Righting Wrongs, part III
Note: Apologies in advance if I screwed up the French. It's been many, many years since high school :-)
"This is the place?" Mitch stared dubiously at the eight foot high chain-link fence, topped with barbed wire. "Or is it Leavenworth?"
The house sat a good three hundred yards or so from the rear fence line. The yard lying between was peaceful and green, in complete contradiction to the world outside. Nothing stirred; no sign of life, human or otherwise, presented itself.
"We should blow the horn on the boat to attract the attention of someone inside," Abe suggested.
Two blasts did the trick nicely. Within moments, a man appeared from the back door, waving his arms as he jogged toward them.
"Anyone know what he's saying?" Jackson asked.
Mitch turned his eyes downward rubbing his forehead. "I'm not even sure what language that is." Are you kidding me right now? What fresh hell is this? Why do I see this guy instead of Jamie?!
"He's a native Inuit," Chloe informed them. "They speak the Inuit tongue, but many in this area speak some French as well." She turned her attention to the stranger, who was now reaching the edge of the fence..
Chloe and The Man conversed in what seemed to be a unique hybrid of French and Inuit, but somehow they were able to understand one another. The exchange lasted a few minutes, Mitch supposed, though it felt like hours. Unable to make heads or tails of it, he resigned himself to helping Jackson and Abe stand watch for wildlife. At last, Chloe turned to her friends.
"His name is Anik. He was fishing when he found Jamie in the ocean with some debris. She was unconscious, badly injured. He found the leopard, too. He did not know what to with them so he brought them here and took care of them."
"Why didn't he just notify the local authorities?" Jackson asked.
Mitch shared Jackson's suspicion. Who the hell is this nut? Injured in what way? Unconscious all this time? Nope, no need for a hospital there. He pursed his lips. Don't piss him off, Mitch. He still has Jamie inside that fence, and you're outside. "There were search teams all over this area."
"I am not clear on that." Chloe shook her head. "He did let her use the telephone when he figured out that's what she wanted."
"What a peach," Mitch muttered.
Finally, the man gestured for them to follow him along the fence line until they reached the padlocked gate. Though he was usually a confident man, Mitch felt his anxiety and nervousness grow with each step closer to the house.
"Posevic," Anik stopped and pointed to an area at the side of the home. "Posevic! Posevic!"
Four incredulous gasps sounded at once as they came to view an adult male leopard standing in a small pen. It began pacing as they approached. Chloe and Anik turned their conversation to the cat.
"That cannot be our leopard," Abe murmured. "It is so big!"
"No way he grows that much in three months," Mitch agreed. "What's he eating, Reiden Wonder-Gro?"
Jackson was the lone voice of dissent. He knelt beside the fence. "The accelerated growth's not unheard of. We saw it with the rats."
"Does he have the defiant pupil?" Chloe wondered.
Mitch had had enough. "Look, as much as I'm enjoying the meet and greet with the Jeremiah Johnson of the Great White North, this whole 'badly injured' scenario is making me nervous."
Chloe addressed Anik, "s'il vous plait, ou est mon amie?"
Anik pointed and waved toward the house, stating something Mitch could not understand.
"He said you can go in," Chloe reported.
Mitch didn't need to be told twice. Leaving the others discussing the leopard, he made his way to the front door. Here goes nothing. He turned the knob and slowly opened the door. He nearly broke down when he found her peacefully sleeping in a chair. It was her, she was alive and she looked terrific.
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Jamie awoke to sunlight streaming through the window. It had snowed off and on all night, but by morning the warmer temperatures had melted any accumulation. Now the sky was clear. A perfect day, if…
She stopped herself from continuing that train of thought. After all, she had no evidence that today would be any different than any other day. Down the stairs to the kitchen to ferret out some breakfast, just like yesterday and the day before and the day before that one. Then into the pair of oversized boots that Anik had loaned her for a walk out to see the leopard. She mulled over names again as she watched him, but nothing seemed to fit. What do you call a leopard that will save mankind from extinction? Spot? You're losing it, Campbell.
Morning visit completed, it was time to go back into the house and have absolutely nothing to do. Well, nothing but think, and that was perhaps worse than nothing at all. She knew now that that they were all ok, or at least they were six days ago. Then why weren't they there? What else was going on in the world? What had she missed during her absence? She had been evicted. Did she even have anywhere to go? And what of her things? If she'd been believed dead all this time, surely her things were gone. She grimaced at the thought that she now owned nothing but the clothes on her back, and they had certainly seen better days. Was she still considered a fugitive? Well, at least in prison you'll get a pair of shoes, three hots and a cot. She longed for a laptop or an iPad, despite the knowledge that such devices would be useless anyway without wi-fi or a cellular signal.
She busied herself by washing up the morning dishes, not that there were many, then going through the the motions of tidying up the clean house. She had tried in the past to help her companion with whatever it was he did outside, but he seemed hesitant to allow it, and the charades game wasn't going well. Accepting that there was nothing more to be done, she curled up in the living room chair and soon sleep found her. Lately her dreams had been mostly memories and this one was no exception.
Jamie flung open the door as if she'd seen a ghost. Concern was etched into
her face and her rushed stride. Mitch glanced up from his terminal, still smarting from the close call with the apparently no longer hibernating bear.
"What are you doing here? I told you I was fine."
"Well, I came here to make sure you are as fine as you say you are."
"Well, you missed quite a party."
"Yeah, I can see that." Her fingertips went to the claw mark on his temple. "Hey, that's a nice little scratch."
"I know. It's hot, right?" he teased as they shared a brief, sweet smile.
"Jamie." The voice was soft and the hand on her shoulder gentle, yet enough to tear her from her reverie. "Jamie."
Her eyelids fluttered open and his face came into focus.
"Mitch?" Was he really here? Or was she not quite awake yet? "Oh my God…"
The hand that had been resting on her shoulder moved to cup her face. She felt the tears welling and saw that his eyes were moist as well. Moving forward, she buried her face in his neck as they met in warm embrace. No words needed to be said; the tears said it all in that moment.
"Are you all right?" He asked when they finally parted.
"Yeah, uh, but you're not," she traced the faint yellow of the bruise on his left cheek. "Still winning friends and influencing people, I see."
"Well," he joked, "when you have something you're good at, you have to stick with it."
She grasped his outstretched hand as he helped to her feet, and they headed out to greet the others.
To be continued…