Chapter Sixteen

Laughter filled the greenhouse as Karissa had always imagined it might. Savannah, Camille, and Rosalie giggled as they pelted each other with the light plastic balls in the cage Malcolm and Jesse had installed. Outside, rain drizzled from the darkened sky onto the plastic of the greenhouse, running down its sides in steady streams. A smell of damp leaves and grass came through to Karissa, though she knew it wasn’t from the plants in the greenhouse—which she now kept drier than usual because of the children—but from the lush land around the house. The leaves were falling from the trees and packing down under the week-long rain, rotting and giving off a slight musty scent. The smell came through the plastic and through the vents in the greenhouse’s heating and cooling system. The odor was pleasant, bringing to mind a cold day spent lazily before the fire, tucked safely inside against the weather and the darkness that came earlier each Alaskan night.

Karissa was happy that Brionney and the children had stayed with her. Without them around to occupy her time, all she had were her thoughts of self-recrimination. In the week and a half since the bear attack, they hadn’t talked of her confession, and Brionney hadn’t treated her any differently. Between the two of them, they had managed to get more rest than they needed. Maggie came in daily to clean now, and she also made dinner.

“Those kids act like crazy nuts,” Brionney said, rubbing her hands gently over her distended stomach. They sat on two lounge chairs, with a small table of goodies and drinks between them. Overhead, the artificial lights already glowed brightly.

Karissa smiled, but her thoughts were on Malcolm. He hadn’t called her once this entire week, though his mother had telephoned her yesterday when he had his stitches removed. “He works too much, in spite of his foot,” Faith had said. “Can’t you talk to him?”

“The next move is his,” she had replied.

Faith hadn’t said anything for a long time, and then, “Does it matter whose move it is?”

“This time it does.” Even so, her heart cried out for her husband. Had she been too hard on him? The attack hadn’t been his fault, not really. Nor her fall. But why hadn’t he called? Was he only giving her time as she requested? Or—and this thought scared her deeply—had he glimpsed the dreadful secret in her eyes?

Karissa had been relieved to hear from Faith and to know that Malcolm was all right. Still, last night, lying alone in their queen-sized bed, she wondered how his wounds were healing, and if he needed her. She missed him more than she would admit to anyone—even to herself.

“Karissa, did you hear me?” Brionney’s voice brought her back to the present. “I said with all our snacks, I won’t be hungry for Maggie’s dinner.”

“I will be,” Karissa said. “I’m always hungry now.”

She glanced toward the kitchen window, where she could see Maggie cleaning before beginning the evening meal. The old woman had been born on Kodiak and was rather proud of the fact that she’d never left the island. She was as native as a person could be and not have Aleutian blood. She lived in Dell Flats with her nephew, his wife, and their six growing boys. On good days, Maggie used her ancient bicycle to come to work. On rainy days such as today, or when there was snow on the dirt road, one of her nephew’s sons would come in a battered red Ford pickup to bring their aunt, and return later to collect her. Karissa and Malcolm had offered her the use of a vehicle, but the old woman stubbornly refused to learn how to drive.

Before the Hergarters had come to live with the Mathees, Maggie would let herself in at two and be gone by five on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Karissa had rarely seen Maggie, as Malcolm took care of her pay. He’d also been the one to employ her. Once when Maggie had been ill, Karissa had stopped at the small wooden house in Dell Flats to see how she was doing. The woman had been surrounded by her nephew’s children, who treated her with an air of reserved affection—the same attitude the old woman had toward Malcolm. Karissa liked her instantly, and she felt an unspoken bond with her as well. They had been two women destined never to hold their own newborns to their breasts.

After Brionney had found out about the twins, she’d asked Maggie to come two extra days a week. Maggie had complied willingly, for money was always in short supply in the derelict house in Dell Flats, where all six young boys shared the same room—except sometimes in the summer when it didn’t rain, and they could sleep out under the stars—and where Maggie herself slept in the living room. These past ten days the old woman had agreed to stay an extra hour to make dinner, but today was her last late day. Karissa felt well now and knew that she could return to work and her normal life. Her only regret was that Brionney and her family were leaving the island.

“Just wait until you get the backache,” Brionney said, pushing one hand underneath her to rub at her back. She sighed. “I’ll be glad when this is all over.”

Karissa didn’t share the sentiment. “Except for the mornings, I like being pregnant. So far.”

“You must be one of the lucky few.”

Karissa laughed. “We’ll see, later on.”

“Yeah, when you’re as big as an elephant.” Brionney made a face, and Karissa laughed again.

Like Maggie’s extra days, this quiet peaceful time with Brionney was coming to an end. Tomorrow the Hergarters would go to Anchorage to await the birth of the babies, and after a few months more they would return to Utah or wherever Jesse’s work took them. Karissa would be trapped once more on the island with no one but Malcolm and the elusive Maggie for company.

If she let Malcolm return.

I miss him, she thought. I want him to come home.

“Ow,” Brionney groaned.

“Another kick? I can’t wait until mine gets old enough.”

“No, it wasn’t that. It’s this backache. Only it’s shooting pain now.” Brionney grimaced.

Karissa sat up. “Are you in labor?”

“Naw, can’t be. Probably false labor.”

Karissa sat on the lounge chair in the greenhouse for another hour, alternately listening to the children’s laughter, the rain on the thick plastic roof, or the sound of Brionney’s fluid voice. Soon Brionney stopped talking, and her breath came more quickly.

“Karissa, I think I am in labor,” she said finally. Karissa nearly jumped from her chair. “Don’t panic,” Brionney added. “We have plenty of time. The fastest baby was Rosalie, and she took four hours to come.”

“You shouldn’t have stayed out here with me,” Karissa said, helping Brionney to stand.

“Yes, I should have.” Brionney groaned and slumped back on the lounge chair. “I think I’ll wait right here until you get my hospital bag. Do you think Maggie will mind watching the girls, or should we take them with us?”

“Let’s leave them here. We’ll have enough to worry about without them bouncing off the hospital walls.”

“Good point.” She closed her eyes and panted softly.

Karissa patted her shoulder. “I’ll call everyone and get your bag. I’ll be right back to help you to my truck.”

“What time is it?”

“Twenty to five.”

“Then Jesse’s still at the cannery, working on his new program. He left the number by the phone.”

Karissa came into the kitchen so quickly that she startled Maggie. “Brionney’s in labor,” she explained. “Will you stay with the girls?”

Maggie’s round face crinkled as she smiled. “I’ll be glad to stay. I’ll call my neighbor and send him over to tell Jake not to pick me up.” Maggie’s nephew didn’t have a phone, but their closest neighbor did.

“Tell him we’ll drive you home when it’s over,” Karissa said. “We really appreciate it.”

Karissa picked up the phone and left a message for Jesse to meet them at the hospital, then she carried Brionney’s bag out to the car. There was a chill in the unheated garage, and she started the Nissan to warm the interior of the cab.

The girls gathered around Brionney, smothering her with kisses and good luck. She was walking on her own, but closing her eyes at the pain of the contractions.

Karissa drove as quickly as she could down the dirt road, dodging the worst of the washboards with the confidence and instinct that came with driving a well-known route. “We’ll be there before long,” she murmured.

Brionney nodded and said nothing. From the way she breathed, Karissa knew the contractions were growing harder, and her watch said they were coming closer together as well.

Rain still came down unremittingly, and the gray clouds blocked out most of the light. Without a clock, she would have guessed it was much later. The weeks of continuous rain on Kodiak had always bothered her, and now the weather seemed to cast an eerie feeling over the truck, not warm and safe, but something menacing. The road had turned to mud, and Karissa strained to see through the steady movements of the windshield wipers.

It was then she caught sight of the gasoline gauge, and her heart nearly stopped. When was the last time someone had put gas in the tank? She’d filled it a day or so before they went to Pillar Mountain on the day of the bear attack, but she hadn’t driven home that day or since. Jesse had driven the truck to the hospital and later home, and there it had stood, forgotten.

“Easy, babies,” Brionney whispered, hugging her stomach with her arms.

The truck lurched a few more paces, then came to a stop. Karissa looked over at her friend, seeing her eyes widen with sudden understanding. Now what were they going to do?

* * * * *

Malcolm received Jesse’s phone call at ten after six. “I’m at the hospital,” he said without preamble. His voice was strained and thin. “Karissa was bringing Brionney in, but they should have arrived at least thirty minutes ago. Karissa isn’t answering her cell. I’ve called the house, and Maggie said they left right after they called the cannery. I’m worried that something’s wrong.”

“I take it Brionney’s in labor.”

“Yes. Didn’t I say so?”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Do you mind going to look for them? Meantime, I’ll wait here and call you if they arrive. I knew I should have insisted on getting Brionney a cell phone.”

“I’m leaving right now,” Malcolm said. “I’ll call when I know anything.”

“Thanks, Malcolm. It’s driving me crazy not being able to do anything.”

“Don’t worry. They’ll probably show up any minute.” Malcolm flipped his phone shut and stood abruptly from his borrowed desk. Several pages of text he had received from the writer he had hired to help him with the documentary fluttered to the floor. He left them where they lay and walked to the door as quickly as his cast would allow him. Faith looked up from her knitting, a question in her eyes.

“I’m going out, Mom.” He picked up the crutches by the door, along with his flannel-lined denim jacket.

“In this rain? But you filmed all last week. I thought—”

“Jesse’s wife’s in labor, but she and Karissa haven’t shown up at the hospital. I’m going to look for them.”

Faith put down her tiny knitting needles and arose. “I’ll get some blankets.”

He raced through the wet, nearly-deserted streets of Kodiak as Faith eyed him with a worried stare. “I’m all right,” he said, pushing his cast more firmly against the gas pedal. She had volunteered to drive, but Malcolm knew that even with his cast he would get there a lot faster than she would. He ran a red light at the only stoplight in town, almost wishing a policeman would pull him over and offer to help find Karissa and Brionney. But no one noticed his hurry. Rain beat at the plastic top of his Jeep, driving him into the unnatural dark caused by the heavy clouds.

“She’s always leaving her cell phone at home,” Malcolm said to his mother’s unspoken question. “She rarely uses it. She doesn’t like that anyone at the hospital can contact her at every minute.” But Malcolm wondered if Karissa would call him even if she had a phone. He had betrayed her trust. Could he ever win it back? There seemed to be only one way, and he wasn’t sure he was capable of quitting smoking.

They made their way past the airport and the Coast Guard base in silence. When the paved road ended at Dell Flats, Malcolm began to relax. “They must have already made it to the hospital,” he said. His voice was rough from lack of use.

“Wouldn’t your friend have called?”

He cleared his throat before replying. “Maybe he got busy. They’re having twins, you know.”

“I didn’t.”

They both saw Karissa’s Nissan at the same time, sitting in the middle of the road as if she hadn’t been planning to stop.

“Are they inside?” Faith asked.

Malcolm shook his head. He wondered why the women had left the truck. The tires had sunk into the mud, but with the four-wheel-drive, Karissa could have made it out.

“We have to find them!” Faith peered into the dark.

“Which way should we go?” he asked, hating the feeling of helplessness that overwhelmed him. Had he been so intent on driving that he had passed the women in the dark? Was Brionney even now giving birth on the side of the road in the rain? Why on earth did they leave the truck?

Of course he knew the answer. They had left the truck because they knew no one would come.