Amarok (20 page)

“It was my brother’s name. He died when I was nine. Guess I was just having a flashback or something.”

“So, you were alone, then? We don’t have to worry about trying to find anyone else?”

“No, I was alone.”

The shrink took a toothpick from his pocket and stuck it into his mouth. Emma stared at the piece of spinach still wedged between his front teeth.

“We have some therapeutic art classes that I feel would be beneficial to you, if you’d be willing to participate.”

“No thanks. I can’t even draw stick figures and besides, I won’t be staying that long.”

“You’ll be here at least another two days. They want to keep a close eye on you. You were in serious shape when you were brought in here.” He stood, and Emma couldn’t help but notice a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “Here’s my card, in case you need anything,” he said, offering her a plain, white business card.

“Thanks.”

He took one step out of the room, paused, and then came back in and shut the door. “I almost forgot. There’s one more thing I need to mention. You see, while you were out of it, the Sheriff matched your description to the driver’s license he found in your car. Since you’re a minor, we had to contact your stepfather.”

Emma opened her mouth to protest, but Dr. Reynolds continued. “He informed us he has no guardianship rights and provided us with the name of your father.”

“My father? I don’t have a father.”

“I spoke with him yesterday.” His voice trailed off as he dropped his gaze to the floor. “He made it clear he didn’t have any parental rights either, and to be frank, he sounded.…”

“Uninterested? Mad that you were bugging him? That sounds like my dad, all right.”

“No, actually quite the opposite. He sounded very concerned about you, but unfortunately he’s incarcerated in Texas. He didn’t want you to know.”

“Incarcerated? You mean, like prison?”

“I’m afraid so, Emma. And that leaves us with no choice but to seek foster care.”

Emma’s brain spun in a thousand directions. Where would they send her? How would she ever get back to Amarok? Even if he’d died, she still wanted to return to find out for sure. She’d promised him before she left that, no matter what happened, she’d return.

“No, no way! I’m not going to live with strangers.”

He held up his hand. Emma spotted a flimsy gold band circling a pale finger.

“Now, listen, I may have good news. Luckily enough for you,” the shrink said, “the gentleman who brought you here offered to take you in. His family is well known here. I think they would make a suitable home for you, for the school year at least. And if it doesn’t work out, we can make other arrangements. What do you think?”

Emma released a sigh. She could stay with Ben, and he’d be able to take her back to the mountains, back to Amarok. “Okay, that would be cool.”

“Good, then it’s settled. I’ll phone the family and make the arrangements.”

The doctor stepped from the room and Emma laid her aching head on the pillow. Before she could close her eyes, he ducked back into the room.

“I’m sorry; I almost forgot. I have a letter for you.”

Emma’s chest tightened.
Was it bad news? Good news? Would she go crazy if it was from Ben, telling her of Amarok’s death?
A thousand disturbing thoughts battered her exhausted mind.

Jock walked a few feet away and sat on a stump. He glanced at Amarok, and then lowered his eyes. “Yes, that’s true. I’m not the cause of all of this, but I am the cause of that man’s entrapment.”

Amarok frowned. “But, how?”

“It’s a long, sad story. One I haven’t thought of in quite some time.” The big man folded his arms across his chest. “The guilt of it forced it to the darkest places of my mind. Through the years, it would resurface and the feelings of regret would tug at my heart again.” Jock plowed his hands through his hair and slipped on his stocking cap. “When I came from the coast to fetch you for our fishing trip, I couldn’t get anyone to bring me here. No one would come within ten miles of this place. I laughed it off. I couldn’t believe that anyone could be more superstitious than sailors, but I was wrong. No one was willing to help.”

Amarok shrugged. “That doesn’t surprise me. The locals all knew better.”

Jock nodded. “I met a man in town, at the Klondike Saloon—the man you just saw. His name was Eska. He spoke very little English, but from what I could gather, he was working a mine, raising a large family, and trapping upriver—not far from the valley where you lived. The saloonkeeper told me that Eska would do anything to support his family. He said Eska’s wife, who was much younger than he was, had been ill with tuberculosis and unable to care for their children. Because of her grave condition, he had little time to hunt or work his mine.”

“But, you had no idea that the curse was real. Only a fool would believe such tales.”

Jock’s face paled. His eyes softened and he rubbed the whiskers covering his chin. “But I took advantage of his desperate situation.” Jock slammed a fist into his thigh. “Eska begged to drop me off a mile from the cabin, and I refused. He told me his children needed him. That it was too risky. And I told him that I wouldn’t pay him unless he dropped me off right at the riverbank, right in front of the cabin. I knew he wouldn’t refuse because he needed the money. At the time, I didn’t believe in the nonsense he was telling me. I should’ve listened and agreed to his wishes. I never should’ve pushed him.”

Jock’s gaze dropped to the ground, his face filled with sadness. “Just a half a mile from the shore our boat capsized, even though there was no wind. When I awoke, unable to move, I saw Eska pleading with the shaman, begging that vile creature not to take him, as his family would surely perish.” Jock swallowed hard. “That evil monster turned a blind eye and deaf ear to him, taking even greater pleasure in his suffering. I can still hear Eska’s cries as he changed from man to beast. Trapped forever, knowing that his wife and young children would starve to death.”

Amarok stared at the spot in the brush where the angry man had vanished, trying to push the haunting sounds of children’s hungry cries from his mind.

“You had no way of knowing any of this would happen. Don’t be so hard on yourself, uncle.”

“I know that, son, but he tried to tell me, and I pushed him into it. I put us both in danger, being so damn insistent and bullheaded. If he could’ve dropped me off upriver, he would’ve been home that night, tending to his ailing wife and children.”

“Where do you think he’s going?”

“Downriver, I imagine, where he lived before all this happened.” Jock rubbed his chin and frowned. “To a home, rotting into the earth, and his family resting in cold graves.”

Amarok shivered. “At least he’s free now.”

“But the life he once had is gone. You know it as well as I do. Once it’s gone, you can never recover those lost years.”

Amarok had no answer, since his uncle was right.

“Well,” Jock said. “We have a lot more people to find and to free, by the number of totems you’re carrying in that pack.”

“I don’t think reuniting the others will be so easy,” Amarok said. “I can’t imagine that very many have found their original totems. Weasel Tail kept them well hidden.”

“We’ll find them, no matter where that degenerate hid them. Even if we have to rip the place apart.” Jock eyed the sky. “Better head home before it gets any later.”

Neither of them wore a watch, still measuring time by the progress of the sun floating lazily over the edge of the horizon.

“We’ll take stock of the supplies we’ll need for the winter.” Jock glanced at Amarok and winked. “Hope you’re a good cook.”

“Sorry,” Amarok said. “But if I’m doing the cooking, we’ll be skinny by spring.”

The big man laughed and slapped him on the shoulder.

A plane buzzed overhead. Amarok’s heart leapt. Jock turned to him with a grin and the two men doubled their pace for Ben’s.

Dr. Reynolds reached into his coat pocket and held out a sealed envelope. Emma saw her name written neatly, in old-fashioned print, across the front. She reached for it, and he snatched it away.

“Not so fast,” he said with a smile. “We have a few things to discuss before I give you this.” He tapped the letter against the palm of his hand a few times.

Emma frowned, her temper flaring. She didn’t have time for games. “What do you mean? It’s mine, isn’t it?”

“Yes, of course, but first I want a promise from you.”

“What kind of promise?”

He paused and gave her a stern look. “That if I give you this letter, you won’t try to get out of bed again, young lady. Not until you’re better. You need your rest. It’s very important to your recovery.”

“Okay, I promise.” Emma gave him a frosty glare and held up three fingers. “Scout’s honor. Now can I have my letter?”

He grinned and slapped the envelope into the palm of her hand. He turned before leaving. “I’ll be here if you decide you need to talk to someone.”

“Thanks.” Emma glanced at him, then at the wall, wishing he would just leave so she could open it in private.

He turned on his heel and headed into the hallway. Emma leaned over the side of her bed, peering into the busy foyer. She watched him saunter to the coffee machine and rummage in his pocket. He dropped some coins into the vending machine and pulled out a giant-sized cup. Taking a sip, he disappeared around a corner. Confident he was truly gone, Emma examined the envelope. She had so many unanswered questions. Maybe the answers were all here in this letter. Emma held her breath, her hands shaking.
Please, be good news
. She tore open the envelope.

Dearest Emma
,

I have so much to share with you. But first, I want you to know, I wish with all my being that I could be at your side. The curse will not allow me to leave the walls of the forest. And so with a heavy heart I must tell you that I’m afraid many months will pass until we are able to see each other. Thankfully, Ben has been checking on you, and with each day the doctors say you are getting stronger. I am so grateful
.

I hope and pray that you will return with Ben in the spring and join me here next summer. During this dark chapter of separation, I will spend the winter helping those your bravery has helped to set free. Until then, I’ll be waiting for you and missing you
.

Amarok

Emma pressed the letter to her lips. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, inhaling the traces of his scent that clung to the paper. Joy surged in her and threatened to bubble over. Amarok was alive! Somehow, he’d gotten his totems. Emma glanced out the hospital window at the white landscape, a strange mirror-image of the barren, white hospital. A thick layer of frost sparkled across fresh mounds of snow, glimmering in the sunlight. Icicles hung like sculpted crystal from sagging tree limbs. So much snow had fallen while she’d been asleep. And so many changes had occurred since she’d fled from home that dark night. She leaned her head on the pillow and gazed into the mountains where she knew Amarok waited, as loyal and patient as ever. Emma smiled and her thoughts turned to spring.

The End