Ninety Degrees Out

“Do you want to eat now?” Chay asked as he used his toes to ease his boots off.

“Are you hungry, baby?” Alicia asked her daughter.

“Not really, we had pancakes for breakfast, and I’m still full,” Arimina answered.

“There’s your answer. I’m not hungry yet either, what about you?”

“I’ll grab some jerky and a bottle of water. I’ll follow you over to your place. We need to check it out after the earthquake. I’m not even sure the road is drivable.”

“All right, you have a point. Come Ari, get your coat and we’ll go home.”

“Is it going to be okay, mommy?”

“I don’t know. After an earthquake anything could have happened.”

Alicia hugged her little girl tight.

“It’s going to be okay. We’re going to go see what happened, and Chay is coming with us.” She added.

“I’m going to clean up Jazz, so he doesn’t leave mud all over my truck, and we’ll head out. Do you have a radio in your Jeep?”

“Sure, I’ve got a stereo,” Alicia said.

“Not that kind, a two way?” Chay asked.

“No, I’ve got a couple of handhelds for when I’m in the field, nothing in the Jeep.”

“I’ll help you mount a magnetic antenna, and you can use the cigarette lighter for power. I’m not sure the cell towers are going to stay up. We may end up back on old fashioned radios.”

“I’ve got the stuff to do it in a box in the garage. I didn’t think I was going to need it.”

“We’ll worry about it later.”

Chayton took the big wet towel into the great room and began wiping down Jazz’s paws and belly. Once he had the worst of the mud off, he threw the towel into the mud room where he had his laundry.

“Come on boy,” he called his dog to him.

Checking the back doors, he locked them, and made sure the sliding door to the deck was secured. Then went to check the front door air lock. Satisfied that everything was locked up, he came back to the hallway behind his kitchen.

“Let’s go,” he let himself into the garage, waving Alicia and Arimina through the door ahead of him.

Pushing the switch for the garage door opener, he went down the short flight of steps after he grabbed the keys hanging on a hook, right beside the handrail.

“Go on ahead, I’ll be right behind you,” he told Alicia and watched as she loaded Arimina into her booster in the back seat.

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

“Look out, Mommy,” Arimina shouted.

Alicia hit the brakes. The bear was a blonde grizzly, and she was almost across the road, but her cubs were tiny, smaller than any she had ever seen. On top of the early appearance of their mother, there were four of them. They were barely able to walk, falling onto their chests and wriggling almost as much as they were able to get their feet.

“It’s okay, baby. I missed them.”

Alicia rolled her window down as Chay pulled up beside her in his truck.

“She’s definitely out of her den,” Chay called through his open window.

“You saw her?” Alicia knew she sounded peeved.

“Yeah, I thought she’d stay closer to her den, but there isn’t all that much for her to forage for out here. No growth yet, even though almost all the snow is gone.”

“We’re going to have to do something to get her what she needs, without making her dependant on us,” Alicia said.

“That’s Ursa, I know, not much originality in what I named her, she’s almost fifteen years old. A really smart momma bear. Like I told my brother, Hakan, I see about shooting a couple of elk or a moose on the property and leave them where she can find them, they’ll be alright until the plant life catches up.”

“At least she’s aware of how slow her cubs are.”

“Like I said she’s a smart momma. Are they clear of the road?”

“Last one is almost across, now. Arimina, can you see the little white one now?”

From her booster on the rear passenger side seat, Arimina said, “Here it comes. They look like my teddy bear,”

Chay chuckled when he heard her. She equated anything furry with her toys.

“Except they have a real-life momma who would be very angry if you came close to them,” her mother warned.

“I know, look don’t touch, especially with momma bears. I read the books, Mommy.” Arimina sounded like a sarcastic teenager.

“I don’t know where she’s headed, but my brother’s property starts down there. She’ll be okay there. I let him know she’s got cubs,

“I’m glad we’re on our own little side road here,” Alicia said.

“Me too. Let’s go see if you need to call the Markham’s and let them know they have damage or not. If those big floor to ceiling windows on the west side broke, you won’t be able to live in here. Once the bugs start hatching, it’s going to be impossible to deal with.”

“I’ll lead,” Alicia said, and rolled up her window.

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

“Bring Jazz in,” Alicia said as she waited for Chay to shut down is truck.

“Not till we know if there’s any glass down. I don’t want him cutting his paws.”

“Hurry up, mommy. I want to know what the earthquake did to our house.” Arimina tugged at her hand.

“I never set the alarm out here, and I suppose I should, but no one ever comes up here unless it’s a delivery for me or you.”

Alicia unlocked the door and led the way through her to the great room.

“Oh, dear God! I’m so glad we weren’t home.” Alicia stopped dead, blocking the way.

“Stay back here, Arimina. If that glass falls, you’re going to get hurt. Both of you, not another step.” Chay stepped in front of them.

Alicia pulled her daughter back into the passageway, sitting down on the stairs that led to the loft and their bedrooms. She studied the shambles of her spectacular view as Chay pulled his phone out.

“Sarge, I need a crew out here on Dahl Road to tarp up the side of the old Markham place.”

“It was just renovated.”

“You’re on speaker Sarge. Yeah, it was just remodeled, but someone cheaped out. The glass isn’t tempered, and there are great daggers of broken glass hanging from the upper reaches of the great room windows. One aftershock and it’ll fall.”

“Shit,” Sarge started to swear.

“Hey, kids present,” Alicia spoke up.

“Sorry, ma’am. You aren’t the first one with broken windows. Seems the same company has cut corners on a number of jobs. I’ll send the fire crews down to take care of the hanging glass. You might have to wait a few hours though.”

“I can’t stay in here in any case. I haven’t gone upstairs to check the damage on the second floor yet, but I’ll bet there’s more broken glass there.” Alicia said.

“I don’t want you using the stairs. We usually update to new quake proof codes as we renovate up here, but I suspect it wasn’t done. I don’t even know if it’s safe. Do you have anywhere to stay?”

“I’ll take Alicia and her daughter to my place. I’ve got enough room, and I’ll get their things from the second story, Sarge.” Chay said.

“You be careful. The whole place could fold up if it’s off the foundation.”

“I don’t think it is, but I’ll check before we go up. I know the signs.” Chay told him before he hung up.

“Let’s take a walk around the outside. I can see the high-water mark, and the flooding has gone down.” Alicia said.

“That fits with what Twig Creek has done. The canyon is blocked now where the ice dam was, but the boulder blockage isn’t as deep. We’re going to have a wonderful swimming hole once everything settles.” Chay said.

As they followed the path around the house, Chay took Arimina’s tiny hand in his while her mother held the other. Without even thinking about it they started to swing her between them, and her delighted squeals bounced between the wall and the fence.

“Higher! Higher! Please!” The little girl begged.

Chay looked across at Alicia and she nodded, suddenly choked up at her daughter’s joyous laughter. How had he understood them so easily? Such a little thing, but did she dare hope for a proper family. Was he even thinking that way? Or was he only kind because that was how he always worked? And really, what was she thinking.?