Page 21 of Wind Valley

“Why would you say that? I bet you’re an excellent brother.”

“How do you figure that?” He took his eyes off the road to give her a curious glance.

“Because he’s so intensely loyal to you. Only the best people inspire that sort of loyalty.”

“Hm.” He seemed unimpressed by her logic. “I think the point is that Gil is one of the best people. If you’re ever in any kind of trouble, he’s the guy you want.”

Was he trying to tell her something? Had he guessed that she was in trouble? She’d never told him anything about her nightmare. All he knew was that she was here visiting her grandfather and taking a break from the pressures of teaching.

“I think my first call would be to you, actually.” Her words were so soft they could barely be heard. In fact, he didn’t hear, because at that moment, something flew across the road, just a few feet from the windshield.

Lachlan jerked and yanked the steering wheel to the right. The truck swerved across the road and she cried out in warning. With a muttered curse, he regained control and a moment later they were cruising down the road as before. “Are you okay?” he asked her.

“What the hell was that?” Her heart was racing as she peered into the woods after the flying object.

“I think it was a bald eagle. But I’ve never seen one fly that close before.” He hit the gas to power them over the crest of the hill.

“More animals behaving strangely?” She put a hand to her chest, as if she could physically force her heart to stop beating so fast. That was one thing about trauma, she’d come to learn. Your body remembered and would overreact to the tiniest trigger.

“Add it to the list, I guess,” Lachlan said.

From the top of the hill, the road plunged into a valley with forests on one side and an open expanse of snow on the other. Maura wondered if those fields held crops when it wasn’t winter.

“That’s Chilkoot property.” Lachlan gestured with a sweep of his hand. “I believe they grow potatoes and cabbage out here.”

“So maybe they trained an eagle to act like a scarecrow and keep people away from their potatoes?”

Instead of laughing, Lachlan tilted his head. “Interesting theory.”

“It’s more of a joke than a theory.”

But Lachlan continued to take it seriously. “Some kind of human intervention might explain the odd incidents.”

“So could alien intervention,” she pointed out. “Yes, I’ve got it! Aliens from another planet landed nearby and they’re manipulating the animals.”

“For what purpose?” Still taking her seriously, she noticed. Was that the way of a true scientist, to follow every theory down a rabbit hole, no matter how silly it was?

“Spy on us? Scare us? Maybe they have plans to take over and kick us out. It’s not like we’ve done a very good job taking care of this planet. Maybe the time of the humans is over and the time of animals is about to begin, with an assist from another planet. I say bring it on. I will bow down to my new bald eagle overlords. They’ve got to be better than a bunch of bald men.”

They were both laughing by now, although she wasn’t entirely sure she was joking.

“I like the way your mind works,” he said, when his laughter had died down. “Your imagination is…”

“What?”

“I was going to say…sexy. But that’s probably not the right word.”

That triggered another bout of laughter from her. “No one has ever said that to me before. ‘Oh baby, your imagination is soooo sexy.’” She mimicked every guy who’d ever tried to pick her up at a Starbucks or the gym. “Usually it’s all about my eyes.”

“Can hardly blame them,” he murmured.

Surprised, she gave him a quick glance, but he was focused on the first outbuildings that had appeared up ahead. “That’s their high tunnel, where they grow winter greens.” A white plastic hoop house the size of a football field came into view. “They’re almost entirely self-sufficient. It’s pretty impressive, if you don’t mind all the criming.”

He waved at two men who were loading a truck at the entrance of the hoop house. They gestured to him and he pulled over to the side of the road. Maura rolled down the window so he could call to them. As he leaned past her, she caught the smell of fresh snow and a pleasant, tobacco-ey scent that must be Lachlan’s. She found it comforting, like everything else about Lachlan.

“Did Elias tell you we were coming?”

“A-yup,” one of the men called. “Tracks are over there. Have at.” He pointed to the east. “But watch out for that wolf, he’s still out there.”

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