Chapter 26

                                    

                                          
Zach expected a slightly larger version of the log cabins in town. Low to the ground with steep roofs, no more than a few rooms.
                          
But the Salmon Run Lodge was a castle compared to them. Two stories in the center portion, with two small expansions on either side. The center section jutted forward, at the middle of which stood a wide centered recessed entryway. 
                          
The wood still glowed with dark brown of stain. Multiple paned windows glittered from their settings among the large logs. Smoke lazily drifted up from the single story addition to the left, a breeze at the top of the trees taking it away.
                          
Sasha stood with Grandpa Neeley under the grand porch waving furiously at them with a big grin. 
                          
Darnit jumped off the porch and ran around the buggy as it came to a stop, barking furiously while his tail wagged so vigorously that it threatened to knock him off balance. McRoyal slipped out of the passenger seat and grabbed Darnit's collar to stop the antics.
                          
With a flourish of his arm he announced, "Welcome to the Salmon Run Lodge!"
                          
Zach climbed out of the back seat, his eyes glued to the structure. 
                          
Sasha ran up and hugged him from the side, shifting to stand behind him as he looked up at the roof-line. "Isn't it great?"
                          
He cleared his throat. "It's bigger than I thought it would be."
                          
"It has to be big. A lot of guests once came here every summer," Sasha said.
                          
"I didn't know log cabins could get this big," his father said weakly. 
                          
"Crazy George designed it well," McRoyal said. He pointed further down the drive. "Garage down there. I'll put the buggy away for you while you go inside."
                          
Zach glanced in the direction seeing tracks leading around the far end of the house. But his eyes immediately returned to what was in front of him.
                          
Their new home. He'd been waiting for this moment ever since his father had told him of the odd inheritance. The new adventure standing in front of him, as real as the snow he stood on and the cold air biting at his face.
                          
And yet he couldn't make himself step forward, afraid it might all evaporate away.
                          
Sasha started laughing. "Zach, you should see your face. No, it isn't a dream."
                          
The comment brought a chuckle from his father. Zach turned his attention to him, to find him smiling sheepishly. "I was doing the same thing."
                          
"No more procrastination," Grandpa Neeley said, gesturing from the porch. "Time to face the future."
                          
His father put a hand on his back, and together they mounted the steps one by one. The double entry provided a place to sit down and remove boots and shoes. Zach hung up his coat in the closet before going through the second set of the doors.
                          
The first thing he noticed was how warm the place was. The second was the height of the ceilings, glowing of golden polished pine. Straight in front of him sat a grand room with a huge fireplace to his left. Padded wood chairs and couches filled the space, set up into three conversation areas with one of them facing the fireplace.
                          
Towards the front of the lodge on the opposite side from the grand room was a dining area with one long table and three smaller ones scattered around the large space. Along one wall of the dining area sat a long table with cups and bowls still sitting on it.
                          
So airy with so much light coming in through the windows. It didn't look like a dark shadowy haunted house at all.
                          
Even if some of the surfaces had a thin coating of dust.
                          
"When was the last time this place was open for business?" Zach asked.
                          
"About three years," Grandpa Neeley said from behind him. "Look past the surface. This place has a solid heart."
                          
Zach heard a door close somewhere to the left, appearing through a wide door between the dining room and the great room.
                          
Sasha pointed to the stairs to the right and the hallway next to it, "Plenty of bedrooms on the ground floor and then upstairs. Thanks to the electricity you have hot water. Well, you would have had it anyway. Wait till you see the boiler in the kitchen." 
                          
"Which provides the heat in the floor. Makes for a comfortable place in the winter," McRoyal said. "I wish my cabin had it."
                          
"Generator out back if the electric goes out, coal for the secondary boiler if you need it," McRoyal said.
                          
"Does the power go out often?" His father asked. Good, he was worried, too.
                          
"It happens," Grandpa Neeley said, leading his father through the door into the kitchen. "Best to be prepared. With any luck you won't have to use it, but if the power does go out you'll be glad to have it."
                          
Sasha elbowed Zach, "You don't look happy."
                          
He startled, standing up straight. "I'm not unhappy. I was just thinking."
                          
"About the possibilities?" She asked, a dimple showing in her left cheek.
                          
More like how he couldn't picture the place as a haunted house, but he didn't say that out loud. Why did people keep saying that? "No, about how much cleaning needs to be done."
                          
She rolled her eyes. "Really, Zach. Cleaning is no big deal. Look beyond that."
                          
"Beyond that? I can see that I'm personally going to be doing a lot of it." But he said it with a smile. 
                          
She shook her head at him. "Boys."
                          
"Girls," he mimicked.
                          
"Zach, come in here and see this boiler," his father called from the direction of the kitchen, his voice excited.
                          
Zach took a deep breath and felt himself relax. The lodge was all he'd hoped it would be. He already had a friend in town to go to school with and they'd been accepted by the townsfolk immediately. He turned towards the kitchen with a smile on his face.
                          
Life in Salmon Run was looking up. His new life had begun.
                          

                          
The End
                          
****
                          
The adventures in "Salmon Run" are continued in the book "Alien Winter," of which the first chapter is posted here at Wattpad. "Alien Winter" is available at Amazon, Barnes & NOble, Omnilit, Smashwords, the iBookstore, and many other online retailers.
                          
The series consist of the following books, in order:
                          
Night of the Aurora
                          
Alien Winter
                          
The Singing Lakes
                          
Secret Illusions
                          
I hope you enjoyed your time spent in Alaska and will come by for another visit in the future!