Ninety Degrees Out

“Alicia!”

She didn’t want to take her eyes off the mother moose. The calf was half delivered, and Arimina was squeezing her hand hard. This was special. What was Chay yelling about?

“Alicia, I really need your help!”

“Ari, can you stay right here. I want you to see how that little moose gets up to nurse right away. Herbivores have to be ready to run as soon as they’re born.”

“What does Mr. Chay want?” Ari asked. She craned her neck to see what was going on up the trail.

“I’m not sure, but it looks like Jazz and Blue have found something. I’ll go look, you stay and watch the baby moose. He’s going to try getting up as soon as his mom licks him clean.”

“Okay, but he’s waving for you to come.”

“I’ll be right back. Just stay right here okay?” Alicia knew how easily her daughter could get distracted.

“I won’t move. Promise Mommy.”

Alicia glanced over her shoulder to double check on her daughter as she made her way back up the trail. What was that in Chay’s hand? Jazz and Blue vanished into the brambles as she approached and got her first look at the fluffy ball of fur laying on Chay’s forearm.

“I’m afraid there’s more of them in there.” Chay pointed at a small gap worn between the thorny raspberry brambles. “There’s been regular use of that little pathway.”

“A lynx kitten?” she asked. “Where’s the mother?”

“My thoughts exactly. Jazz isn’t likely to steal a baby. I’m going to grab a couple of axes and some heavy gloves. I expect the mother’s dead and might be in there with her babies. This one is tiny. Her eyes aren’t even open yet.”

“It’s an emergency for sure. I’ll be able to replace mother’s milk fairly easily. I’ll have to supplement with a gruel of ground meat.” Alicia ran down her checklist of nutrients the kittens needed. “There’s no access to the vitamins and minerals I need so I’m going to have to find natural substitutes.”

“Do you think you can save them?” Chay asked.

“We can only try. This one is pretty dehydrated already. I’m going to try to get some water into her.” Alicia lifted the tiny ball of fur off Chay’s arm.

Chay pointed to the rustling brambles as Blue emerged muzzle first, with another kitten. Jazz followed with a third one, dropping his mewling burden at Alicia’s feet.

Alicia dribbled water over her tiny baby and watched the pink tongue dart out. Dipping her little finger into her water bottle, she put it in the kitten’s mouth and felt the sucking response.

“We have a chance. She’s still able to suck. They’re not too far gone.”

“Great, can you make something to carry them in out of my tee shirt?” Chay dropped his pack and pulled it over his head handing it to her.

“Mommy, I’ll hold the kittens,” Arimina sat down cross legged and reached for the two on the ground, placing them in her lap. “The baby moose is having his first drink. He got up so fast. And it’s a he.” Arimina paused to grin. “I know what to look for.”

“I thought I told you stay there, but since you’re here, thank you.” Alicia formed a makeshift basket by tying the sleeves and neck of the tee shirt into overhand knots. “We need to get these kittens some milk and make up some meat broth.”

“Do you smell that?” Chay asked as the breeze shifted.

“Yeah, I think we’ve got a dead mother. Sorry Arimina. These babies are in trouble.” Alicia said.

“But we’re going to help them, right?” Ari asked.

“We’re going to try. You’ll confirm that’s what happened, their mother is dead, Chay?” Alicia helped Arimina put the three cubs into her improvised basket.

“As soon as we get these little ones back to the ranch house. I’ll come back and figure out what happened. You and Ari will see what you can do for them. Are you ready to walk?” He swung his day pack onto his shoulders.

Arimina hopped up and grabbed his hand. “Let’s hurry. It’s getting pretty hot out now.”

Alicia nodded. “You’re right, Chay. Let’s get these kits into the house and fed. I’ll get in touch with Anya. She’s bound to have some idea about what they need.”

She held the tee shirt bag with the kittens out to her side, letting it move free beside her and tried to avoid any bumps and jerks. This was going to be a desperate experiment in animal rescue. Would Ariel and Uki have any ideas? The two older women had a wealth of knowledge about the flora and fauna around them. This was going to be a group effort if they were going to save the kittens.

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

Erick came out of the radio shack as Oisin rolled up in the wagon. It was early evening and the sun was heading down behind the hills. The trees formed a jagged black silhouetted against a peachy clear sky. The earlier shower clouds dissipated almost as quickly as they rolled in from the west. Winds were almost nonexistent now in the Bearing Sea especially around the Aleutian Islands. The doldrums at the actual equator were such an opposite of what used to be, the crab fisheries were in heaven. Unfortunately, the harbors were flooded out, and the canneries and other fish processing plants on shore were gone.

The only things still dealing with fish were the huge floating fishery ships. They survived with little change. However, the markets in Asia were severely decimated. The last count of world-wide deaths stood at almost two billion souls. Chinese manufacturing was completely shut down as most of the country froze. Even with the coming summer months, the government there was not hopeful about getting their chip manufacturing back online.

The networks of fiber optic cabling which made such easy work of communications were torn in several key places, leaving Star Link as the only viable way to move information. That was slow to fill the gaps as the several business hubs were destroyed in tsunamis and earthquakes.

But at the moment, Erik was more interested in news from the homestead and their horse round up.

“How was the drive down?” He asked as Oisin unfolded his long legs and hoped down off the driver’s bench.

“Delivered supplies to all along the way. Including Randy. He’s been watching that polar bear pretty close. I suggested he write down what he’s observing. Maybe Alicia can use his data.” Oisin rubbed his butt cheeks.

“Feeling it are you?” Erik asked and then pointed across the yard toward the lodge and the side door slammed open and Killika sprinted toward them.

Oisin braced himself as she threw herself into his arms.

Erik shook his head. He wondered if he would ever have a relationship like that. “Get a room,” he teased.

“It’s been way too long apart.” Killika shot him a look that would have put him six feet under the ground.

“Take your wife and go see your kids. We’ve got a bunch more now. Ask Killika about all the new people who have been pouring into the ranch,” Erik suggested.

Oisin tugged his wife’s hand, and the started back toward the lodge. This is why I do what I do, Erik thought. Keeping families safe. Keeping us all safe. He continued over to the barns, walking through the horse stables first, and then into the bigger one where all the gear for hunting trips was stored. The two big tents were gone with the riders up at homestead. The equipment for the chuckwagon was gone too. Life was changing on the homestead.

The deep baying woof of Bear brought his attention back to the outdoors. Why was the mastiff alerting? Akira came out, followed by all six of the Narson kids. His ears didn’t pick up anything, but that didn’t mean anything. Bear loped across the runway and down the hill toward the creek.

He sprinted after the long haired dog. His black fur rippled as he ran, and the red highlights glowed in the evening sun. With Jazz and Blue gone on the horse round up, the giant dog was their early warning for trouble. He heard grunting woofs and snarling snaps as he ran. Were there problem animals, or problem people coming from the canyon?

He drew his side arm as he ran. Thank God he had a big one. The fifty caliber handgun would stop a bear, but it couldn’t be Ursa. Bear knew her scent. Problems never quit these days.

What about that damn bike gang? Slowing down as he approached the creek, he whistled for the dog. Akira taught all the adults how to signal for him to come to them. What was going on? The hair on the back of his neck prickled as he made a quick check over his shoulder.

Chuck and Jerry were riding bareback, coming in a hurry. He had back up. Bear came back down the creek bed and shook, scattering water droplets everywhere. Whatever upset the dog, it wasn’t making him bark anymore. However, he did sit at his side, waiting. Now what?