Bethel wasn't very big by my standards, but it was gigantic compared to Eek. When we made it into town, there were thousands of people standing around at what appeared to be a finish line. We got off our snowmobiles and I scanned the crowd for an idea of what was going on. At the same time, I kept my eyes open for anyone who matched the description Miranda had given us.
I didn't see anyone resembling a weaselly prick, who didn't have the guts to take on his victims without the assistance of an equalizer. I didn't condone becoming a serial killer, but if one were to take up the hobby, I thought they needed to be able to take their victims only after they defeated them in some kind of battle. It was a weird stance, and I had no idea why my mind thought about it at that moment.
"What's going on?" I asked, looking at the bundled up crowd. I thought the whole town was out celebrating something. My hope was that they were having a groundhog shadow seeing ceremony that indicated summer was coming within the next hour.
"Oh, it's just the finish of the K-300," Liam answered, like it was an everyday event. His tour guide responsibilities needed a little attention.
"And that would be?" I questioned, looking for a more detailed explanation.
"That, dollface, is the Kuskokwim 300. Kuskokwim being the name of the river you currently cannot see under all the snow and ice," Kyle informed me, while putting his arm around my shoulder.
"Please tell me you didn't just call me dollface," I said, glaring at him out of the corner of my eye.
"I think it's a great nickname for you, but if you want me to come up with something better, I can try," he said as he removed his arm and gave a little shrug.
With all my nicknames, I really didn't want another one. I determined guys had a special annoy females with nicknames gene. I thought my real name got used about once a week, and it was getting close to the point where I needed to tattoo it on my forehead so people didn't forget it.
"What exactly is a Kuskokwim 300?" I asked. "With the clues of it being the finish and the 300 part probably meaning distance of some sort, I gather it's a race."
"You would be right. It's kind of a big deal in dogsled racing. The conditions aren't always great, so it brings in the best mushers who want to try to tame the trail," Joseph replied.
"I bet my two dogs would be great in a dogsled race," I claimed, knowing that was the furthest thing from the truth. The little guys probably wouldn't even fit in the harnesses.
"Oh, you have dogs?" Joseph asked. "If I ever come visit you, do you think there'd be an issue with me being an alpha dog?" If my puppies didn't have a great disposition, it'd be a legitimate question.
I acted like I needed to think about it and was surprised that no one else had burst out laughing from my camp. I was pretty sure that my babies would run and hide from a dominant dog, but I couldn't help but tease, just a little bit.
"I don't know if that's such a good idea. They're vicious attack dogs and are very aggressive towards any authority figures. We could have a big dog fight on our hands." I was able to get that all out with a straight face. Miracles really do happen.
Rick couldn't hold it any longer, though. "Baby girl, you described yourself, not Romeo and Juliet."
"Ah, that must have been why I was able to say it with a straight face," I said laughing with him.
"Romeo and Juliet are bichons," Nate informed those not aware. "They don't have an aggressive bone in their body. I imagine if you came for a visit, they would spend the entire time hiding in their room, unless you gave them some kind of sign it was okay to come out."
"Yeah, they don't even have a problem when the kittens come for a visit," Rick added, indicating Frannie and Gary.
"You have two little cotton balls for dogs?" Liam asked. "Now that's pretty funny. You seem more like a pitbull type of girl, or a wolf. I could see you having a wolf for a pet."
I watched Joseph to see his reaction to that statement, but he didn't seem to mind. I thought about claiming I preferred berserkers, but I still didn't know what they were and I didn't want to give anyone the notion that I was looking for more pets.
"I don't need a big dog to back me up. I think their small size and fluffiness let's everyone know just how strong I am by myself. Plus, they were a housewarming gift from Rick. Since he lives with us, it would've been rude not to accept the gift."
I would have taken the little flufferbutts in even if Rick lived across the country. They were the cutest things and I always found it hilarious when they started blitzing around the room, running at full speed. We'd been trying to teach them tricks, but that wasn't going very well.
"Did I hear you right? They get their own room?" Kyle asked. "Can I move in with you too? If the dogs have their own room, the house must be larger than anything we have in any of the towns around here."
"Our house is bigger than all the houses in Eek put together," Nate said. "We don't have as many acres of land, but I feel secure with the layout of the place when it comes to safety."
He really loved the house and the secluded nature of it. The fact that we'd built it together over a hundred years prior probably had a lot to do with that. I'd grown to love it to, even though sometimes I missed the days of living by myself in my apartment.
"I don't know about size comparison to Eek, but it does have eight bedrooms. As you can imagine, I live on one side of the house and Rick lives on the other. That doesn't always help him from my sneak attacks, but we make do." I didn't want the house to sound too good. Although, I didn't think the news of me attacking whenever I felt like it would deter anyone in the group from moving in.
"I'm pretty sure everyone in the house is in danger when you decide to do a sneak attack," Vinnie said. "Every once in a while they backfire on her."
"Why does everyone always have to bring up the one time something didn't go as planned? It really isn't fair," I said, pouting. I couldn't believe they'd driven me to stick out my lower lip. "Anyway, the best room in the house is the state of the art gym. Surprisingly, enough, I'm allowed to fight in there without referees."
"She seems like a very violent person," Joseph said to Nate, not even whispering to pretend to hide the conversation. "Isn't there some kind of medicine out there that could help with that problem?"
"I don't think there's enough medicine in the world to make Avery less violent. Frankly, it'd be wrong to try to take that away from her. It really is a part of who she is," Nate replied. "It's one of the reasons I love her. She won't take crap from anyone, even me. Sometimes that's annoying, but I think everyone needs someone to serve as a balance, and we've always complimented each other that way."
I was surprised to hear he wouldn't change me. I would've thought he'd love to see me take it down a couple of notches. With all the talk of a war coming sometime in the future, I'd really stepped up my game in the physical aspects of protecting myself and that included ruining two punching bags.
"It sounds like the crowd is getting even more excited," Frannie said, grabbing my hand. "Let's go see the end of the race."
Not really interested in the race, I followed along. I'd noticed while we stood around conversing that Frannie had kept her eyes glued to the crowd of people, and with everyone wrapped up in layers, I didn't think she was checking out what everyone was wearing.
I didn't really know the three guys with us well, but I liked that when I saw them glancing away and followed where they were looking, the person receiving their attention was a man either displaying a bald head or had a hat on that could potentially cover one.
I almost ran over to the two people I saw not wearing a hat and asked them what was wrong with them, but I refrained. I didn't see anyone with earrings or a scar, so wasting energy questioning someone's common sense seemed useless.
"Tell me more about these types of races. I don't know anything about dog sledding. I mean I've heard of the Iditarod and know there are movies out there about it, but I haven't sat down to watch any of them," I said. I couldn't see through the crowd to what everyone w
as staring at. Frannie had threaded her way ahead of me, and I was fine watching her go.
"You mean you haven't seen?Balto? I'm shocked," Liam said with mock surprise. I stuck my tongue out at him and immediately regretted it. It was too dang cold to be standing out there in the open. My need to act childish seemed to crop up at the worst times.
"Let's see. For this race in particular, it follows the river, it's three hundred miles long, the teams usually head out with around fourteen dogs, and it takes about two days to pass through all the checkpoints and get back here. That's about the gyst of it," Kyle informed me.
"It seems kind of boring to watch. I'm sure it's awesome to actually be a participant, but it doesn't seem like a spectator sport," I said. I loved dogs, but I didn't see why the spectators were so excited. It was kind of like golf for me. I just didn't get the appeal.
"We arrived too close to the end to see all the other things going on to keep people entertained while they wait. Whenever a leader's sighted close to the final leg, everything gets abandoned to watch. Being the first person to see the winner is almost a side game to the race."
Kyle's further explaining didn't make it more exciting for me. I wasn't in a position to play the side game, and I didn't care who won. I stood back with Nate's arms wrapped around me, waiting for things to be over so we could get our shopping done.
Not concerned with what was going on, I worked to send more messages out to Elizabeth. I didn't feel her around, which I had unrealistically hoped I would. There had to be a reason why she wasn't answering her phone and no one had any idea where she'd gone off to.
Since I did the cooking, I was needed on the supply trip, but if I'd been thinking things through, I should've suggested that at least two people stayed behind to canvas Eek. The trip to Alaska hadn't held the seriousness I thought a missing child should, but I remembered Tulip being one to drop everything to help someone. That fact seemed to be in the back of everyone's mind, even though we'd come into the situation thinking the worst.
As a full-grown adult, she had the right to do what she wanted with her life, but if she was aware of the kidnappings going on in town, she should've at least left a note. I didn't know the whole situation, so it was hard to really judge, but I was working up a scolding for when we found Elizabeth. I tried to remain positive and believe she was just off on her own.
After standing in the cold for twenty minutes, the leader crossed the line and everyone around me went crazy. I shouldn't say everyone, our group was kind of unaffected by the phenomenon. I wondered just how long all the other people had been standing out there. For me, it got boring quickly. I couldn't get through the crowds to pet the dogs, so that pretty much took all the allure out of it for me.
"Okay, now I can say I've seen a dogsled race. Can we get some food, so we can head back home?" I asked. I really didn't qualify what I'd seen as a race. There wasn't a second place finisher anywhere in sight, even standing around for an extra five to ten minutes as the crowd calmed.
"That's a good idea. We spent more time than we probably should have watching the race," Joseph said, leading the way through the crowd.
I'd never been to a grocery store out in the middle of the wilderness, at least not that I remembered, so I was hoping they had things I considered edible. I knew Elizabeth had chicken, but I didn't know how often they got in shipments. I hadn't done research on what other protein was available in the middle of nowhere, but I was particular about my protein, which made me anxious to see what I had to work with.
CHAPTER 12
You have died of dysentery