Ninety Degrees Out

“What have you found?” Chay asked as he came down the beach

“Look over there,” Alicia pointed across the shallow water where floating water plants turned the gentle waves green.

“It’s a moose, and it’s a mommy moose,” Arimina said.

“She got twins,” Alicia said.

“Then what was Jazz howling at?” Chay asked them.

“There were some Dahl sheep up there, they’ve got several lambs, and I’m not sure, but there might have been some mountain goats.”

“Hmmm, I wonder if we can cut some of the young out of those groups. Can we turn them semi domesticated for meat?”

“Protected species, at least the Dahl are as I remember. They don’t look as if they like the hot weather though.” Alicia said.

Chay shrugged his shoulders. “We could definitely try it with the moose and maybe with the mountain goats.”

“I’ll have to see what the status is for endangered species now. Are we still doing everything we can for them, or is this flip going to put some stress on those programs?” Alicia sounded like there might be a few problems with his idea.

He felt Arimina tug at his shorts.

“We should leave those babies with their mothers. They will do what is good for them.”

“You know, Ari, you are probably right. I’m thinking about our long term survival. I guess we’ll let all the calves from the dairy cows grow up this year. We usually sell them off for veal, or slaughter them ourselves. We’re going to need more cows to deal with the milk shortages. Kids need it to grow strong bones.” Chad thought out loud.

“I know Daisy already and the other two cows Grandma Uki milks.” Arimina did a little dance of excitement.

Chay scanned the lake. There were half a dozen Canada Goose pairs swimming and as he took a closer look at the cattails on the opposite shore, he spotted several more nesting. Maybe he could flush the parents off and hatch them. Getting livestock for any sort of husbandry was going to be tough. Nothing was moving anymore. Kanti and Killika allowed the chickens to brood on two of their nests, hoping to add to the stock of birds. More eggs and meat from the roosters would be welcome.

Would they be able to source some goats and sheep? He was still caught on the idea of taking a few wild kids and lambs, but like Alicia said, what about the regulations? He felt a bit of a tremble under his feet, and Arimina wrapped her arm around his thigh.

“It’s not a big one Ari,” he reassured her. Reaching down he pulled her up and lifted her up to his shoulders to ride there. Blue and Jazz trotted to his side, whining quietly. He reached down to run his fingers through the Malawolf’s thick fur. Blue butted her head under his other hand, demanding some attention as well.

“I’m wondering if any of our coastal farms lost livestock? How many of them are under water, and can we round up some of the cattle and dairy cows?” Alicia asked as they walked along the beach toward the creek running down from the springs behind the barn.

“There’s only one dairy farm left in Alaska, and it’s not that far from Anchorage. We should see if we can bargain with them for a few milk cows. Maybe they have some heifers in this year’s batch of calves.” Chay stopped at the creek and watched as trout fanned their fins where it emptied into the lake.

“It’s starting to get pretty warm out here,” Alicia commented. “Maybe we should head back and get inside for the next while.”

“Do you want to walk Ari?” Chay asked.

“No, I like it up here,” Arimina locked her legs around his shoulders.

Chay reached for Alicia’s hand as they headed up the creek for the first bit. Continuing into the forest, they cut down a game trail toward the meadow and runways closer to the big old log house. The men were wandering toward their tents, and when he scanned the corral, the wire was in place between the two sets of boards between the top rail and the ground. It looked pretty unconventional, but he trusted his father’s design.

There were several saddles along the top rail closest to the stable end of the barn. Where were they going to get more tack? The logistics of this was a nightmare. But at least the horses they already had, could be riding bareback. Why was he worrying about it? Hakan and Armaruq would take care of it.

He pulled Alicia closer to him, wrapping an arm over her shoulders, and then stopped to point into the trees. He squatted down, and whispered, “Ari, get down.”

The little girl slid down his back and pushed between him and her mother. The dogs sat on his other side as he waited for Ari to figure out what caught his attention. Her black ringlets bounced as she wiggled forward to stand in front of him.

“Oh,” Ari breathed. She tipped her head up to meet his eyes and quickly gazed back through the trees.

Alicia’s hand squeezed his, as she took in the scene in front of them. Between two giant blue spruce a small clearing held a mother moose. As they watched, they heard the animal let out a shuddering, grunt and watch the muscles on her sides ripple.

“She’s going to have a baby, right?” Ari kept her voice soft as she asked.

“I think so, see how her back side is stained? That means the baby is close to coming out.” Alicia explained.

They stayed still as the laboring moose grunted again. They saw the front hooves of the calf appear. Jazz whined softly at his side.

“What’s the matter boy,” Chay whispered.

“Blue is watching down the trail too,” Alicia said. He barely heard her.

Chay kept one eye on the birth taking place in the clearing in the dense forest. Turning his head, he listened to his surroundings, wondering what his dogs sensed. His long braids swung against his chest as he stretched his senses, melding with nature around him.

“Stay here,” he whispered to Alicia, and squeezed Ari’s shoulder. “I think there’s something through the trees on the back where we came from.”

“The dogs aren’t worried, just anxious.” Alicia wrapped an arm around her daughter. “Be careful.” She turned back to watch the mother moose as the nose of her calf pushed out.

Chay nodded and padded away on silent feet. He could hear something rustling in the raspberry bushes blooming in a patch of sunshine. It didn’t sound big, perhaps a baby animal. Jazz came with him, but Blue stayed behind.

“What have we got?” Chay asked his dog.

The grey malamute wolf cross pushed into the brambles and his shedding fur caught on the branches as he burrowed into the berry patch.

It couldn’t be dangerous. What was keeping him.

A minute later, the dog was backing out the way he went in, his half curled tail up and wagging as he wiggled free of the clinging twigs. Chunks of his undercoat came loose and remained in the thorny thicket. He needed to give him a good brush. The heat was causing him to shed his fluffy undercoat.When he turned around, he had a lynx kitten in his mouth.

Where was the mother?