Lost in the Wilderness

By Wendy Linscott

The trip of a lifetime to Alaska offers wonderful adventure.  At the end of the trip, both of the travelers have news that will dramatically change their future.  

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wendy Linscott
• Release date: Dec 6, 2016
• ISBN: 9781508048336

Wendy Linscott

Wendy Linscott (1959- ) was born in Waterloo, Iowa to a British mother and Texan father. She moved to Wisconsin, then to Florida where she lived until her teens. After that she landed in Kentucky where she settled. After trying her hand at many vocations, she became a Registered Nurse with a passion for Emergency Medicine. After years in the clinical setting, she moved on to Case Management and other Managed Care types of nursing. She wrote her first book in 30 days for NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month) in 2016. It was exciting to finish and be able to publish! That's an exercise she HIGHLY recommends to anyone willing to try. Wendy spends her time with her daughter and grandson, all three working toward black belts in Taekwondo. She also has a passion for rescue animals, currently acting as servant to four cats.                

Book preview

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Writing is hard work!  For igniting in me enough curiosity to try and see if I really could do this, I thank you Nanowrimo – National Novel Writing Month.  This is my second year participating, and this work is tons and tons better than the first one I did, two years ago.  It will not make me famous, but at least I know I can do it – I can write 50,000 words!  It is an awesome feeling to know that I made it this far.

Thank you my dear sweet daughter Savannah.  You told me about Nanowrimo the first year, and encouraged me every day as you too attempted it for the first time.  Last year you did it again, and completed yours – congratulations for that accomplishment.  You are not participating this year, but you still encourage me and give me ideas on how to improve; or here toward the end, how to add words to get to that golden 50,000 mark.

To my mother, thank you for helping to instill in me a love of reading.  I wonder how many thousands of books I have read in my lifetime.  I can’t begin to count them; but through them I have been part of many wonderful adventures.  They have led me down some very interesting paths where I lost myself and found something greater.  I seem to have instilled that same love of the written word in my daughter and now am working to give that magic to my grandson as well.

To my dad – one of the things I gained from moving around so much as a child was a sense of being alone, and learning to be fine all by myself.  Moving to new towns where I did not yet know anyone, I would lose myself in books.  That has served me greatly through the years.  From you I also learned my solid work ethic, which has not only helped me in business, but has kept me persevering to finish this novel.

To my brothers, one older and one younger; when we were children, you pestered the daylights out of me so I wanted to be alone.  That alone time was usually spent reading.  I loved it, and still do.  Am I thanking you for being such pains in the neck?  Wow, it sort of sounds that way, doesn’t it?

Reading has broadened my horizons far more than I could ever begin to explain.  I learned how to spell – I can look at something and know it isn’t correct, because it just looks wrong.  I learned to speak well – with a large vocabulary.  I learned how to think critically.  I learned so much about so many different things, because I read about so many different things and so many places.  I’ve travelled the world having incredible adventures in my imagination because of books.  It has been wonderful.  My world has been transformed, and I am eternally grateful.

Throughout this book, I have used the names of some real places, but all of the people and events are fictional.  Any similarities to true events are strictly coincidental.

Lost in the Wilderness

CHAPTER 1

Abby Parson hurried toward the plane, dragging her suitcase and duffel bag behind her.  She was excited, though a little nervous, since she had no idea where this flight was about to take her.  Her boyfriend of four years had refused to tell her anything about the trip, other than that they would be gone for a little over a week, and to pack for cold weather.  After loading her bags beside his, she draped her coat over it all, and then hopped into the copilot seat, stashing her laptop and purse below her.  She buckled herself in, and put on her headset so she and Bishop could talk easily over the engine noise.  Bishop was just completing his preflight checklist, so she stayed quiet until they began to roll forward.

So, where are we heading? Abby asked, once they had lifted off the runway.  Surely you can tell me now?  Bishop grinned over at her, but quickly turned back to the controls of his Cessna 172RG Cutlass.  Here in Louisville, Kentucky, the weather could not decide if it wanted full time spring, or to hang on to winter.  Late April on the calendar meant nothing to Mother Nature – she was known to stay in winter mode into mid-May some years.  So currently, the weather was vacillating between winter and spring, with a lot of rain in between.  Today, the weather was magnificent; with white clouds etched into a clear blue sky. 

Well, he finally replied, as she watched him expectantly, I thought we should take a trip to a place you have never been, but keep saying you’d love to see. 

Bishop Summerfield!  That could be a million different places; I want to travel everywhere!  I’m so excited, but I can hardly stand it.  Please tell me!  Abby pleaded.

Oh fine, spoil sport he kidded her.  We will be spending the night tonight in Everett, Washington.  In the morning, we will head out to . . . drumroll please . . . Anchorage, Alaska!  Abby stared, wide eyed for several seconds before sputtering Anchora- seriously?  Alaska?  Ohmygosh!  Really?!  By now, she was literally bouncing in her seat with a smile so big it nearly touched her ears on either side. 

Bishop laughed and replied Yes, really.  We have some free time and it will do you good to get away for a bit, and you have always said you wanted to visit Alaska.  So, here’s our chance.  Abby was thrilled.  She had visited many places, but had never managed to get to Alaska.  She had heard a lot about how gorgeous it was, with vast wide open spaces and a landscape like no other.  She knew it had extraordinary views and wildlife like no other place on earth.  Her parents had cruised twice through the Inner Passage, and after cruising many places – including Hawaii, Europe, and all over the Caribbean, they always said that Alaska was their favorite.  Now she knew why he had told her to pack for cold.  She was especially glad she had brought her hooded parka and hiking boots.

The past year had been filled with incredible pain for Abby.  She had lost her dad after a valiant, painful fight against an aggressive pancreatic cancer only eight weeks prior.  The two had been extremely close, and the loss had hit her hard.  Her father had lived only a few miles from her, and she went to see him every day during his illness, since he adamantly refused to move in with her and Bishop.  He was so concerned that he would be a burden to them, but neither Abby nor Bishop ever felt that way.  Abby had taken a leave from her job as a travelling nurse, returning to work full time at the Baptist Hospital only a few minutes from her home, so that she could be close and help care for him.

Her mom had died a year prior in a freak accident. Walking along the sidewalk of a busy street, she had been headed to the Walgreens a few blocks away when the load on a tractor trailer shifted as the driver maneuvered a corner poorly, hitting a large curb.  When his load of pipe shifted, one of the chains holding it gave way, and several of the huge, heavy pipes fell from the truck bed.  One of them bounced, hitting Abby’s mother in the head before she could register the danger and get out of the way.  It crushed her skull and she was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.  Abby was on duty in the ER when her mother was brought in, and didn’t even realize immediately who the victim was, due to the severity of the injury, the amount of damage to her face and head, and the focus on trying to do something – anything, for her.  Then, only a month later, her father was diagnosed with cancer.  The two losses, in quick succession, had devastated Abby, and she had taken a leave of absence from her job.  Abby had finally gotten her dad’s house cleaned out and up for sale, and was nearly ready to consider returning to work again.  She had not yet given the hospital a return date, but Bishop felt sure she was not planning to stay out more than another few weeks.  He wanted to take this time with her before she returned to work; a time of fun and relaxation after all she had been through this past year and before she had to face a new reality. 

Abby really didn’t have to work; her mom had left her and her brother David quite a bit of money when she died.  She had inherited family money that Abby’s dad never considered his, so it was distributed soon after her death since her father didn’t want or need it.  That money, along with Abby’s own frugal spending habits, and now whatever she got from her dad, who had been a very successful Realtor in Louisville, would allow her the freedom to continue working as a travelling nurse if she wanted, or do something different, if that is what she chose.  Financially, she was set for life.  But she was also too young to retire and do nothing for the rest of her life.  Bishop strongly suspected she would stay with emergency medicine in some form – she loved her work.  The travelling nursing had allowed her to visit places she wouldn’t have normally, which was one reason she chose to try it.  She spent three months in New York City once; but most stints were six weeks.  She only travelled during summers while her son Cody was out of school, so he could travel with her.  Since he had gotten a little older, and had summer jobs and more going on with friends, he stayed home with Bishop, but always visited her for at least a week at each of her sites. 

She had worked near Yellowstone Park twice; and had done stints in Georgia; Florida; Nebraska; Oklahoma; Texas; Maine; and Montana. People would look at her wide-eyed and say things like I could never be an ER nurse; it must be so stressful and depressing.  But Abby loved it – she often said that she loved not knowing what or how many were coming in the doors of the ER next. And though she did see a lot of death, she also saved a lot of lives, making it incredibly rewarding work. Her travelling nursing jobs allowed her to journey about and see the sites, while being well-paid to do it.  Her longest job had been four months at a Comprehensive Health Center in Zuni, New Mexico.  Zuni is an Indian Reservation, and at the time, they were seeing a large outbreak of Sporotrichosis – a rare fungal infection that is introduced into the body through cuts, splinters, or thorns.  It can affect skin or underlying tissue, but can also manifest itself as a lung infection, causing cough, shortness of breath, fever, and chest pain. The treatment includes strong IV antibiotics for at least a year, and often requires surgery to cut away the infected lung tissue.  The disease can become life threatening, especially in people with underlying disease like Diabetes, Alcoholism, or AIDS – which are all extremely common among the Indian population.  That is where Bishop met Abby.  He was a photographer and journalist, and was at the reservation writing about the disease and its effects on the Reservation.

CHAPTER 2

Abby peppered Bishop with questions about their trip for the next several minutes until she finally pulled out her laptop to make hotel reservations for that night.  She booked a room at the Historic Davenport Hotel, where she had stayed once before, soon after a multi-million dollar restoration was completed in 2002.  Prior to that restoration, the beautiful building had narrowly escaped demolition.  The hotel, originally opened in 1914, had been restored to its palatial splendor, with no expense spared.  This including the hand painted frescoes; the gold-leaf hand-painted lobby hearth and the year-round lit fireplace. The hotel, with its spot on the National Register of Historic Places has been a temporary home through the years to Hollywood royalty from Mary Pickford and Clark Gable, all the way up to the irreverent Cheech and Chong.  Other famous visitors included Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, and President John F. Kennedy.  Abby knew Bishop would love it as much as she had.

Once the reservation was made, she went on to search Anchorage, and things to do there.  She found river trips, rafting adventures, glacier and wildlife cruises, gold panning and mining, dog sledding excursions, and of course, airplane adventures.  She knew they wouldn’t need that – they could do their own aerial adventures!  She had known there would be a lot of interesting things to do, but the possibilities were mind-boggling.

Bishop was fully at ease in the pilot seat.  He had owned several planes through the years, but this black and red Cutlass was his favorite.  As a teenager, he had bartered flying lessons from a doctor in his neighborhood that hated yard work because he did not have time for it.  Bishop didn’t mind cutting grass, trimming hedges, or even weeding the landscaping if it meant he could learn to fly.  This went on for several years. Even after he got his pilot’s license, the doctor was more than happy to let him pilot the plane occasionally so he could gain hours and the doctor could spend more of the time aloft with his family in the back of the plane.  Bishop’s grandmother left him some money when she died, and he bought his first plane with that.  He had upgraded a few times and loved nothing more than being in the air.  He took piloting very seriously, never cutting corners with his pre-flight checklist, maintenance, or anything else having to do with the safety of himself, his passengers, or his plane. He rented hangar space at Bowman Field in Louisville, the oldest continuously running airport in the country, where he spent hours cleaning, polishing, and lovingly caring for the inside and out of the plane he had nicknamed Shirley.  His work as a freelance journalist, writing stories for the likes of Time, Newsweek, People, The Economist, and even occasionally for National Geographic, allowed him to travel often.  He appreciated the freedom that having his own plane allowed when travelling around the country.  Generally, only if he was going overseas would he use a commercial airline. 

Will we fly through Canada?  Can we make stops there? Abby wondered aloud. 

"Well, we won’t fly over much of Canada.  Since 9/11, it is much more difficult to just drop in and out of the country.  You have to file an eAPIS report and get prior approval before takeoff.  It helps the Canadians know when