Nick sat up with a start. Her wrist-watch alarm, set for an hour before daybreak, had been right next to her ear when it went off.
Yawning, she struggled out of her sleeping bag and unzipped her tent flap. The sky was still pitch black, but there was enough glow from the fire’s embers to make out her watch face. She was on time. Now all she had to do was creep over to Erickson’s tent, so they could have a chat without being disturbed.
She sighed, the frigid air fogging around her face, and shivered. What she really wanted was to crawl back into her warm, cocoon-like sleeping bag and wait for someone to make coffee. But she couldn’t rid herself of the feeling that the old pilot was holding something back, something he didn’t want to speak about in front of the others.
She dug into her sleeping bag, fished out her warm boots, and pulled them on. Boot management was something she’d learned on one of her father’s wintertime digs. Boots left in the open could freeze stiff by morning.
She struggled into her parka, which she’d used as a pillow, checked that her flashlight was still in the pocket, and unzipped her tent all the way. Then she hesitated.
Maybe she was overreacting. Worse yet, maybe the old boy was a bit gaga. She shook her head. That didn’t make sense. So far, he’d been as good as his word. For starters, the Val had been right where he’d said it would be.
So why hadn’t he told them about seeing the mining camp sooner? The obvious explanation was that he’d simply forgotten. Under normal circumstances such a lapse wouldn’t have mattered. But now Kelly was dead, killed on the trail leading to that mining camp.
So move, she told herself. Go talk to the man. Follow Elliot’s rules: Don’t speculate, don’t guess, don’t make assumptions.
Nodding to herself, Nick crawled out of her tent. Once on her feet, she looked around, half expecting to see Gus still on watch from the night before. But there was no sign of life in camp. Even the fire, usually tended so carefully, was down to its last, anemic embers. Another few minutes and it would have to be rekindled from scratch.
She moved quietly, as much to keep from waking the camp as anything else, but she still felt like a sneak thief. When she reached Erickson’s tent, she knelt in front of the flap and whispered his name.
There was no response.
She pressed her face to the nylon siding and whispered again. When he didn’t answer, she felt for the zipper, though if the tent was like her own, the pull tab would be on the inside. Her fingers felt an opening. The tent flap hadn’t been closed all the way. She wiggled her hand inside, found the tab, and unzipped the flap.
When she switched on her flashlight, Erickson’s eyes didn’t blink. Death had frozen them open.
She stifled a cry. No point in alarming the others. “Good-bye, Wes,” she murmured. “I hope you’re in Valhalla with the rest of the warriors.” She started to stand up when a tremendous blow sent her sailing halfway across the camp. She heard Hurst shout and Karen Royce scream, then Gus was lifting her out of the tangle of brambles that had broken her fall.
“This way,” he said, half lifting her, half dragging her toward the fire. He rapidly rekindled the fire and Nick nearly screamed when she saw the towering black shape illuminated by the flames. It let out a roar that Nick hoped she’d never hear again in her lifetime, but backed off.
“It was startled,” Gus explained.
“It was startled?” Nick said. “What if it gets mad?”
Hurst joined them, with Alcott close behind. A moment later Barlow led a crying Tyler to the fire.
“There must be at least ten of them,” Hurst said. “They’re all over the place.”
“There are three,” Gus replied calmly. “They will circle and try to get behind us. We cannot keep the fire between them and us for long. We are distracting them from the food.” He swept up a flaming brand and said, “Come,” taking Nick’s arm. “We will go to the cars. I’ll get the old man.”
“He died in the night,” she said.
“It begins, then,” Gus answered.
Ivins and Royce had already locked themselves in one of the Excursions. For a moment Nick thought Ivins wasn’t going to let them in the car, but the doctor leaned over him and released the latch.
Gus shoved Nick into the backseat before climbing after her.
“There’s no more room,” Ivins mumbled. Again it was Karen Royce who detached a key from a set that were dangling from the ignition and handed it to Barlow.
“The other car,” she said.
Barlow nodded and led the others away.
“We were lucky,” Gus said in a whisper. “Probably, they were more curious than anything else.”
“Christ’s sake,” Ivins sputtered. “This is ridiculous, sitting here doing nothing while those … animals eat our food.”
“We can spare them a little bacon.”
“That’s not the point.”
Gus leaned forward, close to Ivins, who was in the driver’s seat. “If we sit here calmly and quietly, they’ll go away. This time of year, bears scrounge all the food they can find before they hibernate.”
“And if they don’t go away?” Ivins asked. “We’ll have to wait and see, won’t we?”
Ivins banged the steering wheel. “You’re starting to piss me off.”
“Relax,” Nick told him. “There’s nothing we can do anyway, though I’m sorry about leaving Erickson behind.”
“What?”
“He’s dead.”
“I say we shoot the bears.”
“With what?” Nick said without thinking. “Kelly’s gun is missing, and they didn’t kill him, anyway.”
Beside her, she felt Gus stiffen. “Bastard bears,” Ivins muttered.
There was enough light now to see that the largest of the animals had stopped circling the fire to raise her head as if testing the air. The other two watched her closely.
Nick nudged Gus. “What are they doing?”
Ivins twisted around to face her. “They’ve probably figured out there isn’t enough good stuff to go around. That leaves us for breakfast.”
“They won’t attack the cars unless provoked,” Gus said.
Ivins pointed a finger at the Inuit. “I see. You’re a mind reader now.”
“I don’t have to be.” He nodded toward the fire. “They have plenty of food.”
The bears had turned their attention to one of the tents.
In horror, Nick said, “Erickson. They’ve found Erickson’s body.”
“That does it.” Ivins lunged for the glove box and came out with a black pistol.
“Put the gun down,” Gus said sharply.
“A man has a right to protect himself.”
“You swore you had no weapons.”
“So sue me.”
“Give me the gun,” Gus said, “and I’ll forget that you’ve broken the law.”
“Fuck you.” Ivins threw open the car door and began firing. At the sound, the large bear turned and charged. Ivins barely managed to scramble back inside.
The bear took out her frustration on the car, slamming into it hard enough to rock the huge Ford on its wheels. Claws raked the metal siding. A side mirror tore off.
“Jesus,” Ivins said, reaching for the glove box to retrieve a fresh ammunition clip.
“It’s a federal crime to shoot an endangered species,” Gus said matter-of-factly.
“We’re the ones endangered,” Ivins snapped back. One of the tires exploded.
“Son of a bitch!” Ivins slammed home the fresh clip.
Someone in the one of the other Fords honked a horn to distract the bear. But the sound only enraged her. She charged the next Ford in line, this time forgoing metal to attack the more vulnerable tires.
“For Christ’s sake,” Ivins shouted at Gus. “If I can’t shoot them, do something. If you don’t, we’re going to be on foot.”
“That’s a female out there,” Gus answered, “the most dangerous animal alive when someone threatens her cubs. And you tried to shoot one.”
“How the hell did I know?”
“Give me the gun,” Gus said.
“Not on your life.”
“So be it.” Gus turned to Nick and took her hand. “Remember, in this climate, food is the key to survival. If you get lost, you must eat within three days. If you don’t, your strength will go and the cold will take you. Look for rabbits. They like to hide near rocks and streams. Ptarmigans are good eating, too. If your aim is good enough you can kill one with a rock. But remember, you must do that quickly, before your strength goes.”
“I’m a better shot with a rifle than a rock,” she told him, producing a contemptuous snort from Ivins.
“Then make a net with tree branches.”
“I won’t get lost.”
“Sometimes it’s the only way to survive.”
“What the hell are you saying?” she asked him.
“I must do what my people have always done when outsiders bring evil upon our land.”
“What evil?” Ivins said.
Gus ignored him and spoke directly to Nick. “One more thing, round clouds are a bad omen. When they come, a great storm is sure to follow.” He squeezed her hand. “Stay here in the car until it’s light. By then the bears will be foraging somewhere else. Aksuse’. Be strong.”
Before Nick could reply he launched himself out of the Ford and slammed the door behind him. At the sound, the great bear roared and turned away from the other car. When she saw Gus, she rose up on her hind legs and clawed at the air.
Gus ran for the trees.
With a snarl, the bear dropped to all fours and gave chase.
Her cubs followed.
“Jesus,” Royce said. “That’s a brave man.”
“A dead one, you mean,” Ivins responded.