Unlike most mid-October mornings in Alaska, the day broke bright and warm.
From the upper observation deck of the ferry Emma could feel the boat’s engines vibrating through the soles of her feet. She leaned heavily on the railing, sipping coffee from the Styrofoam cup she cradled in her hands. As she gazed down into the blue-green water churning about the steady moving boat she contemplated the journey ahead.
It was both scary and exciting.
Following her sister’s last message scrawled in a suicide note, Emma had been surprised to learn the town of HavenPort did in fact exist. She wondered what she would find in the remote town. And what did her sister mean by, “they would meet again?”
She was clean and sober now. She couldn’t recall for how long or when it had happened but she was certain it had been for a while now because she wasn’t feeling any of those constant cravings under her skin. She didn’t remember checking but she knew there weren’t any drugs in her luggage. She took comfort in the fact that the cravings were gone. She couldn’t afford the expense anymore. The last of her savings had been spent on her crappy little foreign car safely stored one deck below. In truth, she didn’t even remember driving the car on board; she just knew it was below.
Emma noted a flock of sea birds as they suddenly appeared all around the boat. Without any explanation the Captain slowed the ferry to an idle. As she began to wonder what was going on a crowd drew up all around her and started pointing outstretched fingers toward the water.
A trio of sharp-toothed monsters leapt out of the water, their thick bodies arching, a white underbelly with dark gray on the top. One swished near the boat, visible just beneath the water as it turned on its side and peered up at her. Its eyes were black as night, taking her in as if she were the main course. Emma stepped back from the railing.
If demons had fins, this is what they would look like.
“Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a salmon shark before?”
A man a few years younger than her, tan, and with a kind face, wearing rugged clothes, had moved up to stand beside her. He was what Mee-Maw would call a blue-eyed devil in blue jeans.
“Why are they jumping out of the water like that?” she asked.
“They’re chasing salmon.” He moved back over to the railing and gestured with a nod for her to look over the side.
When she did she saw flashes of pink salmon darting under the hull of the boat seeking refuge. Although scary at first, the sharks splashing about the boat were truly a spectacular sight and a welcome reprieve from the muddle of her thoughts.
“How big do they get?” Emma asked tenuously.
“The sharks or the salmon?”
Emma rolled her head at him, “The sharks.”
“About six to eight feet is the norm but my uncle caught one in the Sound when I was a kid that was about twice that.”
When all of the excitement generated by the sharks had ebbed, the ferry resumed its course and speed.
“You’re not from around here, are you?” The blue-eyed devil asked.
Emma tensed up. She hadn’t really considered what she would say until now. How should she answer? New York. No, then he’ll want to know what you did in New York. That will only lead to you being a dancer for the New York City Ballet, which would lead to why you got kicked out.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” the younger man said beside her, interrupting her runaway train of emotions. “I didn’t mean to pry.”
“No, no. Not at all. I’m from Nebraska,” Emma replied; it wasn’t entirely untrue.
“Nebraska?” he asked in disbelief. “I would’ve figured you for more the big city gal.”
Wind blew her hair in front of her face and she tucked it behind her ear. She was never good at making small talk and felt the silence growing awkward.
Luckily blue-eyes didn’t have that problem. “Name’s Horatio.”
“Like, as in Hamlet?”
Horatio’s face lit up. “A fellow scholar, methinks?” When she didn’t grasp his barb right away he added, “In truth, no. Unfortunately dad just really liked the Horatio Hornblower series, more than Shakespeare at least.”
Emma couldn’t recall who Horatio Hornblower was, an Admiral or something, but she really didn’t feel like asking.
“Emma. My name’s Emma.”
“So, what brings you to the Last Frontier, Emma?”
“Uhmm…” What do I say? My twelve year old sister hung herself in the shower with a vacuum cord and left me a note to meet her in a town I’ve never heard of before?
She must’ve been silent too long because Horatio said, “Aw geez, there I go being nosy again.”
“I’m really not sure why I came here,” she practically blurted out.
Horatio thrust his hands in his pocket. “That’s cool, that’s cool.”
The wind picked up a bit and chilled the air. Even wearing layers, Emma was always cold. The locals always dress in layers. She read about that in her Alaska guidebook. She might not remember actually getting onto the ferry but she remembered reading the guidebook. Emma was eager about all the activities she could choose from. According to the guidebook she could learn how to kayak, visit a glacier, or go whale watching. And that was just on the water. The town of HavenPort was surrounded by trails that led right up into the surrounding mountains.
The deck shifted under her feet as the Captain slowed the boat and steered them closer towards the mainland.
A few more minutes passed and they were soon chugging past a mountain range with a giant decaying building tumbled across it. The drab concrete building was a stark contrast to the towering peaks, which dripped with startlingly beautiful ice-blue glaciers.
“Horatio, what’s that big concrete building called?” she asked, pointing.
“The old military base?” When she nodded, he said, his tone a little less cheerful, “That’s the Rakewell building. It used to be a secret supply port back in WWII.”
When she craned her neck, Emma thought she saw a flickering blue light through the trees at the base of the building, but then it was gone.
“Anybody live up there?”
“What, in the Rakewell building?” Horatio scoffed. “Heck no. No one’s lived there for sixty years.”
“Are you sure? I thought I just saw a light up there.”
Horatio squinted like someone who needed glasses but wasn’t quite ready to admit it yet. “I doubt it. Sometimes squatters will hole up inside for the winter, but the building’s been boarded up ever since I was a kid.”
Emma was certain she had seen a blue light, like the kind on a police car.
The boat chugged onward past the old military base and as it did so, the sight of the derelict buildings made her pull her jacket tighter around her shoulders.