Author's Note: I would like to express my deepest appreciation to AsylumSeeker for so generously providing his editing expertise. His input has proved invaluable to this first-time author. Please note that any errors contained herein are solely my responsibility.
~**~
The bush plane shook as it flew into a current of air. Julia gripped the seat, the blood leaving her knuckles.
"Just a little turbulence," the pilot said cheerfully, as if in response to her unspoken fear. "These little planes get tossed around more easily than the jets you're probably used to, but don't you worry. I've been flying out in the bush for twenty seven-years and haven't met a current yet that I couldn't navigate."
That calmed her a little. Julia took a deep breath and loosened her hold of the seat enough so that the color returned to her hands. She gave a nervous laugh. "Oh I'm not worried," she lied, betrayed by her shaking voice. "Uncle Ray assured me that you're one of the best, so I know I'm in good hands."
The pilot eyed her curiously. "I must admit I'm a little surprised that Ray would agree to let his young niece stay alone at his cabin for an entire year. You do know you'll be nearly three miles from the nearest neighbor, and a good fourteen miles from town with no road to get you there? It could get awfully lonesome in that little cabin those long cold winter months."
"Believe me, it wasn't easy to convince my uncle. It took me three years to persuade him, and he agreed only under certain conditions," Julia explained. "He'll be flying out here in September to check in on me, and then he plans to return in January as well. He's also made arrangements with his neighbor to stop by from time to time.
"Uncle Ray stocked up enough firewood to last me the whole year, so I have plenty of fuel, and I intend to have enough food on hand at any given time to last me for months."
Julia continued, "Besides, if worse comes to worse, I can always take his snowmobile, I mean snowmachine," she corrected, reminding herself to use local terminology, "into town and rent a room if living off the grid ends up being too much for me to deal with. That was another one of my uncle's conditions, and he arranged a place for me to stay if it comes to that."
"Well, it sounds like you have put a lot of thought into it," the pilot admitted, "and it's good you have a backup plan. My apologies; I didn't mean to pry. It's just that a lot of folks get these romantic ideas about living here, and those who aren't properly prepared..."
He said no more, and didn't need to; she knew what he was going to say.
"I know it's not going to be easy," Julia acknowledged. "I'd like to think I'm a resourceful person, though, and I do have wilderness and survival experience."
"Well, that's good. You'll likely need to use those skills before your year is up."
Julia nodded her agreement and turned her eyes to the window, soaking in the Alaskan landscape as the plane's shadow skimmed along the undulating, tree-covered surface below, following their path.
Even now she saw a moose rising from the surface of a shimmering lake that was bordered by a thick swath of trees. Far in the distance the snow-covered mountains rose bold and majestic, welcoming her to her new home. This was the romance the pilot was talking about, Julia thought in awe, a giddy grin splitting her face; this place was amazingly, breathtakingly beautiful.
It was some time before the pilot finally spoke. "Well, we're coming to it."
Julia looked up, her eyes following his pointing finger. A wide ribbon of water came into view from behind the trees. In the distance she could see a small clearing with a cabin and other small buildings on it, and then another. Must be her "neighbor", she thought to herself with a smile. Beyond that, a little further in the distance, she saw the buildings and homes of tiny Eagle Eye, Alaska.
The cabins, and then the town, seemed deceptively close together from this vantage point, but Julia knew she would be effectively cut off from them. Never had she lived so far from a town, let alone the nearest house. She felt a thrill of excitement for the adventure looming, right now, before her, and her stomach flipped a little.
"Hold on tight, darlin'. We're going in."
Julia braced herself with her hands, her whole body tight. A soundless prayer formed behind her lips. Breathe, she reminded herself, don't forget to breathe. Flying made her uncomfortable, it always had, but the worst part was taking off. And landing. Damn, that clearing looks awfully short.
To her surprise and relief, they landed and came to a stop with plenty of room to spare. Used to runways thousands of feet long at major airports, it was hard to believe any plane could land in a space that tight. When they had come to a stop the pilot turned to the woman with a smile.
"Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" he asked.
"Best landing I ever had," Julia answered truthfully.
He grinned broadly. "Thank you kindly. Well, little lady, what do you say we unload your things and get them to your new home?"
The plane had landed about a half mile south of the cabin, and after several trips back and forth between the two of them, all her things were off the plane and inside the house.
Julia took a moment now to look around her. Even though she hadn't been here for close to twenty years, not much had changed.
The sturdy handmade furniture was a little darker in places from decades of hands touching the same areas over and over. And the woodstove looked newer than the one she remembered.
But there was the old kerosene lamp on the middle of the little kitchen table, and the porcelain wash basin and the steel tea kettle with the wooden handle on the kitchen counter. She could also see from where she stood that the quilt on the bed in the tiny bedroom was the same one Aunt Shirley had pieced together the first summer Julia stayed with them at the cabin.
Julia opened the shutters to let the light in.
