Closing Time by Brenda Chapman

Author:Brenda Chapman [Chapman, Brenda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dundurn
Published: 2020-03-21T00:00:00+00:00

Kala wasn’t needed for the search and used the break to take Taiku for a walk. They set off through the woods on a path that took them along the waterfront and around the bend to a cove surrounded by cliffs of stone capped by thick forest that blocked the sun. Kala scrambled across boulders strewn by a glacier thousands of years earlier until she came to a flat grey rock that overlooked the stretch of sand beach. Taiku took his time reaching her, following smells in the woods before stepping gingerly across the rocks. The wind was calm in the bay and the waves were gentle swells that lapped the edge of the shore. The water reflected green and gold with water lilies bobbing splotches of white next to moss-covered logs that lay half submerged near shore. The growl of a motorboat drew her eyes outward from the bay toward the open water. A couple of men with fishing rods were heading somewhere in a hurry. Seagulls swooped and screeched overhead on their relentless forage for food.

I could load my canoe on the truck when this is over and disappear farther north. The idea sent a shiver of excitement through her. Dawn was in good hands with Gundersund and they could survive a few months without her. Take a respite from caring for anybody and let her body decide the future. She’d buy a tent and some supplies and a warmer coat. Get an extra big bag of dog food for Taiku. It’d been a long time since they were alone sleeping under the stars, miles from a town. The ache in her to get away was growing into something unbearable. This restlessness, the craving to be free of entanglements and others’ expectations — she didn’t understand herself. She knew Gundersund sensed her disquiet. She couldn’t find the words to explain this need inside her, the changes she could not stop or ignore much longer, no matter the questioning in his eyes.

Taiku jumped to his feet and growled deep in his throat. He was staring, laser-focused, back the way they’d come, and Kala twisted around to follow the direction of his eyes. She thought she saw a flash of blue disappearing into the trees. She stood and called out as Taiku started across the rocks, his progress slow and careful. He leapt off the last boulder and bounded toward the edge of the wood ahead of her where he sniffed the path’s entrance, looking back at her and waiting for a command. “Stay,” she said, and checked the ground for signs that someone had been there watching her. The earth was trampled but she couldn’t tell if the footprints were new. None were distinct in any case. She jogged down the path with Taiku leading the way, but if someone had been there watching them from behind the cover of the trees, they’d made their escape. She slowed to a walk and caught her breath, the thought of a

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