Ninety Degrees Out

“Don’t you dare shoot my dogs!” Arimina’s outraged scream carried through the silvery shadows along the creek.

“Not wolves then, little one?” The man had a long black beard with streaks of red in it.

“They’re my friends. Blue and Jazz.” She patted each head as she named them.

“Why are you alone?” He moved out of the trees so she could see him better.

“I’m not alone, my Mommy and Mr. Chay are up through the trees over there.” Arimina pointed to where she had come down the gentle slope from the road.

“Mr. Chay?”

He didn’t look too mean. But he had a jacket like her Aunty Killika made. And his hair was pulled back in a ponytail that went halfway down his back. It was pretty messy.

“He’s my Mommy’s boyfriend. Maybe he’s going to be my Daddy soon,” Arimina told him. His eyes darted away from the Malawolf and Husky, so she turned around to see what he was staring at.

“See, there he is.” She backed away toward the big rock where the rest of her clothes were.

“Well now, Ari, get dressed. Take Blue and go back to the wagon.” Mr. Chay sounded like she might be in trouble.

“I had to go potty, and I wanted a bath.” She mumbled as she pulled her underwear and shorts on. Mr. Chay blocked her view of the strange man.

“I know, but your mother is very worried. When we couldn’t find you right away, she got really upset. So run up the hill, your Uncle Hakan is there, he’ll walk you back.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Chay. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Her lower lip trembled.

“It’s okay. You took Jazz and Blue with you. And you were brave yelling at our visitor to stop him from shooting them.” He swung her up over the rocks at the creek side and patted her bottom before she scrambled up into the trees.

Uncle Hakan was there, and so was Grandpa Das.

“Come on Ari, let’s go show your mother you’re safe,” Hakan said.

She put her hand in his. She was glad he was here because she didn’t know which way to go. The trees with their silvery bark all looked the same, and the road wasn’t where she thought it was. Blue trotted up beside her and she put her other hand on her neck. Now she knew she was safe. But would that strange man hurt Mr. Chay? And what about Jazz?

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“Well now, Chayton. It’s been a long time,” the bearded man pulled his ratty Tilly hat off and bent down to scoop water into it. He flipped it over onto his head the water dripped over his shoulders and ran down his dreadlocks leaving a wet trail down the back of his buckskin pants.

Chayton took a moment to study him. “Randy Scott? Is that you under all that hair?” He swung his rifle up by its strap and let it settle against his back. The man was dressed in leather from head to toe, except his trusty army issue Desert Sand Tilly.

“Surprised you recognized me. My parents don’t.” Bitterness hardened his words.

“Your parents aren’t important here.” Chay struggled to remember the stories he’d heard about the Scott family. Randy had signed up for military training. His brother too. Both of them running from the town drunk. They were older than him by about ten or twelve years. Both of them mean from abuse and sensitive to the taunts of adults and children alike.

“Damn rights, they’re not.” A grin split his face. “You’re a sight for sore eyes. Never could get you to react to my jerk ass comments. You were one spunky little kid.”

“If you knew just how many times I counted to ten, you wouldn’t say that. I was so pissed with you. But Dad made sure I wasn’t going to react. He’s just up there in the trees.” Chay wanted Randy to know he wasn’t alone.

“Yeah, the little girl told me you were up on the road.” He splashed into the creek; his own shot gun slung over his shoulder. “Sorry about that gunshot. I thought this big boy was a wolf. Misread the whole damn situation. That girl, she’s a firecracker.”

A low rumble from Jazz had him sliding to a stop before he reached the other side. Chay snapped his fingers, and his blue eyed dog relaxed sitting, and then going into a down position as he gestured with his palm toward the ground.

“Got him trained pretty well, hey?”

“Yeah, come on over. What are you doing out here? We’re camped by the road, in the meadow up there.”

“I’ve got a cabin up the creek a ways. There’s a trail on the other side of the creek. Been seeing a lot of bears lately, and one or two polar bears. Heard a shot earlier today. Came down to investigate. Usually no one around.”

Chay had the impression Randy hadn’t said many words in along time. “We’re heading up to Dad’s ranch. You remember Hakan?”

“Yeah he didn’t have your control. I could always get rise out of him.”

“He runs Stargazer Ranch. We’re about twenty miles into the trip up to Dad’s place. The shot you heard was a tranq gun. Ari’s mother is a zoologist. Do you want to come meet everyone or are you better just talking to me?” Chay knew some of the mountain men in the back country barely spoke ten words in a year. “Get out of the water, man.”

Randy stepped up on the creek bank, the sat on the same boulder Ari had used.

“I know the kid’s Ranch. He’s okay in my books. Not one of those jerks on dirt bikes and quads who were tearing through hear just after the sun moved.” Randy volunteered. His voice was sounding less rusty as he responded to Chay’s questions.

“How far up the creek are you?” Chay had the beginnings of an idea.

“Hmm, if I keep moving, it’s a couple of hours.” Randy answered. “It’s a pretty good climb though.”

“What would you say to building a traveler’s cairn here? An Inuksuk to mark it and some supplies, like pemmican and matches, maybe a tarp?”

“What the hell for?” Randy sounded suspicious.

“We’re likely going to have regular traffic between here and Dad’s place. We’re thinking of building some rough shelters and cairns like I was suggesting here, to make places to stop.”

“As long as no one comes up to my cabin much, I don’t see the problem. Mac down the next valley, might let you stay with him. He’s got a great big place right by the road.”

“Do you mind if someone comes up to check on you every now and then?”

“If the someone is your baby brother, he’s already doing that. He brings my dry goods up in the spring and fall anyway.”

Chay let a small mental sigh settle through his brain. Thank God Arimina’s little misadventure turned out this way. He needed to lay down some rules for her for the rest of the trip.

“Just so you know, we’ve got a party of about twenty. We’re rounding up two herds of wild horses up at Dad’s place. Do you want one or two of them?” Chay wondered if Randy could ride.

“Nah, but thanks. I’ll take my own two feet every time. Maybe a mule though.”

“Do you have any radios or power up there?”

“Nope.” Randy’s grin was a mile wide. “I like it that way. Don’t need to hear about all the shit going down. Just me and mother nature. Was worried about the little one though. Really did think those were wolves.”

“Easy mistake in the dark. Jazz here is a damn big dog. We’ll build the cairn on the way back, or maybe even later. Hakan will bring your supplies once we get back. He’ll check on you the same way as always.” Chay said as he extended his right hand to shake on the deal.

“Guess those supplies might not be as easy to get as some years.”

“We’ll share what we can. Don’t worry, man. By the way, did you notice the salmon are running.”

“Damn straight. Got my nets in the creek up there. Getting a bunch of fish eggs too. Leave enough though so they don’t die out.”

“All right. Guess you know your stuff. The polar bear downstream, he’s fishing now. Let him be if you can,” Chay requested.

“He’s entertaining me. I got no problem with live and let live.” Randy stood to head back across the creek. He shook his head one more time. “That’s one hell of a little girl. She’s going places. Keep an eye on her.”

“You know it.” Chay watched Randy make his way through the creek. It looked like he made his own version of waterproof moccasins. A survivalist, he thought. Live and let live. He whistled softly and Jazz stood to follow him up to the road.