Edge of Nowhere by John Smelcer

Author:John Smelcer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Leapfrog Press
Published: 2014-06-08T16:00:00+00:00

Ten – Qulen

After many days, the longboats returned with all the hunters except the young husband. The young wife frantically searched the faces of the returning men, asking about her husband. One of the older men spoke to her.

‘Your husband is gone,’ he said gravely. ‘He harpooned a mighty whale. But the harpoon rope was tangled around his ankle, and the whale dragged him into the sea.’

A small airplane flew low along the shoreline, only slightly faster than stall speed. Jack Evanoff held a pair of binoculars on his lap, lifting them to his eyes whenever something caught his attention. Lee Walsh looked out his side window as he piloted the aircraft, its response at such a slow speed a little more sluggish than he liked. As it had done before, on the way from town the small aircraft followed the mainland coast in a generally eastward direction, its bird-like shadow passing over beaches and the narrow mouths to long bays, which extended far back into the glacial valleys. Once the fuel gauge needle reached the halfway point, Lee turned the plane around and flew along the inside of the islands facing the mainland.

It was the best plan, covering the most likely terrain.

Many times the pilot turned the white, blue-striped Citabria around to get a better look at something on a beach. And every time, as it had been before, the thing that caught their eye turned out to be a bear, a deer, a beached buoy or fuel drum, a pile of dark stones, or a log.

After returning to town, Jack followed Lee into the blue metal-sided building to close his flight plan. Rod Clark, the airport manager who had shared the bad news about the discovery of Seth’s baseball cap, was waiting to talk to him.

‘I got a call while you were out.’

Jack didn’t like where the words were headed. The serious tone was contrary to any possibility of good news.

‘The Coast Guard and the State Troopers have called off the search. They say it’s been long enough.’

Jack looked at Lee, who was leaning over and scribbling something in the open flight-plan book lying on the counter. Then he looked back at the airport manager.

‘Are you sure they’re calling it off?’ he asked. ‘I mean, it hasn’t been that long.’

Rod took the black book from Lee after he signed off on his form.

‘They called about an hour ago. I decided not to radio you. I thought it was best to wait until you returned to hear the news in person.’

‘What happens now?’ Jack asked, visibly shaken.

Clark’s tone remained serious but somewhat softer. ‘The government won’t continue to look for Seth. I’m afraid you’re on your own.’

Lee, who hadn’t said a word since he first asked for the black book, spoke.

‘I know it’s hard, Jack. But you may have to accept that your son is gone.’

Jack hadn’t allowed himself to think that. He was convinced that Seth was lost somewhere in the Sound, cold and hungry and frightened, praying that his father would find him.

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