suppose we’re going to have to add attempting to bully her way into the house and office without a warrant?”
Mage laughed, then asked, “How did you ever make it to the position of an FBI agent? Didn’t they teach you that you’re subject to the same laws we are? To repeat, I’m not interfering with an investigation of any kind. But now, I am going to actively interfere with you.” Mage paused for her words to sink in, and gave a somewhat malicious grin to Coloridge. “I’m going to report your conduct to your superiors, and I believe I’ll be posting information about your behavior on social media.” She gestured to the corner of the porch, where a security camera was mounted. “Now, I strongly suggest that if you don’t want more reports, you step off this property. You have the trailer, and you do not have permission to be on this property. You have no legal reason to be here, and as my husband and I own this land, free and clear, I might add, I am ordering you to leave.”
“You don’t have a clear title, and you can’t order me off.”
“Mage may not have seen the title to this farm yet,” Marcia said, “But it came in the mail today.” She giggled. “Care to try again? Also, do you have any idea what illegal trespassing is?”
“Redundant,” Mage told her sister-in-law. “Trespass kinda means illegal in and of itself.”
“I suppose it does at that,” Marcia agreed.
The agent finally seemed to realize that she was going to get nowhere with the two women, so she huffed and turned. “Tell that idiot partner of mine that he needs to find a ride. I have to get off this property, so I'll be taking my SUV” she yelled over her shoulder.
“You tell him,” Mage said. “Call him on your cell phone. You said you have one.”
“I dropped it!”
“You broke it?” Marcia asked, giggling.
“That’s terrible!” Mage offered. “How are you going to tell him you’re abandoning him?”
Coleridge stopped before opening the door to her SUV and her face was livid. She didn’t speak, but slowly, she got in and closed the door. A moment later, the two Chatham women watched as the agent slammed her hands against the steering wheel over and over. Then she slammed her head back and apparently screamed. Then she folded her arms and simply sat there.
“Marcia?” came Chet’s voice from the phone that was still connected to her brother’s cell phone.
“Yeah?” she said, putting the phone to her ear. She listened for a moment, then her eyes widened and she started to laugh. “You’re kidding!” She turned to her sister-in-law. “French has the keys for the SUV!”
Mage tried as hard as she could to hold in a laugh, but eventually, she simply couldn’t contain it. Finally, it escaped in a high-pitched explosion. She reached out and closed the door, and placed her back against the wall. Tears were streaming down her face, as she struggled to stay upright, she was laughing so hard.
“We could call a tow truck,” Marcia told her, when she finally started to settle down. The laughter started afresh, only this time, Mage couldn’t remain standing. She slid down the wall to the floor and gave herself over to the laughter.
-=#=-
6:37PM
At the dinner table, Mage and Marcia regaled Chet, Darryl, and the two former policemen with the story of Coleridge and the SUV.
Fraiser didn’t say much until they’d finished. He had been laughing along with the rest, but when they were finished, he managed to say, through tears of laughter, “That might not have been wise, you two.”
Mage nodded her head in agreement. “I know. She’ll come back with a warrant, bent on revenge, but it certainly felt good at the time.”
“Hell, Mage,” Brad enthused. “It felt good just listening to you tell the story. But you’re right. She’ll come back, bent on revenge. You can count on that.”
Mage was tempted to make a comment on revenge against Brad, but decided against it. “Well, regardless, it’s done now. If she comes back seeking revenge, there’s little I can do about it.”
“I think Agent French knows what she’s like. He’s already reported her to their superiors, and they’re keeping an eye on her investigation procedures,” Chet told them. “What happened today was reported while we were outside. French had a few more questions that he needed to ask – verify some things. Before catching up to us, he was talking to his boss. It sounded like he was making a report about what his partner had been doing.”
“It didn’t seem complementary,” Darryl added.
“How could it?” Marcia asked.
-=#=-
Sunday, May 9th, 2023
1:20PM
After church, Darryl and Marcia walked down to the river with a picnic lunch. They were on a bank that was quite high above the water. All around them were grasses, and lush spring flowers.
It was nice to clear their minds of all that had happened in the last few days. The thought of this next week for all four of their parents was exciting. It was soon, but they were hoping that the offers they'd placed would be accepted. Marcia was supposed to start her riding classes on Thursday of the upcoming week as well, but she wasn’t sure what was going to happen with her horse. Tigger had been Lisa’s, so would the police feel that Bruce had any right to give him to her? She was certain Bruce hadn’t killed Lisa, but there was a niggling little thought that perhaps he had, and that made her uncomfortable owning the horse.
“Look!” It was a little girl’s voice. Marcia glanced over her shoulder and saw Allie hurrying toward them. Sammy was right beside her, and Amber was on the other side. Allie was pointing across the river.
Darryl and Marcia looked across the water to where a Moose cow and her calf were having a drink.
“Looks like our picnic isn’t private anymore,” Darryl murmured to her, then yelled out, “Yeah! I see them.”
“I’m not worried about the moose,” Marcia said to him. “It’s my sister and our niece and nephew that concerns me.”
Darryl laughed out loud. His laugh must have echoed across the water because mama moose looked up, swiveling her ears for a moment, then, deciding there wasn’t any danger, she went back to drinking.
The girls flopped down on the ground beside the couple and Sammy walked around, singing softly to himself, and taking in all the sights. Marcia asked the girls, “Do your parents know where you are?”
“Of course,” Allie said. “Mommy told us we could come join you out here.”
“She did?” Darryl asked. “Isn’t that sweet! I’ll have to thank her when we get back to the house!”
They called Sammy over to where they were sitting, and he hurried over and joined them on the blanket they’d brought. They watched the moose and her calf for awhile, then Amber pointed up where they saw a golden eagle soaring high above the water.
The bird was soaring lazily but all of the sudden, it dove. It folded its wings in, keeping just enough out to maintain control. It rocketed down to the other side of the river with amazing speed, and just before it hit the ground it extended its wings and talons, and grabbed something. As it rose from the ground, they could see what appeared to be a rabbit in its grasp. Allie shuddered, and Amber squealed at the sight.
The eagle rose higher and higher, and turned toward the mountains.
Please don't forget to comment and leave kudos!
--Rosemary
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 9
Author:
Audience Rating:
Publication:
Genre:
Character Age:
TG Themes:
Permission:
Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
As is always the case, I'd like to thank Malady for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 9
Monday, May 10th, 2023
5:30AM
Marcia quietly opened the door to Allie’s room and checked in on her niece. It had become a routine that she went through every morning. She would check on Allie, then Sammy, and then go out and help Bruce with the animals.
Allie was in deep sleep, so Marcia reversed course and quietly closed the door. She moved to her nephew’s room and quietly opened the other door. Inside, Sammy was sleeping soundly as well. On his wall was a fresh drawing. Curious, Marcia tiptoed over to look at the picture of the riverbank. The moose with her calf and the diving eagle were both spectacular to see in their own ways.
Just as she’d expected, the moose and calf were in the background, across the river. The picture was drawn from a slightly different perspective from what hers had been, however. Which made sense. When Sammy had first seen them, he’d been in a different spot. This, however, was from a very strange point of view. Closer to the drop to the river.
High above, the eagle could be seen too, diving down. On the ground below the bird was a rabbit, which was interesting. She couldn’t tell exactly what the bird had picked up, but apparently Sammy had seen.
As was usual, the picture was incredibly detailed, and was basically a photograph. But unlike his previous pictures, the perspective that Sammy drew the eagle from was slightly different than what he had actually seen it from. Somehow, he’d known how to put the bird in accurately, from the position he’d drawn the moose from. His spatial awareness was incredible!
She examined his work further, and was astounded at how he’d been able to know exactly where to draw the eagle from wherever this perspective was. The mountains in the back showed the ruggedness of the peaks in great detail. The water in the river showed the reflections of the mountains and trees. The flowers and grass on the bank…
She stared. Leaning closer, she peered at the picture. This couldn’t be real! Could it? Sammy didn’t understand humor or horror enough to put something like this into his picture. She backed out of the room and carefully closed the door, then hurried downstairs to get her brother and sister-in-law.
Half-an-hour later, Fraiser and Brad had seen the picture too. “We’ve got to call French and Coleridge,” Fraiser said, shaking his head.
“Why?” Mage asked. “This could be hundreds of years old! Maybe a native who died a long time ago.”
“Mage,” Brad said. “We’ve likely got a body on the northeast part of your farm. Bruce has been arrested for murder. Likely, they’re not related, but if they are, we’d be risking making the case worse by going out there and looking ourselves. Contamination of the crime scene.” He paused, not wanting to say the next, but then plowed on. “We need to at least appear to give professional courtesy to the FBI.”
“What?!” Mage exploded. “After what she’s been like?”
“Especially after what she’s been like,” Fraiser said. “We know she’s got a chip on her shoulder. Why make it worse?”
Mage seemed to seethe for a few moments, then reluctantly said, “Alright, but I’ve got a call to make.
-=#=-
Sylvia Matthews listened to her husband snoring slightly beside her. In the next room, little Christopher Chatham was still asleep as well. It was only 6:15 in the morning, but she’d always been a light sleeper who woke up early. She reached for the Bible on her bedtable, intending on starting her day, when the phone rang.
“Hmph,” came an inarticulate sound from beside her as Bill jumped in his sleep at the sound.
“Hello?” Sylvia said into the phone. “Oh! Hi, Mage! How are things going?”
She paused a moment as she listened. “No! I don’t think so! Bruce is a nice man! I don’t think he could have killed Lisa, let alone someone else!”
A moment later, as Bill was sitting up and trying to rub sleep out of his eyes, she said, “Honey, I seriously doubt they’re related, but I can promise you. Bill, Chris, and I will be on the next plane down there.”
-=#=-
Before any other calls were made, the group of adults made their way, led by a little boy, out to the spot where the young couple had been the day before. Just slightly southwest of the picnic spot was where Sammy spied a human hand exiting the bank above the water. The problem at the moment, however, was that it was spring, and waters were high because of runoff. The bank had been undercut considerably, and anyone stepping too close to the water was likely to cause a collapse of the bank, and potential grave, into the water.
They just couldn’t get close enough to the water to verify Sammy’s picture.
After a quick discussion, Darryl hurried to the house, and back, carrying a drone he used for a bird’s eye view of yards in Chatham Yardworks. He maneuvered it to about twenty feet away, where he figured Sammy must have been, but when he panned the camera around, he didn’t see anything. He took it out a little more, and slowly spun the lens around again.
“There!” Marcia exclaimed beside him. “Go back a bit.”
He moved the joystick back a bit, and caught sight of something white on the ground. He moved toward it, and stopped. It was a skeletonized hand sticking partway out of the ground. “I think we need to call the police now,” he commented as he started the drone circling the area and taking pictures.
-=#=-
“Okay,” French said, looking at the pictures Darryl took. “The question is, how do we get it?”
The group had been joined by the FBI agents and both sets of parents in the farmhouse dining area.
“We’ve got people in Anchorage that can do it,” Coleridge told them.
“Can you get them here in time?” Fraiser said. “That bank could go at any moment.”
Coleridge gave him an icy glare, but had to admit, “I don’t think we can.”
Marcia stepped close to the table and examined the area on a photo taken from about fifty yards above. “Can I suggest something?”
“Sure,” French said before Coleridge could object.
“Darryl, can you send me this pic in the highest quality you took?”
“Tablet okay, Foxy?”
“Please,” she said, nodding. She picked up her tablet from the kitchen counter where it was sitting, and came back, pulling up the picture as she walked.
“Okay, the hand is here,” she said as she zoomed in. She wasn’t able to zoom in and see the hand, but looking at the picture, it was clear she was right.
Zooming back out, she said, “Up here is a dock. To get to the site, we’ll have to go from there, right?”
No one argued.
“So what if we use a couple of kayaks as pontoons and spread a platform over the top of them? We’ve got some old barn doors that would work.”
“Yeah,” Mike put in. “The area should be easy to direct a platform to. The biggest problem is anchoring there. Since that spot’s pushed out into the stream a bit, it’ll be harder to hold the platform in place.”
“That’s why I’m suggesting the kayaks. At least they’ll minimize the drag from the water,” Marcia told him.
“Who’s got the experience to do this?” asked French.
“I do,” Brad offered. “And, I know how to deal with evidence.”
“No! I can’t allow this!” Coleridge said.
Colonel Johnson decided his authority was best put to use at that moment. “May I remind you, Agent, that you were the one who removed Jenkins, simply because you didn’t seem to like him?” She glared, but he held her gaze. “If you want that hand, you’d better lose some of your self-importance and let the young man retrieve it.”
“And if it’s a whole body?” she asked.
“Then it’s a whole body!” Bob exploded.
“No, Dad,” Mage said. “If it’s a whole body, there might be evidence in the ground surrounding it. Coleridge is correct saying she needs to see that evidence in it’s location. She needs to know nothing has been lost.”
Bob sighed, but then French said simply, “Idea,” while holding up his index finger.
-=#=-
Brad, Coleridge, and French were on the makeshift raft, carefully keeping themselves away from the riverbank with paddles. They had several tools with them, including shovels, picks, and trowels, but what was probably the most important was the tarp and roll of plastic.
Chet was on a tractor, keeping tension with a winch, so they were able to slowly work their way down the river. Fraiser was also relaying communication between Chet and the raft, as for Chet, the tractor engine was drowning out their voices from downstream.
When they arrived at the spot, they could see the hand on top of the bank, but down below, the river was washing away the soil. Coleridge knelt down as they got closer.
“The Colonel is right,” she observed. “I can see some bones, and it looks like they’re held there by roots and determination at best.”
“Is there room to get the tarp underneath so we capture all the dirt?” Brad asked.
“Maybe,” Coleridge said. She stood up and shook her head. “All we can do is try.”
Brad gingerly steered their boat into position. The two FBI agents spread the tarp on top of the raft, then the plastic on top of that. The raft was perhaps twelve feet square, and it would take most of that to get under the shallow grave. There would be very little left for the trio to stand on.
How effective their methods would be was decided in a matter of seconds. As Brad was moving the boat in, the ground shifted slightly, and it started spilling onto the barge. In a matter of moments, it was completely done, with none of them moving a finger.
“Well, that was easy,” commented French.
“Couldn’t have done any better if we’d tried,” Brad laughed. He took one of the paddles and pushed against the bank, and slowly, the now much heavier raft started to spin away.
He stopped pushing, but the flow of the water caught the edge where Coleridge was standing. She crouched low as the spin picked up speed, as did Brad. French wasn’t so lucky, however, as much of the area where he was started to disappear under the bank. He took a step backwards, but that put him against the mound of dirt, so he stumbled. His stumble was enough to raise his corner of the raft off the riverbank where it had caught from the extra weight. He struggled to regain his balance, but somehow he overcompensated with the bobbing of the craft, and lost his footing again, but this time he slipped off the raft.
Both Coleridge and Brad were watching where the raft was heading, but the splash alerted them. They spun to look at French, just in time to see him come sputtering out of the water.
“Are you okay?” Coleridge called.
“Yeah,” he answered. “Just cold!” He managed to grab the rope that held them anchored to the dock north of them, but it didn’t look like he could hold it very long. His grip was slipping.
“Can you get back on the raft?” Brad asked. He was keeping them from grounding again, and couldn’t help.
Coleridge was on the far side of Brad, but she was able to ease past him and get to French. She was quite strong, but it still took her a couple of minutes to pull him back to, and then onto, the raft.
The water was extremely cold and he was shivering uncontrollably, which was a bad sign. Coleridge helped French get his soaking clothes off, then pulled off her own jacket and wrapped it around him. She used the jacket as a blanket and put it over both of them. In her haste to get him situated, she knocked his clothes to the side of the raft. His pants and jacket went overboard, but she managed to catch his shirt. She didn’t care, though. French was slipping in and out of consciousness, and she pulled off her blouse and bra, then wrapped her arms around him. “Get us to the dock, now!” she called out to Fraiser.
Chet was on a tractor, and had been pulling with the winch connected to the PTO as soon as Coleridge got French onto the raft. The cable running to the raft was just one line. He would have preferred to run through a pulley and back to a tree, but he just didn’t have enough line to make a double run. The tractor was anchored to a tree, however, and that helped him fight the current.
As he pulled, the drag against the water added up, and the gear case was heating up quickly. It was a tough pull. If he tried to go too fast, the edge of the raft started to dig into the water.
When the raft finally broke away from the bank, Brad didn’t need to man the raft, so he pulled off his shirt and lay down on the other side of French hugging him.
By the time they reached the dock, paramedics had arrived, as well as a couple of crime scene investigators.
The paramedics got French off the raft and into an ambulance. Both Brad and Coleridge were given blankets, and the EMTs checked them both out.
Marcia and Mage were standing a little ways away, watching the proceedings. As soon as the EMTs finished checking out Coleridge and Brad, the investigators kicked the group off the raft and eagerly began going through the soil that had fallen with the body.
“I need to get to the hospital!” Coleridge exclaimed.
“I’ll get you some dry clothes,” Marcia told her. She turned to her sister-in-law and said, “I don’t think anything of mine’ll fit, though.”
“You expect me to give her some clothes?!”
“Give her a break, Mage! She just worked her butt off trying to save Agent French!”
Mage sighed. “Okay, come on.”
Coleridge’s skirt was wet, but not soaked, and she was still wearing her boots, which were thankfully low-heeled, so she was able to walk back toward the house without difficulty.
“That was some quick thinking,” Marcia remarked as they walked.
“I didn’t want to lose him,” Coleridge said. “He’s…” She stopped and turned red.
Mage eyed her critically. Finally, she asked, “Does he know?”
The FBI woman sighed. “Know what?”
“You’ve got the hots for him,” Marcia explained, having caught on as well.
Coleridge didn’t deny it, but she suddenly stopped and did a facepalm. “Greg’s got the keys again!”
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--Rosemary
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 10
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
As is always the case, I'd like to thank Malady for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 10
Monday, May 10th, 2023
6PM
“It was rash to take Fraiser and Jenkins off the case,” Judge Matthews admonished Coleridge.
“I know,” she said.
“Why did you?”
Coleridge was reluctant to answer, and Sylvia came to her rescue. “Bill, I don’t think that’s something she wants to discuss with us.”
Bill wanted her to face what she’d done, but he was willing to drop the matter for the moment.
“You should talk to the Anchorage judge about it,” he told her.
“I’m afraid he won’t be willing to reinstate them right now,” she confessed.
At that moment, Mage’s phone rang, and excused herself. A moment later, they could hear her answer it from the kitchen.
“So why won’t the judge reinstate them?” Bill asked.
“He doesn’t think someone related to the case should be working on it.”
“Can’t the chief put you on some other case?” Bill asked Fraser and Jenkins.
“Well,” Fraiser explained, “The chief is my wife and Lisa’s sister. She’s been suspended too.”
“Where’s this guy get off suspending you?” Chet exploded. “Does he even have the authority?”
“He doesn’t really,” Fraiser said, “but he’s buddies with the rest of the judges in the area, and if we don’t play ball, he’ll make it rough. Which means, they’ll make it rough. So, our superiors play ball.”
Bill Matthews had been a judge for a long time, and he looked ready to explode, but he held it together.
“So he’s gonna convict Bruce one way or another,” Bill growled.
“Actually, no,” Coleridge said. “He’s a fair judge. He just wants to keep everyone fair. That’s how he’s managed to keep his job for so long.”
“Doesn’t sound fair to me. I think I’m gonna pay him a visit. This is ridiculous. This is beyond ridiculous! If you’re gonna be fair, you’re fair to everyone. Is he in the courthouse?”
“Judge Matthews,” Brad said, holding up his hand. “Before you do that…”
Bill looked at the young man surprised. “Yes?”
Fraiser took over and explained. “If I’m reinstated, I have to go by the book, Sir. I won’t be able to do anything to help my brother.”
“Do you have reason to suspect that your coworkers won’t do their best, and fairly, for Bruce?”
“That’s not it, Judge. Bruce and I grew up separately. I mean in separate households. We didn’t know we were brothers for a long time, even though we were in the same high school. We were friends, sure, but once we found out that we were actually brothers... I decided that he’d always be able to count on me, even if our parents weren’t honest with us.”
“So this is your way of keeping that promise?”
“He’d do the exact same for me.”
“That’s commendable, son. But I know Bruce. I don’t think he’d want you to give up your job.”
Fraiser nodded. “Probably not, but it’s not his choice. It’s mine. And you know good and well that he’d do the same thing for me.”
The judge slowly nodded his head. “So you're going to investigate, along with my family here,” he indicated the rest in the room, “to make sure Bruce is given the full courtesy of an impartial investigation?”
“You got it.”
“And what if it shows he’s guilty? Even with an impartial investigation?”
“It won’t, Judge.”
Matthews gave a sympathetic smile. “I understand, Ron. But what if it does?”
Ron Fraiser sat still for about a minute, looking towards his feet. He moved around in his chair uncomfortably, then finally, in a very quiet voice, said, “I’ll cross that bridge when -- If -- I come to it.”
Matthews nodded.
-=#=-
When Marcia went to answer the phone, she found French on the other end. He had informed his doctors that he was fine, and he was leaving. They argued, but in the end, his decision was final. He didn’t have to stay if he didn’t want to.
He’d called his office and found out that Coleridge was still at the farm, so he called the farm to see if he could get a ride from her.
Mage said nothing about any keys missing, but said that she’d come and get French. The agent said nothing, but wondered why she would pick him up.
Marcia and Coleridge went along with Mage to the hospital and when they collected French, he had to admit to himself, it was nice being in a vehicle with three very attractive women. If only Coleridge acted as nice as she looked.
“How come you all came to pick me up?” he asked.
“You have... well, had the keys to the SUV,” Coleridge told him, looking back from the front passenger seat.
“Didn’t you...?” He just shook his head. “Why didn’t you get the extra set?” he finally asked her.
Marcia was curious as to why she hadn’t gotten a spare set, but she was also frustrated with French. He wasn’t making things any easier for Brandy. When did I start thinking of her as Brandy? she wondered.
“Well, I do want to thank you for helping me out there,” he said. “I wasn’t in too great a shape. You probably saved my life.”
“I didn’t want to lose you,” Brandy said. Then, to cover her tracks, she added, “You’re a great partner.”
“Thanks,” French said, and looked out the window.
Marica had had enough. “Do you not get it!?” she almost yelled at French. “Why must men be so stupid sometimes!?”
“Marcia,” Brandy said loudly. “It’s okay!”
But, French was a good investigator, and knew how to read emotions, and things left unsaid. He slowly turned his head to face Coleridge, who was looking back at him intently. Her face turned crimson, and she turned away -- but not before Greg French understood everything.
-=#=-
French and Coleridge arrived at the farm early the next morning. Fraiser and Marcia were working in the barn, and the two agents made their way to the main door and stopped there. “Agents French and Coleridge requesting permission to enter!” French called out to Fraiser.
Ron Fraiser looked to the door, and saw them. From what Coleridge said the night before, he understood a bit more about the agent, but he still didn’t like her. “Come on in,” he told French. He knew that his invite included Coleridge too, but he didn’t see any way of excluding her without being completely rude, and he was determined to not be that way.
“We’ve found out some things about the body,” the female agent told him.
“And what's that?” Fraser asked, barely containing his distaste.
Coleridge sighed. She knew she’d brought it on herself, so she’d have to live with it. “It's a Caucasian male, around 35 to 37 years old. We haven't got an ID yet, but working on it. Died around the same time as Lisa.”
“How?” Ron asked.
“That's pending.”
Ron flipped over a pail sitting nearby and sat down. This didn't look at all good for Bruce. “The age fits Gerry,” he said quietly.
French didn't say anything. All his training said to let Fraiser continue his thought. Coleridge, however, spoke despite the same training. “I understand what you're saying, Detective. Let us handle it, okay? You know what I'm saying, right?”
“Of course, I d...” Something in her expression made him stop the tirade he was preparing to unleash.
Greg French then said something unexpected. “I'd like to speak to you off the record. You too, Miss Chatham.” Marcia had been quietly tending to Tigger, but it was apparent she had heard every word when she turned immediately at his address. “Off the record, this doesn't feel right. We have to go where the evidence leads, or appears to lead. You don't. I can't... we can't get away with gut feelings, as you well know.”
Fraiser looked at Coleridge, who oddly, seemed interested in her nail polish. She'd actually turned away from them and was busily filing at one of her nails. Apparently, ignoring what was being said.
“What are you saying?” Ron asked, hoping to get a bit more clarification.
Coleridge turned back at that, and glared at Fraiser. “According to our training, Detective, we can't want you to investigate. You are someone who's only motive is to prove his brother innocent. That's all you want to do, therefore we can't want you to be involved. Am I clear?”
Something in the way she said the word detective wasn't a dig that he wasn't one anymore. Instead, it was a reminder that he was still a detective. And a very good one at that.
“Yes, Agent. You are very clear.”
“Good,” she said. “On the record, I want to say we can't stop you from thinking about the case, or even investigating on your own. If we find any evidence that you've been at a crime scene, we will have to order you to cease and desist, understood? Clearly understood?”
He was shocked at what she was suggesting! He wouldn't have ever expected it but looking at French for confirmation, he received a nod.
“I understand very clearly, Agent,” he replied.
“Good,” she said. “anything pertinent you think of, or uncover as you mull this over, we'll expect you to share with us immediately, clear?” she was no longer glaring. It was as if she was suddenly laying out the guidelines for a friendly handshake bargain.
He gave a small smile, and replied, “Crystal.”
“Then there's no real reason for us to wish you good luck in any investigation, is there?”
“No ma’am,” French said. “no real reason at all.”
It was the final sign that they all understood each other. There was no request for help, and there was no statement that Fraiser would offer any. The main stipulation Brandy had placed was if they looked at an official crime scene, make dang sure they didn't disturb it.
Marcia was a witness that the agents had actually forbade him from interfering, but Fraiser had no doubt she understood all that was said. She was too sharp not to.
“As a courtesy,” French said as they turned to go, “we’ll keep you apprised.”
“Thank you, Agents,” Ron said as they headed back to their SUV.”
“I wish we could bid you the same,” Coleridge called over her shoulder.
“Shi…”
“Uh uh,” Marcia said to Fraiser. “You know what Mage says about swearing on the property.”
“Yeah, I do, Marcia. But honestly, this occurrence needs a four-letter-word or two.”
-=#=-
The family of Chatham, Johnson, and Matthews, plus Fraiser and Brad Jenkins, sat around a restaurant table in downtown Palmer. Wanda Gregory, the real-estate agent for Mike and Gloria, and Bob and Liz was expected to stop by in a few minutes.
“Can you repeat what she said, exactly, Marsh?” Judge Matthews asked, referring to the conversation with French and Coleridge.
“I believe so,” Marcia said, and then proceeded to repeat exactly what was said, tone perfect.
“That’s how she said it too, Judge,” Fraiser said. I’ll swear to that.”
“Well, this is an interesting situation. If that’s accurately how she said it, and I’m certain it is, knowing Marcia and her photographic memory, then they’re urging you to act, off the record.”
“It sure sounds like it,” Bob said.
Bill Matthews sighed. “I’m going to have to bow out at this point. At least I don’t want to have any knowledge of what you do to find any evidence you ‘dig up’.”
“Understood,” Mage said, “but can we run things by you without necessarily disclosing how we come by the information?”
“I don’t see any problems there,” the judge said. “There are times a judge has to tell the jury not to take certain evidence into account. It’s a ridiculous order, but it is legal.” He laughed. “I figure in this case, I don’t ask, and I can’t tell.” He gave them a little smile.
“Fair enough,” Chet said, nodding.
At that moment, a middle-aged woman was brought to their table. She had light-brown, almost blonde hair, and a complexion too dark to be Caucasian, but very fair for African American. Lastly, she was smartly dressed in a blue business suit.
Mike and Bob stood up, and Ron found himself doing the same. She was a very attractive woman, and Fraiser, having heard the story of her husband, wondered why the jerk would have fooled around on her. Thinking of Coleridge, he thought, Well, there’s more than just looks. Maybe she’s just not very nice.
When everyone sat back down, Bob Johnson introduced Wanda to everyone, and she proceeded to tell them how their offers appeared to be proceeding.
Both sellers had made some counter-offers, and Wanda was suggesting that her clients accept those, but with the stipulation that some things be repaired. There was some wood on the dock of Bob and Liz’s prospective house that needed replaced, and some flooring that needed refinishing.
Mike and Gloria’s had the basement halfway finished. Some carpet, tape and texturing of the walls and a coat of paint would go a long way to justifying the cost they were asking.
As ideas were tossed back and forth between the two couples and Wanda, the others started talking about what their first steps would be regarding Bruce and the case.
They talked for several minutes, then Fraiser realized talk had stopped between the others. Looking up, he realized Wanda was gazing at him.
“You’re talking about the woman who’s body was found near Thunderbird Falls? Her husband was arrested. You’re his brother?”
Fraiser hoped fervently that the fact didn’t hurt the couple’s chances of getting their homes. It shouldn’t, but sometimes people made some odd choices with their morals.
“Yes, Ma’am. I am.”
“I see,” Wanda said.
Please don't forget to leave comments and/or Kudos!
Thanks!
--Rosemary
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 11
Author:
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
As is always the case, I'd like to thank Malady for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 3.11
Wednesday, May 12th, 2023
8AM
Marcia, Chet, and Fraiser were perusing the area near where the body had been found when they saw French and Coleridge approaching.
“G’Mornin’,” Fraiser called as they got close.
Marcia was worried that they’d be ordered out of the area, but Coleridge asked, “Find anything?”
“No,” Fraiser returned. “Anything for us?”
“Strangulation and definite ID as Gerald Parks.”
“Damn!” Fraiser muttered.
“It doesn’t look good for Bruce, does it?” French said to Fraiser.
“Not really.”
“Gerald Parks is the person Lisa supposedly ran off with?” Marcia asked.
“Yes,” Coleridge affirmed.
Fraiser looked around as if he was trying to find inspiration from the surrounding landscape, but it didn't seem he was having much luck. Finally, he looked back at French, and when he spoke, he made sure he included Coleridge in his address. "I'm open to any suggestions,"
Marcia spoke up before the two agents could say anything. “You’ve questioned the men on the farm, haven’t you?”
“Yes,” Coleridge said, “But’cha know… Now that I think about it, people clam up when they talk to a cop. It’s human nature. They get nervous, even if they’ve got nothing to be nervous about.”
"I was thinking the same thing," Marcia agreed. "I'll bet they wouldn't be as nervous chatting with me. The seventeen-year-old, blonde, little sister of the owner."
“Don’t you think that could be dangerous,” Chet asked.
“Are you thinking one of them did it?” Marcia asked.
“Well, Lisa was Bruce’s wife, and Park’s body was found on the farm. I’d say there’s a possibility of it,” Chet answered.
"Well, I'm there one way or another, and I do the books on the farm. I'm out helping with the animals as often as I can. I've been talking to the guys anyway, so I don't see it's any more dangerous for me to steer a conversation where I need it to go. I can get the information I need," she replied.
“Besides, Chet,” Marcia went on, batting her eyes. “I just want to get to know the big, strong workmen.”
Chet shook his head. “Can you at least have Darryl with you during these conversations?”
“That won’t work,” Coleridge said. “I’m sorry, Mr. Chatham, but guys tend to have looser lips when they’re trying to impress a lady.”
Chet sighed. “Yeah, I suppose so.” He turned back to his sister. “What do you intend to find out?”
-=#=-
And so it was, around ten o'clock the following day, Marcia was out in the barn, grooming Tigger's coat when Bo Borisyuk entered the barn.
He was about twenty-five, and Marcia had to admit that he was handsome. His dark hair was neatly combed, and he had a neatly trimmed beard and mustache.
Everyone on the farm was a jack of all trades. They worked with the animals and gardens and now they would be training new people. Chet was hoping to expand Chatham Yardworks to do the same type of services in the Palmer area. Bo was one of the best.
“Hi, Bo,” Marcia said cheerfully. She waved at him and smiled.
He waved back and walked over. “He’s looking good,” the young man said as he patted the horse’s neck. “You’re taking real good care of him.”
“Thanks!” Marcia responded
“He’s a great horse,” Bo continued as the horse scanned his pockets to see if he had any tasty treats. “Lisa sure gave him a workout too.”
Marcia was thrilled to have a way into asking questions, but she didn't want to appear too eager and scare Bo off. She continued with the curry comb she was using for a couple of moments to see if Bo would elaborate, but when he didn’t, she asked, “What was Lisa like?”
“She was real nice. Helped me with my English when I got here. I’m Ukrainian, and when I got here, my English wasn’t very good.”
Marcia commented, “I wouldn’t have guessed you weren’t from the US.”
Bo laughed. “My name is Boris Borisyuk, and you wouldn’t have guessed?”
“There’s very little to tell. I didn’t know your last name, and the name ‘Bo’ could have been from the southern United States. Your speech sounds completely American. Lisa must have been a very good teacher.”
“Well, she’d been an English teacher, but not a stuffy one. She knew I’d get along best if I learned how others talked. Not just the ‘proper’ way English is supposed to be used.”
“Did she charge you for lessons?”
Again, Bo laughed. “Not a bit. She didn’t want any money for it, just like Bruce didn’t. They just wanted to help people however they could. They let me stay here till I got my own apartment in town. Said I’d need to save up for a deposit so I could rent a place.” He sighed. “They always did stuff like that, but I think she was the one who initiated it most of the time.”
Bo excused himself after that, and Marcia thought about what he’d said. Both Bruce and Lisa enjoyed doing things for others and seemed happy together. The thought that she’d run away with another person just didn’t make sense to Marcia.
But there had to be a reason why she'd run off. If Bruce killed both Lisa and Gerry, they had to have run off together. Or… Marcia wondered if Bruce may have found them together. Maybe in bed? Honestly, that seemed more likely than just the threat of running off. That could have made him temporarily insane, she thought. But I don’t see it happening that way. It doesn’t seem like Lisa’s character to have an affair either.
Marcia finished with Tigger and gave him a hug and kiss, then walked out of the barn. She glanced at the fields and saw a couple of guys working there. One of them was Kirk Gregory, her next target.
“Hi Kirk!” she called as she approached.
“Hi, Miss Chatham!” he responded. “What’s up today?”
Marcia thought she could play dumb and ask about what he was doing, but she didn't want to make him think she was interested. Glancing at her ring, she figured it was apparent she was engaged, but…
Kirk was eighteen, according to his records, so only a year older than her. And a year younger than Darryl. That could work out in her favor, or not. She suddenly had an idea.
“Just kinda looking around. I want to see what the jobs in the gardens are all about. Helps me in my work.”
“The same as they are in Fairbanks, just on a larger scale,” Kirk said, eyeing her critically. “What are you really doing?” He asked.
Uh oh, she thought. Has Kirk gotten the wrong idea from the start?
“Bruce was going to observe me working,” he told her. “This is my first job, you know, and I’ve been doing my best to learn everything. I suppose you’re observing me since he’s in jail?”
Whew! This is an easy way to talk to him without any wrong ideas! “Yeah. Sorry. I didn’t want to scare you.”
“Not a problem, Ma’am.”
“Whoa, right there. Just call me Marcia, please.”
“Okay, sorry.”
“Have you done this type of work before?” she asked him.
He laughed. “Actually, I started out like your brother. I did yard work for people while I was in high school.”
“You know about that?”
“I researched this company before I applied for work here. I found out how your brother started Chatham Yardworks. I even found out about Mrs. Chatham and you. Your secrets.”
"What secrets?" Marcia asked although she knew Vic's story had come out and how and why he'd become friends with her and Mage.
“I read the papers from Fairbanks. What I found out about Chatham Yardworks was linked online.”
“I see,” she said.
“Don’t worry. I’m not gonna tell anyone. If anyone else knows about it down here, it didn’t come from me.”
“I’m not worried about people finding out, but thanks.”
She decided to take a different tack. "So, what made you research us?"
"My aunt. I live with her and my uncle since my parents died. She sells real estate. Well, in theory, they both do, but I think my uncle spent more time flirting with customers." He shook his head. "Uncle Chris just got himself fired, both from the company and his marriage. I guess he tried to hit on someone who was married, and she said no. He didn't get the hint."
Marcia tried not to giggle but failed.
“What’s so funny about that?” Kirk asked.
“Is your aunt’s name Wanda by any chance?”
“Yeah,” Kirk answered. “You know her?”
“Met her last night. The woman he tried to hit on? That’s my mom.”
“Oh shit!” Kirk exclaimed. “Oh, sorry. I’m just really surprised. It’s a small world, I guess.”
“Not a problem. I know people swear at times. Chet and Mage don’t want to hear every other word being four letters.”
“Oh!” Kirk said.
“But, when my mom is around, don’t use any. She's threatened to wash Chet's mouth out with soap many times. I think she's even done it more than once." Again, she giggled. This time at the thought of her mom holding Chet's ear while pushing a bar of soap into his mouth. Chet was extremely tough, but he'd never hurt his mom, no matter what, nor would he disrespect her. If she wanted to wash his mouth with soap, she would, and he'd let her, figuring he deserved it.
“Mr. Chatham?” Kirk exclaimed. “Wow! Your mom’s gotta be tough! I’ve seen Mr. Chatham throw a hay bale like it was nothing!”
“Well, she’s not any tougher than any other woman. Chet just respects everyone. If Mom figures he needs discipline, she’ll give it. Even now.”
Kirk started laughing. “I can’t even picture someone doing that to Mr. Chatham.”
“Uh… Chet will tell you to call him Chet.”
“I respect people too,” Kirk said.
“Gotcha, but to respect Chat and Mage, call them by their first names, okay?”
“Tell you what. They haven’t told me to call them that yet. I feel it’s more respectful to wait until someone gives me permission. You have, so I’ll call you Marcia. Darryl has also, but until Mr. and Mrs. Chatham do, I’ll wait.”
Marcia nodded. “Sounds fair. I can see the thought you’ve put into that.”
“My cousin Stephen has worked here for several years, and he’s always told me how to be polite to people. It’s a big thing for him, and I agree. Showing respect is wise.”
Marcia turned the conversation to the job Kirk was doing and, before long, was delighted with the man's knowledge. She also watched, and he confidently did his job. She showed him a few tricks she'd learned over her time working in North Pole, and he thanked her.
As she walked back to the house, she went over what the two had told her. She didn’t figure anyone who worked on the farm could be the culprit. Now what?
Please don't forget to leave comments and/or Kudos!
Thanks!
--Rosemary
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 12
Author:
Audience Rating:
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
I'd like to apologize for the 2 month delay from chapter 11 being posted and this one.
As is always the case, I'd like to thank Malady for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 3.12
Wednesday, May 12th, 2023
7PM
It had been a long day for Marcia. She was briefing Darryl, Mage, and Chet on what she’d found out from the two men. When she told them that Kirk was Wanda Gregory’s nephew, and Stephen’s cousin, Darryl just shook his head.
In contrast, Mage exclaimed, “I can’t believe how many people are related to each other in this case!”
“Kinda like North Pole, isn’t it?” Chet said to her.
“Well, you know what they say,” Darryl said. “There’s six degrees of separation between any two people.”
“I read that they’ve dropped that number to around 4 degrees,” Marcia commented.
“But we’re not talking about just knowing people,” Mage pointed out. “These people are related!”
“Do you think that’s relevant?” Darryl asked.
“I’ve got no idea,” Mage responded. “But it drives me crazy.”
“Kinda feel like an outsider,” Chet said.
“I feel like that all the time,” Marcia told him.
Mage wondered about that statement. Is Marsh feeling down about her gender again? Kinda sounds like it. I’ll talk to her later.
“I’m not sure,” Marcia continued, “Just how Wanda Gregory figures into this.”
“Do you think she does?” Darryl asked.
“I’m not discounting anything,” she responded. “Considering what her husband is like, who knows.”
“It doesn’t sound like she’s that way, though.”
“No, but is anything the way it seems?”
Darryl nodded. “Good point, Foxy.”
“So you think our list of suspects just increased?” Chet asked.
“Our list of suspects, sure. Whoever is the guilty person, I’ve no idea.”
Mage looked at Marcia strangely, then asked, “What makes you think it’s only one?”
Marcia shook her head. “Do you have any reason to believe it’s more than one?”
“I don’t know,” Mage said. “We’re assuming that Bruce isn’t responsible. So why would things look so bad for him?”
“They look horrible,” Darryl agreed. “Lisa left a letter saying that she was leaving with Gerald. Her body is found not far from here, and Gerald’s is found buried on the farm.”
“And,” Chet added, “we know that Bruce was extremely in love with Lisa. I can see him getting rid of Gerald.”
Marcia gave Chet a disgusted look, but thinking about it, she knew how mad she’d be at anyone who came between her and Darryl.
“But would he get rid of Lisa?” Mage wondered. “What would turn that love into strong enough hate?”
“I can understand getting rid of Gerald,” Darryl said. “For me to get rid of Foxy… If I had gotten rid of a hypothetical lover of hers, I’d see how things went between her and me with him gone.”
“You don’t need to worry about that,” Marcia told him.
“Of course not, but if it did happen, if I thought you might be in love with someone else, I might be tempted.”
“You’d be tempted to kill me?!” Marcia asked, shocked.
“I said I might be tempted. That may sound crazy to you, Foxy, but I know I’d be dealing with depression.”
“Any guy,” Chet said, coming to Darryl’s rescue, “would find something like that hard to deal with.”
“The ones who are actually in love with her,” Darryl put in. “There are some people who don’t understand love.”
“You’d be tempted to kill me, and you understand love?” Marcia said, folding her arms and glaring.
“Might!” Darryl said again. “And that would be contingent on several things. How the depression affected me. How our relationship had been.” He paused for a moment, then added, “I suppose how I’d been treated in school, and through my formative years.”
“But you’ve not had a problem with any of those things. At least, I don’t think so.”
“Nope,” Darryl confirmed.
“We know Bruce and Lisa were very much in love,” Marcia said, then sighed. “At least we think they were.”
“I think that’s a pretty accurate assessment,” Mage agreed. “From what I saw, I can’t imagine that they weren’t.”
“So why would she leave?” Marcia asked.
“Did she?” Chet wondered. “Did she really write that letter? Did she voluntarily leave?”
“You think she was killed rather than left on her own?” Mage asked her husband.
“So the note was fake? Forged?” Darryl asked.
“No, I don’t think it was forged. Bruce would probably have noticed that,” Chet said.
“So maybe she was forced to write it?” asked Darryl.
“Let’s run with that supposition for a bit,” Marcia said.
“We should get Ron and Brad here,” Mage said. “They’re more experienced in that type of thing.”
Chet took out his phone and called Ron. “Hey, we were wondering if you could swing by. We’ve got a scenario we’d like to explore.”
He paused then asked, “How long?”
“Two minutes?!” Another pause, then Chet said, “Okay. Sounds good.”
Chet hung up, then said to the group, “They’re turning into the driveway as we speak.”
“Well, that was good timing,” Marcia told her brother.
“No doubt!”
Mage went into the kitchen and a moment later, they could hear the coffee grinder running. There was a knock on the door, then they heard it open. Brad and Ron came into the living room and Chet motioned for them to sit down.
They made small talk until Mage came into the room with two carafes of coffee. Chet asked her, “How are we supposed to drink that without mugs?”
“Pass ‘em around and everyone take a drink,” Mage told him easily. She then went back to the kitchen and returned with a tray of mugs and a carton of cream and bowl of sugar.
“Better?” she asked Chet.
“I think so,” he answered. “This isn’t the Last Supper, you know.”
Marcia gave a little snerk, then got herself and Darryl some coffee.
Ron gave a smile, then asked, “What’s your scenario?”
Chet looked at Marcia as if to defer to her, but she waved her hand to brush off the invitation. “Go ahead, Big Brother,” she said.
He gave her a dirty look, but turned to Ron and Brad. “We know Bruce didn’t have anything to do with Lisa’s death, and we’re certain their relationship was good. I don’t think the note was forged however. So was Lisa forced to write it? That seems to indicate that someone was wanting to pin her murder on Bruce.”
“I’m thinking the same thing,” Ron said, “but why would someone kill her?”
“What if we look at Gerald Parks as the target,” Brad offered.
“Then why kill Lisa?” Darryl asked.
“Well, she could simply be a red herring,” Marcia speculated.
“That makes more sense than anything else,” Mage said, “except Bruce killing her. From the physical evidence, I’d have to say it makes sense, but that really doesn’t make sense at all, when you consider how much they loved each other.”
“That’s still something we have to consider,” Ron said, reluctantly. “I know Bruce, and I don’t see it as possible, but there may be circumstances I’m not aware of.”
“From the physical evidence, Bruce being the killer makes sense,” Chet agreed.
“Is it possible that things were reversed?” Brad wondered. “Maybe Lisa was the intended target, and Gerald was the red herring.”
“Why would someone want to kill Lisa?” Darryl asked.
“Maybe they were interested in her and she wouldn’t have anything to do with them.” Brad thought about his suggestion, then said, “No. I don’t see why Gerald would be killed then. Just the simple fact of her being killed would be enough to point the finger at Bruce.”
“What if there was a different reason to kill her? A firing maybe?” Darryl asked. “I know Bruce would be the one to do that, but framing him for murder, knowing he’d spend the rest of his life in prison for the deaths of two people would certainly be revenge.”
“Oh great!” Mage groused. “Now we’ve got three victims to examine!”
“Bruce has been a victim all along,” Chet said to her.
“But why?” Mage asked. “Was it using him as a scapegoat, or because whoever wanted revenge?”
“This is getting more complex the more we think about it,” Marcia complained.
“This kind of case always does,” Ron told her commiseratedly.
Before Ron could continue, there was a knock on the door. Brad started to get up, but then stopped. Chet grinned, and said, “Go ahead, Brad. Just make sure they’re not selling anything before you let them in.”
Brad laughed then stood. A couple of moments later, Coleridge and French entered, followed by Brad. This time, however, it was clear that they were not on the clock. French was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and Coleridge was similarly casual.
Chet stood, as did Fraiser, and bid them to sit. Marcia and Darryl were seated on the love seat, and she stood, gently pulling at Darryl’s hand. He glanced at her and saw the look on her face. He stood without offering any argument, and told the two, “Take the love seat… uh couch.”
Brandy’s face got very red as she stepped to the small couch. Sitting down, she flashed a bit of a smirk at Greg. He raised an eyebrow, and with a bit of a smile on his face, joined her.
Marcia sat down cross legged on the floor, and pulled Darryl down beside her.
Fraiser eyed the two newcomers skeptically. “Are you here in an official capacity?” he asked.
“Yes and no,” French told them.
“We’ve found something out that we think you should know,” Coleridge continued.
Fraiser nodded, and motioned for them to continue.
“Something very disturbing was found in the examination of the bones of Gerald Parks,” Brandy continued. All the lightheartedness of a minute before had left both her and French’s demeanor. Now, they both appeared angry.
“Gerald Parks was stabbed multiple times,” French explained. “It seems the ME missed that initially. There was clear evidence of strangulation – hyoid fracture – and she kinda focused there.”
“But there was evidence of stabbing found later?” Brad asked for clarification.
Coleridge nodded. “Why she gave us the cause of death as strangulation before she was done, I’ll never understand.”
“So stabbing was the cause of death?” Mage asked.
“That’s the problem,” French said. “We don’t know. Strangling could have been, but some of the stabs could have been as well. Others…” His voice trailed off.
“What’s a hyoid fracture?” Darryl asked.
“The hyoid bone is a bone that is at the base of the skull. It helps in swallowing, speaking… You name it,” Marcia explained. “It fractures about half the time when someone is strangled. Or hung.”
“Oh,” Darryl said. “Kinda sorry I asked.”
“I looked up the evidence of strangling when I heard that Gerald had been strangled. What’d they find indicating stabbing?”
“Well,” Coleridge said. “Several marks on bones.”
“Multiple stabbing is something the DA will love to add into the case,” Brad said. “That will fit in with the idea that this was a crime of passion.”
Fraiser looked ill. “You’re right.”
“There’s something else you need to know,” Brandy said, causing Ron to look at her quizzically.
“Several of the marks appear to go in and out for several inches.”
“Like a saw, but using the knife,” French added.
“Why…” Mage said, then got the implication. “Someone tortured him, didn’t they?”
Wordlessly, French nodded.
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--Rosemary
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 13
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
I'd like to apologize for the long delay in posting. Hopefully, that's over now, but I'm not really sure. Anything can happen, and usually does in my life.
As is always the case, I'd like to thank Malady for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 3.13
Wednesday, May 22nd 2023
It had been several days since French and Brandy had told them what happened to Gerald Parks.
Marcia had hoped they would find that the saw cuts had been made after death – maybe the killer initially planned to dispose of the body in different locations? That wouldn’t be great, but at least it wouldn’t be torture. But no, there was clear evidence that the sawing was done while the poor man was alive.
She found it hard to conceive that people could do things like that to each other. She wished she'd never found out about this case, but she desperately wanted to prove that Bruce had nothing to do with it.
She wasn’t alone in that, but a recent addition to the group was Wanda Gregory. Her son worked on Bruce’s farm, and in fact, he’d been hired by him.
Wanda had also taken an interest in Fraiser, but was determined to avoid the type of behavior her husband had become infamous for, even as her heart ached. Thus, she made sure that she became friends with Melissa, Fraiser’s wife, and was glad that she had.
In getting to know the Fraisers, Wanda also ended up getting to know her customers; the Chathams, the Johnsons, and their kids. What she learned surprised her. All of them seemed to revel in helping others. She had heard of the hijacking of the 737 on the way from Seattle to Anchorage, but when she found out that it was Mike Chatham who had flown the plane in and landed it at Kodiak, she was astonished. The man was obviously a wonderful man, who loved his wife and kids dearly, and accomplished great things, but there wasn’t any arrogance. He was obviously proud of his family, but he preferred to revel in their merits, rather than his own.
6PM
Melissa and Ron had moved to the farm. Without their jobs in the police force, they didn't see it necessary to stay in town. They were surprised that Chet and Mage were willing to pay wages near what they'd been bringing in from the police force. And they were building a second house not far from the main one. It was to be a split level with complete living quarters upstairs and down. In addition unlike most split levels, the entryway was at the end of the building, and walled off from the apartments. It was essentially a duplex, but built so another duplex could be built onto the end with the entryway.
In another display of cleverness, a pair of garages had been built at the other end of the buildingand since it was being built with the downstairs at ground level in front, and the upstairs at ground level in back, the garages were on the same level as their respective apartments.
Well, that was not quite true. In the lower apartment, one took a few steps up to the door into the apartment, and in the upstairs, one took a few steps down. This was to accommodate a two-foot-deep pit in the outside bay of the garages, for ease of mechanical repairs on the underside of vehicles. Both Chet and Mage were big on maintenance for their vehicles, and in fact, were building yet another garage with a lift for even more ease. Thatthe people who lived and worked on the farm could use the lift as well was an intended bonus.
What shocked Wanda the most was when Chet and Mage paid the bond for Bruce, and then took him back as the manager of their farm. Knowing the Fraisers, she wasn’t surprised that they would like Bruce. If he was anything like his brother, it was completely understandable. But that they would go the extra mile and pay the bond’s steep price to release him from jail, then trust him and put him back in his job?
Melissa told Wanda that Chet was afraid he might lose some workers on the farm, but he couldn’t turn Bruce away. The man had done incredible work as the manager of the farm since before Elysea, the Matthews’ daughter, bought it.
6PM
Melissa and Ron were invited for dinner at the Johnson home, and when they arrived, they found that, like Chet and Mage, they didn't do things halfway. Chet and Mage were already there with their kids.
A few minutes after the Fraisers sat down, the front door opened and Darryl and Marcia entered. The family had standing permission – well, orders –to not make someone get up and answer the door. Thus, when Mike, Gloria, and their kids arrived, they simply walked in.
"We're just waiting for a couple more people, then we'll eat," said Bob as he entered from the balcony looking over the lake. He went into the kitchen and returned holding a platter of burgers and hotdogs, and took them through the door to the balcony where his grill was. In response, Melissa jumped up and hurried into the kitchen to see if she could help Liz with anything.
The doorbell rang, and Chet stood to answer it. He had a feeling who it was, but he was surprised when he saw Wanda Gregory standing there.
"Hi, Chet," she said. "Are Bob and Liz here?"
Bob heard her voice and stepped into the living room. "Hi Wanda!" he greeted her. "Are you hungry?"
She looked around at the group that was sitting in the living room, and smelled the food that Bob had been grilling. Smiling, she said, "Well. I was gonna get something on my way home, but that smells wonderful!"
"Good!" Liz enthused, as she walked from the kitchen holding a huge bowl of potato salad. She went out to the balcony and set the bowl on the picnic table that was near the grill.
Melissa and Gloria both came out of the kitchen with more platters of food, followed by Mage and Marcia who were carrying bags of buns for hamburgers and hotdog, and a couple sticks of butter. Bob beckoned for Wanda to join them and she followed.
A moment later they all heard one car pull up and shut down its engine, followed by another. Ron was standing near the garden doors that opened onto the balcony, and he turned to face the front door as it opened on the other side of the spacious living room. His jaw dropped when he saw who was entering, flanked by the judge and his wife on one side and French and Coleridge on the other.
"Bruce!" He shouted joyously. He hurried into the house and caught his brother in a bear hug.
The group collected around Bruce and he received hugs from everyone. Even Sammy and Amber joined in, putting their arms around his neck and squeezing tight.
“Not that I’m complaining, Bruce, but how’d you get out of jail?” Ron asked.
“That was Judge Matthews and the Chathams,” Bruce answered. “Chet and Mage put up the bail necessary, and Judge Matthews gave a personal guarantee that I wouldn’t run.”
“Under normal circumstances,” Coleridge shook her head, “I’d say that was a foolish thing to do, but from what I’m learning about you all, I don’t think you really care if it was or not.”
“No, Brandy,” French told her, “It’s not that they don’t care. Everyone here is willing to stake their reputation on someone who they believe deserves their trust.”
Chet nodded. “We believe that Bruce deserves that.”
Brandy nodded, but she looked somewhat unconvinced.
Everyone grabbed their food, and sat down wherever they could find a place. Bob and Liz had a large picnic table on their deck, as well as a couple of patio tables. Mike and Gloria had brought a couple of folding tables and chairs, but still, some chairs were brought out from inside, and Chet, Mage, Darryl, and Marcia sat with their plates on their laps, clearly not minding the situation.
Brandy kept her eyes on Bruce, who was sitting at the picnic table, across from her.
“Simmer down, Brandy,” Greg told her. “Bruce isn’t going anywhere. We’ve got you and I, two Air Force colonels, Ron, and Chet. Honestly, I think Chet could probably hold him by himself, but I don’t think that would be necessary.”
“I wouldn’t try anyway,” Bruce told Brandy.
Brandy looked around and saw that everyone else was chatting, and basically having a good time. She and Ron had sat at the farthest table from the doors back into the house. It would be possible to run down the stairs to the dock where the plane was tied up, but Ron was right. Almost everyone here had placed their trust in the man, and he had too much to lose if he even tried to run.
She settled down and started to eat, but remained alert, not that it helped.
“Do you mind if I sit down?” a woman’s voice asked, and Brandy looked up to see Wanda Gregory standing beside the table. She wasn’t looking at the FBI agent, however. She was eyeing Bruce Huff.
Looking up, he gave a slight smile. “Not at all,” he told her. “I’m not sure I’d be very good company, however.”
Sylvia Matthews, who was sitting beside Bruce, slid over to make room. She glanced at her husband who was on her other side and gave a small surprised look.
Chet had wolfed down a couple of burgers and a mountain of potato salad, and after setting down his plate, he slid his chair up to the end of the table that Bruce and Brandy were sitting at. “So, Bruce,” he said. “How do you feel about taking the managerial position again?”
“Nuh uh,” he replied. “That’s Ron’s job now.”
Ron was seated in between Greg and Melissa, and on hearing that, turned to face his brother. “No. I held that job open for you. You’re back now, and it’s your job.”
“Look,” Bruce shook his head. “Everyone is being great, and I appreciate it, but I’ve got a lot of thinking to do.”
“I’ll tell you what,” Ron said. “If it's okay with the Chathams, I’ll hold the job open a little while longer. But you need to do something eventually, after you come to grips with this.”
“You’re assuming I’m gonna beat this, Ron. I’m not sure I can. I’ve got a lot of people to convince, and very little evidence on my side.”
“You don’t have to convince anyone here,” Ron said.
Bruce looked pointedly at Brandy. “Oh?”
She looked uncomfortably down at her plate and put down the hotdog she’d been eating. “Mr. Huff... Bruce,” she restated, when she saw the look Chet gave her for being so formal. “I don’t know you very well, obviously. And, I’m a cop, but if I believed you were guilty, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here having dinner with your family.”
“The best part of my family is dead,” he said to her bitterly.
“Look around you, Bruce. I realize what you’ve lost, and I can’t imagine how you must feel, but you’ve got a family in each of these people. They’re willing to fight for you – to make sure that you’re found not-guilty.” She paused. “As I said, I’m a cop, and I probably shouldn’t say this, but you seem like a decent guy, and my gut tells me you’re innocent. I hope we can prove my gut right.
Thursday, May 23rd, 2023
6AM
Marcia hurried outdoors wearing a denim jacket. It was lightweight, but just heavy enough to take the nip out of the air. Plus, its pockets could hold an apple for Tigger and the knife that she was going to use to cut it up for Tigger..
Upon entering the barn, however, she found Bruce there. He was handing a slice of apple to Tigger, who was nuzzling up to the man, obviously happy to see him.
In the stall was fresh hay and oats, as well as water. Bruce glanced over at Marcia, grinned, and handed her the rest of the apple.
“Thanks for feeding him,” Marcia said as she cut another piece off the fruit.
There wasn’t an audible response, but she caught sight of him nodding. Tigger nuzzled her hand, trying to get to the fresh apple slice, and she opened her hand so his velvety nose tickled her hand as he took it.
“He’s doing real well,” Bruce said as he watched. “Lisa’d be real happy to see that.”
“Do you want him back?” Marcia asked. They both had been operating under misapprehensions. When Bruce had given the horse to her, his understanding of what had happened to his wife was quite different than reality. She wondered if he’d ever have given Tigger away had he known what actually happened to Lisa.
Bruce turned a kind eye to her. “Absolutely not, Marcia. You’re doing a great job with him.” He chuckled a bit, then said, “Tigger needs a gentle spirit taking care of him. You’re very much like Lisa that way.”
As he went silent, his voice choked off as if he was going to cry. He turned away quickly, but not before Marcia saw his hand raise to wipe his eyes.
Still looking away from her, he walked over to Elmo, Allie’s horse, and stroked the chestnut’s neck.
“You love horses, don’t you, Bruce?” Marcia said quietly.
Continuing to stroke the neck, Bruce replied, “Lisa loved horses.” He was silent for a bit then said, “I’m not sure what to do now.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure what to feel,” He explained. He looked back at her and said, “Before, I thought Lisa might come to her senses and come back.”
Turning back to Elmo and grabbing a curry comb that was hanging nearby, he absently stroked the horse with it. “Now what do I do?” he said after a minute. “That hope’s gone.”
Marcia wasn’t sure how to respond. She felt a lump in her throat and her eyes start to burn as they wanted to tear up too.
“Coleridge is afraid I’d run,” Bruce said sarcastically. “Why? With Lisa gone, I’ve got nothing left to live for. Without her, I’m in prison, so why not go to a real one.”
Marcia thought about what he said, and she understood, but she also knew that if something happened to Darryl, he wouldn’t want her life to end. By the same token, she’d want Darryl’s life to go on if something happened to her.
“That’s not what Lisa would want for you, though,” she said quietly.
He turned back, and for a moment, his eyes flashed, but then they softened. “No. It’s probably not what she’d want.”
“I know it’s not the same, but we’re family. We don’t want you to go away either.”
He knew her brother and sister-in-law felt a familial connection to him, and he had been quite happy to consider them family.
“Just let us figure out who’s done this, Bruce. I promise we’ll figure it out.”
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 14
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
Again, I'd like to thank Malady for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 3.14
May 23rd, 2023
12:34PM
Bruce sat on a log bench that was sitting near the barn. It was facing out towards the water and Pioneer Peak, and he was enjoying the view. He had his eye on a golden eagle circling something below. He supposed it was a rabbit, and he watched to see if it would dive for its prey.
Chet exited the house, looking for the older man, and when he spotted him, he followed Bruce’s gaze and saw the eagle just as it dived. A moment later, it was heading back up, a wiggling mass of brown and white fur in its talons. He hoped it was a rabbit.
Walking up to Bruce, Chet observed that the man was munching on a sandwich. “Well, did the police mess up your camper?” He asked.
“Some things aren’t there. They’re keeping them as evidence, I suppose. My photo albums,” Bruce told him. “They gave me back the camper as there’s no evidence that the murder was committed there.”
“I see,” Chet said, sorry he asked the question. He’d meant it as levity, but in retrospect, it was probably not the best thing to make a joke about. “I was wondering if you’d come up to the house when you’re done with your chores,” he said changing the subject.
Briefly, Bruce thought he was about to get fired, but after the reception the day before, he figured that wouldn’t be the case, so he nodded. “Sure,” he said at the same time.
“Great!” Chet exclaimed, then escaped from his faux pas. He hurried to his truck and took off for town. He had some groceries to get for Mage.
8PM
Bruce entered the office. He wasn’t sure what Chet had in mind, and had taken his time with his chores – partially to drag his feet for the coming meeting, and partially to make sure everything was done right. It had been over two weeks since he’d worked on the farm, and he wanted to make sure he didn’t forget anything.
Chet was seated behind the big desk, and Mage at a smaller one facing the door ahead of him. There wasn’t a gate or anything to block the way, but to get to Chet’s desk, an employee would have to turn left and go around her desk.
The business wasn’t meant to be headed by the two siblings, but they were the ones best suited to their positions – Chet as CEO, and Marcia as CFO. It had been decided that Mage would handle HR, and Darryl was on the board of directors, although he had decided to work on the farm as well.
Marcia didn’t have a desk in the office, but did have a table against the wall to Chet’s right. There was a knock on the door, and Mage said, “Come in!”
Bruce glanced around the room. He smiled at the redecorating the family had done. It was definitely an improvement. He was face to face with Mage, who smiled and motioned to a sofa and coffee table behind her, strategically placed for a conference with Chet. She stood and walked to a chair and Marcia spun her chair around so she could face the others.
As Bruce was walking around Mage’s desk, Chet stood and made his way to a chair across the room from Mage and stood beside it. As soon as Bruce sat down, he sat himself, and said, “We wanted to talk to you about a few things.”
Bruce wasn’t sure where things were going, but he nodded in acknowledgment.
“As Marcia mentioned before, there are records of you doing lots of things beyond the scope of your job for the workers,” Mage said.
Bruce nodded again, and Mage went on. “You explained things to her, but we believe that you went well beyond the position of a boss.”
“Are you saying that’s bad?” Bruce asked, surprised.
“Absolutely not!” Mage said, shocked that he’d think such a thing.
Mage looked to Marcia and motioned for her to take over.
“Right now,” Marcia said to him, “you’re receiving a salary of forty-five hundred per month, right?”
He nodded. “Free and clear, yes.”
Marcia smiled and said, “I see no reason – actually, I see every reason – why that should be increased to five thousand per month.”
“Well, now…” Chet said. “Let’s not be too hasty. Why don’t we just give Bruce the upstairs of the duplex?”
“That won’t be ready for another two weeks,” Mage told him. “He should get the increase now.”
“Actually,” Marcia said, “I wanted to make it retroactive to the beginning of May.”
“I don’t need any of this,” Bruce said. “I appreciate the sentiment, but…”
He broke off as Chet said. “No, giving you either one wouldn’t be right. We’ll do both.”
“We need one more member on the board of directors,” Mage said.
“Bruce is perfect for that,” Marcia said with a big grin on her face.
Bruce’s mouth dropped open in astonishment.
-=#=-
May 30th, 2023
During the last couple of weeks, Marcia had been checking into summer classes at the university. She and Darryl had both taken CLEP exams while in Fairbanks and passed them all. Because of that, they had credit for many of their classes. It had taken some time and funds, but they chose to use some of the money they’d saved to get their degrees faster.
10:07AM
Marcia was seated at her table, checking through the Fairbanks division’s records. As soon as she was finished, she’d authorize the payments and paychecks.
Mage brought in the mail and packages that had been delivered. She dropped a few parcels and envelopes on Marcia’s desk, then a few on Chet’s.
She sat down at her own desk, and started going through a few envelopes. A moment later, she stood and walked over to Marcia. “I missed one for Darryl,” she told her sister-in-law. She set down an envelope that was identical to one Marcia had just eagerly opened. The letter in Marcia’s hand was from the university and stated that they had an opening for her in a summer geology course, which would be starting June 22nd. She would be starting the road to her dream of being a geologist!
She knew that Darryl had applied for the same course, and was very tempted to open the letter he received, but she resisted. All through the rest of the morning, however, her eyes kept straying toward the envelope, and she couldn’t concentrate on the spreadsheet she was working on.
Finally, at 11:30, she jumped up and grabbed the envelope. “Gonna take it to him?” Mage asked, without even looking up from the application she was looking at.
“I need to know what it says!” Marcia exclaimed. “I can’t concentrate.”
“And no matter what it says, you won’t be able to either,” Mage told her. “You may as well take the rest of the day off.”
Marcia hurried out of the room and out to the picnic table where Darryl was sitting with Bruce and Kirk. “Look what came in the mail!” she said as she thrust the envelope at him.
Darryl took it and his eyes widened. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know what it said. He didn’t want to take the class because of his own interests. Instead, he was taking it because he wanted to know what Marcia was talking about. At the same time, she would be taking lots of the same electives he was in for the same reason.
Tentatively, Darryl ripped open the envelope and pulled out the letter. Marcia had to hold herself back from grabbing the paper and reading it. A moment later, Darryl shook his head and looked forlorn. Sadly, he handed the letter to her.
Her eyes were wide and she started to tear up until she read what was said. “You jerk!” she said. “You got in too!”
“Well, you were so excited! I had to trick ya.”
She made a motion to hit him, but then leaned in for a kiss, which he happily gave.
-=#=-
7:34PM
Chet’s phone rang and he excused himself from the conversion in the living room. He walked outside as he answered it, and found that Rick was on the other end.
“How’s it going?” he asked his friend.
“I’ve got a couple of things to tell you, but I’m not sure what to say first.”
“Well,” asked Chet, “Is this a bad news, good news thing?”
“Actually, yeah,” Rick answered.
“Good news first.”
“Okay. Carla’s pregnant,” Rick said. He didn’t sound very excited though, so Chet figured that the bad news was really bad news.
“Congratulations!” Chet exclaimed, hoping to cheer up his friend.
“Yeah,” Rick brightened a bit. “It looks like the baby will be born ‘round about Christmas or New Years.”
Chet laughed. “Make sure you’re near the hospital. Never can tell what’s happening in Fairbanks around then.”
“No doubt.” He sighed. “And now for the bad news. Granny isn’t doing too good. She’s having heart trouble.”
“Is it treatable?”
“Well, she was having angina, apparently, and didn’t tell us. They’ve got her taking a children’s aspirin a day, and they’re prescribing nitro-glycerin for her.”
“Have they given any prognosis?”
“If they have, she’s not saying,” Rick grumbled.
Chet smiled in spite of the news. “Sounds like she’s being her normal stubborn self.”
“You could say that. She only told us about the heart problems when she was helping out in a garden one day and Jen happened to see her slip a pill into her mouth.” He sighed again. “Jen called me up while on her break and told me about it. I had to drag it out of Granny. She finally confessed to having angina, but she said it was good for her to work. She needs exercise.”
Chet nodded, although his friend couldn’t see him. “I could understand that, but hasn’t she been working all Spring?”
“My thoughts too. I would think she needs to slow down a bit, but she’s adamant that her doctor says she should stay working. I can’t talk to the doctor because of privacy, and I don’t want to say no, because if she’s telling the truth and she needs exercise, I’d be hurting her instead of helping.”
While Rick was talking, Chet’s parents pulled up and parked. They saw Chet and waved, then headed inside.
“Mom and Dad just got here, but let me run this by our HR department,” Chet said
Rick laughed at that. “Are you gonna run it by all of HR?”
“Yep. All one of her.”
“Let me know what Mage says.”
“You bet, Rick. And tell Carla ‘congrats’ for me.”
“Will do. I’ll talk to you later.”
Chet clicked off the call and went inside.
Mike and Gloria had sat down in the living room and were talking in hushed voices with Darryl. Neither Mage, nor Marcia were in the room and Chet made as if to head into the kitchen, but Mike asked him to stay.
“What’s up?” Chet asked as he sat down.
“Darryl is wondering if we’ll give permission for Marcia to get married before she’s eighteen.”
Chet nodded. “Not to be disrespectful, Dad, but that’s yours and Mom’s decision. Why include me in it?”
“Two reasons,” Gloria said.
“Okay. You know she’s said she wants to wait until after the surgery, right?” Chet asked.
“Yeah,” Darryl agreed.
“Then why ask for the permission? She can’t have the surgery till she’s eighteen.”
“In Alaska, yeah,” Mike said.
“Uh, where can she?”
“Both New York and New Hampshire have no minimum age requirement.”
“You’re both willing to allow it?”
“We’re willing to finance it,” Gloria told her son.
“And after the surgery will you allow her to get married?”
Mike slowly nodded. “Darryl thinks she’d want that. What do you think?”
Chet looked at his parents like they were crazy. “This is a no-brainer, Mom – Dad. I’m not sure why you’re even asking me. Of course she’ll want it.”
Mike laughed. “We figured that would be your opinion, but I wanted to make sure we weren’t gonna have a protective brother to deal with.”
Chet looked stern. “Now wait a minute,” he said. “I said she’d want it. I didn’t say I’d approve. I mean, Darryl and Marcia live in my house. I’m not sure I want a pair of newlyweds in here. Not sure my floor would take it.”
“Chet!” Gloria exclaimed. “That’s…” She paused, not sure how to classify the statement.
Darryl looked at his brother-in-law, and with a completely straight face said, “I give you my solemn promise that if we get too… energetic… I’ll pay for a new floor.”
Chet tried to keep a straight face, but couldn’t manage. “You’ve been taking WAY too many lessons from Marcia.” After laughing for a bit, he turned to his parents again. “Mom – Dad – That’s a no brainer too. I want both Marcia and Darryl to be happy, and honestly, I don’t think they will be completely happy in this life till they’re married.
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 15
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
I want to thank Malady, once again, for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 3.15
May 30th, 2023
8:27 PM
Marcia was out riding Tigger when Darryl phoned her.
“Hi, Foxy,” he said when she answered. “Can you come up to the house? We need to talk about something.”
“Do you want to meet me at the stable?” she asked him.
“No, I think we need to talk in the house about this,” He told her.
“What’s this about?” she asked. “You’re sounding kinda cryptic.”
“Nothing bad, Foxy. I promise that.”
“Okay, now I’m getting suspicious,” she said as she steered the horse toward the barn.
He hemmed and hawed, so she figured she’d get an answer when she got back to the house, but not before, so she hurried Tigger along. She had been taking lessons and was learning quickly, so she had no problem when the horse broke into a trot.
She entered the house and saw that her parents were seated with her brother and her fiance. She couldn’t read the expressions on their faces, but she felt there wasn’t anything to be nervous about. “What’s going on?” she asked as she sat down beside Darryl.
“We’ve got a couple of questions for you,” Mike told her.
“I’ll answer to the best of my ability,” she told her dad.
“Okay. Well, this first question is kinda just a formality,” he started. “If you could have your surgery now, would you?”
“Uh… What do you mean by now?”
“Well, not today. But what if we could get it scheduled for June… say, 22nd?”
“Alaska won’t allow that,” she replied.
“No, but New York and New Hampshire will.”
She pulled out her phone and looked at the calendar. “Well, I’ve got a class that morning, but I suppose if we scheduled the surgery for the afternoon, I could make it. As long as I’m available for Friday at 2.” She glanced up and saw Gloria’s expression. “There’s a lab that day.”
Chet jumped in. “I don’t think Mom and Dad are joking, Marcia.”
She glanced at her brother, then looked back at her parents. She saw the seriousness in their faces. Slowly, it dawned on her that he was right. “Serious?”
Gloria nodded.
“But…”
“I’ve got a question too, Foxy,” Darryl said quietly.
She simply turned to stare at him.
“I think August 5th would make a great wedding date. What do you think?”
-=#=-
June 2nd, 2023
University of Alaska, Anchorage
9:27AM
Judge Matthews and Sylvia were at the university library, researching court records from recent Anchorage history. What they found was strange. The decisions made were not necessarily disagreeable. As a matter of fact, many were decided exactly the way the Judge’s gut said they should be decided, but that didn’t change the fact that the evidence wasn’t conclusive.
In a term he remembered from his younger days, “You can’t get there from here.”
Around noon, they took a break and went for a bite to eat. “What do you think, Bill?” Sylvia asked.
He shook his head. “It’s a real conundrum, isn’t it?” He ran a hand through his scant hair. “Some of these cases… I’m looking at them and…” He paused for a moment. “I know that they should be the way they’ve been. But there’s not enough evidence to prove it, yet they are.”
Sylvia agreed. “How can they decide on these?”
“They shouldn’t be able to Sylv. What I’m seeing is a blatant disregard for what is proper and what isn’t. If a defense attorney decides to object, they’re quickly shot down, if it would interfere with the desired outcome.”
“Some of these are jury trials,” Sylvia objected.
“By controlling what the jury is able to consider – what they hear and don’t hear – a trial can be shaped. That’s what a judge is supposed to avoid doing.”
She nodded in agreement. “This information needs to get to Juneau.”
“I wonder if Bob feels like a bit of piloting time?” Bill wondered.
-=#=-
Chatham Farm
12:47PM
Marcia sat on the grass, occasionally pulling a handful and ripping it apart. She hardly realized she was doing it. Instead, she was focused on her future. She had worked hard to graduate where she had – at the absolute top of her class, and she had watched as Darryl did the same. He had never shown that he was anywhere near the ‘prodigy’ his sister was, but when he applied himself, he had soared ahead of his peers.
He liked to say it was her tutoring, but in reality, she didn’t believe it was. He was smart too! She wanted to attend classes with Darryl. She had loved having some semblance of a normal high school time, staying in the same classes as her friends. Doing the same during university seemed to be a wonderful possibility too, but now she had a decision to make.
To be sure, she’d already told her parents and Darryl she would have the surgery but was it time yet? Should she do it now? She’d mapped out the next year and was planning on taking the following summer for her necessary surgery. Now, though she was given the opportunity of having it early. Did she want that?
Another handful of grass was pulled from the earth. She looked at her hand as if seeing what she was doing for the first time. She looked at the slender fingers, the painted nails. Her eyes traced up her arm. She had a bracelet with a trumpet and flute charm hanging from her wrist. Her arm had just the barest trace of hair the same color as her locks. Nothing looked even remotely masculine.
She glanced down at the rest of her body. With her breasts, trim waist, and widening hips, there was no doubt whatsoever that she was female. If she was to go through the surgery, it would be the end of any possibility of return. Wouldn’t it?
What return? No! That decision had been made long ago. Before she even knew that she was a girl, the decision of who and what she was had been made. It was never hers to make.
She thought about what Mage had told her. She had never been male. The surgery would correct that piece of the puzzle that was her, that had created the confusion. It wasn’t changing who she was. It was clarifying who she was.
-=#=-
June 5th, 2023
Juneau, Alaska
2:30PM
Bill Matthews held out his hand as he stepped into the office. “Thanks for seeing me on such short notice, Ralph.”
“Sure, Bill,” the state judge answered. He was somewhat confused about what his old friend wanted, but he put lots of trust in the adoption judge’s opinions.
They sat down and Ralph Thomas asked, “Coffee?” He got up and poured both of them cups, then came around his desk and sat in a chair facing Matthews.
“What’s it all about, Bill?”
Bill lifted his briefcase onto his lap and opened it. He pulled out a couple of folders and handed one to his old friend, then opened his copy and watched as Ralph looked in his.
Ralph’s face drained of color as Bill gave a rundown of what he and Sylvia had found.
When Bill finished, Ralph had a faraway look in his eyes. “I’ll handle this,” he said quietly. He finally focused onto Bill’s face and reiterated. “Don’t worry, Bill. I’ll handle this.”
“What are you going to do?” the Fairbanks judge asked.
“I’m going to expose this in a press conference and remove them from office.”
-=#=-
June 8th, 2023
10AM
Mike sat at the controls as the plane made its way over the mountains between Palmer and Fairbanks. He and Bob were heading north to see a plane they’d heard about. It was a sister to the one they were in, but it had been run hard and was apparently in need of some repairs.
They started to descend and Bob chuckled when Mike intoned, “Ladies and gentlemen, This is your Captain speaking…”
“Colonel,” Bob corrected.
“This is your Colonel speaking…” He stopped. “Nah, just doesn’t sound right.” He adjusted his headset mic, and without keying it, said, “This is your pilot speaking. Please place your seats in the fully upright position as we are about to attempt a landing on an ice floe, somewhere near the North Pole.”
Bob glanced toward the runway ahead of them, and said, “It looks a bit more developed than an ice floe.”
“But it is near the North Pole,” Mike said.
“North Pole and the North Pole are two completely different things.”
“Hmmm…” Mike nodded. “Good thing I saw this one on the map first then.”
He then keyed his mic and asked for clearance to land.
-=#=-
CMSGT Charles Brown met them as they tethered their plane, and with joviality (man hugs) greeted the two. He ushered them into the Colonel’s car, and asked where they wanted to go.
They pulled up outside an old bush pilot’s business off to the side of the airport. Entering the hangar, they saw a plane that was definitely older, and the paint had faded somewhat. Bob wasn’t sure it was worth the price, even though they claimed it ran fine, but he knew no decision would be made without his feelings being heard. He had to admit, when the engines were started, they sounded great!
But the upholstery inside was well worn. That’s the kindest description that he could come up with for the plane. Well worn.
“Those engines sound good,” Mike said to the seller. “How’s she fly?”
“We got her recertified last week,” the man said. “I wanted to fix her up, then sell her, but I don’t think I’ve got the energy for it anymore..”
“How long has she been grounded?” Bob asked.
“Twelve years. I had a stroke, and couldn’t fly anymore, so she sat.”
“And the inside?” Mike asked.
The seller smiled. “When you fly one of these, the upholstery isn’t the most important thing. If she ain’t flying, she ain’t making money. Can’t make money sitting in the hanger.”
“I suppose that’s true,” Bob agreed. “You probably flew more supplies than people too, didn’t you?”
“That’s a fact. Flew a few live people out to the bush. Flew some dead ones back. Most times though, I flew supplies out to the people who hadn’t figured out if they were living or dead yet.”
“Well, we’d like to talk about it the purchase,” Bob said. “We’ll call you tomorrow. Sound good?”
“I’ll be here.”
The two exited and the Chief Master Sergeant Brown drove them to the Air Force Base.
-=#=-
Chatham Farm
1:30PM
Marcia turned as she heard someone enter the stable. She was on her lunch break and was stroking Tigger’s big head.
“Hi, Melissa. How’re you today?”
“Hi Marcia,” the woman said. “I’m doing pretty good. How’re you?”
Marcia mumbled something that Melissa didn’t quite hear. “You seem antsy,” she said as she observed the girl for a moment.
“I suppose I am. I’ve got some… Well, surgery coming up.”
Melissa nodded. It wasn’t a secret that either Mage or Marcia were trans, but it wasn’t talked about a lot either. In fact, the former police chief wouldn’t have known but for the backgrounds that had been looked up by the police in relation to Bruce’s case. She still found it incredible that the lovely young girl standing beside her was trans. She was jealous of Marcia’s appearance, youthful exuberance, etc.
“Surgery can be a frightening thing,” Melissa said. “I’m sure you’ll do fine, though.”
“I hope so,” Marcia said, wondering what Melissa would say if she really knew what the surgery was. She turned and started back for the door. “Excuse me,” she said. “I’ve got to get back to work. Gotta have the books done before I head off.”
Melissa watched her go, and considered whether she should tell Marcia her own little secret.
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 16
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
I want to thank Malady, once again, for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 3.16
June 9th, 2023
Chatham Yardworks, North Pole
2:46PM
The office building was half a block off the main drag in North Pole, but there was a large sign that was placed at the corner, pointing down the cross street letting people know where they were. Beside the office was a salon on one side, and Ross’ Diner, the same fast food joint where Chet had finally realized how he felt about Mage, on the other.
Bob pulled the car he and Mike were driving into the parking lot. They’d called ahead and found out that it had been a busy day at the office, so when they got out of the car, they went to the diner and ordered some burgers for the office staff, which consisted of Rick and his wife Carla.
Once they received the burgers, they headed nextdoor to the office of Chatham Yardworks. When they walked in, they found Rick behind the receptionists desk, dressed in a nice, lavender business suit. Under the blazer, he had on a white blouse, and his skirt hung to just below his knees.
With evident aplomb, he stood and came around the desk. Holding out his hand in a feminine manner, he said, "Call me Ricci."
"It's nice to see you, Ricci," Mike said, taking the hand. Bob also shook it, wondering about Carla, Ricci's wife.
A moment later, Carla exited the inner office. That answered the question about her. She was wearing an obviously male cut pair of pants and shirt with a tie. Her hair was cut short and she wore no makeup. Obviously, Carl was a him.
"I suppose you're wondering about us," Ricci said.
"Well," Mike replied, "Yes and no. I'm curious, but it's not really my business."
Carl introduced himself the way Bob had assumed, and invited them to sit. "We'd like to make it your business, Colonel," Ricci told Mike.
"Both of you," Carl amended, looking at Bob.
At that, Ricci stood, locked the door to the office and flipped the sign that said closed. She turned the clock hands on the 'out to lunch' sign, then after dropping the shades, she returned to her seat.
"As you've no doubt assumed," Ricci said, "I'm transgender, like Vic was."
"You too?" Bob asked, looking at Carl.
"Actually, no" the young 'man' said. "I'm genderfluid. It makes no difference to me whether I present as male or female. On the job, and around town, I generally present as male now."
"Several people know about us, and for the most part, they're okay with it," Ricci said. "There'a a few jerks who like to make a spectacle of us. That's why Carl presents as male. It eases some of that problem."
Bob had noticed something when Carl came into the room. He was putting on a bit of weight in his abdomen, and it wasn't high enough to be from overeating. "What about when you get a bit farther along?" He asked.
Carl laughed. "We'll move our base of operations to Fairbanks where we're not known as well."
"The thing is," Ricci explained, "when I called my father and explained that I'm his daughter, and not his son," he wanted nothing to do with me ever again." She looked like she might cry, but she forced her emotions into the background. "I really don't want anything to do with my 'mother' either. What she did was horrible."
"She killed the man who raped your brother and his girlfriend," Bob pointed out. "Much as I don't approve, I can see why she would do that."
"There was a lot more, though," Ricci said. "That horrible man was Vic's father."
"I can't understand all that happened. Your families are the only families we really have."
"Your uncle?" Mike asked. "And Granny?"
"He decided there was some kind of sickness in Mother's family when she did what she did and both Vic and I were trans."
"Some kind of mental illness, he said," Carl explained. "And Granny is having heart problems. She says that her doctor wants her to exercise, but it seems as though ahe's getting weaker and weaker."
"Is she still working?" Bob asked.
"We can't fire her," Ricci explained. "She's still doing more work than anyone else in the company."
Mike couldn't help but snerk.
"May we consider you our parents?" Carl asked.
June 12, 2023
Palmer
3PM
The room on the TV screen wasn't nationally known, like the press room of the President, but it was known by the people who watched the political happenings in their state.
The Governor stepped up to the podium and introduced Ralph Thomas. Then, he stepped back, allowing the Supreme Court judge to step to the podium.
Ralph had told his friend, Bill Matthews, what he was going to do, and looking at the image being sent from Juneau, Bill was concerned for the health of Ralph. He looked beat.
Ralph's face was pale, and there was a definite tremor in his voice as he spoke. “A week ago, one of my best friends came to see me here in Juneau. He told me of some strange things he found while looking at several cases that had been tried in Anchorage, and the Mat-Su Borough.” the old man sighed, then continued. “There were several cases where it appeared that some of the judges in the area were rigging their own trials. Putting things through the way they decided they should be, regardless of evidence.”
He reached down and picked up the hard copy of the speech he'd written. He absently folded it in half, then in half again. His hand were shaking, and he seemed to have trouble holding onto the paper. He looked at it, as if seeing it for the first time, then he held it off to the aide and dropped it on the floor.
“I considered,” he said in a slightly stronger voice, “checking things out, then I considered telling my friend he'd been mistaken.”
Sylvia was sitting beside her husband, watching the TV, and at Ralph’s words, her hand jerked to her mouth and she gasped.
“I wasn't raised to do the things I've done,” Ralph said from the TV. “I know beyond the shadow of a doubt what happened. I've been part of it. What he found was all true, and there's so much more.” He turned to look at the Governor, and his peers.
Pointing at the paper he'd dropped, he told them, “That is a lie, and I'm done lying. This has gone too far, and I'm just sorry it took seeing the honesty and integrity in Bill when he came to tell me what he found.”
A man seated to one side of the room, facing the podium started to his feet, but another man stepped from the side of the room, his hand suspiciously inside his suit jacket. His voice wasn't picked up by the microphones in front of Ralph, but a quick thinking reporter seated not far from them held her own mic up in hopes of catching what was said. Faintly, the voice of the security man came through as the sound guy for the woman, and fortuitously, the network Bill and Sylvia were watching, turned the mic up. “...Honor; I think it would be best if you returned to your seat. By the looks of things, I may be escorting you out when that time comes, Sir.”
Bill watched, horrified at what he was seeing, but he had to admire the security mans fortitude. He recognized the judge he was talking to, and he was definitely one involved in the mess.
4:25 PM
A few minutes after the governor's statement ended, Bill's phone rang.
"Judge Mathews?" A female voice asked.
"Yes," he answered.
"Please hold," the woman said.
A moment later, Bill recognized the voice of the Governor.
"Judge Matthews, I want to thank you personally for what you did, bringing this situation to light."
"You're welcome, Sir." Bill knew the proper etiquette in the situation, but under the circumstances, he didn't feel that anyone was welcome for what he knew he had had to do.
"Judge, I know what you heard today was hard to take. Honestly, it was a surprise to me as well. Every one of those men have been relieved of their positions temporarily, and they've been arrested and are awaiting trial."
"I see," Bill responded in a flat voice.
The governor hesitated, then said, "This may be something you absolutely refuse to do, but I need to ask it of you. I have need of a State…"
Before he finished the request, Bill said, "No."
"I understand," the governor said. "Rather than take the job permanently, would you consider being the interim state judge?"
Bill paused a moment, then said in a flat voice, "Hang on a moment, Sir."
He hit mute on the phone, and said to Sylvia, "It's the governor. He wants me to replace Ralph. At least temporarily."
"You said no," Sylvia said. "Is that your final answer?"
"I'm asking you what you think we should do, Hon."
"We?"
"This is as much your decision as mine."
She shook her head. "I really don't want to move to Juneau. We don't know anyone there."
"But what about the job? What if it didn't require that?"
She laughed. "You really think we could get away with that?"
"Probably not if we went back to Fairbanks, bit maybe if we set up a temporary residence here."
"Would this really be temporary, Bill?" She asked skeptically. "I know how you can get. You will get so dedicated to the job, you won't leave it."
He was starting to warm to the idea, although the work they had done in Fairbanks had been important. "What if we set up a business in Anchorage?"
"What kind of business?" she wanted to know.
"Something to help kids. Maybe a placement agency." He released the mute and said, "I'm still here, Sir. Just discussing things with my wife."
"That's a great idea, Judge. How 'bout I give you a few days to think it over. I think we can make it a week before we need your answer."
"Okay, but one thing, or the deal's off right now. Can I work from Fairbanks or Anchorage? This is the age of remote work."
"I think Fairbanks would be a bit of a stretch, but Anchorage, or even Palmer would be fine," the governor replied.
"Then I'll discuss it with my family here," Bill said.
"Family?" The governor asked.
"Unofficial, I suppose," Bill answered. "Over time, we've been included as part of the nicest family you could ever meet. In fact, our granddaughter has been adopted by one of the couples."
"Okay. You discuss it with them and call me back in a week."
June 14th
Juneau
2:30 PM
Judge Bill Matthews entered the governor's office.
The man stood and held out his hand. "Welcome, Judge," he said as they shook hands over the desk.
"I want to thank you for agreeing to take this interim position," he continued.
"About it being interim," Bill said. "Let me see how well it works out. Maybe I'll stick with it for awhile."
The governor nodded. "That sounds great. I look forward to your decision." With that, he came around his desk and gestured to a chair for Bill, and sat in one opposite.
"I've got to say, I did a bit of research on your family. I'm impressed. Alaska Airlines' heroes."
Bill nodded.
"Very strong-willed kids. I can see why you chose Chet and Margot to adopt your granddaughter." He grinned. "I also understand that young Marcia is heading to Mt. Sinai in New York for her surgery in the next couple of weeks. Quite a family."
"Yes, they are. Sylvia and I are glad to consider them family."
"I can't blame you. I hope to meet them. Lieutenant Colonel Chatham and Gloria are some people I'd like to thank."
"I'll be happy to introduce you to them, but Mike Chatham is not one who likes anyone to make a big deal about him being a hero. Neither is Gloria."
"All the more reason I'd like to meet them."
The two settled down to business and by the end of the day, Bill was officially appointed as State Justice.
June 19th, 2023
Chatham Farm, Palmer
10:28 AM
Mike, Gloria, Marcia, and Darryl we're preparing to head to the Anchorage International Airport where they would board a plane going to Seattle. From there they would change to an American Airlines flight that would take them through a couple of stops to New York.
Marcia was a bit nervous, as this would be the last step necessary before marrying her fiance.
For his part, Darryl had insisted that he accompany the three on their trip. Marcia was thrilled, but wondered why he insisted.
"A few reasons, Foxy. One, I want to be there for you. This is a huge step for you, and there's no way I want to leave you alone for it."
"I'm not gonna be alone, Darryl," she told him. "Daddy and Mom will be there for me."
"Yeah. I know. But in a few weeks, I'm marrying you. I will never leave your side."
They indulged in a passionate kiss, then Darryl said, "Two, you're gonna have to take some time off for this, and I would prefer to take the same time off. That way, we'll stay in the same classes for next semester."
Marcia was even more thrilled by this reason, and she gave Darryl another wonderful kiss. Then asked, "Three?"
"The most important reason. I love you."
This time the kiss lasted for a couple of minutes.
Anchorage International Airport, Alaska Airlines
11 AM
When they went to check in, the man at the counter did a double take. Then he called his supervisor, and simply told him who was there.
A moment later, he hung up the phone and told the group that they had all been upgraded to first class.
Mike started to protest, but then the man told them, "All four of the fares are being returned as well."
"This is hardly necessary," Gloria told him.
"Alaska Airlines owes you a debt that we can never repay, but all your flights will be complimentary from now on."
"Why ours?" Darryl asked.
"The complimentary tickets will always allow one more person to travel as well. Since both of your parents have complimentary flights, you both do as well. American is extending the same deal as well since we're affiliated."
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 17
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
I want to thank Malady, once again, for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 3.17
June 22nd, 2023
Marcia had no sense of where she was. She knew who she was, and even where she was, but to sense it? That wasn't there.
She felt nothing but excitement. But then, her mind seemed to shift a bit, and she was afraid of Darryl's reaction. What if he backed out at the last minute? What if he decided not to marry her? Could she stand that? After all, didn't he know he was the reason she was having this done?
But that was ridiculous. He wasn't the reason she was having this surgery. She would have had this anyway. Possibly not before she was eighteen, but she would have had this surgery.
She was not Patrick. Never had been. She was Marcia, plain and simple.
Not what if he didn't like it? What if he didn't like her? What if he didn't like marriage to her?
She mulled this over for awhile, then her consciousness seemed to fade. A moment later, from her perspective, she felt a slight amount of pain. Nothing major, but it was centered in the area of surgery.
Why would she feel pain? She was supposed to be unable to.
She knew it was done because of feeling the pain. She was starting to wake up. She was a real she now. Or as close as she could possibly get.
Were the fears part of her drugged state? We're they part of her sensory deprivation? Her being trapped in her own mind?
As she continued to rise through the layers of unconsciousness, she began to sense that someone was holding her hand. No, her hands! But who? Was it her parents? Or was one held in Darryl's hand?
She tried to open her eyes, and eventually was able to drag them open. And she found she was still dreaming.
Her right hand was indeed being held by Darryl, but her left was being held by Trish. Trish!?
She faded out again, and when she woke up, Darryl was still there, but Gloria was on her left side.
"What time is it?" Marcia asked.
"Two o'clock," Darryl answered, looking at the wall.
She glanced at the wall and saw a clock. She struggled to make sense of it, and finally asked, "In the afternoon?"
"Morning," said her mom.
"Wow."
She just lay there, drifting in and out, grateful for Darryl.
-=#=-
Eventually, Marcia woke up enough to say to her fiance, “I had a dream that Trish was here.”
“I am,” came a voice from near the door.
Marcia had gained enough strength to raise her head and look at her friend. Just then, a nurse came in, and as Marcia’s head slumped back, he asked her, “Would you like to sit up a bit?”
“Can I?”
“Sure. Things are looking good. You might feel a bit of pain though, and if you do, you need to let us know, okay?”
“Okay.”
Before raising the head of the bed, the nurse checked her vitals and tried to chase Darryl and Trish away. Trish left, and Darryl started to, but looking at Marcia’s face, he saw that she wanted him to stay.
Darryl wasn’t particularly squeamish, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to see his future wife there right after her surgery.
For her part, Marcia wanted to be reassured that her ‘dream’ wasn’t true.
After the nurse left, Darryl texted the others and asked if they could give the two a chance to talk.
“It seemed pretty important to you that I stay,” he said to Marcia. “How come?”
She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, then looked at him intently. “When I was out, I found that I could think for a time. I couldn’t move or sense anything, but I could still think. I was nervous, and I guess my mind was going over things.”
She paused and started to release Darryl’s hand. Understanding what she needed, he stopped her and picked up the glass of ice on the table, bringing it to her mouth. She gratefully took a small cube in her mouth and let it melt. Then she continued.
“Becoming me completely has been a dream of mine for a long time. But, I guess I’ve known just how much of an outcast some people would consider me.”
“Did you think I would?”
“Not really, but it was something my mind had to mull over I guess.”
“Is that why you wanted me to stay?” Darryl asked her.
“I guess so. I’m sorry.”
He leaned in and gave her a huge hug and kiss. Without letting her out of the hug he told her, “Don’t be. I understand.”
Mike came in once Darryl texted to say they were done with their private chat. It was the first time Marcia had seen her dad since she had been finished with the surgery. When he walked in, she held out her arms and cried, "Daddy!"
He gave her a big, albeit gentle, hug and assured her how much he loved her, and how happy he was for her.
They talked for awhile, and then Mike said, "There's someone who wants to talk to you. Real bad."
He left and Marcia turned to Darryl. "Are you staying in here the whole time?"
"Don't you want me too?"
"Well, yeah!"
"We're gonna be married in a couple of months. Your Dad said I need to step up to the plate. That's what I'm doing.
Marcia tried to reach him, but couldn't, so he leaned in once again, and they started in on a long kiss, only to stop when there was a clearing of a throat at the door.
They separated to see Trish looking everywhere but at them.
Marcia laughed and beckoned her friend in.
"How are you here?" Marcia asked once Trish had sat down.
"When you told me you were getting your surgery, I had to come to see you!"
"Well, it's quite a surprise, but I’m happy to see you!" Marcia exclaimed.
They reminisced about old times, then Trish sprung a surprise on her friend. "I've applied for, and been accepted for the University of Alaska in Anchorage!"
"What!?"
"I'm moving to Anchorage! In fact, my car is packed and I'm gonna have it put in a container and shipped up."
Marcia gave a concerned look at her friend. "Chet's married now."
"I know. I'm not gonna try to get him. I've got to get away from Washington, D.C., though. A lot has happened."
Marcia sensed that her friend was leaving a lot unsaid, and told Trish so.
Trish paused, and glanced at Darryl.
"I can leave," he told her.
The girl took a big breath and said, "No. If there's one thing I've learned, it's to not keep secrets from people this important to me. I don't expect Marcia to keep this a secret from you. Married people shouldn't do that."
Marcia considered how different that was from the Trish that left Alaska without telling Chet.
"I got pregnant," Trish told them.
This was a surprise to Marcia. "Did you…?"
"I plan on having the baby, if that's what you're asking."
"How are you gonna go to school?" Darryl asked.
"I'm hoping I can find a reasonably priced babysitter."
"So you plan on keeping it?"
"Definitely."
"Where's the father?"
"In jail," Trish told them.
"Why?" Darryl asked.
"When I told him, he beat me up."
"What!?" Marcia exploded.
"I was supposed to be on the pill, but I'd run out and hadn't refilled them. He always used a condom, so I didn't think much of it."
"He didn't want to be a father?"
"He demanded I get an abortion, and I refused." There were tears forming in her eyes.
"So you want to get as far away from him as you can."
Trish nodded, but then said, "I thought he loved me, but then he turned on me. Yeah, he loved me all right. As long as I obeyed him."
-=#=-
It was another week before Marcia was certified to fly home. The doctor told her of a doctor in Anchorage who would be able to see her. In fact, he'd already made an appointment for the afternoon they got back. "I know that's a bit of presumption on my part, but this is the only doctor I know and trust in that area. I'm not gonna be able to see 'ya, so I want someone to look after you that I know."
"I'll make sure she gets there," said Darryl.
The doctor laughed. "Good enough."
When they got to the airport, Marcia was told in no uncertain terms to use a wheelchair by an airline steward who showed up.
She glared at her father, but he told her, "Don't look at me."
So she turned her glare on her fiance, who simply held her gaze. He wasn't gonna back down, so she decided to accept it.
In retrospect, as they made their way through the airport, she realized the walk would have been exhausting. She didn't tell that to Darryl, though. But she could read on his face that he knew it.
Trish was accompanying them on their trip to Anchorage, and Mike and Gloria had told her she could stay with them, as long as she knew the house rules and agreed to abide by them. She readily agreed. The airline had an early breakfast for them. Marcia was still not eating much, so she shared some of Darryl's food. She hadn't told him that's what she planned, but he was happy to oblige. He's gotten a rather large plate of biscuits and gravy anyway.
They made their way to the gate and those not in a wheelchair sat down to wait.
A few minutes later, Marcia decided she'd better use the restroom as trying to get to the tiny cubicle on the plane might not be the easiest thing. There was a unisex one not far away, and Gloria stood to help her. Marcia gave a regretful look at Darryl, but Gloria caught it and said, "Oh no you don't. Besides, this isn't something sexy or anything like that."
Marcia sighed and said, "I know, Mom. I wasn't thinking of that!"
"Uh huh," Gloria said as she pushed her daughter to the restroom. "You just don't want me to get the upper hand in any of your teasing."
"Well, there is that," Marcia laughed as they entered the restroom.
-=#=-
The flight was relatively uneventful. Marcia was careful what she drank on the way, to avoid having to get up.
When they arrived in Seattle, they were able to go immediately to Alaska Airlines, which was very close to American. They stopped and got lunch, as the time was only an hour ahead of their own time in Palmer.
Once again, Marcia was careful to make sure to use the restroom before they boarded the flight, and again it was an uneventful flight. Gloria was sitting across the aisle from her daughter, and Marcia saw that her hands were tensing on the armrests of her chair.
Mike noticed as well, and he took his wife's hand, and held it firmly. "We'll be okay, Hon," he told her.
"I know," she responded. "It was on this very flight number."
Trish was sitting just ahead of Gloria and looked back at her. "Can I help, Mom?"
Gloria smiled at that. It had been Trish's habit to call her 'Mom' when she was dating Chet. Whether she had slipped or intended to get her thinking about something other than hijacking, it worked. Gloria reached ahead to Trish and took the hand the girl was offering. "Thank you Sweetheart, but I'll be fine."
Even so, Gloria was glad when they started their descent into Anchorage.
Once they landed, they headed for the baggage claim, Marcia once again in a wheelchair. Anchorage International wasn't a large airport, but big enough that she was glad for the chair.
When they reached the claim area, Chet and Mage were already waiting with their kids.
Chet and Trish knew the other was going to be there, but it hadn't fully sunk into either of their brains, and their eyes locked.
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 18
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
I want to thank Malady, once again, for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Author's note:
I'd like to apologize for the long delay in my writing. As many of you know, my father passed away at the end of September. Once I returned home from Phoenix, I developed a pain in my left hand. It turns out that I'll be needing surgery in my thumb. This doesn't keep me from typing, but it does make things quite painful. My surgery is scheduled for next month, so hopefully, it will remedy this problem.
This chapter is quite short, but hopefully it will be a sign that I haven't forgotten this story.
Rose
Chapter 18
July 1st, 2023
Marcia watched as her brother and friend eyed each other. She wasn't sure how the meeting was going to go after the occurrences of three years previous, but she hoped both could reign in their feelings.
There was an uneasy silence that was finally broken by Chet. "Hi, Trish. Nice to see you." He stepped up to her and put one arm around her in a friendship embrace.
It was as if there was a collective sigh of relief as they embraced. Darryl glanced at his sister, and saw a small bit of stiffness that quickly evaporated. It was as if Mage consciously made the decision to be friendly.
For her part, Mage knew what Triah had done, and rather than being mad at her, she was happy that Trish had been rather childish. Her abandoning Chet allowed her to show him what had been right before him all their teenage years.
Her main fear was that Chet wouldn't be able to accept her presence, but when she saw his welcome, she relaxed. There was no fear in Mage of Trish taking him from her.
Marcia turned her attention to Sammy who had stared fixedly at his aunt when she appeared in the wheelchair. The two had developed a close relationship and he was very concerned about her.
As soon as he saw she was looking at him, he came close and climbed into her lap. Marcia made sure he couldn't hurt her in any tender spot, and the little boy gave her a hug. "Hurt?" he asked.
"I'm okay," she told him. "Don't worry."
As they collected their luggage, Darryl started to take his nephew off of Marcia's lap, but she shook her head.
"You're sure?" He asked.
"Take care of Marcia!" Sammy said insistently.
Mage knelt beside the little boy and told him, "You be careful. If Marcia says 'ouch,' you listen, okay?"
"Okay," Sammy said carefully. He usually didn't speak in full sentences, but the words he spoke were very carefully said. Allie was a teacher at heart, and made sure he said them properly.
Sammy sat contentedly on Marcia's lap till they reached the exit of the terminal, and she gave up the wheelchair.
They made their way to the parking lot and came upon Chet's latest project. It was an older fifteen passenger van, although it was new enough that the center of gravity was farther back, and so it wouldn't sway like the very old ones.
Marcia looked at it dubiously. It had running boards, making a step, but she still wasn't fond of steps.
Chet opened the barn doors in the back and pulled out a piece of plywood and a crate. As he set up a ramp, she realized he had built this to do double duty. The plywood was more than a simple piece. It had a 2x4 screwed on each long side, and another in the middle. Metal handles on one side could be used to lift it, and were the perfect size to fit posts for a handrail. He set the crate in front of the side door, and a couple of brackets on the front of the ramp slipped into some slots in the crate. It made a perfect ramp for anyone with a bit of mobility problems to get into the van.
-=#=-
On the way to Palmer, Marcia was concerned at the thought of the stairs to get to her room. She tried to tell her brother of her fears, suggesting it would be better for her to hole up on one of the couches, but Chet simply wouldn't hear of it. "Besides," he said; "Darryl is stepping up to care for you, so i'm certain he can get you up the stairs."
"I'll carry you up," Darryl said.
"Lift!" Sammy exclaimed.
"And carry," Darryl confirmed.
"No!" Sammy almost shouted. "Stair! Lift!"
"Yeah," Darryl said. "Up the stairs."
"No!" Sammy exclaimed again. "Chair! Lift!"
Suddenly, Marcia got what her nephew was saying. "Is there a chair lift going up the stairs?" she asked.
"Well," said Chet. "I was gonna surprise you, Sammy didn't want you worrying. Dad and I found a used one a few weeks ago, and while you were gone, Dad Johnson and I installed it. Had to get some new track, as it came out of a split level house, so it wasn't long enough. We went through the motor. Even comes with it's own remote control."
"Fun!" Sammy enthused.
-=#=-
In the business office of the farm sat Chet, behind his desk. In a chair, facing him, was Trish. In front of others, they had been cordial, but now, the girl wasn't sure what to say.
Chet sat, starting at a sheet of paper in front of him. It was a report of the sales of milk from the dairy, but he didn't even see it. He wasn't in the office for anything but to talk to Trish. But what could he say? The last conversation they had was when she told him she was seeing a guy in DC. Now, she was back in Alaska, and he wasn't sure what to think.
For her part, Trish was considering this man sitting in front of her. He had become incredibly successful doing what he enjoyed doing, and now he had a large farm as well. He had married his best friend, and she was happy for him and Mage.
Was she? Yeah. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she was. The two deserved to be together. They had two beautiful kids, and it was obvious the children adored their parents.
She looked back at Chet for a moment, then curious to see if he’d even pay attention to her, she said, “Awkward, isn’t it?”
He didn’t answer for a while, but finally said, “I’m really not sure what to say.”
She nodded.
“Why’d you come back to Alaska?” he asked after a bit.
She sighed. “The guy I was seeing in DC? He was a real jerk, Chet.”
“But he was there, right?”
“That was a different jerk.”
That finally got Chet to look at her. “More than one?”
She gave a bitter laugh. “I was an idiot, Chet. If I had it to do again, I’d have found a way to stay at Eileson.” After a pause, she said, “Of course, if I knew what I know now, I wouldn’t.”
“Why’s that?” Chet asked, cocking his head in interest.
“Look around you, Dummy. Look at the life you have! The family! There’s no way we ever would have been like this as a couple!”
“Why?”
“Oh, come on!” she exclaimed. “Margot… Mage, is someone I can never hope to be! I just wish I was even half… no… a quarter the woman she is!”
“You’re more than…”
“That’s not what I’m talking about!” She almost shouted.
“What!?” he was confused, then realized what she might have thought he was going to say. He was instantly furious that anyone, especially Trish, would think he would say such a thing, and he brought his hand down on his desktop for emphasis of his exclamation. “No!!! That’s not what I was gonna say.” They both heard an ominous crack as the desktop reacted to his emphasis.
“Still in good shape, I see,” Trish commented, then she saw the look on his face. “What did you mean?”
He took several deep breaths to calm down, then said, “I was going to point out that you are more than what you thinking. You can be whatever you want to be.” As he set his arms down to lean forward, he felt the desk give a bit, and he decided to lean back.
Trish tried to keep a straight face, but a snerk finally slipped out. She tried to hold the rest in, but they kept slipping through. Turning her head, she hoped she could at least keep some sense of decorum, but a moment later she lost it completely as Chet stood, pulled his shirt straight much as the captain of the Starship Enterprise D would do, and moved around his desk to a chair. Trish watched as he sat down, and she could see he was trying to hide his own embarrassment.
They both laughed, clearing the awkwardness out of the room, then she said. “I’m sure I’ll find my own soulmate. It’s just not you. You’re just not really my type.”
“You can say that again,” Chet agreed.
“Don’t push it,” Trish said, grinning.
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 19
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
I want to thank Malady, once again, for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 19
July 1st, 2023
10:47PM
Chet and Mage lay in bed, talking about the day. It was still daylight outside, and would be for quite some time, but they had some blackout curtains. Like many of them, however, they weren’t completely effective, and the room was nowhere near dark.
Mage commented that it was nice seeing Marcia finally wholly herself, but it was very awkward seeing Trish again.
The younger girl had never been Mage's favorite person as she had always been competition. Even before Mage revealed her true self, Trish obviously had a crush on Chet.
“What do you think?” Mage asked.
Chet sighed heavily. “It’s tough.”
“What is?”
“Her being here.”
“And why?”
Chet didn't answer at first so Mage asked, "did you ever sleep with her?"
"Of course not!" Chet exclaimed. Mage nodded, as Chet had assured her of that long ago.
Finally, he said, "It just reminds me of how much of a child I had been."
"You were trying to please your biological father, and you grew up a lot during that time."
He nodded, but then said, "You know, I think I knew that it would never work between her and me. It wasn't childishness on either side really." he sighed. "If I’m honest, it was kinda a rebound. I'd just lost…" he searched for the right words. "Chester Andersen… And I needed some kind of healing." he paused and when he continued talking, it was very carefully. "No, it wasn't losing him. It was losing so much of my life while trying to please him. I needed to heal from that."
She nodded in understanding.
"If we'd gotten together at that time, I don't think it would have worked between us either."
"You're probably right," agreed Mage.
“Huh?”
“When you said you didn’t think it would have worked out between us either.”
“Wait a minute,” Chet said, honestly confused. “You don’t think it would have either?”
“Well, it’s nothing against you, Chet.” She was a bit worried about putting her thoughts into words. She didn’t want to insult him. “Honestly, Chet, if you hadn’t have grown during that time, I wouldn’t have…” her voice trailed off. This was not the way she wanted to say this.
“So you’re saying if I hadn’t grown up, you wouldn’t have been interested in me?”
She rolled onto her side to face him, and propped herself up on her elbow. “Chet, I’ve always been interested in you!”
It was his turn to roll to face her. “So you want to explain what you were saying?”
“Darryl told me you’d changed, Chet. I needed to see that you really had changed.”
“So, if Trish hadn’t have moved and we broke it off, you would have stepped in and taken me away from her?”
She was going to vehemently deny that she’d ever do such a thing, but then she saw a tiny smirk at the corner of his mouth.
“Could I have?” she asked, smiling coyly.
“No,” he said simply.
Her expression went from flirtatious to affected outrage as she hit him on the chest. “What!?”
“You couldn’t have,” he asserted.
“You would have preferred to be with her!?”
“It’s not that at all, Mage.”
“What is it then?”
“I’m always faithful.” With those words, he leaned in and gave her a kiss on the nose, and when he backed away, she reached around with her free hand and pulled him in for a more traditional, deep kiss.
-=#=-
11:30PM
Marcia was laying down on her bed, while her fiance sat in an armchair beside the door. The atmosphere in the room was tense, but not because of Trish being back.
They had already talked about that, and had agreed that they were happy to have their friend back, but they figured it would be awkward for Chet and Mage.
The tension that they felt now stemmed from their morals. They had made the promise to their parents to wait until they were married for extracurricular activities. But now, the last barrier to their marriage was time, and keeping this late night visit non-conjugal was difficult, to say the least.
Eventually, Darryl stood and walked over to the bed. He knelt down and took her hand. “This is really hard, Foxy,” he told her. She nodded agreement, and he continued. “I’d like to propose something to you.”
“We promised, Darryl,” she said, but there were tears in her eyes as she said it.
“I know,” he said, “but that’s not what I was going to suggest. With me living in the same house as you, it’s just gonna be harder and harder.”
She gasped and said, “It wouldn’t be any easier if you lived elsewhere!”
“It might be easier to resist, but that’s not what I was suggesting either.”
“Okay?”
“What if we only had a week to wait instead of a month?”
“You mean get married now? We’d need a court order as well as Mom and Dad’s consent.”
“You do realize, Foxy, that we know the Supreme Court Judge of Alaska pretty well, right? He’s a member of our family?”
“Okay,” she conceded. “But what about all our friends who are scheduled to come to the wedding? What about Carl and Rikki? Granny?”
He nodded, thinking. “Why couldn’t we have a big ceremony on that date, but have our actual wedding sooner?”
“We could,” she said. “I don’t want to give up the big ceremony, Darryl.”
“Neither do I,” he agreed.
“Ha! You’d be happy with jeans, a t-shirt, and bic lighters for candles!”
“There is that, yeah, but I know you want the ceremony, and I’m willing to go all-out because I know that’ll make you happy.”
“That’ll help, sure, but being married to you will make me happy.”
—# =-
The next morning, Marcia and Darryl were in his Mustang, heading southeast to Fire Lake, where both of their parents made their homes. It was still pretty early, since Gloria had insisted that they have breakfast when they came over.
Marcia was somewhat nervous that her parents might not stomach the idea of moving up the wedding date, and speaking of stomachs, she wasn’t quite sure she’d be able to fit anything into her own, along with the butterflies that were there. Darryl, however, seemed to be confident that her parents would agree, and he was looking forward to having one of Gloria’s breakfasts, with her delicious homemade sourdough bread.
Darryl seemed so confident everyone would agree that Marcia began to suspect that the subject had been discussed before. "Darryl," she said."Can I ask a question?"
"Sure,'' he replied.
"You seem pretty sure about this. Have you already discussed it with Mom and Dad?"
"Maybe," he replied.
"I see. So, that’s a yes." She nodded to herself. "And their reply was favorable?"
"You could put it that way," Darryl hedged.
"Darryl James! You can be so exasperating sometimes!"
He glanced at her, and once more marveled at how wonderful she looked. She was the most beautiful girl in the world, and he was going to marry her.
Still, he wasn’t gonna let her get away with the middle name deal. “Oh oh,” he said. “You’re bringing out the big guns. I guess I should explain, huh?” She gave him a dirty look for that, and he laughed then relented; "Well, while you were in surgery, your parents kinda suggested it might be something we should think about. I guess they knew how hard it would be living in the same house."
“But we’ve been living in the same house for quite awhile,” she objected.
“Yeah, but the last barrier is gone. Well, not barrier. Uh, you know what I mean.”
“My birth defect is gone.”
“Yeah, that.”
“So we could have normal sex now?”
“Normal between a man and woman, yeah.” he clarified.
“I see,” she said, smiling while her eyes brimmed with tears.
“Wait a sec… Why are you crying?”
“You dork,” she blubbered. “I’m happy! I think getting married in two weeks is the perfect thing to do!”
Darryl pulled into Mike and Gloria’s lake house and saw that Bob and Liz were also present. As Darryl grabbed the handle to open his door, Marcia reached over and put her hand on his neck. He turned, and caught the look in her eyes. Leaning over, he gave her a kiss that threatened to blow her socks off.
-=#=-
Entering the house, they smelled the delicious aroma of bacon, coffee, and freshly baked bread. Mike was in his office looking at some figures for their business. Darryl made his way to the door and asked if he could talk to everyone after breakfast. They agreed, and Mike gave him a knowing look. He suspected what was coming.
They all gathered around the table and despite being full of butterflies, Marcia’s stomach told her it could hold more. Rather than take a full plate, however, Marcia took a smaller, dessert-sized plate, on which she placed the steaming heel of a loaf and slathered it with butter.
Thankfully, Gloria was prepared and made several loaves, and there were enough heels to go around, as it was the general consensus in the room that a fresh sourdough heel smothered in butter was the best way to eat of fresh bread.
Bacon, eggs, sausage, hash browns and coffee and orange juice were also served, and Marcia once again plundered her fiance’s plate. Once everyone was finished and the table was cleared except for coffee cups, and Amber was playing with Chris in his room, Darryl explained why they had wanted to talk.
Marcia was somewhat shy talking about their reasons, but the adults had been there; young and in love. In fact, it wasn’t very long ago that Mike and Gloria had made the decision to hurry their wedding along for the very same reason. While they weren’t in the same house while engaged, they spent almost all of their waking hours, except when Mike was working, together. In fact, Gloria had taken over the housekeeping and cooking in the Chatham house as her own once they were engaged. They understood perfectly.
“Not to be indelicate, Marcia,” Mike said carefully, “but can you handle… uh… I mean won’t it hurt for uh…”
“We could have a small ceremony on the twenty-second,” Marcia said looking at her phone. “That would be the four weeks that the surgeon said.”
“That’s the minimum time, Marcia.”
“I’ve got an appointment on the nineteenth, Daddy. I’ll make sure it’s okay.”
“What if it isn’t?” Mike saw the look on his daughter’s face, and gently said, “I understand your want to rush, and I’m fine with it, as long as you can handle it.”
“It’s not just the physical,” she said.
He sighed. He knew what Marcia was saying. Gloria was there all the time when they were engaged. In fact, he made a point of going to bed right after she left each night because of his own impatience. That was somewhat of a mixed blessing, however. He wanted what was to come in their bedroom each night, and he had to bury himself in a book or a movie each night until he could fall asleep. Melatonin pills had become his friend. Even sleeping with Gloria beside him would have helped immensely, but could he have resisted the urge? He had heard of the idea of sleeping with one foot on the floor to keep a non-married couple separated, but he felt that would have been short-lived, despite their moral compasses.
But the moral compass wouldn’t be a problem for Marcia and Darryl. If they had been married for awhile beforehand, or even sleeping together, he wouldn’t have any concern.
When they spoke to Darryl before, it had been without thinking of the minimum time stipulation the surgeon would place on intercourse. Once that had become a factor, he was still not opposed to the idea, but he wanted to make sure that Marcia was making a wise decision.
Finally, he told his daughter, “I’m okay with it as long as your mom is.”
Gloria nodded. She’d had a discussion with Mage, and felt more at ease now than she had before.
-=#=-
That evening, Darryl and Marcia had dinner with Chet, Mage, their kids, and Judge Matthews and Sylvia.
Once again, when the table was cleared, the kids went to play and the adults sat around the table with coffee.
“Judge,” Marcia said. “We’d like to ask if something can be arranged a bit early.”
“Ah,” Bill Matthews said. “I take it you are finding it necessary to move up the wedding?”
Marcia’s face went red as she ducked her head down.
“I understand, Marcia,” the judge said. “I’m assuming you need the court order?”
“That would be nice,” Darryl answered.
“I think that can be arranged.”
“Are you going for a smaller ceremony first, then the large celebration?”
“Yeah,” Marcia told him.
“Why?” Mage asked.
“Well, not everything’s ready.”
“It’s only two weeks before the ceremony’s supposed to happen. We could move things up.”
“What about the church?” Sylvia asked. “Is anything happening there on the revised day?”
Marcia shook her head. She’d already looked to see if their pastor would be free. “But what about Ricci, Carl, and Granny?”
“That’s easy,” said Chet. “I can make sure the North Pole office closed that day.”
“It’s a weekend anyway,” Darryl added.
“See?” Chet smiled. “Already done.”
“It seems kinda rushed,” Marcia hedged.
“Marcia,” said Sylvia. “You’ll have two mothers, a sister-in-law, and an old aunt helping you get everything ready.”
“Let’s make sure they can make it down from North Pole, and if they can…” Her voice trailed off as they heard a yell from upstairs.
“Mom, Dad!”
The yell sounded concerned, and Mage was on her feet instantly with Chet not far behind. They hurried up the stairs, and Marcia would have followed if Darryl hadn’t gotten in front of her and stopped her.
“Use the lift,” he said.
“But…”
“Foxy, use the lift. Chet and Mage are already up there. You don’t need to be running up the stairs.”
Reluctantly, she sat down in the chair lift and pushed the lever under the chair arm that would slowly take her up the stairs. It didn’t move fast, but she had to admit, it was much less painful than running up would have been.
When they entered the room, they saw what everyone was looking at.
Marcia’s eyes filled with tears as she looked at the wall.
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Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 20
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
I want to thank Malady, once again, for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 20
Chatham home, Sammy’s Room
July 2nd, 20
8:30 PM
When Sammy was three years old, his biological parents were killed in a freak accident at a 4th of July fireworks show. For quite some time, it seemed as though he hadn't remembered the event, but looking at the drawing on his wall, it was obvious that the images were inside his mind. Pictured on the wall was Sonja Dupont, Sammy’s biological mother, her clothes and hair in flames. Between her and the six approaching aerial fireworks was her husband and Sammy’s biological father, Raymond.
“He remembers.” Darryl said.
“On some level, yeah.” his sister agreed.
Marcia knelt down, intending to hug the little boy. She felt a bit of pain, but shook it off. At that moment, her main concern was Sammy. She put her arms around him and hugged him tight.
For his part, Sammy didn’t react at all. In fact, he seemed to wonder what everyone was excited about.
July 3rd, 2023
10:07 AM
Mage was shocked by what she’d seen on Sammy’s wall the night before. Thinking that Sammy didn’t remember had been a comfort. It meant they wouldn’t need to tell him what had happened until they felt he could handle it. Knowing that he remembered changed that. Now, it seemed imperative that they get Sammy in to see a therapist.
She was sitting in the kitchen, mulling over her and Chet’s discussion about just that. She was going to contact several therapists and see what could be done.
She searched through child therapists in Palmer, and then down the Glenn Highway to Anchorage. There were several and she found a couple that interested her greatly. One was named Sonja Winters, and was right in Palmer. She didn’t have quite the credentials as some of the others, but she was said to be LGBTQ-friendly.
Another was in Anchorage, a man named Ralph Walker. He said nothing about LGBTQ, but had impressive credentials, He had been working with children for over forty years and had dealt almost exclusively with neuro-divergent children for the last thirty.
Calling the two did little to help her decide who was best qualified to talk to Sammy, but she was tempted to go with Ralph Walker. His degrees and experience with children like Sammy boosted his credibility in her eyes. She would wait and see what Chet said, however.
6:34 PM
Chet came in from working outside with Bruce and Ron. Chet refused to sit inside all the time, and not learn how the farm itself worked. He was the CEO, but he made sure he knew what the paperwork he dealt with meant.
Mage had dinner ready for them, and she had moved her wedding-planning brother and sister-in-law off of the kitchen table to the office. She called them back into the kitchen when dinner had been set on the table for everyone and the kids.
After dinner, Marcia took the kids upstairs, and naturally Darryl accompanied her. In the meantime, Mage told Chet about the child therapists she’d found online that morning.
“What did you say the woman in Palmer’s name is?” Chet asked her.
“Sonja Winters,” she replied. “Why?”
“Well, I seem to remember that one of the men has a sister who’s a therapist in town.” He led Mage into the office where he logged into his computer. He called up personnel and looked up the last name Winters. Sure enough, Stephen Winters, the man who had been Bruce’s right-hand man for several years, had his sister, Sonja, as his emergency contact.
“That’s interesting,” Mage said, chagrined that she hadn’t remembered that tidbit of information. HR was her department for the business, but she supposed she’d had other things on her mind. “Do you think we should call her?”
“What do you think? I know the guy in Anchorage has a lot of experience with kids. Especially autistic kids.”
Mage nodded. “Yeah, and I think that’s a good thing. I think we need to take that into account.” She thought for a moment. “Of course, Sammy has a great relationship with Marcia. He does seem to gravitate to women.”
It was Chet’s turn to nod. “You’ve got a point. Palmer would be a lot easier for us, however. We’re talking a forty-five minute drive to Anchorage and another forty-five minute drive back every appointment.”
“True, but I’d be willing to make the trip to Fairbanks for him if it would make a difference, regardless,” Mage stated.
Chet nodded.
July 4th, 2023
Chatham Farmhouse, Palmer AK
10:AM
“I don’t want to go to the fireworks without you, Foxy!” Darryl was not happy, as Marcia was planning to keep Sammy at home rather than take him to the fireworks at Palmer Fairgrounds.
“Darryl,” she said, “I don’t think it would be good for him to see the fireworks under the circumstances, and he can’t stay home. Even if he could, there’s liable to be fireworks he can see and hear from the house. It wouldn’t be good.”
Darryl sighed. “Okay then. I’m staying here too.”
“Darryl,” Marcia argued. “You’ll want to see them, and I don’t want to stop you from that. You love fireworks. You should go to see them!”
“Foxy,” Darryl said, putting his hands on her shoulders, “I want to spend this fourth with you, okay? That’s worth a whole lot more to me than going to see fireworks.”
“You love fireworks,” Marcia said again, but she was clearly weakening.
“And what if you have to pick up Sammy?” he asked logically.
She couldn’t argue with that. and sighed. “Okay. I’ll certainly be happy for you to be here with me.”
10:15
Marcia and Darryl joined Mage and Chet in the kitchen where Mage was packing a cooler to take to the fairgrounds.
“We’re staying here with Sammy,” Darryl told them.
Mage looked at Darryl askance. “Are you sure you just don’t want to make out with Marcia?”
“Of course I do, but Sammy doesn’t need to go to the fireworks.”
Chet snerked. “Will you actually be watching Sammy?”
“We’ll have plenty of time for other things in just a few days, Big Brother,” Marcia responded baitingly.
“Wait a second,” Darryl argued. “No making out tonight?”
Mage laughed out loud. “Actually, I feel better about you two watching him. Stephen had volunteered to stay here with him. His sister is a therapist, and I’m sure he knows a lot about caring for a little boy like Sammy, but Sammy knows you two and has a great bond with you, Marcia.” She paused. “Are you sure you don’t want to go to the fireworks?”
“Sure we do,” Darryl said, “But we want to make sure Sammy is okay tonight too.”
“There might be some fireworks lit off around here,” Marcia put in. “He needs me to be there.”
Chet smiled at that. What his sister said was a statement of fact, and he knew it. If anyone could keep him calm with fireworks going off around him, she could.
“We don’t know he’ll react badly to them,” Chet said.
Marcia gave him a doubtful look. “Do you believe that?” she said.
“Not really,” Chet said after a moment.
“Okay then.”
Mage held up a finger and went into a storage room off the main kitchen. She came back a moment later with a smaller picnic basket. She reached into the big one she was packing and pulled out three sandwiches, some sodas, and a couple of bags of chips, then placed it all into the smaller cooler.
“Your dinner,” she told them.
“Thanks, Sis,” Darryl said, giving her a quick hug. “I appreciate it.”
“We appreciate it,” Marcia said smiling, and giving her sister-in-law a hug of her own as soon as her fiance let go.
“No hugs for me?” Chet said to his sister.
“I’ll give you a hug,” Darryl said.
“No offense, Darryl,” Chet said, “but a hug from you’s just not the same.”
“I should hope not,” Marcia said. “Besides, I reserve the right for all his hugs. Except for those he gives to Mage and Mom Johnson.”
Chet laughed. “I respect that. See, Darryl? Not allowed.”
Darryl gave a mock sigh. “All right,” he said, sounding dejected.
“Is it so bad to reserve your hugs for me?” Marcia asked.
“Well, no, but…” He stopped.
Chet made a digging motion and Mage nodded in agreement.
“Better stop, Darryl,” Mage said. “You’re starting to get deep there.”
Marcia was standing right in front of him, her arms crossed. Darryl put his arms around her and gave her a huge kiss.
“Better,” Marcia said, giving an approving nod.
Darryl went to the chest freezer, pulled out a block of ice, and put it in the cooler. He then picked up the cooler and gestured for Marcia to precede him into the living room. “M’lady,” he said.
She grinned and led the way out of the kitchen.
Chet laughed at the two.
“They’re so good for each other,” he commented to his wife.
“Yep,” she agreed. “I’m so happy for them.”
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Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 21
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
I want to thank Malady, once again, for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 21
July 4th, 2023
7:00 PM
Freshly sprayed down with Off®, Marcia, Darryl, and Sammy sat at a picnic table near the Matanuska River dock. It was a ways from where the body had been found, for which they were glad. They didn’t want Sammy thinking about that either. Whether he understood what he’d seen in the case of his parents’ death, or the skeletal hand, would have to be determined by a counselor.
Darryl divvied the food to each of them, putting half a sandwich on Sammy’s plate and the other half on Marcia’s. Mage fixed sandwiches like Colonel Bob ate them, so they were packed with enough to keep Dagwood Bumstead® satiated.
Marcia was seated beside Darryl, and she calmly took the chips off her plate and put them on Darryl’s. Then she took a couple of chips from his plate and ate them.
“Why?” he asked simply.
“They taste better coming off your plate,” she answered primly. With that, she took her sandwich and placed it on his plate, and slid her plate away.
When Darryl set his sandwich down, she picked it up and took a bite.
He sighed and asked, “Are you going to do that at our wedding reception too?”
“Of course.”
He laughed. “Oh, I can’t wait to give you a bite of cake.”
“What do you mean?” she asked innocently.
He wasn’t fooled for a minute, however. He’d spent nearly every waking moment with her for three years and could read her quite well. Maybe not as well as she could read him, but the very fact she could read him that well told him that she knew exactly what he was talking about.
“I’m pretty sure you know what you’re gonna get,” he clarified.
“Just as bad as you’re gonna get?”
He thought about it momentarily, then said, “Truce?”
She snerked and then slapped an imaginary mosquito on his ear. “Mosquito,” she explained.
“Right,” he said, rolling his eyes.
Darryl glanced at Sammy’s plate and realized the little boy was done with his chips and halfway through his half sandwich. “Chips?” he asked.
“Chips!” Sammy agreed and held his plate up for Darryl to shake some out of the bag.
The chips were Jalapeno-flavored, but Sammy and Marcia had come to like them over the years. “Gonna have to switch to Ghost Pepper chips,” Darryl quipped. “At least they’ll all be mine, then.”
“Dream on,” Marcia teased, taking some chips from the plate and inserting them into Darryl’s sandwich before taking a bite.
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” he answered.
After eating, they loaded everything into the cooler and enjoyed the cooling evening. Unfortunately, with the cooling temperature came droves of mosquitoes, so before long, they headed back to the house.
They were almost there when a boom came from a little ways off, but it was enough that Sammy visibly shook and started to whimper. Darryl handed the cooler to Marcia and picked the little boy up. “It’s okay, Buddy. Uncle Darryl won’t let anything happen to you.”
Sammy put his arms around Darryl’s neck and held on tight. “Unca Darra protect,” he said into Darryl’s shoulder.
“You got it, Bud.”
The speech was a bit younger than Sammy usually used, and Darryl gave Marcia a confused look over the little boy’s snuggled head. Marcia was still holding the cooler and shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. The firework had certainly scared the little boy.
They hurried into the house and set down the cooler. Marcia moved quickly to the stereo. Sammy loved the complexity of classical music. She decided against the 1812 Overture, one of her favorites, and put on a CD of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. All twelve movements kept him listening for a time.
Darryl set Sammy down on the couch where he could best hear the stereo effect, which delighted the boy.
“Couldn’t you have chosen some dance music?” Darryl asked Marcia.
“I’m not sure Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes would keep him occupied right now,” she told him.
“Dirty Dancing. That sounds fun,” Darryl mused.
She smiled impishly at him. “Maybe we should wait until after the 22nd?”
“Oh man!” he sighed. “Gotta wait for that too?”
“I’m mainly afraid of the jump until I heal up,” she told him.
“Yeah,” he said. “Should probably wait for that.”
Before they could continue their flirting, a firework boomed outside. Sammy stood up, moved to the sound system controls, and increased the volume. Marcia walked over to him and hugged him. “It’s okay, Sammy. Darryl and I are both here. Nothing’s gonna happen to you.”
“Burn,” said Sammy. “Bad burn.”
“Sometimes,” Darryl said, “but we’re here with you.”
Sammy sat back down, and Darryl and Marcia sat on either side. They spent the rest of the evening listening to classical music.
-=#=-
July 5th 2023
1:00 AM
Chet and Mage finally arrived home to find Darryl sitting on the couch with Sammy on his lap and Marcia leaning on his shoulder, fast asleep. Sammy was sleeping, but as soon as he heard his daddy’s voice, he woke up.
“Sure,” Darryl said. “As soon as Daddy arrives, you want to see him.”
“How’d he do?” Mage wondered.
“Well, we heard some fireworks here, so Marcia put on the Four Seasons, and he calmed down. We sat with him on the floor for a long time.”
“Until Marcia fell asleep?” Chet wondered.
“Actually, Sammy fell asleep first, and then Marcia did when I moved up here.”
Chet laughed, and the sound woke up his sister.
“What?” Marcia demanded, frustrated to be woken up.
“Sorry, Sis,” Chet said, but ended up laughing more.
Marcia sat up and glared at him. “You don’t seem very sorry,” she grumped. She stood up and started for the stairs.
“Wait a minute!” Darryl exclaimed. “Don’t I get a kiss? I didn’t wake you up!”
She turned around, kissed Darryl like never before, then turned around and took the chair lift upstairs.
“Wow!” Darryl enthused.
10:00 AM
Mage called Sonja Winters to schedule a meeting between her and Sammy. After her regular appointments were finished, Sonja agreed to meet with Mage that evening. After successfully scheduling a meeting with Ms. Winters, Mage called to schedule one with Ralph Walker.
The meeting with Walker was prepared for that Friday night at six.
Calling Chet on his mobile, she wondered if he wanted to go with her to meet Sonja.
“Sure,” Chet agreed. “I think I should meet her too.”
4:45 PM
Chet came in for an early dinner. He and Mage were taking Sammy to meet Sonja Winters, and they weren’t sure how long it would take.
After they finished eating, he made a phone call to the offices in Fairbanks. Ricci answered.
“Hi, Ricci,” Chet said. “How are things up there?”
“Fine,” she replied. “I’m doing a bit more of the work now since Carl is expecting.”
It took Chet a minute to realize the strangeness of what he’d just heard, but he recovered quickly. “But the baby’s not due till December, right? Not quite halfway there.”
“No, but this is our first. We just want to make sure everything works out alright. How’s your little sister?”
“Well, that’s what I wanted to talk to you all about.”
“Okay?”
Marcia came into the office to get something from her desk, and Chet decided to tease her for a moment.
“I’m not sure what the deal is… You know young kids. For some reason, they want to move their wedding up a couple of weeks. Some excuse about it being tough to wait any more time.”
“She’s in the room, isn’t she?” Ricci asked, giggling.
“Could be,” Chet responded.
“And if we couldn’t make it in two weeks?”
“Well, Darryl knows where we keep the ladders, so …”
“You brat!” Marcia scolded. “Is that Ricci you’re talking to?”
“Who? Me? What are you talking about, Sis?”
“Give me that phone!” Marcia demanded, trying unsuccessfully to pull it from Chet’s hand.
“I don’t know what she’s going on about,” Chet said, feigning astonishment.
Marcia gave up trying to grab the phone and instead just loudly proclaimed, “Get here soon, Ricci. Chet may not survive much longer if he’s gonna keep this stuff up!”
5:30 PM
Palmer, Alaska: Sonja Winters’ Office
Mage and Chet were seated on a love seat in Sonja’s office while Sammy sat at a kid-sized table, drawing on some paper Ms. Winters had supplied. She, in turn, was sitting in an overstuffed chair facing Sammy’s parents.
“I’ve never dealt with such a non-verbal child,” she told his parents, “but I would be willing to.” She looked at the paper he was drawing on. It was a picture of her office, including all of the adults. Beside him were some colored pencils. Not enough for true colors, but he could blend them and come out pretty accurately.
Sonja shook her head in astonishment. “He does this type of drawing all the time?” she asked.
Chet pulled a piece of paper out of a folder he had carried. On it was a picture of the drawing he had made of the accident three years previous.
Sonja gasped. It was incredibly detailed. She looked at Sammy again and asked, “Is he doing this all from one look at things?”
“He hasn’t looked up once,” Mage confirmed.
Sonja nodded again and said, “I’m willing to take him on as a client.”
Chet and Mage looked at each other and confessed, “We have a meeting with Ralph Walker on Friday afternoon to see what he thinks.”
Sonja smiled. “I know Ralph. He’s great with kids like Sammy. You couldn’t ask for a better therapist for him.”
“One thing concerns me. He’s been working with neuro-divergent kids for about thirty years, but how is he with LGBTQ people?” Mage asked.
“Do you have any reason to believe Sammy’s….” her voice trailed off as Chet shook his head.
“I’m transgender,” Mage told her.
“Oh! I wasn’t aware,” Sonja said. “Stephen tells me most things that happen on the farm,” she confessed. “But I guess he didn’t know about you.”
“It’s not something I broadcast,” Mage smiled. “But I don’t want any anti-trans thoughts passed on to Sammy.”
“I don’t think Ralph would do that. I don’t see how it would be relevant to what Sammy needs, and Ralph, despite his own feelings on something, would never instill them into a client. He’s extremely professional.”
“Your website says you’re LGBTQ-friendly,” Chet said.
“Yes. I’m straight, but my brother is gay. When our parents died, I was nineteen, and Stephen was ten. I raised him after that.”
“I see,” Chet said. “Stephen has never said anything about his sexual orientation.”
Sonja smiled. “It’s not something he broadcasts.”
Mage laughed. “I understand.”
“My brother told me about the picture he drew of the hand,” Sonja said, apparently turning the conversation away from her brother.
“Yes,” Chet said. He drew out another piece of paper and handed it to the therapist.
“Oh my goodness!” she exclaimed. “This was Gerald Parks?”
Mage nodded. “The man Lisa was supposed to have run off with.”
“Stephen was interested in Gerry. I had them over to dinner several times, and I really liked him.”
“Oh!” Chet said. He hadn’t heard that Gerald Parks was gay either, but he hadn’t needed to know.
Sonja turned the conversation back to Sammy. “I am willing to take Sammy on,” she reiterated, “But if you want to talk to Ralph, I certainly understand.”
Again, Chet and Mage glanced at each other. Mage gave a slight nod, and Chet told Ms. Winters, “I think we’re satisfied here. Do you have an idea for appointments, or do we need to talk to your receptionist about that?”
“Call Randy tomorrow, and he’ll set up a time.”
Mage stood, as did Chet. “Thank you very much,” she told Sonja.
Chet held out his hand and shook the therapist’s. “We look forward to getting Sammy the help he needs.”
“And I look forward to giving it.”
Sammy saw that his parents were getting ready to go, so he stood. He handed the paper to Ms. Winters, and she smiled. It was an incredible picture that showed her office, complete with the items on her desk. Even the photos of her parents and one of Stephen and Gerry were accurate.
“Why don’t you give it to your parents?” She suggested.
“For you!” Sammy insisted.
“Well, thank you, Sammy,” she said and took the paper. “I’ll treasure it.”
Sammy was happy as they left the room.
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Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 22
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
I want to thank Malady, once again, for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 22
July 6th, 2023
1:00 PM
Mike Chatham always enjoyed being in the pilot's seat of an airplane. His Beechcraft Bonanza was less powerful than his fighter, but flying over the Chugach Mountains was a beautiful view.
To the right and slightly above his plane was another, very similar, flown by Colonel Bob Johnson, USAF Retired. Each aircraft had a family sitting in the passenger area as well. Sightseers from the Lower Forty-Eight.
The Beechcraft Bonanza that Bob was flying had been gone over with kid gloves, much of the work being done at the Birchwood airstrip, not far from Fire Lake, where the planes normally rested.
The plane had been repainted and looked so good now that Mike was threatening to get his done as well. The engine was in pristine shape, or the plane would never have been bought. The interior had lots of work that needed to be done. Much had been done personally by Bob and Liz. Mike and Gloria helped when they could as well. The result was a plane with an interior much like its newer sister.
In Bob's plane, seated to his right, was Liz, his wife. She loved the outdoors and seeing the mountains and glaciers from above, and she brought her camera. In the passenger seats were a couple and their daughter, who was in the front row of the passenger seats. The other was occupied by Allie, Bob and Liz's granddaughter.
In Mike's plane was his daughter Amber, seated in the right seat. A newlywed couple was in the back row, and in front of them were Marcia and Sammy. The little boy had come to help take his mind off the terrors of the Fourth of July, but he wanted his Aunt Marcia along with him. Once Sammy and Marcia were going, Amber wanted to fly with her daddy too.
Sammy and Marcia's seats had been turned around, so they were facing the back, and Sammy was looking out the window beside him. Below them was the surface of Knik Glacier, a wondrous sight, and Marcia asked if he could draw it.
“Yeah,” he said.
She offered him some paper and pencils, and he said, “Later. Home.”
“You like to draw?” asked the new wife sitting across from him.
“You want picture?” he asked.
“Sure,” said the woman, who had said she was an elementary school teacher.
Sammy turned to his aunt and said, “Paper?”
“Whatcha gonna draw?” asked Marica.
Rather than answer, Sammy looked at the couple seated across from him and then down at the paper. He started drawing.
The teacher looked out the window for a little while, then back at Sammy and gasped when she saw what he was doing.
On the paper, a picture was forming showing her and her husband seated together, their hands clasped each other's, and clearly enjoying the flight. Her husband looked and could barely believe it either.
Whether they saw much on their flight was debatable, but they found it amazing what the little boy drew.
By the time they had made a U-turn over the Turnagain Arm and started up the valley, the picture was a high-quality portrait of the two on their honeymoon, enjoying a charter flight.
Sammy looked critically at the picture, then ripped it off the pad and handed it to the woman. "Here. For you."
She looked at it in disbelief, then turned to Marcia. “How?”
“He is just able to do it," she said. "Once he starts, he never has to look at what he's drawing again."
“Have you ever seen if he can remember things from long ago?”
“I’ve never asked, but I suppose he probably can.”
“This is incredible! It looks like a photograph.” She turned to Sammy and said, “Sammy, I will treasure this forever. Thank you!”
“You weccom,” Sammy told her.
It was only a short time before Mike was signaling Birchwood Airstrip, asking to land the plane. He brought it down with barely a bump and slowed to taxi to the usual place to rest the plane.
Bob had already landed and his passengers were getting out of his plane. Sammy gestured for the lady to show the picture to his Grandpa Johnson, and she did. Bob praised his grandson for the picture and said it looked just like the couple, which it did.
The passengers thanked their pilots and left the airstrip. The pilots and the kids and grandkids got into Mike's plane. They then took off to fly to the Willow airport across the Knik arm from where they were. They landed there and went to the cafe at the airport for a late lunch to celebrate their first flights for their charter service.
July 7, 2023
2:30 PM
Mage and Marcia were working in the farmhouse office when the doorbell rang. Mage wondered who it could be and got up to answer it.
Coleridge and French stood on the step and asked to speak to Bruce. Mage was understandably hesitant, but she knew the two were on, if not friendly terms with Bruce; they were at least civil.
She asked them to come in and sit down in the living room. Mage then asked Marcia to call Bruce and ask him to come to the house, then offered the two visitors some coffee.
They accepted, which she hoped was a good sign. After Marcia returned and sat down as well, Brandy told her hosts that Trish and Brad were planning to go on a date.
“Really?” Marcia said, surprised. “Trish hasn’t said anything about that to me.”
“Wouldn’t it be funny if Trish and Brad got together? Chet and my exes hitting it off?”
“I don’t see that happening,” said Brandy. “They just seem too different.”
“You know, they say opposites attract," Marcia responded. "Who knows?”
A few minutes later, Bruce entered the house through the kitchen door. Mage offered the office, but French said that it wouldn't be necessary.
Bruce sat down apprehensively, although there didn't seem to be any animosity from either agent.
“With all the upset in the judicial system," French told Bruce, "It's been time-consuming going through the records of the judges involved in the mess. Brandy discovered something which might be interesting to you, however."
Brandy took over the dialogue. “What we found was… Well, reprehensible is the best word I can come up with. It seems that one of the group figured that the most likely culprit in the murder of any married person is the spouse. While that is true, this… person…." Brandy appeared to be having a hard time controlling her personal feelings and took a few moments before continuing, "He decided that you were guilty, plain and simple. He’s the same one who wanted us to take over the case and see to your arrest and conviction. He was planning on making sure that your conviction happened.”
“We’re both very sore at having been manipulated by this asshole,” French told Bruce, “and we’re very sorry about it.”
“We’ve looked at the evidence against you, and it can be taken to point either way. You obviously loved your wife very much, and that love was reciprocated by all appearances.” Brandy said.
“Would you react badly if she left you?" Coleridge continued. "Sure, but would you kill her? While I don't know you very well, my gut says no, as does everyone else who’s given a character witness for you.”
Bruce looked confused. “I don’t get it. I’ve never seen the ‘good cop / good cop’ routine. What’s going on?”
“Like I said," French reiterated, "We're not happy about being used by these judges. Right now, you're no longer a 'person of interest.'"
“I appreciate it; I really do,” Bruce told them. “But what if I am guilty?”
“Are you?” Brandy asked.
“No!” Bruce quickly said, “But you don’t know that.”
“Actually,” French told him, “we’re trained to read people pretty well, and both of us feel you're innocent. I think it's safe to say we're willing to take that risk."
“Just don't leave the state," Coleridge said, smiling.
“Okay,” Bruce said, standing. “I should get back to work if there’s nothing else.”
“No, that’s about it,” Brandy told him.
He paused at the kitchen door and turned back. He had a smile on his face. “Thanks.” Then he went back outside.
“He wants whoever did this caught,” Mage commented.
“Me too,” French said, “But if there’s one thing I know, Bruce Huff didn’t kill his wife.”
Marcia didn't say anything, but something was bothering her. She wasn't sure what it was, but it was there, gnawing at the edge of her consciousness. She was sure she'd think of it in time.
July 21st, 2023
Chatham Farm
4:00 PM
“Where are the groomsmen?”
The speaker was the pastor of the church the family attended in Palmer. He would be officiating at the wedding the next day, and everyone was working on making sure everything went smoothly.
“We're here," called Carl. They were seated off to the side, waiting to be directed to their proper places.
“Okay. Let's get everyone to their places and give it a run-through."
The groomsmen and Chet made their way to the start of the aisle and met up with their counterparts. Chet and Mage were the best man and matron of honor, but walking up with Chet and Mage would be Allie. Marcia didn't know how to exclude any of the children from her wedding except for her little brother, Chris. She would have included him if she had a spot for a three-year-old. Carl and Ricci would be next, and then Brad Jenkins and Trish Anderson.
Sammy and Amber would enter right before Marcia. They were to be the ring bearer and the flower girl.
Each of the groom's men (Chet included) was shown how to cup their hands under their counterpart's elbow to help steady them while going up the steps, then the children made their way in.
Lastly, Marcia and Mike made their way slowly down the aisle.
“Okay," the minister said when they reached the front. "I'll ask who gives her away, and you'll respond. Then you'll hand her off to Darryl.”
They went through the motions, and the minister said, "Okay. You can come on up here."
Climbing the steps, Marcia stumbled a bit but wasn't hurt. She went red, however, sure that she'd do the same thing or worse the next day.
“Don’t worry,” the minister said. “Have you ever done any acting in a play or anything?”
“Yes,” Marcia said, nodding.
“If everything goes off without a hitch in a dress rehearsal, I’m always afraid that the production will have problems,” he told her. “Same with weddings. Now we can breathe a sigh of relief. It’ll be fine tomorrow.”
They went through the ceremony and then ran through everything one more time, which did go off without a hitch; then they made their way to behind the duplex where Bruce and Ron Fraiser were bar-b-queuing some pork for a rehearsal dinner, as well as making the rest of the meal. The air around smelled absolutely delicious!
Once the food was ready, the minister said grace, then Marcia and Darryl made their way up to get their food. Everything for the meal was buffet style, and the general consensus was that the food at the reception the next day couldn't possibly compete with the meal the two had made.
“You two should start a restaurant,” Bob told the brothers.
“Well, we like to cook occasionally,” Ron said.
“It can get monotonous cooking day in and day out,” Bruce agreed.
After everyone had their food, Marcia confided to Mage that she was scared she would do something stupid and embarrass herself the next day.
“Now that’s just ridiculous,” Mage told her. “There’s no way you could do anything stupid. You’re way too smart for that.”
“Believe me, Mage,” Marcia replied. “If anyone can do anything stupid, I can.”
Mage sighed. “I seriously doubt it, but you know what?”
“What?” Marcia asked.
“At the end of the day, you and Darryl will be married.”
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Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 23
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
I want to thank Malady, once again, for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 23
July 22nd, 2023
Chatham Farmhouse
1:30 AM
Marcia couldn’t sleep. She was excited, but full of doubts too. Quietly, she got out of bed and went downstairs to Darryl’s room. Then, just as quietly, she tapped on his door.
“Yeah?” came his voice from in the room.
Softly, she opened his door. “It’s me,” she said. “I can’t sleep.”
“Me, either,” he said.
“Can we talk?” she asked.
“Sure,” he said.
She came over to his bed and sat down on the edge of it.
Her scent and closeness was enough to get his heart pounding. Less than a day, he told himself.
Mage and Chet’s room
Mage whispered to Chet, whom she knew was awake also; “Think we should say anything?”
“I don’t think so,” he whispered back. “They’ll be married in half a day. If they choose to break their promises now, I don’t think I want to be involved. Besides, whether now or later, it’s their wedding day today.”
He considered for a moment. “Besides, I think they’re just talking.”
Darryl’s room
Darryl quietly said, “You can’t sleep either, huh?”
“I’m kinda excited,” she admitted.
“That makes two of us.”
“Do you think this is right?”
“What?”
She considered for a moment. “Us getting married.”
He stared at her for another moment. “Don’t you?”
“I do, sure. I have nothing holding me back from saying ‘I do’. I just want to make sure you don’t either.”
He knew she had a lot of self-doubt and was probably projecting it. She was a girl… a woman, but so many people made it a point of arguing that, so she had problems believing it herself.
“Look, Marcia,” he said to her while sitting up and reaching out to hold her hand. “You are the only person I want to spend the rest of my life with. Nobody else. As Dad says when he wants to get his point across without swearing, the people who don’t believe we belong together can stick it where the sun don’t shine.”
“Your dad or mine?” she asked giggling.
“Both,” Darryl snickered.
“I’m sorry for always needing reassurance,” she said.
“Hey,” he told her, “Don’t worry about it.” He laughed a bit. “I’m the one who needs reassurance. I’ve got you, and I’m always having to pinch myself like it’s a dream.”
He leaned over and kissed her. She leaned against his shoulder, and soon he could tell by her breathing that she’d fallen asleep.
Chatham Farmhouse, Marcia’s Room
6:00 AM
Marcia’s phone, sitting on its charger, started to ring an alarm. It was one that she’d had on her phone for three years now. “Hey Foxy!” it said in Darryl’s voice. “It’s time to get up!” It said it three more times, then stopped. Five minutes later, it repeated the process.
There was the sound of small running feet in the hall, and Sammy burst through the door. He wasn’t used to the alarm going off more than once, and even though it was faint, he had heard the unusual sound.
He looked around, and not seeing his aunt, he ran back out of the room.
Downstairs, Darryl’s phone also sounded an alarm at 6. His was in Marcia’s voice. “Darryl! Lover! Time to get up and see me!”
Darryl was awake, though. He had dozed off and on, Marcia curled up against him. He felt somewhat guilty. He knew he could probably have taken advantage of the fact that she was there, but he hadn’t. He’d made a promise, and he was determined to keep it. Not that the temptation hadn’t been there.
Carefully, Darryl reached over his still sleeping fiancee’s form, and picked up the phone. He snoozed the alarm and set it down at his side.
This was the day! He was thrilled it had finally arrived, and was looking forward to seeing his beautiful bride coming down the aisle to him. He looked at her and gave her a kiss, then closed his eyes. The next thing he knew, his alarm was sounding and Marcia was getting up and running out the door. He heard the bathroom door close, and he swung his legs over the side of the bed. He stood up, went to his dresser, and got a t-shirt and jeans. While he was pulling them on, he heard the bathroom door open. He glanced out his door to see Marcia stepping out.
“Sleep well?” came the voice of his brother-in-law from the living room.
Marcia froze for a moment, then ran through the living room to the bottom of the staircase.
“Lift!” hollered her brother as she started up the stairs.
Darryl couldn’t see her, but he heard her running feet stop. The next moment, there was the sound of someone sitting in the lift chair, then he heard its motor start to pull it up the rail. A moment later, Chet appeared in the hallway. He saw Darryl, who tried to duck out of sight quickly, but to no avail.
“Hi, Darryl!” Chet said, grinning. “Sleep well?”
Chet entered his room and softly shut the door. Darryl heard his sister burst out in full laughter. “Got ‘em both!” Chet enthused.
Darryl was very embarrassed, but he knew he and Marcia would both laugh about this situation later. But at present, all he felt was the heat of the blood in his face.
Marcia made it to her room, and looked in the mirror above her vanity. She wasn’t laughing either, and she could see how red her cheeks were. She knew they hadn’t done anything, but that wouldn’t stop the snickering Chet and Mage would be doing. And would they tell their parents? She sat down at her vanity and felt her eyes welling up with tears.
She cried for a few minutes, then there was a light knock at her door.
Marcia straightened up in her chair, gave a sniff and looked at her reflection. Thank God she hadn’t done any makeup yet. Her mom and Mage were going to help her get dressed later. The ceremony was at noon, and she saw it was 6:30. The knock came again, and she grabbed a tissue and wiped her eyes as she shakily said, “Come in.”
The door opened and Mage entered. “Sorry, Sis,” she said as she came over to where Marcia was sitting. “I guess we shouldn’t have done that.”
“It’s okay,” Marcia said, giving a half smile. “I guess we deserved it.”
“Well, it was kinda fun to get you back for all the times you’ve gotten us,” Mage told her. “But I know it must have been hard to sleep last night.”
“I couldn’t,” Marcia admitted.
“But you did, right?”
"After I went to see Darryl."
"Did you …" Mage didn't finish the question.
"No!" exclaimed Marcia.
Mage smiled. "I know."
"How…?"
"We would have heard," Mage said simply.
"Oh," was all Marcia could say.
-=#=-
In Darryl's room, he and Chet were having a similar conversation, but Chet decided to back off quickly when Darryl got defensive.
The older man did understand. He wasn’t sure how his brother-in-law held off so long, assuming he had. Once Chet realized how much he loved Mage, he was unable to wait very long. As a result, he and Mage married within a week. He supposed some people criticized his decision, but the reality was, he’d always loved her. He simply hadn’t realized who she really was.
The two talked for a while and Chet could tell that Darryl was nervous. He assumed that it was because of the magnitude of what was happening a bit later. To verify, he said, “You’re nervous.”
“Yeah,” Darryl said.
Without saying anything, Chet gave him a questioning look.
“This is a big step,” Darryl said.
“You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”
“Not at all. I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. It’s finally come, and I’m excited.”
“But nervous at the same time?”
“Yep.”
Chet smiled and told him, “It’ll all be over before you know it.”
“And in the meantime, it’s gonna take forever.”
“Yep.”
There was a knock on the door, and Chet heard Carl’s voice; “Are you decent in there?”
“Always!” called Darryl. The door opened, and Carl stepped in. “After all, we’re all guys here,” Darryl finished.
“Well,” Carl said. “Not exactly, but for today, I’m presenting as a guy.”
“Close enough,” Darryl quipped.
Carl laughed as he sat down. A couple of minutes later there was another knock on the door. A moment later, it opened, and Mike Chatham entered carrying a tray of sandwiches.
“I didn’t figure you got any breakfast, so I brought you something.”
“Thanks, Dad!” Chet enthused. They weren’t as big as Bob usually made, but he guessed Darryl probably wouldn’t be hungry enough for the Dagwoods that his dad was famous for.
-=#=-
Upstairs, in Marcia’s room, the girls were finishing a similar snack, brought in by Gloria. Marcia had looked at the tray, but was only able to eat about half of one of the sandwiches, but Ricci and Mage had no such trouble eating, nor had Trish, who entered about half way through the tray.
Trish was immaculately made up, and her hair was styled nicely. After having some of the food, she gave a good look at what was arranged on Marcia’s vanity and moved her head in a manner that suggested the cosmetics just wouldn’t do for the day. She grabbed a case that she’d carried in with her and setting it on the vanity, she said, “Let’s get this show on the road.”
Outside
11:55 AM
There was quite a crowd gathering at the venue. Carl and Brad were ushering people to their seats, while Chet stood off to the side with his brother-in-law. Chet had urged Darryl to sit down, but the young man had been unable to for more than half a minute. Now, he was nervously standing. It was clear that he wanted to pace, but he was valiantly keeping himself from doing that.
Mage caught her husband’s eye from near the back of the chairs, and he told Darryl, “Gotta go. Just hang in there.”
“Yeah,” Darryl said distractedly as he looked at his hands. They were shaking. He was afraid his whole body was.
A minute later, the minister put his arm on Darryl’s shoulder. “This is it,” he said to the groom. Darryl felt a bit dizzy as he stepped to the bottom of the podium.
At last, the ushers, Carl and Brad stepped into the line next to their respective ladies, and Mage, Allie, and Chet started their way forward. Next, Carl and Ricci, followed by Brad and Trish.
Sammy was second-last, bearing a pillow with the rings on it, then came Amber, tossing petals for her big sister.
The music changed. The familiar notes of Wagner’s Wedding March sounded, and Marcia and her Dad stepped into view. As the people stood to watch, Darryl felt light-headed as he saw his bride. She was absolutely gorgeous! He’d never seen her look so beautiful, and he was astonished that he had won the heart of this woman so quickly after he’d met her. She had stolen his on the day they met, but now, here she was, looking like an angel, walking down the aisle with her father, who was going to hand her off to him.
“Who gives this woman to be married?” the minister asked after they stopped their slow walk up the aisle.
“Her mother and I do,” Mike answered.
Then her father kissed her cheek and gave her hand to Darryl.
Marcia’s eyes were bright as she smiled at her fiance.
Darryl cupped her elbow and helped her up the steps, then they stood hand-in-hand in front of the minister.
Marcia carefully made her way up the steps, holding her skirts out of the way, and trying not to stumble in the heels she wore.
“We are gathered here today, in the sight of God, family, and friends to join Darryl Johnson and Marcia Chatham in holy matrimony,” began the minister.
Most of the ceremony was a blur, but it came into focus when the minister said, “You’re embarking on a wondrous and very serious journey together. It is your duty to be faithful, considerate, and loving to each other. The vows you are about to take are not to be treated lightly. With them, you’re committing yourselves to each other for as long as you both live.”
“Repeat after me, Darryl.”
Marcia gazed into Darryl’s face as he repeated the vow. They were old, traditional, lines, but she knew that he wasn’t treating anything said here lightly.
“I, Darryl, take you Marcia, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, for as long as we both shall live.”
Then it was her turn:
“I, Marcia, take you Darryl, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, for as long as we both shall live.”
As the ring slipped onto her finger, Marcia felt as though she may faint, and she was so happy that Darryl’s hand was there to hold onto.
The pastor prayed, then presented Mr. and Mrs. Darryl Johnson to the people. The two kissed for the first time as husband and wife, and Marcia knew this would be the kiss she would treasure most, of all they ever had.
As they hurried down the aisle between the cheering people, both felt like they were walking on clouds, totally amazed and thrilled to cement their relationship forever.
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 24
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
I want to thank Malady, once again, for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 24
July 22, 2023
Chatham Farm
5:30PM
Once Darryl and Marcia left, Mage and Chet collected the gifts that they had insisted they would put away, and took them to a shed at the corner of the property. After, since they were nearby, they walked to a building that was being erected. It was hidden behind one of the many gravel glacial moraines that abounded in the area that obscured most of it from the farmhouse. So the couple owned a building that was between rocks and a wet place, a gravel hill behind it, and about 100 yards from the front was the Matanuska River.
When they had arrived in the spring and were looking around the farm, Marcia had commented that this spot would be a beautiful place to build a house, and Darryl had agreed. Chet and Mage had heard the exclamation from Marcia and made plans to separate five acres of land from the farm and gift it to their siblings upon their marriage.
Their parents had been told about it, and since they were in a much better position financially, they decided to add to the gift of land and erect a house.
As soon as they heard about the house, Carl and Ricci, the Judge, and Granny offered to help with the cost of construction as well.
No one wanted to turn down the money, but Liz and Gloria were determined to make sure none of them overextended their own finances either.
Trish wanted to add to the kitty, but the two mothers refused. “Absolutely not,” Gloria said.
“But I want to give something!”
“You did,” Liz told her. “You’re back in Marcia’s life. She is so grateful for that.”
“There is something you could do,” Gloria said thoughtfully. “Marcia is nervous about her makeup for the wedding.”
“I could help there!” Trish enthused.
Gloria mentioned the possibility to Marcia, and she was just as thrilled to have her friend help.
For the house plan, it was determined that there was enough money for the house, and some left over.
Bruce and Ron told Chet that they could put the surplus to good use for the couple. Chet asked what they had in mind, and Bruce sat down and drew a rough sketch of a stable for Tigger.
“You sure you want to do that?” Chet asked. “You get to see Tigger every day right now. You won’t if he’s stabled there.”
“That’s okay,” Bruce assured him. Besides, it will be better for him to come to your barn in the winter. It’ll be much warmer for him, and he’ll enjoy being with his friends too.”
“How much do you think it’ll cost to build?” Chet asked his wife.
“Free labor,” Ron told her before she could answer. “Cooking together isn’t the only thing we do well,” he said with pride.
“What will you need for materials?” Mage asked.
And the two started running down the list, often finishing each other’s sentences.
-=#=-
July 22, 2023
5:30PM
Once Marcia and Darryl finally got away from the farm, they hurried to the Bridal Suite at Alyeska Resort. The next day, they would be boarding one of the Alaska Marine Highway Ferries that would take them through the Alaska Panhandle, and down to Seattle. They had originally intended to go to Mexico for a couple of weeks, but the trip to Seattle and back had appealed to both much more.
Chet and Mage had unexpectedly purchased a beachfront B and B in Lincoln City, Oregon, and had insisted that they spend a week there on them before heading back to Anchorage. Darryl and Marcia didn’t want to spend too much time away from home, but the time alone and in each other’s arms very much appealed to them.
The night was thrilling for both of them. They spent much of the time in the hot tub that was part of the bridal suite, and after extracurricular activities, they had a ‘dinner for two’ brought to them through room service. They sat down to watch a movie. A chick flick, but under the circumstances, Darryl didn’t mind.
Ninety minutes after starting the chick flick, they decided to go to bed for the night. Neither got terribly much sleep.
July 23rd, 2023
10:00 AM
Chet and Mage walked over to the building site and grabbed hard hats and high visibility vests. The foreman escorted them into the house, and they were pleased to see that the plumbing and electricity were going in. The building inspector normally wouldn’t have rushed getting a house done, but considering who the relatives of Marcia and Darryl were – specifically, Judge Matthews – he decided it would be in his own best interest to put a priority on the house.
After the inspector did a final inspection of the water and electricity, the walls would go in. There was little doubt that the home could be finished by the time the couple got back from their honeymoon. Especially since Chet and Mage had added the week on the Oregon Coast.
They went outside to where the stable was being built and expected to see Bruce and Ron busy at work. Instead, Bruce, Ron, Brad, and Trish were busy. The couple was surprised to see Trish in grubby work clothes, swinging a hammer along with the others.
When she saw Mage’s astonished look, she explained. “My boyfriend down in DC was a furniture builder. I helped out on weekends.”
Mage shook her head as she watched them work. She was surprised to see Brad there as well. It turned out that Trish told him of her intentions and he decided to help as well. He had resigned from the police force and was working on getting a PI license. He had no hope that it would be all roses, but he knew he had friends he could bounce ideas off of.
While he was explaining things to them, Chet noticed that his eyes kept drifting toward Trish, and he wondered if that was the main reason Brad was helping. He glanced at Mage who gave a smirk and nodded her head toward Trish. Apparently, she thought the same.
While they were talking, Chet saw that Bruce and Ron were preparing to lift a log into a place where it would be at the peak of the roof. He watched for a moment and saw that Ron was straining a bit to shift it into place so the lift could drop it into its position.
Chet excused himself and walked over to the bottom of the scaffold the men were standing on. “Need a hand?” he called out.
“I wouldn’t complain,” Ron hollered back down.
Chet climbed the ladder and grabbed one of the crowbars on the top of the toolbox Ron had. Ron swung out to the other side of the wall support and put his own bar in place to keep the eighteen-inch log from rolling off the other side. Chet carefully put his weight into pushing on the log, and Ron called down to Bob, who Chet was surprised to see controlling the lift. “Bring it down!”
Bob pushed forward on the lever, and the beam slowly dropped into place.
“I didn’t know you were here, Dad!” Chet said as he descended the ladder behind Ron.
“We wanted to help too,” he said.
“Is Colonel Mike here too?” asked Mage, joining her husband beside the lift.
“Guilty,” came the voice of Chet’s dad, from behind one of the walls where he hadn’t been visible. He walked into the area where the rest were, wearing a hard hat, vest, and a tool belt from which hung a hammer, tape measure, crowbar, framing square, and several other tools a pilot usually didn’t use.
“Somehow, I think it would be in my best interest to go get my tool belt,” Chet said, observing all the workers.
“Might not be a bad thing,” Mage agreed. “Grab mine while you’re at it.”
He laughed and started jogging back to the main house.
July 23rd, 2023
10:00 AM
Darryl eased the Mustang into its parking spot on their ship, the Matanuska, and the two got out, grabbed their luggage, locked the vehicle, and took the elevator to the passenger decks. They had a first-class cabin on the starboard side of an upper deck, with a doorway that led to the outside. There was a faint rumble all throughout the ship, and after dropping off their luggage in their cabin, they made their way forward toward the bow. The rumbling increased, and slowly, the ship made its way from the pier, and out into the water of the Cook Inlet.
They watched as the waves created by the vessel grew, and then turned their gazes toward the south. Mount Redoubt was very visible straight ahead, looking like a mountain that grew out of the water, although it was on the Alaska Peninsula. To their left, or port was the Kenai Peninsula, separated from the mainland by the Turnagain Arm of the inlet. To starboard, one could see Mount Susitna, or the Sleeping Lady, because it looked like a woman laying down. They made their way south, stopping at Homer, then they turned East and headed toward Valdez.
They had heard that you got onto a cruise ship as a passenger and came off as cargo, but the Blue Canoes, as they were called locally, weren’t specifically a cruise ship. They weren’t nearly as classy as Holland America or the Princess cruise ships, but they were still nice. And the food was very nice in the dining room. There were cheaper places to eat, but they had paid for first class, so they decided to make the most of it and have most of their meals in the dining room. Well… most of the lunches. Breakfast and some dinners would be in their room. That’s just the way things turned out.
July 27th, 2023
6:00AM
The doors to the ship opened, and cars, pickups, RVs, and more started to disembark. After setting his GPS for the address in Lincoln, Oregon, Darryl eased the Mustang out of its space, and down the ramp to solid ground.
The newlyweds were happy that neither had succumbed to seasickness, but Marcia had taken Dramamine before boarding. It had turned out to not be a problem, so she hadn’t taken any more. She supposed flying with her father had prepared her for possible motion sickness.
It was a few minutes before they got to Interstate 5, South just as traffic was picking up. Marcia was frustrated with the time they disembarked from the Matanuska. They had been delayed some because of weather and serious waves in an area not shielded by islands from the open ocean. Most of the Marine Highway took a route in-between islands, but before Prince Rupert, BC, Canada, they emerged from the islands and the waves from the North Pacific were able to buffet them. Thus, they slowed down and didn’t make it to Seattle at four AM as they were supposed to.
Marcia expressed her frustration, and Darryl agreed with her as he came to another dead stop on Interstate 5.
Before long, however, they began to speed up as they moved south into Kent, and Auburn, two smaller cities that made up part of the Seattle/Tacoma metroplex. Ahead of them, rose the majestic Mount Rainier, a not-quite-extinct volcano, looking way too close for comfort to the enormous cities. They moved through Tacoma and were suddenly in the woods. It was a very sudden transition from the city to trees, which towered over anything they had seen for several years in Alaska. They looked strange, too. The spruce trees in Alaska had ¾ inch needles on them, at best. The pine trees in Washington state had three or four-inch needles, making them look bushy and strange.
Eventually, the trees started to thin out, and they entered a farming territory, similar to what they were used to. From there to the Oregon Border, it alternated between fields and trees.
They went through Portland, and Marcia was a bit nervous at the bridge which had to be at least six stories above the river below – then it curved at the height of its arch. She watched as semis, some with multiple trailers, effortlessly traversed the bridge, and wondered what the drivers must see from their vantage points. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
Soon enough, they were at Tigard, Oregon, and exited the highway. They stopped for gas and some chips and pop. Marcia went in while Darryl prepared to fill the tank, but just a few minutes later, he joined her inside. “Apparently, in Oregon, it’s illegal for someone to fill their own gas tank.”
“Really? Do they think the general public isn’t capable of filling a car?”
“I guess not.”
They paid and headed southwest until they came to the coast. It was absolutely full of houses and condos. There also didn’t seem to be any public access to the beach. It was about two o’clock when they pulled up to the house and Darryl shut off the engine.
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 25
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
I want to thank Malady, once again, for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 25
July 28th, 2023
Lincoln City, OR
9:00 AM
Marcia slept in a bit, but woke up to the smell of coffee. Lazily, she sat up and looked around the bedroom. Obviously, Darryl had gotten up a fair bit earlier than her. She distinctly remembered not caring overly much about where her t-shirt, shorts, and undergarments landed before she lay down, but now they were not on the floor, where logic said they must have landed when she and Darryl collaborated in their removal.
Somehow the sheet and blanket had ended up covering her, however. She was quite certain that was not how she’d gone to sleep. Actually, she wasn’t entirely certain they had even been on the bed once she and Darryl got in… or on the bed. Things had gotten somewhat vigorous after that.
The B&B house had 2 bedrooms and a hide-a-bed in the living room, and they had taken the room that had a sliding garden door that opened to a deck, with a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean.
The houses were built on a very steep hill, and each one had a wonderful view over the roof of the one in front of it. There were two houses closer to the beach than the Chatham house, but neither was close enough to see into the bedroom where Marcia lay. There were very thin curtains over the garden doors, but they would be hard pressed to block the view of anyone changing in the room with a light on.
Nevertheless, the only one who could see into the room at all, would be someone on a boat with a spyglass from a distance of at least three miles. Marcia felt safe getting up and pulling on some clothes.
She made a pit stop by the restroom, then padded barefoot into the living room. She could see that there was no one there, nor in the kitchen, and she wondered where Darryl was.
The deck outside their bedroom continued outside the front of the house, and the only door outside that didn’t lead onto the deck was the garden door leading out from the living room. She glanced that way and saw her husband sitting at the table outside. As she watched, he lifted a cup to his lips and took a drink.
She remembered what woke her up. Turning, she went into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of the fragrant liquid, then made her way outside and sat down beside Darryl after giving him a happy and contented kiss.
July 28th, 2023
Palmer, AK
1:12 PM
Mage opened the door to the therapist’s clinic. She was taking Sammy to see Sonja Winters for the third time, and she was starting to like the woman as well. Sonja knew that Mage and Marcia were both trans, she was sure. When people are over the age of 18 or get their names in the paper, or both… Well, secrets are no longer secret. Mage hadn’t officially confirmed it about Marcia to Sonja. There really didn’t seem to be any need to.
When Sonja came out of her office, she talked to Mage briefly, and then she and Sammy started in on a talk and making some slime while Mage went to the waiting room. Sammy loved slime. It wasn’t something that either Mage or Chet had encouraged, as it could damage carpet, and other surfaces in a house, quite thoroughly, but they had let him play with it at home after his last meeting with Sonja, and he had loved it. Mage had to admit, there was something mesmerizing about the feel of it through a Ziplock© bag.
When they were done, Sonja escorted the little boy to the waiting room, where he excitedly showed his mom the green slime, complete with glitter and tiny foil stars in it. Mage was sure that her daughter would want to make some, so she asked Sonja the recipe for it.
“I’ll email it to you,” Sonja told her. “I was wondering how the newlyweds are doing?”
“We know they made it to Lincoln City, but they’re in seclusion now,” Mage answered.
“Lincoln City is a nice place,” Sonja said. “My parents had a time-share down there, so I’ve been there several times. So has Stephen. It’s getting more and more crowded though.”
“We bought a B&B near the beach,” Mage said, nodding. “Judge Matthews and Sylvia stayed there a while back, and told us it was for sale. We bought it on the strength of their recommendation. We haven’t seen it yet.”
“Is that where Darryl and Marcia are?”
“Yeah. We hired a cleaning service in the town to take care of it after guests leave. I hope they’re doing a good job,” she laughed, “otherwise my brother and his wife aren’t gonna be too happy with us.”
Sonja laughed as well. “From what you’ve told me, it seems as if your entire family is one to let bygones be bygones.”
“True, but I wouldn’t want to be responsible for any of their honeymoon being any less than spectacular.”
“It’s a honeymoon and they’re high school sweethearts, Mage. It will be spectacular one way or another.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“And there’s lots of things to do in the area,” Sonja told her. “A nice beach, quaint restaurants, and gift shops up and down the coast.”
Mage laughed. "I doubt they'll see much of that."
Again Sonja joined in the laughing. "You're probably right."
“Do you still get down to Oregon?” Mage asked.
“No, I don’t,” Sonja responded. “Stephen goes, but he goes alone now.”
“He used to take Gerald?”
“Sometimes he did. Other times, he just went by himself. He said he enjoyed the alone time.”
-=#=-
July 28th, 2023
Oregon Coast
3:00 PM
Darryl carefully backed the Mustang out of the garage and onto the street, then he guided it down to the beach, whereupon they caught the 101 and headed south to explore the restaurants they’d heard of.
Before they got very far, Marcia spotted a truck parked beside one of the B&Bs. It proclaimed that it was from a cleaning service, and she took a picture, zoomed in so she could read the phone number. She wanted to double check, but she was pretty sure it was the one that was cleaning the Chatham house.
Down the road, they found a local diner with a sign proclaiming their clam chowder was “so thick you can cut it with a knife”.
“How’s that sound?” Darryl asked Marcia. They both loved thick and creamy New England clam chowder. They agreed it sounded good, so they pulled in.
The inside was filled with fishing equipment, complete with a net draped by its four corners from the ceiling. It appeared to be made from hemp rope and there were more, smaller nets hanging on the walls, as well as dried starfish, clam and oyster shells, and other denizens of the deep. The smell was a mixture of several different seafoods, each one tantalizing enough to make one’s mouth water.
There wasn’t anyone in the building except for an old, grizzled man wearing old sea fishing gear. He had a black stocking cap on his head, and a silver beard streaked with some black.
“Sit anywhere ya like,” the man said as he stood up, and using a cane, he hobbled over to the counter. He pulled a couple of paper menus from a holder by the cash register, put them on a wheeled cart along with a couple of water glasses and cutlery wrapped in paper napkins, and then slowly made his way over to their table, his cane left on a hook behind the register.
He pulled a lever on the cart and engaged a brake. Holding onto the handle with one hand, he set out the cutlery and water, then handed each a menu.
“Nice day out there, eh?” he asked. He pronounced the word ‘out’ sort of in between ‘owt’ and ‘oat’. “I’m Dan. Dan Green.”
“Yes, it is,” Marcia agreed. “I’m Marcia Johnson, and this is my husband, Darryl.” She was thrilled to use her married name.
The old man gave a smile. “Where ya all from?” he asked.
“Anchorage, Alaska,” Darryl said. “And you?”
“Would you believe me if I said I’ve lived here all my life?” he asked, a twinkle in his eye.
“With an Eastern Canadian accent?” Marcia asked. “How’d you arrange that?”
He grinned amiably. “Didn’t figure you would.” He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. “The specials are on the sign there. Got a Surf and Turf for ten dollars a plate. I’ve also got a Calamari for thirteen. Crab is thirty-nine, ninety-nine and Lobster is ten again, more. Market price, ya know.”
“What’s the surf?” asked Darryl.
“Waddaya want it to be?” countered the old man.
“Can you do Calamari?” asked Marcia.
He laughed. “You want me to do calamari and steak for ten dollars rather than calamari alone for thirteen?”
“Well, you asked what we wanted the surf to be.”
He laughed again. “I’ll tell ya what, Young Lady. I don’ normally do the calamari in the steak, but ya seem like a nice couple.” Marcia had sat beside Darryl in the booth rather than across from him. “I’ll do ya up a special. How about a Surf and Turf for two. Twenty Dollars.”
“How’s that a special?” she asked. “That’s the price of two meals.”
“Ah, but in this one, I’ll put calamari, and throw in a cup a chowder for ya both.”
Darryl looked at Marcia and said, “If that chowder is thick enough to cut, I’d pay twenty just for it.”
“Hey!” Marcia exclaimed. “Don’t give him any ideas!”
“Surf and Turf for two – Thirty it is!” the old man said, giving Darryl a wink.
“Sounds good,” Darryl said laughing.
“Howdaya like your steak?”
They answered and the old man stood and slowly made his way back to the kitchen where they heard him bang pots and pans around. A thick aroma of steak and the sound of sizzling came from the kitchen.
“Either of you not want mushrooms and onions?” he called from the kitchen.
“We both love them!” Marcia called back, her eyes dancing at the easy camaraderie in the diner.
“I hope you don’ min’ butter!”
“Not a bit!” Darryl called back.
“Whaddaya wanna drink?”
“Two unsweetened iced teas, please!” Marcia called. She had to cover her mouth to keep from bursting out laughing.
It was a few minutes later that the man carried out two plates. He set a smaller one on the counter where he’d been sitting when they came in, and then carried the larger one to the table where they sat. He carefully put the plate in front of them, along with a large bowl of chowder. “I gave you a bit more chowder,” he told them, smiling. “I think you’ll like it.”
He put one more bowl, full of oyster crackers, on the table and after placing the tea, made his way back to the counter. “You all want an extra plate or bowl?” he asked before sitting back down.
“Nah!” Marcia said.
“When we started dating, I learned my own plate would never be my own again,” Darryl told him.
“How long ya been married?”
“Just since Saturday.”
“Really? Well congratulations!”
The food was as delicious as it smelled, and while the chowder couldn’t literally be cut with a knife, there was a good chance that you could turn the bowl upside down and it wouldn’t spill.
At the cash register, Darryl told Dan, “I’ve gotta tell you. That’s the best chowder I’ve tasted.”
Dan smiled and grabbed two quart jars from the shelves behind him. They had a paper label affixed to them with a picture of Dan and the logo, Green’s Chowder above it. “On the house,” he said. “Consider it a weddin’ present.”
“Thanks!” Darryl said, and meant it. “I think it’s safe to say we’ll be back before we head back to Alaska.”
Dan chuckled. “I look forward to it.”
At the door, Marcia turned and asked, “Where are you from, anyway?”
In an absolutely flawless Texas accent, he answered. “Houston, Ma'am."
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 26
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
I want to thank Malady, once again, for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 26
July 29th, 2023
Palmer, Ak
10:37 AM
It was payday on the farm, and Mage was making her way around to the different workers, handing them their statements. It was the day and age of electronic payments, but she had decided to hand people their statements, at least, as it allowed her to chat with each of them and find out how they were all doing.
As she took the statements around, she spoke to each of the people.
When she met up with Kirk, he didn’t seem to be his super polite and friendly self.
“Is something wrong, Kirk?” she asked.
“It’s personal,” he told her.
She looked around and didn’t see anyone near the gardens where the young man was working, so she asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”
“It’s just some things Adam has been saying.”
“Adam? Oh… your uncle?”
“I don’t consider him an uncle anymore. I mean, he’s my dad’s brother, but I’m a lot closer to Wanda.”
“She seems to be a nice person. I know she and Bruce have been getting friendly,” Mage smiled.
Kirk sighed. “That may be the problem, Mrs Chatham.”
Mage and Chet had long ago told Kirk to call them by their first names, and the fact that he didn’t at the moment, gave her a picture of how serious the situation may have been. “What do you mean?” she asked.
He sighed again and motioned to a bench nearby. “Can we sit down for a couple of minutes?”
“Sure,” she told him.
They made their way to the bench and when they had sat down, she asked, “What’s on your mind?”
“When I got my job here, Wanda brought me over in her car with my things. I was moving into the worker’s house till I found a place in Palmer. Bruce ended up helping us move things in, and you know how gallant he can be. It kinda turned into mutual flirting.”
“Was it honestly flirting, or just Bruce being gallant?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t think anything of it at the time. I was interviewed by Bruce and Lisa for the job, and they seemed quite… affectionate.”
Mage cocked her head a bit and asked, “How so?” She was very curious about what he meant. Hearing how the two acted together might be a great character witness.
“Well, every time they looked at each other, they’d smile. I don’t mean just a friendly smile, either. I mean really smile.”
“So if there was some seriousness in the flirting, you feel it was all on the part of your aunt?”
“If there was, yeah.”
“Where was Lisa at the time?”
“She was giving Bo an English lesson at the farmhouse.”
“Okay.” She suddenly asked, “They were alone at the house?”
“As far as I know, yeah. I guess it made for a quieter environment for him to learn English. I know he doesn’t even have an accent anymore.” He paused, then said, “Well. There’s sometimes a word that he doesn’t seem to get the proper usage of, but most of the time it’s great.”
She nodded. “I’d never know he wasn’t American except I’ve heard him slip occasionally.”
“Right.”
11:45 AM
Mage thought about what she’d heard from Kirk for a few minutes as she walked away. She didn’t want to appear too interested in it, but what he’d said about both Bo and Wanda made her wonder about what they’d seen of some people.
She met with several other workers, but most of them wanted to know how Darryl and Marcia were doing.
“They’re incommunicado for the most part,” she told them. “We heard that they made it to Lincoln City okay, then all messages stopped.”
Her statement got several laughs from the workers, then she met up with Bo. She wondered if she’d get any information about the ‘English lessons’ from him.
12:25 PM
The new crops of corn in this area of the farm would make huge mazes for after harvest, but it wasn’t time for that, and there were still ears on the plants. Bo was busy inspecting them for any signs of western bean cutworms. Normally the bugs wouldn’t reach Alaska, but there had been rumors of some in Palmer. Chatham Farm was entirely organic, and the possibility of a non-local pest wasn’t a small matter.
“How’s it looking?” Mage asked. “Do you see any?”
Bo shook his head and let out a stream of Ukranian that sounded to Mage as if it probably called into question the lineage of all western bean cutworms in the entire universe, and possibly beyond.
“You didn’t find any, did you?” Mage asked, hoping the answer would be, no.
“No, but I started there,” Bo said, pointing to a corner of the field, not far from them. “I’ve got all the rest to check.”
Mage couldn’t see the remainder, but this particular field was fifteen acres, and they were about a hundred feet from the corner Bo had indicated. It was a lot of corn, and there were a lot of ears to check.
“If you haven’t found any,” Mage told him, “I doubt there are any.”
“Perhaps, but do you want a nasty surprise come time to harvest it all? I don’t.”
She had to admit that she didn’t either. It was typical for the workers around the farm to take great pride and care in everything they did, and she was grateful. It was tempting to not worry about it. After all, it was simply a rumor as far as they were certain. But what if it was true? They didn’t use the powerful and deadly pesticides that might help. They had to know now so they could treat the corn organically. Most of the time, their organic remedies involved combining two or three ingredients, and just getting enough organic pesticide for this one field would be a nightmare. There were two others as well.
“You’re right,” she said to him. Gazing toward the rest of the field that she wasn’t tall enough to see, she asked him, “Should I hire some more people to help you? This will take until harvest.”
There came another stream of Ukranian profanities, then he answered her: “They won’t look carefully enough.”
She pulled out her phone and pulled up their GPS superimposed on a satellite picture taken recently. Showing the screen to her, she asked, “Honestly. How long do you think it will take to do this to your specifications?”
Bo sighed and answered, “I should be done by the harvest of 2025.”
Mage couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “You think so? I was thinking 2026!”
“I resent that!” the conscientious worker said with pride. “I’m not that slow.”
“You’re careful, and that’s one of the things that make you a valuable worker. I’m gonna hire some people to inspect this. You show them what to do, and most importantly how to do it. Then do QC behind them. If someone isn’t doing what you told them to do, fire them.” She paused to let her trust in him sink in. “Nobody makes it into the fields unless you okay them. They’re your crew.”
She debated talking about the English lessons, but with the huge job he was working on, she figured it was best to let him do that.
3:00 PM
Mage walked into the garage where Stephen was rebuilding the engine of a ‘49 Ford 9N tractor. He was standing in a pit below the engine, with the oil pan removed. Mage knelt behind the left front tire and asked, “How’s it looking?”
“It’s okay,” Stephen said as he removed a bolt from the bearing cap it had been holding on. He pulled the bearing off the crankshaft and Mage winced as she saw the surfaces.
“Well,” Stephen quipped. “That’s not so good.”
“You have a gift for understatement,” she told him. Beside her was the oil pan and she tipped it so the overhead light shone in it. There was dark sludge with a copious amount of metal shavings in the bottom. “What did the rest of the oil look like?” she asked.
“Rest of the oil?” he asked. “What rest are you talking about? That’s it.”
She gestured toward the other stall in the garage where a nearly identical 9N sat. That one, however, had a front-end loader bucket on the front. “Which is the winner?”
“It’s a toss-up, Mage. This one’s got a bad engine but good hydraulics. The other has a good engine, but some idiot didn’t know when to give up when the hydraulics couldn’t handle something.”
“Think you can make one good tractor?”
He sighed. “Yeah, I can. I’m just trying to decide what’s the easier transplant. The engine or rear-end.”
“You’ve got quite a bit of work here,” she agreed. “Still, I’d opt for the engine being moved over here.”
“But then I’d have to move over the bucket as well,” he argued. He glanced at the rear end of the tractor he was under, where the driver’s seat was bolted on top. “Still, you’ve got a point. I’d hate to have to swap out the hydraulics. There’s a lot of seals in there to go bad, and if the case is messed up…” He didn’t finish. They both knew the repercussions of a bad case. The tractors were getting quite old, and trying to find parts was getting harder and harder. Some machinists could manufacture pieces, but that was expensive.
Stephen turned to head to the stairs out of the pit, but as he did, he caught his right temple on a loose clamp for the tailpipe, creating a gash that let loose a torrent of blood. Stephen yelled as he clamped his oily right hand over the cut. He stood for a moment, shaking. Mage dropped her envelopes and hurried to the stairs.
She grabbed some clean rags on the way down and gently pulled his hand away from the wound. She dabbed at it a moment, but couldn’t see much detail under the tractor. She held the rags to his head and led him out of the pit.
Her EcoSport wasn’t far from the garage, and she bundled the injured man into it and took off toward town. On the way, Stephen didn’t say much, but she didn’t expect much as he was pretty gray. Shock, she knew. She called Chet and told him what had happened, and asked that he collect her papers from the garage.
They arrived at the hospital ER and the triage nurse moved them right into a room where his temple was quickly inspected. There didn’t seem to be any damage to the bone below, but they really couldn’t tell much until they could stem the bleeding and get a better look.
Mage went out to the waiting room to give the nurse information and then sat down to wait. A little while later, she started when she felt a tap on her shoulder.
“Had a bit of adrenaline going, huh?” Bruce chuckled as she opened her eyes. “It’s always amazing how much energy we go through when we’re not even the one hurt.”
“I fell asleep,” she said unnecessarily.
“I noticed,” he said. “You okay to drive home? I’ll take over here.”
She nodded, grateful. “I’ll get a cup of coffee and wake up.”
Before she left, they checked for any news on Stephen. The triage nurse went into the ER and came back quickly. “The doctor is in there stitching things up right now. He should be fine.”
“Thanks,” Mage said. She hugged Bruce, then headed out to her car.
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 27
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
I want to thank Malady, once again, for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 27
6:00 PM
Mage hadn’t had time to prepare anything big with driving Stephen to the doctor’s but on the way back she stopped long enough to pick up a couple of take and bake pizzas.
Mage and Chet had a quiet dinner with just their kids and no siblings. Not that they ever minded Darryl and Marcia there. Marcia could be very talkative, and the conversations between her and Mage were usually very interesting. Darryl and Chet often just shook their heads whent the two got going. When Allie got involved, there wasn’t a silent moment during the meal.
At eight o’clock, the kids went upstairs when the doorbell rang. Chet answered it as Mage called out to the kids to be nice to each other. Lately, they had started bickering as siblings often did.
French and Coleridge were at the front door, and Chet beckoned them in. They were just sitting down when Chet spied Brad’s car pulling up. He went to let the man in, and was surprised to see Trish getting out of the car as well. He wondered what was going on there, but decided it wasn’t the time to ask any questions.
In the next few minutes, the Fraisers arrived, walking from the fourplex that had been built behind the farmhouse. As they were entering the house, Judge Matthews and Sylvia made their appearance as well.
Chet set a large perculating coffee pot on the dining table, and they gathered around it. A few minutes later, a timer went off in the kitchen and he got up to get a couple of pies from the oven. He carried them out to the table, then went to the deep freeze and pulled out a couple of gallons of iced cream.
Once everyone grabbed whatever they wanted, Mage told them what happened to Stephen.
“Will he be okay?” Sylvia asked.
“It sounds like it,” Mage replied. “Bruce called a little while ago, and it sounds like Stephen is going to have to take some time off. The bracket ripped a bit of his temporalis muscle on the right side. It’s gonna really hurt to talk and chew for a bit, I would imagine.”
At that, Chet gave a bit of a snerk, which made Mage give him a stern look. “I hardly think that’s funny, Chet.”
“Sorry, Hon. I wasn’t laughing about Stephen. I just noticed you prioritized talking as higher than chewing. For Stephen and most other guys, it’s usually the other way around.”
“Are you saying that women prioritize talking more than eating?”
“Yes,” said Chet, Judge Matthews, and Ron Fraiser, almost in unison. Mage turned her evil eye on the others, but it simply seemed to increase their mirth, so she gave up.
"So what'd you find out today?" Brandy asked.
"About?" Mage asked, looking pointedly at Brandy's and Greg's clasped hands.
Greg laughed. "I think everyone knew about us."
"Yes, but it's now been confirmed."
"What did people tell you today?" Brandy asked, as if daring Mage to comment on personal things. "Or weren't you able to get anything out of them?"
Mage bristled, but kept her composure. Brandy's tone was challenging, but nowhere near “nasty” as it had once been. "Well, it seems there was an interesting relationship between Bo and Lisa.”
“Bo and Lisa?” Melissa asked, seeming surprised.
“Kirk told me that Lisa was teaching Bo English in the house when nobody else was here.”
“That’s very interesting,” Judge Matthews said.
“But that’s not the only interesting thing,” Mage continued. “Apparently, Adam Gregory has been spreading rumors that Wanda has been interested in Bruce since she first met him.”
“Are we sure they’re rumors?” Greg asked.
“Of that,” Mage admitted, “I’m not sure. Kirk says there might have been some reciprocation.”
Melissa shook her head, however. “I don’t think Bruce would have allowed any relationship with Wanda, and as far as Lisa and Bo, forget it. She and Bruce were crazy about each other.”
Ron nodded his agreement.
Greg, as diplomatically as he could, asked, “How certain are you?”
“I’d stake my life on it,” Ron said.
“That’s good enough for me,” Judge Matthews said. “That tallies with what I remember.”
Sylvia agreed. “I can’t see them encouraging any extra-marital relationships.”
“So you think Adam is just trying to get back at Wanda?” Brandy wondered.
Sylvia nodded. “I think it’s likely.”
“What about Bo? That’s not coming from Adam.”
Melissa sighed. “My sister was passionate about teaching. It’s possible that she could have acted in a less than sensible way. She might have decided that it was worth the bad appearance to have a good teaching environment.”
“More likely,” Greg mused, “She just didn’t think about the appearance.”
Melissa nodded. “She would have known Bruce would understand, and that would have been it.”
“What about,” Chet ventured, “the possibility that Wanda was interested in Bruce. Maybe while he was with her, Adam chose to overlook her wandering eye. He is certainly no saint himself.”
“Maybe,” Brad said. “I’m not sure she would kill for it though. And why kill Gerry?”
“Was there any relationship between Lisa and Gerry?” Trish wondered.
“I’m telling you,” Ron said, “she and Bruce were crazy about each other.”
“Then why were the two of them killed?” Brandy wondered. “Why the note saying they left together?”
“Could Gerry,” Trish said uncertainly, “have been a red herring?”
“How do you mean?” Brad asked.
“Well, if someone is willing to kill someone in the way of getting a man she’s interested in, would they hesitate to kill someone else to throw suspicion off of themselves?”
“Don’t you think that’s kinda a stretch?” Mage said.
“I think it’s something we have to consider,” Trish said.
“Well if that’s the case,” Mage said, “We have to consider it the other way too. What if Gerry were the intended target and Lisa was a red herring?”
The color drained from Melissa’s face. “You think my sister was killed for no reason at all?”
“I’m only saying if we consider that Gerry could be a red herring, then we have to consider that Lisa could be also.”
Melissa looked at her husband. She hadn’t considered, or maybe hadn’t wanted to consider that her sister was only collateral damage. “That’s absolutely sick,” she said.
“I’m sorry…” Mage began.
Melissa looked back at her. “No, you’re right. I mean killing an innocent person is sick.”
“Both of them are innocent,” Chet said.
Sylvia’s voice was almost a whisper. “That’s an assumption, too.”
“What do you mean?” the judge asked.
“I don’t want to think either of them could have been mixed up in anything illegal, but are we sure they weren’t?”
“We knew them both,” Judge Matthews argued. “That doesn’t seem like either of them.”
“No, but we knew Ralph too. We didn’t expect him to be mixed up in what he was.”
Bill Matthews thought about his friend, Ralph Thomas, who had been such a prominent judge. He hadn’t even considered that Ralph might be mixed up in the corruption that the others had been. “I hate to think that someone else we were friends with might be corrupt,” he said slowly, “But you’re right, Sylvia. We’ve got to consider it.”
“Any way we look at it,” Ron said, “It’s very possible that someone we know is a criminal. Maybe Gerry and Lisa were mixed up in something, or maybe not. But someone is a murderer, and we may know the person.”
“Or persons,” Mage said. “What if there was more than one? Maybe someone was interested in both of them? Maybe it was a pact between two people to kill them?”
Chet was staring at Mage, his mouth open in disbelief.
“We don’t know much about this, Chet,” Mage defended herself. “All we’re sure of is that Bruce didn’t kill Lisa.”
“And that neither Lisa nor Bruce would cheat on the other,” Chet told her.
“Right,” she agreed. “We know very little about the case.”
“You have a talent for understatement, Mage,” Sylvia said.
The talking stopped and the group sat in silence, each mulling over possibilities.
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 28
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
I want to thank Malady, once again, for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 28
Lincoln City, Oregon
It was Sunday, the 30th of July, and the young couple had been married for just over a week. They got up earlier than usual and headed off to a tiny church they had seen in town.
They entered the little building and only about ten other people were there. It was a single room with a couple of metal poles in the center to help hold the roof up. With so few people there, Darryl double-checked his watch and the sign on the door. Both were right, so they continued in and sat down.
A middle-aged man was quietly speaking to a teenage girl on the front pew. She looked like she was probably around fourteen years old, and the couple could hear what they were saying. The man was obviously the pastor, and it seemed as though the girl was his daughter. He was urging her to play the piano, but she was very reluctant.
“You sounded great last night while you were practicing, Sweety," he told her.
“Doctor Wurst told me not to overdo it, and it’s sore this morning, Daddy,” she told him.
Marcia could see that the girl had a wrist brace on her right arm, and could understand why the girl didn’t want to play. She stood up and walked to where the two were seated. She sat down beside the girl and told the minister, “I’m Marcia Johnson, and if your daughter can’t play, I will.”
The man gave her a grateful smile. “I’m Reverend Goldman,” he said, “and this is my daughter, Heather.”
At his name, Marcia had a momentary surge of panic. She usually played by ear but didn't know any Jewish music. The panic ended as soon as it began, however. He had introduced himself as Reverend Goldman, not Rabbi. And she had seen the name of the church. It was a congregational church and said nothing about Judaism.
“Thank you,” the Reverend said. “I’ve got a list of the songs here. If you don’t know any of them, just let me know.”
“If you have music, I can play from that.”
“I play by ear,” Heather told her. “We don’t have any music yet.”
“We just started this church,” Reverend Goldman told her. “Just a few weeks ago.”
“Do you live in Lincoln City?” Heather asked hopefully.
“My husband and I are on our honeymoon,” Marcia replied. “We live in Alaska.”
“Oh,” Heather said, disappointed.
The Pastor looked at his wrist and said, “We’re going to start in just a few minutes. Are you able to play a prelude?”
“Sure," Marcia said. She stood and moved to the piano. It was a several-year-old Chickering, and she hoped it was in tune. Playing a few chords, she heard a very nice tone. The response from the keyboard was good as well.
After a few hymns, the Pastor stood and moved to her side. “You play beautifully,” he told her. “I’m glad to hear that the piano sounds so good. A string broke on Heather as she was tuning it. That’s how she sprained her wrist.”
“Ouch!” Marcia exclaimed. “I can imagine!’”
“Somehow, she finished it with her left hand and even put a new string on it. G5, I think she said."
Marcia deliberately played a G5 and found that the string was in perfect tune as well. "Heather has talent."
“Her mother taught her,” Reverend Goldman said. His face turned somber and he moved toward the lectern at the front of the sanctuary.
Marcia stopped playing and wondered if she should go back to her pew, but after just a couple of announcements, and an acknowledgment of Marcia's willingness to help out, he turned the service over to Heather, who stood and moved to the front.
Beside the opening to the baptismal, the wall was off-white, and the girl picked up a remote from the lectern. Pressing a button, a projector came on. It was sitting on a shelf on the back wall. The words to The Old Rugged Cross appeared on the wall, and Heather looked toward Marcia.
Marcia gave a brief introduction with the last line of the song, and Heather started singing at the beginning of the first verse. “On a hill far away, stood an old rugged cross…”
The teenager had a beautiful soprano voice and if Marcia was any judge, she had perfect pitch.
* * *
The message was on 1st Thessalonians 5:16-18, and the minister spoke on gratitude. In everything give thanks. He also referred to Philippians 4:6-7, and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds.
After the sermon, the Pastor thanked the Johnsons for coming. He wondered if they’d be there next week, or if they’d be heading home before then.
“No,” Darryl said. “We’re not heading back to Alaska until the end of next week.”
“Oh Good!” chimed in Heather, looking at Marcia. “Will you be able to play next week too?”
“I don’t see why not,” the new bride told her.
1:30 PDT (Pacific Daylight Time)
The four went their separate ways, but surprisingly, ran into each other at Finchley’s Chowder and Seafood. Darryl and Marcia walked in, and seated off to the side was the pastor, his daughter, and another couple who’d been in Church that morning.
“Join us?” Reverend Goldman asked. He didn’t want to pressure the two as he knew they were on their honeymoon, but they accepted the invitation. The minister and the other man from church pulled a table over to theirs and Darryl got a couple of chairs.
He seated his wife, then sat opposite her.
“Dan Black,” the man said, holding out his hand to Darryl.
“Darryl Johnson and this is my wife Marcia."
The lady with Dan held out her hand to Marcia. “I’m Corina,” she said. “My brother doesn’t seem to like to ever introduce me.”
Marcia giggled. “I think I’ve finally convinced my brother, Chet, to be a bit more socially conscious.”
Corina laughed but then gave Marcia and Darryl a strange look. “Wait a minute. Chet? You two are just married. Is your maiden name Chatham, Mrs. Johnson?”
“Just call me Marcia, but yes. You know Chet?”
“Dan and I run a small cleaning service for some of the rentals around here. Your brother and sister-in-law just hired us to clean theirs.”
“Well, this is fortuitous,” Darryl said. “I was going to call you to see if we could meet up with you this week. Our parents are thinking of purchasing some places too. We were wondering if you could steer them to some places that would be worth purchasing.”
“Sure,” Dan said. “And I think we can direct you to a good real estate agent too.”
“Oh!” Marcia exclaimed. “That would be great!”
Corina pointed to the pastor, who smiled and said, “I’d love to help out your parents. Something I’ve learned about being a volunteer pastor. It doesn’t pay much. Something about the word volunteer, I think.”
Darryl laughed. “I suppose that’s true, Pastor.”
“Call me Paul,” the reverend said.
They enjoyed the companionship and when they were about to leave, Darryl reached into his wallet, pulled out a business card, and handed it to Paul as the man stood up. "This is both of our dads’ business card. Give 'em a call."
The reverend looked at it. The color drained from his face and he almost seemed to sway. He sat down heavily.
Just as quickly, he seemed to recover. “Thanks,” he said to Darryl.
“Are you okay?” Marcia asked, concerned.
“Sorry. I must have stood up too quickly.” He laughed. “Getting older, I suppose. I’ll give them a call tomorrow.”
Darryl and Marcia headed out to the Mustang and were getting in it when Heather hurried out of the restaurant and held up her hand for them to wait a minute.
Darryl rolled down his window and asked, “Yes?”
“Can I contact you if I need to?”
“What’s wrong?” Marcia asked her.
“I've never seen Dad get faint before. It's strange. He's always real strong."
“Sure,” Darryl said.
Marcia reached into her purse and pulled out another business card with her name on it and handed it to the young girl. “Call us anytime,” she said. “We’ll be praying for both of you.”
* * *
As they drove away, Darryl asked, “What do you make of that?”
“I don’t think it had anything to do with Reverend Goldman growing faint. There was something that spooked him.”
“With our Dads’ business card?”
She didn’t answer directly. “It couldn’t have been the business. That’s way too new. It has to be one of them.”
“You don’t think it was something else?”
“I don’t think so. He was looking at the card.”
“Yeah. I agree, but I was hoping I was wrong.”
“What do you think we should do?" she asked him.
“Maybe we should call Dad?”
Marcia nodded. “I think so.” She took out her phone and called her dad’s number.
* * *
The two spoke to both of their fathers and told them about Reverend Paul Goldman, but neither could recall meeting him or even hearing of him. They both said they'd welcome the call from him and were looking forward to seeing if his voice was familiar.
Oregon Coast
2 PM PDT, Monday, July 31st, 2023
Darryl and Marcia drove to the Blacks’ business office and went inside. Dan was seated behind a desk working on a computer, and when he saw them, he clicked his mouse and said, “Marcia and Darryl are here, Corina.”
“Great!” came the woman’s voice from the computer speakers. “We can talk in my office.”
Dan pointed toward a door to his left, clicked his mouse again, and they heard the door unlock. “Go on through,” Dan told them.
They entered a spacious office, well appointed, and Corina was sitting behind the desk. Nice chairs were facing the desk, and she stood, motioning them to sit down.
Outside the office, Dan could be heard talking to someone, then he came through the still slightly open door and shut it. The sound from outside the room was immediately cut off.
Wow! Thought Marcia. Either cleaning the rentals in Lincoln City is a lucrative business, or there are other things the Blacks do besides cleaning.
“So what can we do for you?” Corina asked after they had dispensed with the normal pleasantries.
“Well, I do the books for Chatham Yardworks, and now Chatham Farms,” Marcia told the Blacks. “While I’m here, I’d like to go over the contract for cleaning at the beach house with you.”
“Sure,” Corina said as she pulled up the business's records on the computer. “You know, we used to see the Winters down here. I believe their son worked for the farm.”
“He still does,” Darryl told them.
“You don’t see him anymore?”
“We haven’t seen either Sonja or Stephen since their parents died.”
“Oh, that’s too bad.”
“Well, their parents paid for the time-share. I’m not sure their kids could afford it.”
“Sonja's a therapist," Marcia said, "and Stephen gets a room at the farm. He's a valued employee."
“He’s a nice guy,” Dan put in. “I’ve always liked him.”
“He’s the number two guy at the farm,” Darryl said, nodding his head in agreement.
The conversation turned toward the contract with the farm, and when they’d gone over everything, and Marcia approved of it, Darryl asked, “What did you make of Reverend Goldman’s spell after dinner last night?”
“I’m really not sure,” Dan admitted. “I’ve never seen anything like it with him.”
Corina nodded in agreement. "He's only in his mid-forties," she said.
Marcia wondered, “Does he have a wife?”
Dan and Corina glanced at each other, and then Corina informed them, "He's never been married."
“What about Heather’s mother?” Darryl asked.
“Well,” Dan said. “I’m not quite sure of the story, but it seems as though she was an old flame.”
“There have been rumors that he’s not Heather’s biological father.”
“He was in the military, I guess,” Dan continued the story, “so they must have met at one of his postings.”
“Do you know which branch?” Marcia asked. Maybe that was how he knew one of their parents. He might have heard of one of the colonels and reacted to that. But why would he be so scared?
Corina shook her head. "No. But he settled here about three or four years ago. He and Heather."
Darryl had a strange thought. “Is there any sign of some kind of relationship between them? You know… sexual?”
Marcia didn’t like the sound of that type of thing, but she had heard of stranger things.
“Not that I’ve heard,” Dan said. “It’s not beyond the realm of possibility, but I don’t think that’s the case.”
“I don’t think he’s that type of person,” Corina said defiantly, but Marcia could see a flicker of doubt in her face.
“Well, hopefully, we'll get some information later tonight. He's supposed to talk to both of our dads this evening," Marcia said, trying to put Corina at ease.
“We’d better go for now, though,” Darryl said. “We’ll keep you informed.”
Dan nodded, and Corina gave a shaky smile. She’s got the hots for him, Darryl thought to himself.
Tuesday, August 1st, 2023, 2:00
Darryl and Marcia were enjoying the view of the ocean from the hot tub on the balcony when Marcia's phone rang. She sighed as she climbed out of the warm water, grabbed her towel, and threw it over her shoulders. She saw that the call was from her dad, and answered brightly. "Hi, Daddy!”
“Hi, Marsh. Have you talked to either of the Goldmans today?”
“No,” Marcia replied. Her dad’s voice had been very curious. “What’s going on?”
“I’m not sure. Neither Bob or I heard from Reverend Goldman last evening, but today I got a call from an attorney this morning. He said he needed to send me a letter from the Reverend.”
“That’s interesting,” Marcia said. “Why would he send you a letter when he hasn’t talked to you about any real estate?” She heard a beep on her phone, telling her that another call was coming in. She looked at the screen and said, “I’m getting a call from Corina Black, one of the cleaners, and a friend of the Goldmans.”
“Okay,” Mike Chatham said. “Let me know if you hear anything. This is real peculiar.”
“I will, Daddy.”
She took the call from Corina and said, "Hi."
“Paul is dead!” Corina wailed from the other end of the line.
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 29
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
I want to thank Malady, once again, for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 29
Palmer, Alaska
Wednesday, August 2nd, 2023
Mage knocked on the door of Stephen’s studio apartment. There were several in this building, and they were one of the perks of working for the farm. The apartments were gratis for the first six months a person worked for the farm so they could save some money and get accommodations in town, or if they preferred, they could continue to rent the studio for a small price. Stephen had rented his for several years, and the money was simply deducted directly from his check each month.
The door opened, and he greeted her with a smile. “Thanks for getting me to the hospital. I don’t remember too much of the trip, or even what happened. It’s all kinda a blur.”
He had stitches on his temple, and Mage had heard from Bruce that the doctor had a bit of repair work to do on the temporal muscle below. It had been cut a bit. The bone had a hairline fracture in it, but the skin and muscle had cushioned it enough that it hadn’t been any worse. A concussion had occurred, which was likely why Stephen didn’t remember too much of the incident.
“I can imagine,” Mage replied. “Can we talk a bit?”
Stephen beckoned her inside, but she said, “Maybe out in the garden?”
He followed her out to the garden bench. It was a typical iron and 1x3 board bench, but instead of being in a flower garden, it was in between giant cabbages, each with heads over a foot in diameter, and pumpkins that would end up being over 100 or more pounds because of the incredible growing conditions in the Matanuska Valley.
As they sat down, she confessed, “I’m being somewhat careful for propriety’s sake, with what I’ve heard regarding Lisa and Bo.”
“Oh. That.” Stephen said.
“Yes, I’ve heard that they scheduled Bo’s English lessons during work time. Is that true?”
“Yeah. None of us blamed either of them for it. And look at the result!”
“How did Bruce react?”
“Are you trying to insinuate that Bruce may have killed his own wife? No way! He was in love with her!”
Mage put her hands out, palms up, and shrugged. “I’m just trying to figure out what happened. I don’t believe Bruce killed Lisa either, but who did?”
“I don’t think there is anything Lisa could have done to make Bruce even mad at her,” Stephen insisted. “He loved her from the bottom of his heart. You should have seen him when she disappeared!”
“So was there anything with the rumors that Bruce and Wanda may have had a thing going?”
“Oh, give me a break,” Stephen said, disgusted. “You could see how interested Wanda was in him, but he didn’t reciprocate the feelings at all.”
“Not that you could tell, anyway,” Mage pointed out.
“Are you really trying to pin this on him?” Stephen asked, getting mad.
“No, Stephen, I’m not. I simply want to know the facts, and the fact is, you don’t think Bruce reciprocated those feelings.”
* * *
Thursday, August 3rd, 2023
Mike Chatham sat on his back deck, looking at the manila envelope in his hand. It had come priority from Lincoln City, Oregon, from an attorney. He hadn’t opened it yet and wondered why he’d received it.
Finally, he ripped open the manila envelope and pulled out an official-looking letter and another, smaller envelope.
August 1, 2023
Lt. Colonel Chatham, USAF, Retired;
Enclosed, you will find a letter from Reverend Paul Goldman. It is in a sealed envelope, and I have not seen it. I have a carbon copy envelope, but I have been instructed to open it only after I’ve sent this one to you.
I am not sure what happened on the First of August, but I received these letters with the instruction to send your copy to you on the chance something were to happen to Reverend Goldman.
All I know for certain is that the Reverend died when he drove his car off a curve overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The coroner says that there was alcohol involved, and he is reported to have been drinking heavily south of the location and apparently was on his way home.
George Pratt, LL.M.
After reading the letter from the attorney, Mike was even more confused. Who was Reverend Paul Goldman? He searched his memory once again before opening the sealed envelope but could think of no one he’d ever met with the name Paul Goldman.
Finally, he opened the envelope.
Lieutenant Colonel Chatham;
When we met, you were a Major, and returning from Mazatlan with your new wife, Gloria. You had been on your honeymoon.
I went by a different name at the time: Paul Shore. I was the Air Marshall on the Alaska Airlines flight that was hijacked.
I have no doubt that you remember Suzanne Parks, the woman who was flying the plane after the pilot and co-pilot were killed.
Likewise, you undoubtedly remember Joe Vincent, the man who pistol-whipped you.
Suzanne and Joe were living together and had a child. That child was named Heather Parks. I was Heather’s godfather, and have since adopted her.
How did I happen to be Heather’s godfather? Many years ago, I was Suzanne’s husband, and Joe was a close friend. We grew up together, actually, all three of us. Suzanne and I had been high school sweethearts and married shortly after we graduated from High School.
Suzanne became a pilot and flew local charters. I went into police work and eventually became an air marshal.
That was the end of our marriage. In spirit, anyway. I wasn’t at home much, and Suzanne couldn’t deal with it. She became depressed and turned to Joe for comfort.
I came home one day and found them… Well, you can probably guess.
I did not file for divorce, however. I simply moved out. I couldn’t believe that Joe would do such a thing and I hated that Suzanne had.
I remained married to Suzanne in the hopes that she might come back to me. Eventually, they moved to another city, and I didn’t see them anymore. Until the flight.
I did hear from them, however. I knew when they had Heather, and Suzanne asked if I would be godfather to the little girl. I couldn’t refuse.
I received pictures of Heather and updates on how she was doing, but I never received any of Suzanne or Joe. I think they knew how painful the whole thing was for me.
I guess when she had Heather, she needed to stay home. But they had just purchased a house. Her drop in pay hurt them very much. Joe had been laid off, and couldn’t find a good-paying job.
From all that I had heard, and others that I talked to after the incident, Suzanne and Joe tried to give Heather everything. They gave so much, that both started suffering from malnutrition.
Suzanne had always been, well… Quite shapely, actually. A very beautiful blonde woman.
Joe had been on the wrestling team in high school.
Someone found out about them, and approached them with the idea of the theft and hijacking. They agreed. I believe they must have been desperate, although why they didn’t ask me for help, I’ll never know. I would have been glad to.
They looked so different on the plane. When I shot Joe, I had no idea he was my old friend. He had grown a beard in high school but had shaved it off before the flight. Plus, he was so gaunt.
Suzanne had lost so much weight also. It totally changed her face, and she had dyed her short hair brown. The only time I’d ever seen her with hair even remotely short was when she’d put it up for a flight. And as I said, she’d been blonde.
When she went to prison, she died. Her malnutrition had caused medical problems.
Heather knows what her parents did, but she doesn’t know that I was the one who killed her father. I never wanted her to find out about that, so I tried my best to disappear. I even had some creep wanting to write a book based on it.
I started a new life for myself and Heather. I’d always been a Christian, so I went into the ministry. Maybe as some sort of penance.
To this day, I still feel guilty for what I did. I know Joe was trying to kill you, and he’d killed the pilot and co-pilot. I like to think that was not planned. Maybe they just hadn’t planned the hijacking as well as they should have. Perhaps he’d been forced to kill them? Regardless, I know they did what they did for Heather.
When I saw your name on that business card, I knew God was offering me a way to end the guilt. So, I want to ask you to please see to Heather’s well-being if anything should happen to me. I know it might be painful for her if she found out that you were the pilot who her father tried to kill. She knows the general story of the hijacking, but I’ve always been able to keep the particulars from her.
Because of the pain it might cause, I ask you to not adopt her, but to see that she is placed with a family who will treat her well. Neither Joe nor I have any family still alive, and Suzanne’s are all in Sweden and have never had anything to do with her.
Now, I must deliver this to my attorney, then I wish to visit a tavern not far from here. I need some toughening up.
Paul Shore
Mike had to read the letter a second, then a third time. He wondered if it were true and why Paul would lie about it if it wasn’t. Many of the details of that flight were sketchy in his mind, so he asked Gloria about the general appearance of the two hijackers. She remembered the woman with short brown hair, and both of them were extremely thin.
He nodded and held out the letter to her and she sat down to read it. As she progressed through the writing, tears started forming in her eyes. She too, read it a second time, then a third, and by that last perusal, the tears were flowing freely.
She sniffed and asked Mike, “Do you believe the story?”
“Yes, I do. I’m assuming you do as well?”
“Why would he lie?” Gloria asked, echoing Mike’s thoughts.
“I can’t see any reason,” Mike replied. “What do we do about Heather?”
“You have to ask?” Gloria seemed shocked.
“We don’t know the girl,” Mike defended himself. “And the only thing we know about her is what this letter says. Sure, we had dealings with her parents, but that was hardly anything good.”
“I’ve had dealings with rebellious kids. If she is rebellious. We don’t know that she is.”
“I agree, but for two things. One, we have a very young boy here, and two, Paul asked that we not take in Heather ourselves. Just find her a place to live.”
“Well,” Gloria said with a bit of levity, “Chet and Mage took in Sammy and Ally not long after they got married. Maybe Darryl and Marcia would take in Heather.”
Mike looked at Gloria incredulously, and then he slowly smiled. “Heather, meet your new mom. She’s only four years older than you.”
Gloria laughed. “Naw… They’ve already met.”
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 30
Author:
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
I want to thank Malady, once again, for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Author’s note: Alaska Daylight Time is one hour behind Pacific Daylight Time.
Chapter 30
Lincoln City, Oregon
Noon, Monday, August 7th, 2023
Darryl pulled the Mustang into the parking lot at George Pratt’s office. It was a nice building; definitely upscale. He and Marcia got out and went inside where they were ushered through to Pratt’s private office. Pratt, Heather Shore, and a social worker they hadn’t met were present. Pratt introduced her as Caroline Ogilvy.
Heather was seated in a chair, looking very sullen. Marcia sat down beside her and asked how she was doing.
Rather than answer, Heather just shook her head. She didn’t want to talk.
“Can I tell you something?” Marcia asked.
Heather shrugged her shoulders which Marcia took as leave to speak.
“My parents are great people. They’ll find a place for you where you’ll be loved.”
“Your parents were on that plane.”
“Dad landed the plane while Mom talked to the ones that were escorting them,” Marcia explained.
Heather couldn’t argue with that, so said nothing more.
“I promise that you’ll have a family that loves you.”
“You can’t promise that. It’s your Dad that’s making any decision.”
“Sure I can,” Marcia told her. “Mister Pratt has a document that my dad signed. It gives Darryl and me power of attorney in things concerning you, for Dad. That means we can make decisions in his place.”
In truth, the power of attorney only meant they could make decisions concerning Heather while they were travelling to Alaska, and in fact, only Darryl could, as Marcia wasn’t yet eighteen, but Heather’s eyes brightened a bit at Marcia’s words. Marcia had jumped in to play piano when Heather’s own wrist was too sore, and she grabbed onto that fact, hoping that Marcia’s giving spirit extended beyond that.
Darryl allowed Pratt to make a copy of his passport and ID, then signed the power of attorney, and understanding what she had done to help with Heather’s spirits, George Pratt invited Marcia to ‘sign’ the form as well. She went through the motions of signing while Heather was still seated, and couldn’t see that Marcia wasn’t actually writing on the paper.
Then, Pratt had his secretary make copies of the paper, as well as notarize it and the copies. He gave one to Caroline Ogilvy, kept one himself, and gave a copy to Marcia and the original to Darryl. He would also send a copy to Mike Chatham.
After that, the easy part was over. Caroline had lots of things that she wanted to go over with Darryl and Marcia. She had no illusion that Marcia wouldn’t have some say on the way to Alaska, and as that state recognized her as emancipated, and she was seventeen, she was virtually an adult.
Once that was over, Caroline had Darryl and Marcia sign a document stating that they were receiving Heather into their custody, Darryl in Mike’s stead as per an order from a judge on Friday. That was rushed as it was understood that drawing out Heather’s custody would only hurt the girl.
They went outside and transferred a couple of cases of clothes into the backseat of the Mustang, then Heather got in.
Darryl and Marcia said their goodbyes, then they were off.
Chugiak, Alaska
1 PM, Alaska Daylight Time
Mike Chatham was sitting on his back deck, in a porch swing with Gloria sitting beside him.
His phone rang, and he answered it. It was Marcia and he put his phone on speaker so Gloria could hear it as well.
“We’re on our way,” she told him.
“How’d things go with the lawyer?”
“Just fine. Heather’s with us and we’re heading out of Lincoln City right now.”
“That sounds good. Darryl said you were going to take it a bit easier on the way up?”
“Yeah. We’re not getting on the ferry till tomorrow morning, so we’ve got a motel room reserved in Kent. It’s not a five star hotel, but it will be a place to sleep tonight.”
“You all be careful, and we’ll see you when you get up here,” Mike said.
“I love you guys,” Gloria put in. “Give my love to Darryl, and Heather too.”
“I will, Mom. Love you too!”
Highway 101 outside Lincoln City Oregon
2:05 PM, Pacific Daylight Time
Marcia hung up the phone and told Darryl and Heather, “Mom and Dad send their love.”
Darryl nodded his appreciation, but Heather said, “They don’t even know me. How can they love me?”
Marcia looked back at Heather and said, “Your dad was a Christian, and a Pastor too, right?”
“Yes,” Heather confirmed.
“Are you a Christian too?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Have you ever read First Corinthians Thirteen?”
Heather thought for a moment. “That’s the love chapter, isn’t it?”
“Yeah it is. You see, both Darryl’s and my families are Christians. Not just our parents, but our siblings too. And Darryl and me. Darryl’s sister is married to my brother, and all of us are a family. Chet and Mage, our brother and sister, have two kids who are adopted, and they love them just as if they were their own kids.”
“The cool thing,” Darryl put in, “is that instead of those kids being born into their family, Chet and Mage got to choose their kids.”
“But what if they have their own kids? Won’t they love them more than the adopted ones?”
“That won’t happen,” Marcia said.
“Maybe,” Heather said.
“No.” Marcia said. “It can’t happen.”
Heather looked skeptical, then she seemed to realize that Marcia meant something about them not being able to have kids.
Heather was silent for awhile, then asked, “Do you think Chet and Mage will adopt me too?”
Palmer, Alaska
2 PM, Alaska Daylight Time
There was a knock on the front door of Mike and Gloria’s house, and a few moments later, Bob and Liz Johnson stepped out of the patio doors onto the deck.
“So the kids are on the way,” Bob said as he sat down at the patio table and facing the couple on the swing.
“Yep,” said Mike.
“Have you decided what you’re going to do with Heather?”
“We’ve been talking about it,” Mike replied.
“We’d like to take her,” said Liz.
“You haven’t even met her,” said Mike, although he and Gloria had talked about the possibility of Bob and Liz.
“No, we haven’t. But I know she’s a little girl who’s been through way more than a girl her age should ever have to go through. She needs someone who will love her unconditionally, and I know Bob and I can, and will, do that.”
Mike smiled at that. He knew very well how determined Bob and Liz could be. Just as determined as he and Gloria could get.
"Do you have any other ideas?" Bob asked.
"Honestly," Mike admitted, "you guys are my number one choice."
"Who else are you considering?" Liz wondered.
"The Frasers," Gloria said.
"Ron and Melissa?"
Liz looked a bit shamefaced, then said, "If they are able to give her a good home, then they should be given the chance."
Mike was a bit confused. "I don't understand," he said. "Are you saying you'd rather they have the chance rather than you?"
“I think so," Liz said. "She can't have kids."
Mike gave her a searching look. "Is there any particular reason why?"
"I really can't say, Mike."
* * *
6 PM, Alaska Daylight Time
There was a knock on the door, and Gloria bade Judge Matthews and Sylvia to enter. They went to the patio overlooking the lake, where Mike sat at the table going over several background checks he had run.
"What's happening Mike?" The judge asked.
Mike held out the letter he'd received from Paul Shore and said, "Read this."
The Judge looked through the letter, then handed it to Sylvia. “What are you going to do?” he asked Mike.
Mike looked down at his hands on the table, then quizzically at Judge Matthews. “What can I do?”
“Is there anything in Paul’s will regarding this?”
“His attorney assures me that everything that needed done was done.”
Gloria went into the house and brought out a manila folder and showed its contents to the judge.
Judge Matthews studied the paperwork in the manila folder for a few minutes, then looked up at Mike. “Yes, it appears that everything is in order.”
Sylvia finished reading the letter and looked between her husband and Mike. “How did he get everything set up so quickly? It looks like he wrote the letter after he learned where you were.”
“I honestly don’t know,” Mike responded. “Do you think he had this idea before he learned it?”
“That’s a distinct possibility,” the Judge conceded.
“Why would he pick me?”
Gloria responded. “Mike, you impressed him. You got us to Kodiak even though you were suffering from a concussion.”
“He didn’t know that.”
“I suspect he did,” Sylvia said. “You were undoubtedly showing all the symptoms.”
“Yes,” Gloria agreed. “You were.”
“All the more reason to not pick me.”
“I disagree,” Judge Matthews said. “I believe by displaying that much fortitude you displayed your grit. Your doggedness.”
“So I’m stubborn,” Mike smiled. “Is that a reason for me to be guardian of a thirteen year old?”
“Perhaps in his mind it was,” the Judge answered.
Mike changed the subject. “Liz thinks I should recommend the Frasers. She says they can’t have kids.”
“I believe they’d make good parents,” Sylvia agreed.
“What would I need to do to turn her over to her?”
“Just recommend them. I’ll recommend a judge to preside.”
“What about you?” Gloria asked.
“That might be seen as a conflict of interest,” Sylvia told her.
“Why?” Gloria responded. “You know the Frasers. It seems to me that you’d be the perfect person to preside.”
“That may be right,” the judge said to his wife.
* * *
8 PM, Alaska Daylight Time
Mike knocked on the door of the Fraser’s house. A moment later, the door opened, and Ron beckoned him in. “Hi Mike,” he welcomed Mike.
“Is Melissa here?” the retired Lieutenant Colonel asked.
“Yeah. You need to talk to her?”
“Both of you, actually,” Mike responded. “Do you have a few minutes?”
“Sure,” Ron answered. “We’re not doing anything tonight.” He called to his wife, and she entered the living room. “Would you like some coffee?” Ron asked before he sat down.
“Sure,” Mike answered. “I’d love some.”
Ron brought him a cup, then sat down. “What can we do for you?” he asked.
Mike fished in his jacket pocket and pulled out the letter he’d received. He handed it to the man who read it then handed it to Melissa.
“Okay,” Ron said, then asked, “How can we help?”
“Liz told me that you can’t have children,” Mike said carefully. “Would you like to take on a teenager?”
Melissa recoiled at his words. “Did Liz tell you why we can’t have kids?”
“No,” Mike told her. He suddenly wondered if they didn’t want kids. Maybe one or the other had prevented that permanently.
“We talked about adopting after we got married,” Ron said. “But since both of us are police officers, we decided against it. There was too much danger that one of us might die in the line of duty.”
“You’re not police anymore.”
“No,” Melissa said. She looked at her husband. “We could adopt now.”
Ron just nodded.
They talked for a little bit more, and Mike told them what he knew of the girl.
Once he left, he realized that they hadn’t told him why they couldn’t have children.
Oh well, he decided. That’s their business.
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 31
Author:
Audience Rating:
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
I want to thank Malady, once again, for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Author's note : The Alaska Panhandle is the string of Islands that border the Coast of British Columbia, Canada
Chapter 31
Alaska Panhandle
1:37 AM, Pacific Daylight Time, Wednesday, August 9th 2023
Marcia woke with a start. She'd heard something in her sleep which didn't come from the engines or the gentle rocking of the “Blue Canoe.”
It came from the other bed in the room. She lay quietly again for a few moments until she heard another sniff. It didn't seem like the product of a cold or allergies. This sounded like someone hurting. She debated for a few minutes, wondering if she should just let Heather cry it out. When she heard the multiple exhalations of a weep, however, her compassion took over.
She quietly got up, hoping to not disturb Darryl, and moved to the girl's bed. She could see Heather in the dim glow from the deck lights outside their windows, and carefully sat down at the edge of the bed.
“Leave me alone,” Heather whispered.
“Are you sure?” Marcia asked.
Heather didn't answer immediately, but Marcia decided to respect her wishes. As she stood, however, Heather asked, “Why did he do it?”
Marcia sat back down and asked, “Do what?”
“I need him.”
“He didn't mean to leave you, Heather.”
"Yes, he did.”
Heather started weeping again and Marcia reached down and gathered the girl in an embrace.
“He loved you, Sweetheart. He didn't want to leave you alone.”
It took a moment for Heather to get any words out, but finally, “H-he didn’t th-think he was a-a-a good dad.”
“He was a great dad, Sweetie.”
“B-but h-he didn’t th-think so.”
Marcia didn’t have any words for that. She didn’t want to speak platitudes. She knew many people doubted their own skills as a parent, and Paul could well have doubted his own. Heather’s next words gripped Marcia’s heart.
“He d-drove his c-car off the c-c-cliff!”
Again, the girl was lost in sobs, and Marcia didn’t know what to say or do. A moment later, she felt Darryl’s hand around her shoulders as he lowered himself to her side. He pulled both girls into his strong embrace and softly asked, “Why do you say that, Heather?”
It took another moment for the sobs to calm down so she could respond. “I heard him. He was arguing with God.” She sniffed, then went on. “He wondered why he was the one raising me when there were so many better fathers out there.” sniff “’Why don’t you answer me!?’ he shouted.”
Marcia held the girl tight, hoping what came next wasn’t what she suspected.
“A moment later I heard breaking glass and the door slam shut. I hurried out of my room, but Daddy’s car sped off down the street. There was a broken bottle on the floor and the wall was wet where it’d broken.”
“That doesn’t mean he deliberately drove off the cliff,” Darryl told her, tightening his embrace.
“Daddy was never drunk,” Heather responded. “I’ve seen him drink several glasses and still be able to drive carefully.”
Chugiak, Alaska
9 AM, Alaska Daylight Time, Wednesday, August 9th 2023
Mike looked at his phone, then back at the attorney general. “It’s Darryl.”
Judge Matthews nodded, and Mike answered his phone. “Hey, Darryl, what’s up?”
“We had an interesting talk last night. With Heather.”
"Oh?”
"Yeah. She thinks her dad drove off that cliff deliberately.”
Mike sat down heavily. He’d wondered about such a thing himself. “What do you think, Darryl?”
“span style="font-variant: normal">I think she believes that he did.”
“I know your time with him was limited, but did you see anything that makes you think he could have done such a thing?”
“Not that I saw, but that doesn’t mean much. We only had the one service in his church, then had dinner with him. The only thing out of the ordinary at all was his surprise when he saw your card, and that’s explained now that we know who he was.”
“I see,” said Mike. “Judge Williams is here too. Do you mind if I put this on speaker so he can hear it too?”
“Sure. Want me to fill him in as well?”
“Please,” Mike requested.
Darryl explained to the Judge what Heather had told the young couple while the Judge listened carefully.
“I know you said she believes her dad committed suicide,” the Judge said when Darryl finished, “but what do you think?”
Darryl was quiet for a moment, then tentatively said, “I want to say I don’t think he did. But, the truth is, I don’t really know. She knew him better than anyone.”
“Fair enough,” the Judge said.
“Sir?” Darryl asked. “Is this going to affect the request of Dad Mike to find a place for her?”
“I really doubt it, Son. If we’re careful and do everything correctly, I don’t think anyone can find fault with what he’s doing.”
“So we should continue on our way?”
“I’m glad to see you’re thinking about this. Yes, continue on up here. I think we’ll be able to make the case that Mike is doing what’s best for Heather.”
Once Darryl disconnected, Mike asked Judge Williams what would be the best thing to do.
“I’ll let you know what to do, but after that, I’m going to have to stay out of it.” He shook his head. “It’s so frustrating. With my job, I could cut through all the red tape and say she stays where you say with just a stroke of my pen.”
“That would be just what those other guys were doing.”
“Yeah. We’re just going to have to make sure that we stay on the right side of the law here. I don’t want anyone to think I orchestrated any of this.”
Mike nodded. “Ironically, orchestrating things like this is your job.”
“Yeah,” the judge agreed. “As long as I do it legally. The problem is, I was friends with… No, that’s not right. I don’t agree with what Ralph Thomas did, but he was, and is, my friend. Some of those guys were in it for money and power, but I know Ralph. He wanted to do what was right. That’s all I want to do too, but I’ve got to trust that the right thing will be done through the process of law.”
“So what do I do?” Mike asked.
“Do exactly what you’d intended to do.”
“How do I know that’s not gonna cause any problems?” he wanted to know.
“We don’t,” the Judge replied, “but this has to be beyond reproach. We’re going to have to trust that everything Paul wanted done was arranged in a way it can’t be contested.”
“I’ve gotta ask, Judge. Who would contest it?”
“The state of Oregon could,” Judge Williams replied, “But that’s not to say they would.”
“This just got a thousand times more complicated.”
“Yeah, it did.”
Anchorage, Alaska
10AM, Alaska Daylight Time, August 12th, 2023
Darryl guided the Mustang out of the ferry, caught in the rest of the traffic getting off in Anchorage. It was the final destination of the ship, so pretty much everybody on board was disembarking.
Once they were on the Glenn Highway, which traveled from Anchorage to Palmer, Heather commented, “The trees seem so short.”
“It’s funny,” Marcia replied. “Our vegetables grow huge, but our trees don’t. The evergreens are mostly White Spruce, and the ones with white trunks are Paper Birch.”
“Aren’t there any pines?”
“With the long needles like down south?”
“Yeah,” Heather said, nodding.
“Not really. I’ve heard of some Shore Pines, but we don’t really have them here.”
“Oh,” Heather looked around more. “What are those white mountains ahead?”
“Those are the Talkeetnas,” Darryl answered.
“They’re huge!” Heather said in awe.
“The highest is almost nine thousand feet.”
“Mount Hood is over eleven thousand feet, but it sure doesn’t look as tall as those.”
“Its base is probably higher than the Talkeetnas,” said Marcia. “Plus, we’re seeing them across a flat valley that’s almost at sea level.”
Soon, they were at Eagle River, and cut off the Glenn Highway onto the Old Glenn, which ran through town. Quickly, they came to East Lake Ridge Drive and turned off.
Heather was nervous. She’d heard so many stories of Mike Chatham that she thought of him as if he was some kind of super-hero.
After a few miles, Darryl pulled the Mustang into a driveway on the left. Looking past the house, the lake and a dock where a boat and a small Cessna plane could be seen on floats. It was gently moving up and down as a wake from another plane, accelerating to lift off the water, moved to the shore.
“This is your Dad’s house?” Heather asked.
“Yeah,” Marcia said as she opened the door. She looked back at the younger girl and saw the look of fear. “Don’t worry, Heather. Daddy is going to do the best he can. In fact, I think some friends are stopping by tomorrow to meet you.”
Heather’s eyes opened wide as she contemplated meeting even more new people.
“Are they going to adopt me?”
Marcia smiled. “I don’t know, Heather. Let’s go in and see what Daddy has to say.”
All of the family had a standing invitation to open each other’s doors and walk in, so when Darryl got to the door, he… simply turned the knob and walked in.
“I guess we’re expected,” Heather commented.
“Well, yeah,” Darryl said, puzzled at her statement.
“We are,” Marcia confirmed, “But with members of the family, we don’t bother knocking. On the exterior doors, anyway. Certain interior doors, we never open.”
Heather paused a moment, then it dawned on her what Marcia was saying. “Oh! I get it.”
They walked through to the patio doors and out onto the deck. Mike was seated at the round patio table and stood when the three exited the house.
He gave Marcia a hug and kiss on the forehead, then hugged his son-in-law. He turned to welcome Heather, and held out a hand to her. She grasped it, but instead of shaking it, Mike simply said, “I’m very happy to meet you, Heather. I just wish it was under different circumstances.”
Heather didn’t say anything. She was afraid to, as tears came to her eyes.
A moment later, a bundle of energy flew out of the door and threw itself into Marcia’s arms. “Hi, Amber!”
“Marcia, Marcia, Marcia,” the little girl enthused. Mike smiled, but didn’t say anything about the greeting. Darryl, on the other hand, turned away, and he could be heard trying to hold back a laugh.
A moment later, Gloria stepped out of the house, holding the hand of a toddler.
Everyone was introduced to Heather, who had forestalled crying by concentrating on the names of everyone.
A couple of hours later, Mike put some burgers on the grill after making sure that Heather had no qualms about eating meat. Gloria went into the house and came back out with a large stock pot, oil, and a basket. Mike put it onto a propane burner while Gloria disappeared into the house once again. When she came out, she was carrying a couple of Zip-Lock™ bags of French Fries.
Marcia leaned close to Heather and told her in a quiet voice, “Mom loves to cook. These are her spur of the moment fries. She’s already blanched them, then froze them. They’re all home made.”
The group ate as soon as the fries were done, then Marcia and Darryl headed off. Heather was exhausted from a busy day, and Gloria showed her to her room.
Even
though she was exhausted, Heather lay awake thinking about the people
she was staying with. They were friendly, and she had definitely
taken a liking to them. She wished she could stay with them
permanently.
Meeting
new people was not her strong suit.
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 32
Author:
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
I want to thank Malady, once again, for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 32
Chugiak, Alaska
10:30 AM
Mike, Gloria, and Heater were once again on the patio. They’d just had some breakfast, and the three were watching the airplanes as they took off and landed on the lake.
Suddenly, Mike’s phone rang and he answered it.
“Hi, Mike,” came the voice of Ron Fraser.
Mike excused himself and went into his office and shut the door. Ron’s voice hadn’t been as upbeat as it usually was.
“What’s up, Ron?” Mike asked.
“Well, Judge Williams told us about Heather’s fear that Paul had killed himself. We don’t think under the circumstances we should adopt her.”
“Can I ask why?”
Ron sighed. “Well, it’s because of Mel’s status.”
“I don’t understand.”
“The reason we can’t have kids is because Mel is biologically male.”
“So? You know that Marcia and Mage are too, right?”
“Yeah, but not like Mel.”
“Mel never had surgery.”
“I see,” Mike said, nodding.
“Well, you don’t exactly. She really is Melissa.”
“I have a pretty good understanding.”
“But I’m not gay, Mike.”
“You really don’t have to explain, Ron.”
“I know, but I want you to understand why we don’t feel we can take on Heather.” He paused, then said. “With the possibility of Oregon stepping in and demanding her back, we feel this would just be more ammunition.”
“Oregon is pretty liberal, Ron.”
“Yeah, but given the opportunity, they may really try to fight. You see, Mel is completely insensitive to testosterone. It doesn’t affect her at all.”
“But why would that affect anything as far as the two states are concerned?”
Ron’s voice grew softer. “We don’t want anything to spoil an adoption. If the states decide to battle it out, they could claim she’d be an unfit mother: she couldn’t teach Heather about female puberty and so many other things.”
“They might say that, but it would be BS, and you know it.”
“Yes, but what might it do to Heather?”
“Okay, that’s the first sensible thing I’ve heard in this argument.”
“Mike, we really want the chance to adopt her, but I can’t condone hurting her by failing.”
“Don’t quit, Ron,” Mike implored.
“You know I’m not a quitter. I’m not giving up helping Bruce, but I’ve got a limit.”
“And this is that limit?”
“Let me explain. Several years ago, Mel and I had to arrest a woman who’d kidnapped her own daughter. She and her husband had gone through a pretty bad divorce and their daughter was used as a pawn. He eventually got custody, but the mother took her from daycare, then jumped on a plane with her.”
“How long did it take to find her?” Mike asked. He suspected it was a considerable amount of time.
“They were from Vermont, Mike. Nobody was looking for her up here. The daughter was two when she was kidnapped. She was nine when we realized who they were.”
Mike nodded, although Ron couldn’t see. “I get it, Ron. That must have ruined that kid’s life.”
“She was sent back to her dad, but six years later, she was in juvie.”
“I understand your concern, Ron, but boy I wish circumstances were different.”
“Me too, Mike. Me too.”
-=#=-
Mike considered what he should do. Should he keep Heather, either as her guardian or by adopting her? That seemed preferable to him, but it would break the agreement he made with George Pratt.
What about Chet and Mage? He seriously considered that possibility, but he kept coming back to the age issue. While Marcia and Darryl would be only four and six years older than Heather, Chet and Mage would only be eight years older. That seemed like it could open the possibility for problems with Oregon as well.
Bruce was currently out of the question, although that could change, especially if he and Wanda got together, but until the murder investigation was complete, obviously nothing could be done with either of them.
The only couple he felt he could work with was Bob and Liz. He called them.
“Hey, Bob, I need to talk to you and Liz.”
“Is this about Heather?”
“Yeah, it is,” Mike told his friend.
“I thought you were going to talk to Ron and Mel?”
“I just did, they don’t feel they can take her at the moment.”
“Is it because of what we mentioned before?”
“Yes and no.”
Bob seemed to accept that as a reason. “Okay. We’ll be over there in a few.”
Noon
Bob and Liz normally entered the house the same way Darryl and Marcia did, but to keep from freaking out Heather, they knocked this time.
Gloria opened the door, and invited them in. Heather was seated in the living room, head buried in her phone.
But when she noticed the new arrivals, she set down her phone and stated her guess/span> that Bob and Liz were Darryl’s parents.
“How can you tell?” Liz asked.
“Darryl’s voice and Colonel Johnson’s sound very alike, and his face looks a lot like yours.”
Gloria smiled. “You’re good at that. I didn’t realize how much Bob and Darryl’s voices were alike until the first time we had dinner together. Whenever one spoke, I had to look to see who it was.”
It was starting to rain, and rather than fix something in the BBQ, Gloria set out some cold cuts, sourdough bread, cheese, sauces, and assorted veggies to make sandwiches. She was well aware of the “Dagwood” sandwiches Bob liked and made sure there were some Hoagie rolls for him to use.
Mike had tried Bob’s recipe, and declared them wonderful, but he preferred a sandwich made from the middle of a sourdough round, the rest of which he would use as a bowl for chili or stew later.
Heather watched as Bob built his sandwich, and Liz caught her eye. “I never can figure out how he eats those peppers. Darryl does as well, and they’re way too spicy for me,” Liz told her.
“That looks delicious,” Heather confessed. “I can’t eat that much, but it sure looks good.”
“Want me to make you one?” Bob asked.
“Please!” Heather enthused.
“Same meats?”
Heather smiled and nodded.
Bob got to work cutting open another hoagie. “These keep in a fridge pretty well, so what you don’t eat now, you can have later,” he said smiling.
He piled on ham, bacon, turkey, and pastrami, then turned to the cheeses, Cheddar, Swiss, and Dubliner went on, although he asked, “Do you like Dubliner?”
“I’ve never tried it,” she said.
Bob handed some over, and she took a bite of the slice. Her eyes lit up!
“You’ve converted another, haven’t you?” Liz said to her husband.
“You like Dubliner too,” he told her.
“Yes, but there’s no way I could eat it with that much stuff in a sandwich. The flavors cancel each other out.”
“They blend,” Bob argued.
He added peppercinis, tomatos, jalapenos, lettuce, pickles, cucumbers, olives, onions, and alfalfa sprouts, then placed the sandwich on a plate. “Want some chips?”
“That’s okay,” she said, shaking her head. “There’s a kind that Daddy and I used to eat called Tim’s Cascade Jalapeno Chips ™. They’re kettle- cooked. There’s no other chip.”
Bob nodded. “That sounds good. I’m gonna have to see if I can order them.”
Liz picked up her phone and spoke the name into it. “Amazon carries them,” she told them both. "I suppose I should order them. Bob’s gonna want to try them.”
“So will Darryl,” Mike laughed. “Not to mention I will too.”
“They go great in a sandwich too,” Heather told them, looking specifically at Mike.
Mike nodded. “You’ve sold me!” Heather had noticed he put chips in his sandwich, as well as jalapenos.
“Another thing to add to the Amazon order, right?” Gloria asked.
“Sounds great!”
-=#=-
After the lunch, Bob and Liz spent some more time with Heather before leaving, and decided they would love to see how she would work out in their family.
Bob, however, had one more question for her. “Do you like Ice Cream? And if so, what kind.”
Heather giggled and said, “Moose Tracks.”
Bob slapped his hand down on the table and exclaimed, “Perfect! Draw up the paperwork, Mike!”
Arctic Fox Book 3 - Chapter 33
Author:
Audience Rating:
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Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash
I want to thank Malady, once again, for his help checking through this story for the many errors I frequently insert, as well as listening to my sometimes completely crazy ideas about the direction of the story and telling me how crazy they are!
Chapter 33
Chugiak, Alaska
2:00 AM
It had been an eventful day for the Johnsons. That morning, or yesterday morning to be precise, they had no thought of a new child in their care. Now, in the guest room, a thirteen-year-old girl was in bed and would be for quite a while to come.
The ongoing saga of Oak Island ended and Bob stood up and stretched. It was a repeated episode from the tenth season, and he once again wondered if Mage, Chet, Marcia, and Darryl could solve the mysteries if they were to tackle it.
He started toward Liz’s and his bedroom, but part way there, he heard crying coming from the guest room. He considered going in but thought better of it, and continued onto his own room. Liz’s bedside light was on, and she was putting on a robe.
“You heard her?” Bob asked.
“Yes. I don’t want to push her, but I think I should see if she wants to talk.”
“Let me know if she’s okay,” he told her.
“I’m guessing she’s probably not,” Liz replied.
“Okay, well let me know if she’ll be okay,” Bob amended.
Liz smiled and gave him a kiss. “I will.”
Bob entered their en-suite bathroom, and Liz softly made her way to Heather’s room.
She noticed that the door was slightly open, and briefly wondered if Bob had opened it, but in retrospect, figured that he wouldn’t even touch the door to the room of a young girl he wasn’t related to. True, they had decided to adopt Heather regardless of any problems that might arise, but until she was adopted, she knew Bob would be careful.
She tapped on the door, and heard a quiet, “Come in.”
She gently pushed the door open, and the soft light from the hall showed Heather lying in the bed. Her back was toward the door, but she rolled over and faced Liz.
“It’s been a hard week, hasn’t it?”
The girl nodded, then unexpectedly said, “I know what my parents did.”
Liz was taken aback but carefully asked, “What’s that?”
“I know that they hijacked that plane. I know that Dad was the air marshal on board, and I know that Colonel Chatham was the one who landed the plane.”
“How do you know that, Dear?” Liz asked her.
“People can try to block the internet, but there are always ways around that.”
“When did you find out?” Liz asked.
“I wondered when I went to live with Dad. I had learned a while before that how to get into locked computers.”
“I see,” Liz said, surprised that one so young would know how to break into a computer. “How did you learn that?”
“The internet.”
Liz laughed softly. “So you learned how to break into the internet on the internet.”
“Yeah.” She didn’t say anything for a minute and Liz just sat beside the bed. “Why do people do things like that?” She finally asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Hijack a plane.”
“Usually for the love of money. I think your parents did it for a different reason, though.”
“Why?”
“I think they loved you very much,” Liz said. “And they wanted to make sure you had a good life.”
“I would have had a good life with them at home, no matter how much food and clothes I had,” Heather said, starting to cry again.
Liz nodded, then said, “Sometimes a parent’s maternal or paternal instinct stops them from seeing the obvious. They’ll do anything for their kids, to make sure they have a good life.”
Heather sniffled a couple of times, then exclaimed, “But it was wrong!”
Liz reached out and grasped Heather’s hand. “They didn’t see it that way.”
Heather didn’t argue. She lay quiet for a bit, then commented, “Dad killed my father.”
Liz involuntarily squeezed the girl's hand. “That must be hard to take.”
“It was at first. I thought about it a lot, then realized my Mom had miscalculated how far they could get. My father tried to kill Colonel Chatham. If he had, everyone on the plane would have died because they couldn’t have made it to where Mom was going. Colonel Chatham landed the plane and saved all those people. Mom would have killed them.”
Heather dissolved into tears again. It was a couple of minutes before she could even approach talking again. “I d-d-don’t know h-how to feel about them. I w-want to hate them, but I still l-l-love them!”
Liz sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled the girl into an embrace. “That’s alright,” she said softly. “No matter what they did, they’re still your mother and father. Nothing will ever change that.”
Heather nodded her head Liz held her until she felt the girl starting to fall asleep, then she carefully lowered her down to the bed again.
She got up from where she was seated and carefully moved to the door. As she was exiting, she heard Heather softly say, “Thank you. You’re good parents too.”
10:00AM
Heather woke up to the smell of bacon and coffee. She got up, put on some jeans and a V-neck top, and walked into the kitchen. Liz was making bacon, eggs, pancakes, and toast.
“Can I get some coffee?” Heather asked.
“Of course,” Liz told her. “Everybody in the family has free reign with the coffee pot, but you’re immediate family, so you have free reign of whatever else you find in the kitchen, too.”
Heather smiled, and poured herself a cup of coffee, then sat down at the table.
Just as she sat down, she heard footsteps, prompting her to turn and say good morning to Bob as he came in. He grinned at her and sat down at his place, where Liz set down a steaming stack of pancakes.
Liz sat as well and she and Bob folded their hands and bowed their heads. Heather quickly followed suit, and Bob said grace for their breakfast.
When he finished, Liz stood up, and he glanced around the table but didn’t see what he was looking for. Liz opened the pantry and reached in. She grabbed a jar of peanut butter and set it in front of him.
“There you go,” she said and kissed his cheek.
Bob grinned at Heather and said, “Gotta have peanut butter on my pancakes.” When he finished spreading it, he gestured to ask Heather if she wanted some. She smiled wide and nodded. Bob slid it to her, and she happily spread it on her pancakes, then poured some maple syrup on top.
“Do you like breakfast-dessert?” asked Bob.
“What’s that?” Heather wondered.
“Is that what you’re calling it now?” Liz laughed from where she was making more pancakes.
Bob grinned conspiratorially at Heather and said, “Just save some room.”
When he finished what was on his plate, Liz brought a couple more pancakes to him and then went to the fridge and got a bottle of Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup®. Heather watched as Bob put peanut butter on his pancakes again, and then squeezed chocolate syrup onto them, just as he had the maple syrup. He gave her a questioning look when he was done, and she answered exuberantly, “Yes, please!”
Chatham Farm
Noon
Heather looked beside the car as the scenery went by. They were through Palmer now, and heading roughly northwest. Just after they passed a prison on the left, they turned into a drive on the right.
Bob pulled up to a ranch gate. It looked like the Ponderosa gate from the TV show, Bonanza, but the sign above said Chatham Farm with real moose antlers hanging on either side of the name. Across the road was a metal gate and on the driver's side of the car was what looked like a wooden mailbox with a number pad beside the door.
Clipped to Bob’s sunvisor was a garage door opener, and he pressed one of the two buttons on it. The gate opened and he drove through.
About a quarter mile past the gate, the road went over a rise, and ahead of them were several buildings.
Heather was looking straight ahead, afraid of meeting her new sister. Bob pulled up to what was obviously the house, parked, and he and Liz opened their doors.
Heather was reluctant to go into the house, and Liz turned to tell her, “You can sit in the car until you’re ready to get out. There’s going to be a lot of people here, and we know meeting so many people at once can be overwhelming.”
The young girl nodded, and her new parents shut their doors and walked toward the far side of the house. Heather watched them go, and saw that there were several picnic tables set up there. A man with dark hair was watching over a grill, and beside him was a wood smoker pouring out smoke. Colonel Chatham was there as well, talking to him. She suddenly realized that she smelled the meat on the grill when her parents opened their doors. It smelled wonderful!
Suddenly, Marcia rounded the corner of the house and ran toward the car. Heather opened the door and got out. With Marcia there, she felt more confident.
Marcia enveloped the girl in a big hug and exclaimed, “So you’re my sister-in-law! I’m so happy!” Heather noticed that Marcia didn’t say she was going to be her sister-in-law. It seemed that to the older girl, it was already done.
“Come on,” Marcia enthused. “You need to meet Chet and Mage!” She grabbed Heather’s hand and pulled her toward the picnic area. Even if Heather had wanted to stay away from the other people, Marcia was determined that that wouldn’t happen.
Marcia pulled the girl up to the man with the grill and said, “Chet! I want you to meet our sister-in-law, Heather!”
A woman with light brown hair, just a shade or two darker than Marcia’s walked up to them, and Marcia introduced her excitedly, “This is your sister, Mage!”
“Chet’s my brother. He and Mage are married!”
Marcia was bubbling with enthusiasm while she introduced everyone.
Heather saw three younger kids running over. She guessed that one of the girls was around ten years old. She recognized Amber, and the youngest, a boy, was about five or six. Chet started to introduce the kids, but Marcia interrupted. “This is Allie,” she said, indicating the older of the two girls, “and this is Sammy,” she said of the small boy. “They’re our niece and nephew. Chet and Mage’s kids.”
“Hi,” Heather said. “I’m Heather.”
Chet overrode his sister with a glare, as she started to introduce the other girl. “And of course,” he said, “you know Marcia’s and my sister, Amber.”
“Sorry,” Marcia said, but she didn’t seem to be, really.
“Uh-huh,” Chet retorted.
Another car was pulling up, and Heather suddenly seemed to withdraw. Mage noticed and offered, “Would you like Marcia and me to introduce you to them?”
Heather nodded, wide-eyed.
Mage started to move over to the older couple as they got out of their car, but Heather remained rooted to the ground.
“Let them come over here,” Chet advised.
The couple greeted Bob and Liz, then Mike and Gloria. Finally, they moved over to where Heather stood with her peers.
The man held out his hand and said, “I’m Judge Matthews. You’re welcome to call me grandpa if you want, but you don’t have to.”
“I’m Sylvia,” the woman said, “the judge’s wife.”
“You’re my new mom’s parents?” Heather asked.
“No,” Sylvia told her. “We’re not really your grandparents.”
“We consider them grandparents,” Darryl said as he joined them.
“Grandpa Matthews is the attorney general of Alaska,” Marcia told her.
There was a sound on the road, and Heather glanced that way. Her face turned white as she saw two cars coming down the road.
“Why don’t you take Heather to introduce her to Tigger,” Judge Matthews said.
Marcia nodded in agreement and said to Heather, “Come on!”
Gratefully, Heather followed.