Ninety Degrees Out

“I could ask the same question. What is it about you?” Chad laid his other hand over hers in a double hand clasp. He sat there with her in silence charged with electric anticipation.

Chad pulled his hands away from Alicia reluctantly as he heard Jazz’s nails clicking across the parquet floor in the great room.

“I taught him how to open the doors in here. It’s why the doors have lever latches instead of doorknobs. Let’s go see what’s going on with your daughter.”

“She usually sleeps through, but she might be restless. With a different bed and everything else that’s gone on the last few days, it wouldn’t be a surprise if she has a bad dream or two,” Alicia stood and stretched.

“God you’re gorgeous,” Chad rumbled, shifting to hide his interest and get himself under control.

Alicia turned to wink at him as she led the way to the stairs,

“You’re not half bad yourself.”

He followed her up to her daughter’s bedroom, the door ajar where Jazz had slipped out.

“Mommy, mommy, I had a bad dream.” Arimina’s voice quivered with tears. Jazz pushed by them and put his head beside hers and she buried her hands in the thick grey fur on his neck.

Alicia sank down to sit beside her daughter. Rubbing her shoulders, she began to sing her a lullaby. Recognizing Billy Joel’s hit song, he hummed harmony, delighted to hear her sultry alto soothing Arimina.

After she finished the last verse Alicia said, “Better now, baby?”

“Uh, huh, everything’s going to be okay, right?” Her words slurred a little with sleep.

“Everything will be fine,” Alicia promised her. She mouthed the words I hope as she looked up into Chay’s eyes.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Killika Hiller introduced herself to Alicia and then set her daughter Alasie down after swinging her out of the Caravan her father parked at the end of Hakan’s long gravel runway. The dark green airplane was sitting on floats with wheels which poked out from under them. Blocks of wood kept it from rolling as the she spoke to the pilot.

“Dad, hand me my son.”

An older version of Chay with silver streaks winding through his braids, eased himself out of his seat.

“Here he is. A great passenger too, he’s sound asleep.” Dasan handed his grandson to his mother. The carrier was decorated in intricate beadwork.

“God that’s gorgeous. Did you really do the all the beadwork?” Alicia asked as she ran her fingers over the leather cover protecting the car seat the elegant woman’s four-month-old baby rode in.

“It’s my mission to bring the skills back to our community. To celebrate our ancestry and bring the traditions to the next generations. And if I can make a pretty penny off the tourists on the cruise ships, so much the better.” Killika turned back to her father and continued. “Kanti is going to be okay?”

“As I told you she’s on the high plateau away from the river and the glacier. She’s got everyone in the survival tents, and her scientists are hard at work. Redoubt is quivering. The earthquakes are almost continuous. It’s going to blow. They’re pretty sure in less than thirty days.”

Chayton strode across the runway, with Jazz and Arimina running beside him.

“Dad, how bad is the flooding in Anchorage? Juneau’s airport is under water I’m assuming that Anchorage is too.”

“Float planes only, and Coast Guard has priority. Most of Anchorage is under water. The university is under. Killika and Oisin are lucky, their place is up a couple hundred feet into the hills. We’re moving them onto our ranch for now. Being up between the mountain ranges, we’re safe.”

“How’s the fuel supply for the bush planes?” Hakan asked.

“We’re okay, the floating tanks from the float plane marina are all good. They’ve found a way to resupply from a couple older oil tankers they refitted with the help of the army corps of engineers.” Dasan looked at his youngest child, the one who had inherited his beloved Uki’s round face and almond eyes.

“So why is Killika here and not at your place,” Hakan asked.

“Because we want all the children down here with you. I’m asking you to bring your Beaver up to Anchorage on floats, and you to bring the Super Cub also on floats too.” Dasan pointed to each of his sons in turn. “We’re hauling everything from the store and workshop up to my ranch, and then coming back here for Killika and the kids. Oisin is packing as we speak.”

“Speaking of children,” Alicia pointed to the group running across the open meadow toward the horse barns.

“It looks like Alasie has adopted your little girl. Kallik is around here somewhere, I’ll bet he’ll scare them to death when he jumps out of one of the empty stalls.” Killika observed with a wry smile.

“Arimina is having the time of her life. Me, I’m still getting headaches from the fall I took,” Alicia started toward the barn, hoping the children wouldn’t get hurt.

“Jazz is with the girls. He’ll warn them as soon as he scents my nephew. Where’s Asiaq?” Killika scanned the meadow for her two-year-old niece.

“Napping,” Alicia said. “Armaruq is worried about our wife. I am too, with the volcano showing it’s active.”

“They’ll abandon the camp up there and leave in a hurry if it gets much worse. Dad’s stopping up there on the way back to Anchorage to make sure the repairs worked on her plane, and to pull them all off the mountain. They’re installing remote sensors, hopefully before anything blows.”

“I’m getting her floats for you Dad,” Haka said. “She’s on combo skis right now, and they’ll have to switch them out before she can takeoff.”

“Okay then, fill me up again. How’s your fuel holding up for the aircraft?” Dasan Stargazer asked his son.

“I stockpiled in the fall. I’ve got twenty barrels in the Quonset behind the house. Speaking of which, that’s where Kanti’s floats are. I’ll get Armaruq and we’ll haul them over here for you. The barrels over there have avgas in them. You’ll have to pump it yourself.” Hakan pointed to a small shack before he took off at a jog along a graveled path leading to the big ranch lodge.

“Go check on the kids, Alicia. I’m sorry to drop you into the middle of my family, but we need to get the rescue missions going. Killika’s supplies and finished products are priority right now. It won’t be long before cruise ships are calling again, and she needs to be ready. I’ll go help dad and then we need to swap the floats onto the other planes.” Chayton apologized. If he kept believing things would go back to a somewhat normal routine, he could deal with the upheaval.

“I’m fine. I’ll get to know your sister, and I want to take the trek up Twig creek and see if I can spot Ursa and her little ones. That’s for later. Right now, I hear trouble.” Alicia whirled toward the barn

Squeals and barking erupted into the hot summer air, as Killika took off after her.

“Kallik got them,” Chay said as he primed the hand pump. Grinning as he remembered surprising his sister the same way.