Page 59 of Thunder Pass

“Very important,” he added. Was that really any better? There was more, so much more, but they were hurtling down a gravel road with gunfire in the rearview mirror and mysteries swirling around them. Maybe that was enough for now.

28

They went straight to The Fang. As they drove down Pioneer Road, Ruth looked at everything they passed with fresh eyes, as if she’d transformed into a new person since she’d left. The Magic Breakfast Bus, about to close for the winter. The former hardware store, now a cozy apartment, though still a good place to find roofing nails if you were completely out. The trapper’s cabins with solar panels propped on the mossy roofs.

Firelight Ridge was a testament to making the best of what was available, to surviving in a challenging environment, and to choosing life in the mountains over a life of convenience. It had accepted her without judgement. She loved the place.

Not that hot showers weren’t an amazing invention. Karaoke machines and hot showers…two things she wouldn’t mind bringing back to Firelight Ridge.

At the Fang, Lila greeted them with a huge grin and bear hugs. Her white hair was brightened with streaks of deep blue and strands of silver. As she looked into Ruth’s eyes, her smile dropped. “What happened?”

Where should she start? The prison? The truck theft? The gunshots at Martha’s? She wasn’t sure how much to share.

“It’s a long story.” She settled herself onto a stool and glanced at the old miners at the other end of the bar. Everything and everyone looked so familiar and beloved. Behind the bar, old photos were pinned to the wall, and the personal glassware of the regulars filled a shelf—Lasse Ullstrom’s drinking horn, Pinky’s mug, Oil Can’s thermos. Time had stopped here in The Fang, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Have you seen Martha?” She wanted to tell Martha about the gunshots before anyone else.

“I think she took her woofers rafting, kind of a last-day adventure sort of thing.”

That made sense. Ruth forced herself to relax. Not everything was an ominous sign of danger. “How are things here?”

“Strange. Scary.” Lila pulled out a bottle of wine and set a glass on the table. “Are you here for a full report?”

Ruth glanced at Gunnar as he slid onto the stool next to her. The words “strange and scary” perfectly described what they’d seen since they’d gotten back. “Yes, please. What’s going on?”

“I was hoping you could explain it.” Lila poured wine into her glass, and gave Gunnar a glass of soda water. “Something’s happening out at the Chilkoots’.”

That much, she knew. “Can you say more?”

“Well, I’m sure you’ve seen the military types showing up in town all summer. No one knew where they were staying, but then Bennie Thomas saw a caravan of camouflage trucks heading out to the Chilkoot compound.”

“Yes, we saw them too,” said Ruth. “Are they military?”

“No. Toni used to be in the Army, and she said they weren’t official vehicles. But maybe some kind of private militia?” Lila’s eyes—so violet they looked purple in the dark bar—were full of questions. “Does that sound like something your family would be involved with?”

“Well, of course it’s possible. They were stockpiling weapons for years, but most of them were seized in the raid. And Luke’s best fighters are still in prison.”

“But why would Luke need his own militia?” Lila asked.

Gunnar toyed with his glass of club soda. “Good question. You said ‘first of all.’ What next?”

Lila propped her elbows on the counter. “Yesterday, some helicopters flew across town. They were all heading in the direction of the Chilkoots’. None of them touched down at the airstrip, where someone could find out what they were up to. Oh, one more thing. Elias said he tried to go to the compound to give your aunts some salmon he’d caught, and he got turned around at a checkpoint a few miles from the property, right on a public road. They weren’t letting anyone pass, not even Elias.”

“We saw that. They barely let us pass through,” said Ruth. “Is anyone doing anything about it?”

“Bear called the Blackbear police, but the dispatcher said most of the department is down with food poisoning and they can’t spare anyone to come out here.” She fixed her worried eyes on Ruth. “Any ideas what’s going on?”

“No. I’m sorry. We’re trying to figure it out, but…well, I’m not really welcome out there anymore.”

The sadness of the situation slammed into her. Her own family was up to something nefarious and they didn’t trust her or want her around. She didn’t trust them either. There wasn’t a single person on that compound that she could fully trust, not even the children, like Miller, because they were all still under the thumb of the adults.

She felt tears sting her eyes. Under the shelter of the bar, Gunnar’s hand settled on her knee.

Gunnar. She could trust Gunnar.

“Well, people are starting to worry,” Lila was saying. “Especially given what Luke and Naomi were planning the last time. I have a bad feeling myself, but I can’t fill in any of the details. So if you can find out anything, Ruth, I hope you’ll trust us enough to share it.”

Ruth nodded tightly and took a sip of her wine. It tasted like vinegar to her—not fun, just sour. This was her responsibility. She was a Chilkoot, and her kin were planning something that involved camouflage trucks and helicopters and roadblocks, and who else was going to figure out what, if not her?

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