Bristol Bay Summer Read online

  “Honey, I don’t talk about it because it hurts, and because I want you to have a good image of your father.”

  “C’mon, Mom. I’m old enough. I can handle it. What really happened?”

  “Some things are better left unsaid.”

  “Yeah, well, what goes unsaid doesn’t explain anything and I need to know. I’m a part of your decision, you know. It’s affected me.”

  “Okay, fine, Zoey. The fact is, he couldn’t keep his hands off other women.”

  Zoey’s mouth dropped open. She tried to speak but nothing came out. She couldn’t even breathe.

  Finally, she squeaked, “I don’t believe you. Dad would never do that.”

  “This is exactly why I didn’t tell you before. I figured when you were old enough to understand we would have this conversation. I don’t think you’re old enough yet.”

  “Do you know where he is? Why doesn’t he ever write?”

  Maybe she was hiding his letters. Maybe she didn’t want Dad to find her.

  “I wish I knew. Last I heard he was staying with your uncle in Denver.”

  Zoey’s pulse quickened, but she didn’t let it show. She was right. She just had to get to Denver and then she would find him.

  “Honey, I know you love him, but it just wasn’t meant to be between us.”

  “Are you saying all this just to get me to like Patrick? So I’ll give up on Dad?”

  Zoey could see she was pushing too hard. Her mom had that squinty look again, and her own eyes were getting all watery. But, it was too late to hold back.

  “I don’t care what horrible things you tell me about Dad. Patrick will never be my father. Never!” Zoey stood and put her hands on her hips. “I just want a normal home like other kids have, with a real mom and a real dad. Not some pathetic pilot who expects us to live in a tent while he follows his stupid salmon halfway around the world.”

  Zoey turned and blasted out of the tent. In her own tent she got into the freezing sleeping bag and lay there silently. Eliot snored lightly with Lhasa curled around him. She squeezed back her tears.

  “Lhasa,” Zoey whispered. But the dog kept her head on Eliot’s shoulder. Zoey couldn’t blame her. Who would want to be friendly to an angry teenager with a big mouth.

  The sleeping bag warmed up, and little by little, she relaxed. She didn’t feel like writing to her dad tonight. Instead she reached for the carving bag and the flashlight. She needed the extra light inside the tent for her nighttime carving.

  Zoey aimed the flashlight’s beam on her driftwood and wrapped a hand around the straight-bladed knife. Slow down. Breathe. Pressure the knife firmly but gently. One fine line after another. Together the lines were becoming a wing. She blew away the shavings and examined her work. Cut away more wood on the neck so the bird’s head could cock to the side, like Midnight’s. When the figure was done, she would paint it ebony black, with a gray feather. But now she was too tired—her hands wouldn’t cooperate anymore. She reluctantly put the wood and knife away and sank into her sleeping bag.

  She dreamed that rivers of bright silver salmon swam over her, thousands of them. She tried to push up through them to breathe, but they kept coming and coming. She did not dream, however, that Bristol Bay was about to bring her a new adventure. One that would change everything.

  26

  Midnight

  Fishing resumed, and Zoey struggled once again to get slippery, fat salmon out of the net. But much harder than that was getting some friendly words out of Thomas. Ever since her birthday, things had been different between them. She knew it was her fault. She was the one who had pulled away that night on the beach when he was just trying to help. She felt miserable.

  Plus, if she was going to fly to Colorado, she figured she would need Thomas’s help to get to the airport.

  One morning, Patrick and their mom flew off early with a load of fish, leaving Zoey and Eliot to work at the Gambles. Soon after, though, the wind kicked up so much that all work on the nets stopped. Zoey and Eliot headed back along the beach to make castles in the wet sand along the bank of the creek, where it wasn’t quite so windy. Overhead, the sky darkened as angry black clouds spread across the Bay like tentacles.

  They had just begun to pile sand into a mound when Zoey was surprised to see Thomas walk up.

  Eliot waved him over. “We’re building a giant sand castle. Want to help?”

  “I don’t know.” He glanced at Zoey. “Depends on your sister.”

  “Sure, if you don’t mind hanging out with a city girl. I’m not used to being out of my limousine, you know. I usually have my driver build the sand castles.” Thomas looked her in the eyes for the first time in days and saw her teasing smile.

  “Hey,” Eliot interrupted, “Lhasa found something!” On the far side of the creek, farther up from the shore, the dog had her nose pressed to the ground. Her tail wagged furiously.

  They couldn’t see what it was from where they were standing, so they waded across the stream to get a closer look. There it was: a black lump in the sand.

  A raven.

  Zoey’s heart sank. No blood or anything. Nothing out of place. But she could tell it was dead. Thomas rolled it over with a stick. The gray feather—Midnight.

  Eliot knelt and reached his hands out toward the body, but Thomas stopped him.

  “Don’t touch it, Eliot. We don’t know what was wrong with it.”

  “I’ll touch Midnight if I want to,” Eliot said in a surprisingly firm voice.

  He picked up the dead bird and Thomas didn’t fight him. Instead he knelt down and watched Eliot stroke the raven’s head as if it were a baby.

  “What happened, Midnight? You were the best thing about this whole place,” said Eliot in a shaky voice.

  Zoey crouched alongside her brother and put her arm around him.

  “Maybe he was really old … maybe it was just time for him to go.”

  They stared at the animal that had delighted them with its antics nearly every day since they got here.

  Eliot was in tears now. “He was getting so tame. Eating right out of my hand. I think we were his only family.”

  “That’s true. We never saw any other ravens with him,” Zoey added and reached out to touch him too.

  Zoey looked up at the dark sky. Out toward the horizon it was even blacker. She said in a quiet voice, “The sky looks like something out of a horror movie. I wonder if that had anything to do with it.”

  They sat in silence for a while, staring at the eerie sky, until Eliot said, “What should we do with him? We can’t just leave him here to get eaten by eagles.” He stood up, and wiped his face.

  “We should bury him. Right here.” Thomas began to dig a hole with his foot.

  Eliot pursed his lips and stood firm. “No. Up by the boat where he used to find us. We should bury him up there.”

  There was no arguing with Eliot. The urgency in his voice was something Zoey had never heard before. They agreed and followed Eliot to the old boat. Nearby, was a small shrubby bush. Eliot stood in front of it.

  “I hereby name this Midnight’s Place.”

  They all found sticks and dug the hole. Lhasa helped.

  When the grave was finished, Eliot kneeled down and carefully laid Midnight in the hole. They took turns covering the bird with sand. Thomas found a flat rock and placed it gently on top.

  “Now what?” asked Eliot. “Should we say a prayer or sing a song or something?”

  Thomas leaned back on one knee. “You know, Raven is one of the Native spirits with special powers. The elders used to tell us lots of Raven stories. They called him ‘the Trickster.’ Raven could change into anything.”

  Eliot looked up. “You mean Midnight was magic?”

  Thomas smoothed the mound of sand. “I don’t think anyone really knows.”

  “What kind of stories did they tell?” Zoey asked, hoping to get him to say more.

  Thomas thought for a moment. “My favorite was the one about how Rav
en changed into a piece of down. You know, like the little feathers in your sleeping bag.”

  “Why would he do that?” Eliot asked, his attention already captured. Eliot loved a good story.

  “You have to let me tell it,” Thomas continued. “A long time ago there was no light in the world. Everyone lived in the dark. But Raven got tired of the dark, and he knew an old man who kept three glowing boxes of light all to himself.”

  “What was in the boxes?” Eliot interrupted again.

  “I’m getting there. Raven was also curious about those boxes, so he spied on the old man. He saw that the man had a beautiful daughter who went to a creek every day to get water. So, Raven changed into a tiny piece of down and floated on the water. The next time the daughter came, she scooped the down up with the water and drank it. Magically, she became pregnant and gave birth to a Raven Boy.”

  Zoey laughed and Thomas gave her a grin. “The old man loved his grandson, the Raven Boy. He spoiled him and let him do anything he wanted. It didn’t take long for the Raven Boy to trick the old man into letting him open his special boxes. When he opened the first one, all the stars escaped into the night sky.”

  “Cool,” said Eliot, “Raven Boy made the stars!”

  “But he wasn’t finished yet. When Raven Boy opened the second box, the moon soared out and joined the stars. Finally, Raven Boy opened the third box, and the sun flew up into the sky, bringing daylight into the world. In the end, Raven Boy turned back into a raven and flew up into the sky with the sun.”

  Eliot was quiet, but smiling.

  “Guess I better keep my eye on our Raven Boy,” said Zoey looking hard at Eliot but with a big smile on her face. “I better not catch you opening any of my boxes.”

  Eliot looked at Thomas. “I knew Midnight was special,” he said quietly.

  Zoey glanced out at the Bay. Whitecaps covered the surface and there were no fishing boats in sight. She could see dark sheets of rain moving in.

  “We better get back. Thanks, Thomas.”

  Thomas pulled Zoey’s hood back over her head. “Sorry about Midnight. I told Harold I’d help him mend the net this afternoon, if this wind settles down.” He turned and trotted away down the beach.

  “Good-bye, little raven.” Eliot raised his hand then turned away.

  As they bent into the wind, Zoey cinched her hood tighter. The sand swirled around them forcing them to close their eyes. Good thing they knew the way home. This wind was stronger than anything Zoey had felt in Bristol Bay before. She would be glad when her mom and Patrick returned. She was worried about them flying in a storm.

  As they approached the tent platforms, Zoey could tell something was wrong. She could see one of the lines that held down the big tent’s awning had snapped loose. It flapped wildly and slapped the support poles angrily. If she didn’t do something fast, the whole thing might collapse. But getting hold of it without getting hit was the challenge.

  The loose line smacked the tent platform. It looked and sounded like a bullwhip, and the business end was flying right at them.

  “Eliot, watch out!”

  27

  Japanese Typhoon

  Zoey yanked Eliot back and the line whizzed past, missing their heads by inches.

  Great! she thought. Why is Patrick always gone just when we need him?

  But she knew she couldn’t wait for her mom and him to return. In this wind, she figured the whole tent could collapse if she couldn’t get it tied down right. Zoey slipped out of her jacket and waited for her chance between gusts. When the line went momentarily slack, she rushed forward. Using her jacket, she pressed the loose end of the line into the corner of the tent and held it there. Then she retied it to the stake using a knot Thomas had shown her called a clove hitch.

  The tent secured, she held the flap open for Lhasa and Eliot, then followed them and tied that line down to the platform. Inside, the wind whistled under the floor. Lhasa stretched herself out with her head on her paws, but her ears twitched with every creak and groan of the tent.

  “What should we do?” Eliot said, jumping on the sleeping bags.

  It was chilly in the tent, so Zoey put her jacket back on. “We just need to wait here until Mom and Patrick get back. How about we write letters?”

  Zoey found her mom’s stationery and she and Eliot settled around the table. The sides of the tent snapped in and out. Zoey hoped her knot was holding, but she didn’t want to go outside again to look. She could hear the waves crash loudly on the beach, and she wondered again if it was safe enough for Patrick to fly in this kind of weather.

  As if reading her mind, the tent quaked like a giant kite trying to leave the ground. Eliot made one of his “Oh boy, this is cool” faces and said, “Wow, big storm.”

  “It’s okay, Eliot. I bet it blows itself out real soon.”

  Zoey hoped it was true. To keep herself from worrying, she started a letter.

  July 21

  Dear Dad,

  Sorry I haven’t written in so long. It’s hard to write letters that I can’t send. If you’d write just once, I would have your address and then I’d know you were listening. Don’t worry. I’m saving them for you. Maybe I’ll just have to bring them when I finally come to visit.

  We’ve been really busy out here. I’m still working on the setnet, and Eliot is still helping to pick up stray fish and deliver food. It’s really windy today, so there is no fishing, but we …

  Suddenly, the tent made a strange sort of buzzing noise. Zoey wondered if it was possible for it to rip off its foundation and fly away with them inside like Dorothy’s house in The Wizard of Oz.

  … are safe inside the tent. Don’t worry, Mom and Patrick flew to Dillingham this morning with a load of fish, but they should be back any minute.

  Oh, I don’t think I told you about our pet raven, Midnight. He was really cool. Eliot even got him to eat out of his hand. But he died. We found him just a little while ago on the beach. I am really sad he’s gone. This place won’t be the same without him.

  By this time the wind was blowing so hard, Zoey couldn’t hear the waves crashing anymore. She wished it would be over. She tried to concentrate on her letter.

  Fishing hasn’t been much fun lately. I liked it when Thomas and I could joke around, but now everyone’s worried about money and we have to catch every last fish and Thomas and I kind of got into a fight…

  The sound of ripping fabric cut through the wailing wind. It started low, then got louder. woooOOOOOOSHHKHKHKHKHKCH!

  Eliot grabbed Zoey’s arm. She dropped the letter and they both jumped up and ran for the doorway. Zoey unzipped the door and pulled the flap back just in time to see their pup tent cartwheel up the beach toward the tundra and disappear in a squall of swirling sand.

  Before she could react, a huge gust tore the tent flap out of her hand. It thrashed in the wind and slapped the side of the tent so hard that Zoey was afraid the big zipper would whip back and hurt them.

  Eliot tried to hide behind her. “Help!” he shouted.

  Just outside the opening, the awning shook even harder and then the front poles on both sides buckled and collapsed. All around her, shelves of food crashed to the floor. Lhasa barked as a ketchup bottle burst open and splattered the cooking area red.

  “We have to get out of here!” cried Eliot.

  “Maybe we can make it to Thomas’s camp,” Zoey screamed back. “I can hardly see out there.”

  She felt like they were trapped in the middle of a hurricane. Were there hurricanes in Alaska? They couldn’t stay, but she was worried about leaving. Was the wind strong enough to pick them up?

  And no one was around to help. They were alone.

  Eliot squeezed Zoey’s hand. “Zo, are we going to die?”

  Zoey looked at him and knew what she needed to say. “Of course not, Eliot. We’re going to be fine. We just have to stay calm and get to the Gambles’ place.” But what she really wanted to say was, Yes, Eliot! Yes, we are going to die because
our mother abandoned us and flew away with her stupid boyfriend. But she knew she had to keep her cool for Eliot.

  She held on to her little brother with one hand and pushed his rain jacket toward him with the other. “Put this on. Right now.”

  Then their boots and her own rain gear. She grabbed the little clothesline they used to dry gloves and hats over the stove and tied one end around her waist and the other around Eliot’s.

  “Okay, Eliot, we’re going,” she screamed. “Stick with me. Hold on to this rope and don’t let go!”

  She nodded her head up the beach. Without a glance back, they abandoned what was left of their little home. Lhasa quickly took the lead.

  Zoey could hardly stand in the wind. It felt like a giant hand trying to push her over. And the sand was like a million tiny knives pricking her face. The smell of the ocean engulfed her. What she had thought was rain was mostly spray from waves crashing on the sand. The ocean was just a few feet from the tent!

  When did it get so close? Will it flood our camp?

  A sound like a gunshot startled Zoey and Eliot as they pushed their way through another wall of wind. When they turned toward the noise, they saw that a seam on the big tent had given way and one entire side had blown out. The loose fabric flapped wildly like a tattered flag surrendering to the storm.

  Zoey crouched as low as she could and pushed ahead. But to where? She couldn’t see more than an arm’s length ahead of her. She thought they should be to the stream by now, but it was nowhere in sight.

  “Heeeeeeeelp!” Eliot’s scream was lost in the fury of wind and water. Where were they?

  28

  Refuge

  If they couldn’t find Thomas’s place, what then? Maybe they should just try to dig a hole in the sand and take shelter. But the second she thought it, Zoey realized she wasn’t standing on sand anymore. The ground at her feet was covered with grass.