of troubles or the unknown side of some deep, dark chasm.
As she waved across to Mitch and shoved the basket out so it would return for him, she made a vow. No matter what, with his help, she was going to find out who had tried to take her life and why.
PART II
Walking the Wave
The frontier is the outer edge of the wave--the meeting point between savagery and civilization.
--Frederick Jackson Turner
9
"T
hanks for your help!" Mitch told Gus Majors as he drove them onto the lodge property in his rattle-trap pickup. Gus was a big bear of a man, and Lisa was squeezed in between them. The pickup was old enough that it didn't have seat belts, or else Gus had ripped them out. Gus ran the hunting supply and hardware store called Whatever in Bear Bones, and did taxidermy work on the side. Like Spike, he ran a team of sled dogs. Many Alaskans held numerous jobs to survive. Like some other local guys, Gus had never married--literally not enough women to go around. He'd tried to court Ginger for a while, which Mitch figured took nerves of steel, but nothing had come of it. As a matter of fact, Mitch had heard the two former lovebirds had had a shouting match in town at the Wolfin' Cafe a few days ago.
"We really owe you, Gus," Mitch added.
"Naw, glad me and old Betsy was comin' down the road. Bad huntin' for moose, but good for lost neighbors, eh?" Gus said with a slap at his steering wheel and a hearty guffaw. "You'd a done the same for me, Mitch."
With a honk-honk of Betsy's horn, Gus hit the brakes in front of the lodge, and the three of them piled out.
"Glad to meet you, too, Missy," Gus added, snatching off his Yukon Quest ball cap when Mitch helped Lisa down.
Mitch waited for her to correct Gus. Though he called most women Missy, she'd probably think he'd forgotten or screwed up her name. She'd had a habit of correcting people's pronunciation in practice sessions before they went on the witness stand, when Mitch had always thought they should just be themselves. But now, to his surprise, she gave Gus a hug.
"Mitch saved my life," she told him, "but you saved us from a long trek back, Gus. I'm glad to meet you, too, and you're invited to the lodge, for dinner on me, before we leave."
"Just better not have Ginger there, too, then," he said, "because--"
He stopped mid-sentence as Christine tore out of the lodge.
"Thank God, thank God!" she cried, and hugged Mitch hard before holding him at arm's length. "Iah! What happened?" she asked, staring over his shoulder at Lisa before looking back to him.
"Cu'paq, thanks for holding down the fort."
"We were worried to death. We've even got Denali park rangers looking for you way downriver. Spike's been up a couple of times with Mrs. Bonner, and they just got back. I'll go tell them...."
She turned and ran for the lake.
"Best be goin'," Gus said, shaking Mitch's hand and patting Lisa on the shoulder. "Now don't you think nothin' of it--all in a day's work 'round here. Right, Mitch?"
They waved to him as his truck chugged away. Jonas and Vanessa barreled out of the lodge with a beaming Graham Bonner right behind. Spike and Ellie came running from the lake, with the little woman in tears but managing to keep up with Spike's long strides. Spike slapped Mitch on the back, and Ellie hugged Lisa, then him. Mitch noted Ginger kind of edging around the corner of the lodge, hanging back, watching rather than joining the party. Either she'd seen Gus here or just didn't want to get in the middle of all the hoopla. She seemed a sort of split personality at times--sometimes private, other times almost pushy.
Everyone spoke at once, asked a hundred questions, but always the big one. "What happened?"
"Lisa?" Mitch said, turning to her.
"Things are really fuzzy," she told them, as everyone hushed. "Besides the shock of the icy river, I must have hit my head at some point, because I can't recall exactly what happened. It may come back to me. Some things have. Right now I only know that Mitch got in a kayak and rescued me at this end of the gorge. I had hypothermia but he saved my life by getting me warm again."
Mitch noted the toss of Vanessa's head and the roll of her eyes. She glared at Lisa before she managed