Where Eagles Soar by Bonnie Leon

Author:Bonnie Leon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: memoiralaskainspirationalchristianwilderness livinghunting and trappingdomestic abuse
Publisher: Bonnie Leon

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Not long after Lulu was born, Daddy found his way home. He didn’t have much to say about the new baby. Probably ’cause he didn’t care much. Kids were something he owned. We were only worth the work we could do.

Figuring I’d prove to Daddy that I was worth something, I went on a lot of hard, dangerous guiding trips into the mountains. I was beginning to worry about what would happen if he didn’t see me as useful.

On one trip we took two fellas who came up from Hollywood, California. They claimed to be actors and starred on the same television show, a western. I didn’t know whether to believe them or not ’cause we didn’t own a television. They seemed like the kind of men who told the truth, though, so I decided to believe them.

Nowadays, their western is on reruns all the time. Sometimes I watch it and remember the trip we took with them—it was one for the books.

One of them was called Jim and the other was Dale. They were real nice fellas and had lots of money, which is probably all Daddy cared about. They knew an awful lot about the movie business, and I liked listening to their Hollywood stories. Their world seemed magical, where nothing bad ever happened. The idea of moving to a big city was scary, but the rest of Hollywood sounded nice. What would it be like to live like they did?

Dale said that the two of them wanted to see what it was like to hunt big game in Alaska so they searched real hard for the best guide they could find. Dad had ads in Outdoor Life, Alaska Sportsmen, Alaska Magazine and Field and Stream. That’s how they found him.

Dad attracted hunters from all over the world—New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, and lots of places in the Lower Forty-eight. Some he met in person and others found him in ads, like Jim and Dale did. Dad was admired by people from the Outside, which made him more powerful in our world. Sometimes I wished people could see who he really was—maybe that way he’d be more humane.

Jim was real tall with a broad chest and shoulders. He talked kind of slow and soft. He was handsome. Dale wasn’t nothing like Jim. He couldn’t have been more than 5’ 8” and he looked kind of scrawny. His voice was high-pitched and scratchy, like he had a cold or something. He talked non-stop and had all kinds of tales to tell. He didn’t act all high and mighty at all, which made me like him more.

Dale and Jim were hoping to get themselves a sheep, a black bear, and a caribou. Dale also wanted to do some gold panning.

We headed up the trail into the Talkeetnas—just me, Daddy, Jim, and Dale. I felt real proud to be the one Daddy picked to help him on a trip with such important clients.

All along the way, Daddy killed spruce hens and picked mushrooms.

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