Chapter 14

                                    

                                          
After the wild snow machine ride through the Aurora lit Alaska night, the entrance into the small town of Salmon run was a bit of a let-down. The pack of riders rejoined the railroad tracks at the edge of town and a small road running next to it. Up and over the tracks and they were on the main street of Salmon Run.
                          
The first few buildings sat close together, most of them boarded up. Scattered among the dark lonely buildings were a few with porch lights illuminating the berms of snow lining the main road and small driveways.
                          
Further on Hawk saw the shape of larger buildings, but only one of them held the inviting lights of civilization. The two story building stood on the left side of the street with a good sized parking lot in front and to the side. Light flowed out of the wide windows on the ground floor while above the porch two small lights illuminated the words "Salmon Run General Store" in large block letters.
                          
A big truck sat in the side parking lot, but all the other vehicles were snow machines.
                          
He laughed to himself. An Alaskan town with more snow machines than vehicles. Just the sort of place Hawk had hoped it would be. Zach might think he'd accepted the inheritance only to then sell the place later for a profit. It was more than that. Hawk hoped to slow down a bit and again find the boy he used to be out in the farm country. And, in the process, give Zach the kind of childhood he deserved.
                          
Doc stopped the snow machine in front of the store. Other snow machines were getting checked over and refueled. Four turned and went back the way they'd come, he assumed to pick up more Solar Express passengers.
                          
Hawk climbed off the back of the snow machine, trying to get the feeling back in his legs. He pulled off the helmet and handed it back to Doc who stored it away in a compartment in the back of the seat.
                          
Doc motioned towards the General Store where several kids in snowsuits were playing in the high berms on either side. "Head on in and warm up. They'll have hot drinks for you."
                          
"Hot sounds good." Hawk looked over the other machines that had stopped with them. With all the helmets he couldn't tell which one might be Zach. But as the helmets were removed and given back to the snow machine drivers, he found Zach not among them.
                          
"Where is Zach?" Hawk shouted at the group.
                          
Doc looked back, "They were right behind us."
                          
"Who are we looking for?" One of the other drivers asked.
                          
"Sasha Neeley and her passenger, on the Zombie," Doc said.
                          
"It might have bogged down at the edge of the pond, with it being so heavy," one of them suggested. "We can check on our way back."
                          
Doc waved at Hawk. "Get inside. They aren't about to get lost with all the machines going back and forth. I'm sure they'll be with the next pack."
                          
Hawk had to move out of the way of the machines coming and going. He watched as Doc topped off his machine with fuel and turned to head back out of town.
                          
Hawk waited for the next group to arrive, not caring about the cold air or the insistence of Mr. Dunn to come into the store. The next pack held two familiar passengers, but not the one he hoped to see.
                          
Darnit sat in a sled towed behind a white snow machine, sitting upright with his face full into the wind. And looking like he was having a fabulous time with that horrific grin on his face. McRoyal was right. Darnit needed to stop doing that. It just didn't look right.
                          
McRoyal climbed off the machine and hobbled back towards the sled. He reached for Darnit's collar and pulled. "Down, you mutt."
                          
Darnit jumped off, but not without pulling back once. Hawk stepped off the porch, but couldn't make himself walk any closer to the dog. He shouted, "Did you see Sasha and Zach on the Zombie?"
                          
McRoyal pulled off the helmet and handed it back to the driver. "Why would I have seen them? They were with your pack."
                          
"Not when we got here." Hawk's heart sunk. He studied the other snow machines, having trouble keeping track of them with so many coming and going.
                          
"Doc looking for them?" McRoyal asked as he joined him at the base of the porch.
                          
Hawk nodded. "Said something about maybe bogging down near the creak?"
                          
McRoyal nodded. "Could have happened. It was soft up that ways." He raised his voice and shouted, "Stewie, The Zombie is missing. Keep an eye out!"
                          
The man waved, turning to shout the same warning to a few others. The warning jumped from one side of the parking lot to the other.
                          
"Darnit, get away from that sled!" McRoyal shouted. Darnit froze in the act of jumping up on one of the sleds of a snow machine leaving the parking lot. "Darn dog. If he had a chance he'd be pulled all around town all day long."
                          
"A sled dog that prefers to ride," Hawk said numbly. Yes, a stupid dog. And a stupid father who wanted such a great Alaskan adventure only to lose his son before even getting into town.
                          
He felt a hand on his arm pulling him towards the store. "No point in freezing out here. You can watch the comin's and goin's from inside."
                          
Hawk let himself be led inside by McRoyal. He felt numb. And horrified. Yep, reality was sinking in hard and good.
                          
Double doors led into an entryway with a place for coats on the right and a bench underneath. Beyond the second set of double doors the full warmth of the store assaulted both his body and mind.
                          
A lethargy set in that he didn't like. He had to stay awake. He shook himself and tried to turn to go back outside. Who cared if the porch was covered with dogs.
                          
McRoyal kept tight hold on his arm, leading him to the right of the store and into a small café area. "No you don't. Sit by the window."
                          
A window with a great view of the parking area. Hawk sat down hard, suddenly too tired to stand. He studied everyone and everything outside, trying to keep awake. A hot mug of what turned out to be almost scalding coffee was shoved into his hands. He drank at it without even turning to see who had given it to him.
                          
"You are letting despair overwhelm you."
                          
Hawk looked up to find Grandpa Neeley sitting in the chair directly across from him.
                          
With the heat of the coffee came the heat of anger. "Two kids are lost in a frozen Alaskan wilderness, and you aren't worried?"
                          
"Of course I worry, but I do not let it overwhelm me." He set his hands calmly in his lap. "They are fine, I feel it."
                          
"Nice to be so assured."
                          
"It is not a feeling based on fantasy." He smiled. "Many in my clan have the gift of sense. Sasha inherited it from both myself and my late wife. When I say I 'feel' it, I refer to that gift not an arbitrary emotional feeling."
                          
And Hawk wanted to believe it, but it was a bit hard to take Still, if only... "That's a bit generic. Any specifics? Such as where they are?"
                          
"No locations, it usually doesn't work that way." Grandpa Neeley stared off into space. His mouth quirked. "Fine, and perhaps excited. An adventure, perhaps? But fine."
                          
"But fine," he repeated. Still too generalized to take much hope in. He took another big gulp of coffee, nearly burning his mouth.
                          
He needed more than 'fine.'
                          
Where was Zach?