Chapter IV
Padre oh padre
Tu non hai visto
Re degli elfi
Ecolo la
Father oh father
Haven't you seen,
The King of the elves
There he is
Bison River First Nations, Northwest Territories, Canada
The first thing David Hayward noticed when he stepped off the Cessna in Bison River was the icy chill of the wind as it hit his face. In Pine Valley, a wind so fierce would not have dared to make an appearance before January, and here it was, proudly hissing across the airfield in late October.
A man, who appeared to be in his mid-forties, with pockmarked skin, a thick braid of black hair and a wide smile, ran to meet them. He held out his hand, "Welcome to Bison River, I'm Joseph Mercredi, the Chief, and this is my brother, Samuel." A larger, heavier version of Joseph stepped forward and he too, shook hands with Alex and David.
"Samuel will give you any help you need," Joseph explained.
Joseph led them to his pick-up truck, and Samuel started loading their supplies into the back. When he was done, he gave his brother a hand signal and then he hopped into the back of the truck himself before they sped off into the heart of the settlement.
Alex had seen pictures and news reports of native reservations in the States, but she wasn't quite prepared for what they saw along the way. Most of the homes were made of what looked like plywood and many of them were covered in graffiti and had their windows boarded up with more cheap wood. Children and stray dogs walked and played along a dirt road that was full of potholes. Some of them waved as they drove by.
"We're a special rez," Joseph explained. "We have a real mix of people here, whites, Cree, Dene and Metis, you name it, they all live in Bison River." He grinned. "In harmony."
David noticed a man holding a bottle of liquor stumble outside one of the homes, and Joseph caught his disapproving glance.
"Most reservations in the Northwest territories are dry. Bison River is not," he explained.
"What do you mean?" Alex asked.
"Most reservations ban the sale of alcohol, but here it's legal. The difference is, in Bison River people have jobs, thanks to the Marick Mine. And if they have jobs, they have money, so I figure if they are going to spend money on booze they might as well do it here, instead of the nearest white town."
He pointed out an unremarkable gray building in the centre of the settlement, "That's the bar and restaurant," he said.
Alex said nothing as she held on to her seat during the bumpy ride. She had deliberately avoided telling the chief that she was Dimitri Marick's wife, telling him only her first name and mentioning that Marick Industries had funded their mission.
"In other words, to hell with your constituents as long as there's money flowing into the Chief's office," Hayward pointed out.
The Chief shot him an angry look, "You just arrived. It's a little early to start offending me, isn't it?"
Alex grimaced as she watched the exchange, wondering what had possessed her to let Hayward come along.
David looked at Alex and shrugged his shoulders, clearly unconcerned about possibly insulting the Chief, "I'm a doctor, not a diplomat. I call them as I see them."
Joseph stopped the pick up truck and gave Hayward another icy glare as he opened the doors. "This is it," he said pointing to the blue coloured building in front of them, "Our clinic."
The same thick, boreal forest that surrounded the entire town also bordered the rear of the building.
Samuel unloaded their boxes and the two brothers drove off without another word.
Alex stood in front of the doors, put her hands on her hips and looked at Hayward, "Was that necessary?"
"Hey…" He picked up one of the boxes and walked towards the door, "I have a mother and brother who are both con artists," he replied, unapologetic, " Let's just say, I have pretty good instincts when it comes to spotting them."
The door of the clinic opened and a young woman came out to greet them, "You must be the two doctors from Marick Industries. I am so glad to see you." Alex noticed that the woman too, had long black hair that framed her exquisite face in the form of two braids. Her voice had a melodic lilt when she spoke. "I'm Tina Sahke. I'm the Nurse."
Alex and David introduced themselves, surprised to see someone barely in her mid-twenties running a clinic by herself, " Let me help you with those supplies," Tina said, " I can't tell you how much we appreciate them."
They carried everything inside and Alex spotted a Native girl with a runny nose sitting on a bare chair, leafing through a magazine. "Hi there," she said to her, "Is this your daughter?" she asked Tina.
Tina laughed, "No. That's Josie Jikha. She likes to come here because it's too smoky in her house. Right Josie?"
David Hayward pulled Tina aside, "What do you mean 'too smoky'?"
Tina whispered to him, "She has asthma and diabetes, and her whole family smokes, so she likes to come here. It's the only place in town that has a 'no smoking' sign on the wall."
"Can't you get her family to quit? For her sake?"
Tina shook her head. "That's not our way. We don't interfere."
"So she spends the day in a medical clinic?"
Tina shrugged her shoulders, "Why not? During the week she usually attends school." She observed Alex unloading the medical supplies onto a nearby cabinet. "You can't put those there," she told her. She handed Alex a set of keys, "Here, lock them up over there, behind the metal bars."
Tina saw Alex's puzzled glance, "We've had too many break-ins lately to leave anything unlocked. A lot of teenagers here are struggling with substance abuse. To leave medicine unlocked would be like leaving an open invitation for them to come here and take it."
"Wonderful," Hayward mumbled. "Should we be sleeping with a gun under the pillow? Which reminds me, where will we be staying?"
Tina, as Joseph had done earlier, gave him a sullen look, "We're not savages, Dr. Hayward. We're a community that has seen its share of hard times. We all appreciate that you came here to help us out, but we don't need your condescension."
"I'm sorry, Tina. David's had a rough flight here," Alex cut in. "He's not usually this rude. Please accept our apologies." She gave Hayward a look that made Tina's seem pleasant by comparison.
The nurse pointed to a room next to the exam room. "There are two beds there, and a divider that you can put up between them. I'm afraid that's the only accommodation available, unless you'd like to stay with me and my boyfriend," Tina offered Alex.
She shook her head, "This is fine, Tina. Thank you."
"Good, I'll let you two unpack. We have a long day ahead tomorrow. The community knows you're only here for a week so you can expect line-ups, and we have to make house calls as well." She left, without saying good-bye.
"I can't believe you sometimes," Alex told Hayward as soon as Tina was gone "We've been here less than an hour and already the only three people we've met, despise us."
Hayward helped her unload the medical supplies and lock them up, "We're here to treat and diagnose these people not make friends." He dropped one of the containers and cursed out loud. "By the way, it's freezing in here. You'd think they could've at least had the furnace going for us. So much for hospitality and gratitude."
Alex smirked. "Were you expecting a chocolate on your pillow too?"
Neither her sarcasm nor her annoyance seemed to bother him in the least. He turned to her, "You look exhausted. Why don't you retire to our lovely suite and I'll finish up here. I'll even light a fire to keep us warm." He grinned, both at Alex and at the girl, Josie. "What do you say, you want to help me?" he asked the girl.
Much to Alex's surprise, Josie returned David's smile and spoke her first words since their arrival, "Sure, I'll help you."
Chi Chee Maun Campground, PA
Next day
"Oh you devil, I'm going to kill you!" Bianca jumped up in genuine terror when Max dropped the huge, wet bullfrog in her lap.
Max tried to run away but the fact that he couldn't stop laughing slowed him down considerably. One of the two guards, Rajiv, ran after them as they went off into the woods.
In the meantime, Dimitri, with Trevor's help, put up the second tent. He saw Trevor overcome by another coughing fit that forced him to sit down. "Are you alright?" Dimitri asked him.
"Of course, sir," he said, embarrassed. "It's years of a bad habit that's catching up to me."
"Alex insisted that I give you some time off to recuperate, I'm surprised Shawn asked you to come on this trip with us." Shawn O'Malley, former bodyguard to President Bush, was the head of Dimitri's ten-man security detail.
"I requested it," Trevor replied, "I've loved camping since I was a kid."
"Well, that makes two of us." Dimitri wondered if he was telling him the truth about the cough being a result of his smoking habit. He reminded himself to ask Alex when she got back. She would know the difference.
After a barbequed dinner, and after Max had exhausted both Bianca and Rajiv, they retired to their respective tents. Max, Bianca, and Dimitri in one, the two guards in the other.
Trevor heard Max chatting excitedly in the tent next to them.
"This is so great Dad, I've never been camping," he heard him say. "Goodnight."
Dimitri moved to kiss him, "Goodnight. And I meant what I said about tomorrow, I expect you to catch a big fish for Bianca, to make up for what you did to her today."
"As if," Bianca grumbled, her voice already sleepy.
Rajiv had the night watch and Trevor handed him a steaming mug of coffee, "Here, I made you something to help keep you awake tonight."
"Thanks. I'll need it, after chasing those two around all afternoon." He said it with a smile. Having three children of his own, Rajiv felt surprisingly at home in his current assignment.
Trevor pretended to fall asleep and waited patiently until Rajiv was out cold from the drug he had put in the coffee.
When he was certain that his colleague was no threat, Trevor left his tent.
He saw Dimitri Marick sitting outside of his tent, stoking the fire and lighting a cigar.
Dimitri gave him a strange look as Trevor approached him.
"What are you still doing up?" he asked him, "I thought Rajiv had the night shift?"
It was the last thing he said before he felt the butt of Trevor's pistol come crashing down onto the back of his head.
Near Brynn Wydd, Wales
Same day
Heidi walked home from the doctor's office and by the time she reached the doors of her home, the smile she'd worn for the entire trip suddenly got bigger.
She remembered the doctors words, "You're going to be a mother."
A child. Her child. It seemed to her she had spent her whole life looking after children, and yet the prospect of being a mother herself was an unexpected thrill. She wondered if every new mother felt as though her child was the world's very first.
She remembered the day Maximillian Marick was born; in the same cottage where she would spend the next six years helping Alex raise him. Max, the little boy she would come to love as much as if he were her own son. She remembered watching him take his first steps, and speak his first words; all the while in awe of the unbreakable bond she saw developing between mother and son.
'And now, I'm going to be a mum too. I can't wait to call Alex,' she thought to herself, 'As soon as I tell Philip.'
She entered their home surprised to see a 'Closed' sign hanging outside of her husband's butcher shop. She opened the door and went upstairs to their living quarters.
"Philip, I'm home," she called out as she walked down the corridor to their bedroom.
When she got there, she saw Philip lying on their bed, on his side, asleep.
"What are you doing, taking a nap in the middle of the day?" she moved to sit next to him and stir him awake. She was far too excited to keep this news from him for even another minute.
"Honey, I have to tell you something…" she started. She moved her hand along his cheek and then drew it back in shook. His body was cold. Ice cold.
"Philip…?" Heidi's voice began to quake.
She forced herself to touch him again, feeling the unnatural coolness of his skin.
"Philip, oh my god…" she removed his blanket and turned him around. Then she saw that there were two bullet wounds in his chest. Two bullet wounds in almost the same spots where Heidi had shot Charlotte six months earlier.
The sheet Philip was lying on was covered in blood.
Heidi thought she was going to scream but when she opened her mouth, no sound came out.
Instead, she fainted.