Page 21 of The Northern Lights in His Eyes

“The chopper is right over there. I’m waving to be friendly,” William said. “If we run from them, they’ll know something is up. But if we look friendly, they’ll discount us and probably move on.” Garvin felt him wave again, but Garvin continued forward. The trees would make it harder to see them, but all anyone had to do was follow their trail in the snow. Still, Enrique continued forward, intersecting their trail out and following along that same track. The chopper made a final circle and then continued on.

“Good thing they left. I think they thought we were hunters or something,” William said, holding on once more. Garvin felt much better knowing William’s hold was more secure, and he picked up speed again.

“I think they wanted to see what we had on the sled. It’s a good thing Devon covered what we found, but they can follow our tracks to the avalanche area. We need to get back,” Garvin said. An hour later, they broke out near one of the roads in the area and headed right back toward the trading post.

“Do you think there will be trouble?” William asked.

“I don’t know.” Garvin was more concerned about getting William inside where it was warm. He could feel him shivering a little and knew the cold had to be seeping in under his clothes. As clear as it was, there was nothing to hold in any heat, and it would get colder, even with the sunshine. When they reached the building, Garvin pulled up to the door and sent William inside, then parked next to Enrique’s snow machine and helped unload the pieces of wood they’d gathered. “Where do you want to put them?”

Devon and Enrique shared one of those looks like they were talking silently to each other. “In the studio. We can let them warm up in there and then look them over.” Devon went inside, and they each carried in a piece. Devon had cleared a space on the floor, and they laid them out. They were very clearly charred on one side, with ragged edges. Garvin was no expert by any means—hell, he taught school—but these pieces could have been part of an explosion and fire before the avalanche carried everything away.

“What do we do with this?” Enrique asked as he stood with his hands on his hips, looking down at the wood like it was going to offer up the answers as part of a grand speech.

“I say we call the state police,” Garvin offered.

“I have Trooper Nelson’s card in my office somewhere. I’ll go find it and give him a call. See if he’ll come on out.”

Enrique left, and Garvin went through to the main room of the trading post. William had taken off his coat and snow pants and turned them inside out. His pants looked damp, and he sat at the bar, his hands wrapped around a mug of coffee.

“Are you getting warm again?”

“Yeah. I’m okay. I stayed pretty warm even though I was damp until I got in here. Then the chill started to take hold. But I’m getting better now, and I figured I should let everything dry out.” He sipped his coffee, and Angie brought him a bowl of stew, which William began inhaling. “I guess it was pretty stupid of me to go in the first place. I wanted to help, but it’s obvious I don’t know shit about life up here.”

“Hey, you rescued folks,” Claude said from a stool two down. He was an old sourdough and had seen plenty of winters up here. “And you learn. The biggest thing is not to take chances unless you have to, and always have a backup plan.” He smiled, or what came as close to it as Garvin had ever seen on that grizzled face.

“You got good gear, and falling in the snow happens to everyone.” Garvin sat next to William.

“It sure as shit does. One time I was wintering out on my claim over closer to Palmer. I was out working traps when my snowshoes failed. Ended up with the frames up near my balls and me half buried in the white shit. I had to dig myself out and work my way back home. I was lucky and found some shelter and was able to build a fire and roast the rabbits I’d caught. Got me through the night, and I was able to make it home the next day.” He patted William on the back. “You had friends who had your back.”

“That I did,” William said. “But what would have happened if…?”

“Don’t go borrowing trouble,” Claude warned. “You’re here and safe, and the rest you learn from.” He turned back to his bowl of stew, and Garvin motioned to Angie and requested a burger.

“You did good. You got us to where we needed to go, and you did it by landmarks and trees. That’s something even Claude here would be impressed about.”

“For a greenhorn?” Claude asked, nodding. “That’s dang good. Young folks use GPS for everything, but I know the land.”

“Well, I still feel stupid,” William said and went back to his stew. Garvin clapped him on the shoulder, holding his gaze when William turned to him. Part of him had wanted to scold him for overbalancing. Seeing William tumble the way he did had scared him. He could have gone in headfirst, and God knows what could have been under that snow. Even once he knew William hadn’t been hurt, his stomach had clenched and his heart raced until they got William back on the snowmobile. He hadn’t wanted William to go in the first place, not because he thought he couldn’t handle it but because he wanted him to stay safe, and he’d nearly buried himself in a snowbank. If it had been deeper and not packed down by the avalanche, he could have fallen to the point that the snow covered him. That idea sent a frigid chill up his back even in the warmth of the trading post. Still, William was fine, and they had gotten him out.

As it was, he was still concerned about what the helicopter had been about and if there was going to be trouble.

Garvin lightly patted William’s knee to reassure him. “The biggest thing is that you didn’t panic. You kept your head, and we were able to get you out.” He felt like he needed to say something to help remove that hangdog expression from William’s face.

William gave him a gentle smile, and Garvin squeezed his knee before pulling his hand away. There was no need to make too big a thing about the two of them in public. Still, he wanted to comfort William as best he could.

Enrique came out from the back room. “He’s on his way.”

“Who?” William asked.

“Trooper Nelson,” Garvin answered softly. There was no need to start a bunch of rumors and talk running through the place. There was already enough about William’s mishap and why they were up there in the first place. No need to add fuel to the rumor-mill fire.

Devon and Enrique went back about their business like nothing was going on. “Are you feeling drier?” Garvin asked William, who nodded as he ate the last of his stew.

“Yeah. I’m okay. It wasn’t all that much snow, but it’s nice to be where it’s warm.” He asked for another coffee and a glass of water, and he drank the entire glass before sipping the coffee more slowly.

Just as Garvin finished his lunch, Trooper Nelson came inside. Enrique met him, and the two men headed through to the back. “We may as well hear what he thinks.” Garvin and William followed them back into Devon’s studio and closed the door behind them.

“What’s this?” Trooper Nelson asked, looking down. Enrique relayed the story of the rescue and their trip up today. The trooper knelt and examined the wood. “What made you suspicious? Avalanches happen, especially in heavy snow years like this one.”

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