Secrets from the Alaskan Bush

By Xlibris US

What do an Alaskan grizzly bear, a jealous husband and an unexplained disappearance have in common? Kate Murray

A young mid-western woman moves thousands of miles from her home town to start a new life with her recently betrothed husband. Finally, she found the perfect man. It was a great beginning a clean break away from her abusive and overbearing mother. The remote village in bush Alaska was full of adventures and fun, interesting people. Some of the adventures soon morphed into risky behaviors with frightening consequences.

Come join Kate Murray on a page turning journey which takes her from the comforts of civilization to the remote trappers cabin of Old Ivan, then on to the front porch of a an elder stateswoman, Miss Eleanor who lives in a grand historic home in Apalachicola Florida.

A mysterious twist at the end of this novel will make you long for the sequel, Lost in the Sun.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 31, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499051537

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 by K. Bond.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2014913320

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-4990-5152-0

                Softcover        978-1-4990-5154-4

                eBook            978-1-4990-5153-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 07/26/2014

Xlibris LLC

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

650644

Contents

One: Introduction to Bush Life

Two: Where is he?

Three: Interpersonal Conflict

Four: Secrets and Beauty

Five: The Lesson

Six: Some Bush People

Seven: Fear and Conflict

Eight: Times and Stories Remembered

Nine: Left to Die

Ten: Reflections

Eleven: Missing People, Found Plane

Twelve: Sandwich and a Beer

Thirteen: Bears

Fourteen: Bad News from Anchorage

Fifteen: Confessions

Sixteen: Covering Up

Seventeen: Cheap Flights

Eighteen: Native Wisdom

Nineteen: The Bear Stalks

Twenty: Bubba’s Proposal

Twenty One: Bear Attack

Twenty Two: There’s a Dead Man?

Twenty Three: A New Life

Twenty Four: Lost in the Sun

ONE

Introduction to Bush Life

T HE PROBLEMS IN Kate’s life began such a long time ago with a borderline dysfunctional mother and a father who drank to escape the physical and verbal abuse dished out on a regular basis. Once her father left, little Kate became the target. She tried so hard to grow up normal, too hard. It was all about mother – was she happy today? Kate tried to please her mother and make everything right. It never worked until she left home and met the man of her dreams, Dan. And now that relationship wasn’t working either.

A generous amount of liquid make up couldn’t hide the circles under Kate Murray’s eyes. She hadn’t been sleeping well for the past two weeks after hearing about her husband’s possible infidelity. Can’t be true, she said to herself. After all these years, the move to Alaska, and kids. Our kids. She’s his boss and mine too. Kate needed a drink. Its five o’clock somewhere, she said as she filled a small juice glass with whiskey. How long before she fell apart? Dan was gone a lot these days. When he wasn’t teaching high school, he was coaching, going to meetings, taking classes or working on lesson plans. People were beginning to speculate about their marriage. Kate spent most of her free time alone with their two kids. She worried about being alone so much. In the bedroom, on the closet shelf, was her pistol, a Rugger 41 Blackhawk revolver. She opened the case and held the gun in her shaking hands. The seven inch stainless steel barrel and wooden grip were cool to the touch. She admired the power of the gun. Last fall she harvested a caribou – with one shot to the neck using that weapon. Almost everyone had guns in this part of the bush where Grizzly bears and drunken fishermen ruled. A warning shot from her gun would surely discourage any intruders, animal or human. It was that powerful and loud. She wasn’t sure she’d point the weapon at a person, but when she pictured Dan cheating on her – well she just wasn’t sure any more. She said she’d always honor him and stand by his side when they got married. She stood motionless with the pistol still in her grip as one single tear rolled down her cheek and landed on the bedroom floor.

TWO

Where is he?

T HE LAND-LINE PHONE rang, startling Kate. She fumbled the gun almost dropping it. That would be a problem since a hard fall would knock the sights out of alignment. Carefully, she put it back in the case and slid onto the closet shelf. She felt safe knowing that the gun was nearby in case things went terribly wrong.

Hello.

Hi Kate. Is Dan home?

No. I think he’s at the wedding. I’m supposed to meet him there. She didn’t have to explain what wedding. Everyone knew about the wedding. There were no secrets in the bush. Who’s this? she asked.

This is Russ at Bristol Air. Michael Johnson took Dan out flying to scout for caribou this morning. They were supposed to be back by now.

Hmm. I’m headed to the reception soon. How long have they been overdue?

Oh, a couple of hours, Russ said.

Well, if they aren’t in King Salmon when I get there, I’ll get a hold of you and we’ll start looking for them.

OK, Russ said. Then he hung up leaving Kate on the line. She stared at the phone until it signaled her to hang up.

Her stomach was upset. The weather looked alright for flying – not great. There were low clouds and rain spat in short showers against the south facing windows. Wind was a constant factor in the maritime coastal climate. Today it was gusting to 20 miles per hour – shouldn’t be a flight risk.

With the baby sleeping and the sitter entertaining little 3-year old Sarah, Kate left for the wedding reception. She hopped into the Jeep hiking her skirt up to her mid-thighs so she could shift. Something could have gone wrong on that flight. Engine failure is a real fear for all bush pilots and bad weather. Aleutian storms can blow in swiftly over the mountains. Icing can occur without notice, and then there is pilot error. But Mike was a trained trooper and a veteran pilot for the Alaska State Police. He didn’t make mistakes. Her mind wandered as she drove. There were no other roads that connected to anywhere else in the world, only this one fifteen-mile stretch of gravel and potholes strung together by a little asphalt. It was built by the government during World War II to connect the King Salmon air force base with the village of Naknek on the Bering Sea where freight was shipped in from the lower 48 by barge. In the 1940’s, the air force base was an important defense against Japanese invasion into North America. A village sprung up around the air force base including several hunting and fishing lodges, a commercial airport, some regional government offices and several taverns, one church. Kate was headed, to the King’s Korner Lodge. She searched the parking lot for Dan’s old army surplus pickup truck. It was not there. She walked carefully in her heels, negotiating around the mud puddles and entered the lodge – alone.

THREE

Interpersonal Conflict

W HEW-WEE MRS. MURRAY, said Angel, a high school junior who was greeting people as they entered. We didn’t know you had legs. You sit behind that desk in the library with your hair pulled back and those big glasses on. Well, we didn’t think you were a real person.

Kate blushed and pulled her skirt down where it belonged. Yes, I’ve got legs – and I’m a real person too. She was glad that none of the school kids saw her in that bikini last summer back home in Michigan. Her credibility would be shot.

She was late getting to the reception. The sun was low in the southwestern sky. Soon it would set behind the Aleutian Peninsula Mountain range. The bride, Tatiana, a pretty young Aleut and her groom, Dave, were well on their way to an alcohol and cocaine-induced bliss, as were many of the others in the crowd. Kate looked around the room for Dan as she made her way to the bar for a drink. No Dan. No Mike. The cocktail she ordered turned out to be a six ounce glass of whiskey with a few ice cubes and a splash of 7up. No wonder the room was full of toasty souls, she thought. He’s pouring them strong. Kate recognized almost everyone and waved to her friend, Sophie. Sophie, one of Kate’s co-workers, motioned for Kate to join her table. Let’s hit the buffet table, she said as soon as Kate sat down.

Look at all this food, Sophie said. Pickled herring and salmon, deviled eggs, that wacky blueberry and Crisco stuff, and some sort of meat – probably moose. Turning toward Kate she whispered, "I never did like that Crisco stuff. Just can’t get past the idea of eating shortening