Chapter 6
6
“Have you ever been to Wind Valley?”
Lachlan asked the question over the whine of the wind that was currently creating mini-tornados of snow along the main drag of Firelight Ridge.
“Yeah, real windy,” Gil called back, clearly not hearing correctly. They were trudging from Gil’s truck towards Gunnar’s shop, in the hopes of picking up a new battery for Lachlan’s Nissan Frontier.
After that, they intended to stop by the general store and help Kathy unpack the latest delivery. In the winter, people stepped up to give her a hand, but that didn’t mean they’d get a price break. She was a businesswoman first and foremost and had set her boundaries early on. I’ll run this store out here in the middle of the wilderness, and you’ll pay what I ask.
“ No, Wind Valley,” Lachlan repeated.
“Huh?”
Lachlan gave up. The only tidbit of information about Wind Valley came from a conversation when he’d first come to Firelight Ridge.
“It’s like a no-man’s land out there,” he’d been told. “Ahtna legend says if you set foot in Wind Valley, you’ll be cursed for a dozen years. They used to get even worse jokulhlaups than us, before the glacier receded.”
“How do you know that?”
“Legend.”
Lachlan wished he could remember who had told him all that, but it wasn’t coming back to him. It must have been an elder, or one of his colleagues who worked with the Ahtna, like Victor Canseco.
If it was Victor, well, that might be a problem. Victor was tied up with investigations related to the crazy things that had gone down at Smoky Lake this past fall. He was back in Fairbanks now, keeping his distance from everyone in Firelight Ridge. Lachlan thought he was probably embarrassed and ashamed, because every time he reached out, Victor politely ended the contact.
They passed the two gas pumps—one for diesel, one for gasoline, neither with a credit card reader—and headed for the side door entrance to Gunnar’s automotive shop. In the warmer months, Gunnar could often be found shooting the breeze with customers out in the sunshine. But in the winter, he stuck to his shop with its big barrel stove.
Warmth welcomed them inside. Lachlan knew it was warm only by comparison to the outdoors, since it would be impossible to make this large and barely insulated space truly toasty. The smell of diesel and, oddly, cinnamon greeted them.
“Yo, brothers,” called Gunnar from under a rusty Ford Pinto hoisted onto a lift. “Come on in. Got a pot of apple cider on the camp stove. Help yourselves. Just gotta pack this bearing and…” The rest of the words disappeared into the sound of wrenching.
Gil and Lachlan walked across the stained concrete floor toward the camp stove set up on a sheet of plywood atop two sawhorses. Gil plucked two paper cups from a stack and ladled cider into them. Bits of cinnamon stick and star anise floated on the surface.
“Damn, that’s good.” Gil finished his cider off in one gulp, while Lachlan savored the steamy fragrance. Even though they were twins, they had a million small differences like that one—along with several big ones, of course.
Lachlan offered to pour some of his cider into Gil’s cup, but Gil waved him off. “It’s not your fault I have no self-control.”
“It’s not about fault. I don’t mind sharing.”
“That’s because you’re the best person.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Lachlan said good-naturedly. In his opinion, Gil was the best person, but Gil hated it when he said that. His brother put him on a pedestal, which felt uncomfortable, but Lachlan had learned that it didn’t help to contradict him. Maybe he’d have to rob a bank or something to completely lose the “best person” label.
“What were you asking me out there?”
“Wind Valley. Do you know anything about it?”
Gil frowned and cocked his head. “What have I heard about it? Oh yeah. Sam was talking about Wind Valley. He said none of the local flight services ever go that direction because the air currents are so unpredictable that there’s a high chance of wind shear.”
“Makes sense. What context did this come up in?”
“I don’t really remember. You’ll have to ask him. He and Molly are coming over tonight, you can ask him then.”
“Right, I forgot about that. Game night.”
He wasn’t looking forward to it. The group would be entirely couples except for him. Maybe he should invite Gunnar, he thought morosely as the mechanic came toward them, wiping his hands on a rag.
Lachlan reached for the orange bottle of Gojo hand cleaner and handed it to Gunnar so he didn’t have to lean past them.
“Thanks, man. If you ever want a job as a mechanic’s assist?—”
“No thanks,” Lachlan said before he could finish the thought. “I like staring at soil samples all day, not carburetors.”
“Shh,” Gunnar hissed. “Don’t say that shit around all these engines. They might take it personally.”
Gil and Lachlan both laughed, sounding so similar that Gunnar gave a double-take. The twins definitely had one thing in common—their sense of humor.
“Hey, were you guys talking about Wind Valley? I wasn’t eavesdropping, but sound in this place travels.”
“Have you been there?” Lachlan asked, kicking himself for not asking him first. Gunnar had been born and raised in Firelight Ridge, and there weren’t too many people who fell into that category.
“Sure, when I was a reckless idiot teenager.”
“You mean, a couple years ago?” Gil teased him.
Gunnar gave him a playful punch on the arm. “At least ten. Maybe more. A few of us went camping there once. We lost two tents and a sleeping bag, and if I remember it right, one girl lost her contact lens. It blew out of her eye when she was messing with it.”
“That’s impossible.” Gil looked at Lachlan. “Right?”
That didn’t seem like a scenario that required much scientific knowledge. “It’s possible. If she rubbed at the lens, and it got folded in on itself, the wind could get under the fold and blow it away.”
“It did happen.” Gunnar finished cleaning his hands and planted them on his hips. “Is that what you’re here for? Talk about Wind Valley?”
“No, we’re here to see if you have a battery for a Nissan Frontier.” But once Lachlan was focused on something, it was hard to let go. “Is there a road out there?”
“Hell no. Why would there be? There’s never been any kind of development out there. I don’t even know who owns it.”
“Isn’t it part of the National Park?” Lachlan asked. Most of the wilderness around here was.
“Most likely, yeah,” Gunnar agreed. “But I can’t say specifically.”
“Fair enough.”
“You know, there was someone trying to live out that way, like ten years ago. Damn, I’d forgotten about that. This brilliant professor type and his family. He set up his own wind turbine instead of using solar. I remember him coming in to talk to my dad about the mechanics of it. He made it from recycled materials.”
“Did it work?”
“I doubt it.” Gunnar snorted. “No wind turbine could stand up to the gales that blow through that valley.”
“How did they live? In a tent or something?”
“You’re asking me about things that happened when I was a teenager. I don’t remember. I do know that a military chopper picked them up when they left. ”
Lachlan exchanged a glance with Gil. “I thought no one ever flew that way because of the wind shear.”
“Yeah, it’s risky. That’s probably why it took an Apache helicopter to airlift them out. I think one of their kids got sick and they needed a hospital. Yeah, it’s coming back to me now. I don’t think they lasted past the first winter storm. Everyone thought they were crazy.”
“Do you remember their name?”
Gunnar thought about it, arms crossed over his chest, legs braced apart. He wore mechanic’s coveralls, but instead of “Gunnar,” the embroidered name read, “Anthony.” Hand-me-downs from his father, no doubt. It didn’t seem to bother him one bit.
“Reed. Their last name was Reed. Dr. Reed. From British Columbia. Now let’s get you set up with a battery.”
Lachlan touched Gil on the arm. “I’m going to head over to the store and do a quick search on Professor Reed.”
Gil nodded. “I’ll pick you up after we’re done here.”
I’m a lucky guy, to have a brother like Gil , thought Lachlan as he headed back into the cold. He won the best person award, hands down.
Streaks of deep flamingo pink were flooding the sky as the sun made its slow descent toward the horizon. These days, it barely made it above the treetops before sinking back down. Of course Lachlan knew it was doing nothing of the sort. The tilt of the earth was what governed the appearance of the sun throughout the seasons, not the movements of the sun itself. But for some things, he preferred a poetic mindset to a scientific one.
Like with Maura, the thought flashed through his mind. Maybe science could explain his attraction to her. But he didn’t want it to. Some things were better understood in other ways. More magical and mysterious ones.
The door to the general store creaked as he pushed it open, and there was Maura talking to Kathy at the counter. As if he’d conjured her with his thoughts. Magical and mysterious, indeed.