Feather for Hoonah Joe Read online

  “I’m afraid you won’t be able to avoid me, dear sister,” Elzi said, handing Sal her card that read:

  Elzianne Jeanette LaMonte

  Curator/Buyer

  New York Cultural Museum

  “I’m here on official business and I do so look forward to again seeing you and the charming little man who seems so smitten with you these days.”

  Sal was halfway up the road before she even tried to slow her old beater truck down, leaving Elzianne LaMonte a mere dust-covered dot in her rear-view mirror and leaving Joe to wonder what had gotten into her when she slammed on the brakes and just missed sliding into the ditch in order to avoid rear-ending him at the far end of a blind curve right before the boatyard.

  “My boot got caught between the gas pedal and the console, Joey,” was all Sal said, as Joe helped her unload the floats and carry them inside.

  Chapter Six

  Palmer

  By the time the cruise ship left that afternoon, Sal had already locked up the shed and headed back home, pleading a headache. Meanwhile, Joe, Doug, and Mara went into town to enjoy the solstice festivities there, even though Joe’s long face made it hard for any of them to really enjoy all the food and gaiety that always marked the longest day of the year in Alaska.

  When Doug and Mara left to go back to Juneau, Sal seemed to be her old self again as the two couples made plans to meet in Palmer for the delayed wedding reception their friends had promised them after their remarriage the previous year.

  ~~~

  “Let’s promise to never let this happen again,” Ellie said, hugging them both as if she would never let them go the minute they arrived at her homestead near Palmer.

  “Glad to have you back, son,” Ellie’s husband, Ben, told Doug.

  “There’s not a day I haven’t thought of you,” Ben told his former daughter-in-law, as they sat around the array of tables set up in the yard of the homestead where both Doug and Mara had spent so much of her time in Alaska.

  “Sarah, can you ever forgive me,” Mara told her best friend, gasping as she saw how big Ken’s and her baby, B.D., had become. “He’s almost two, right?”

  “Terrible two,” Sarah laughed as B.D. tried to wriggle out of her arms.

  The homestead looked the same—comfortable and familiar, with memories of the happy times there somehow overshadowing the far more frequent moments of horror that had sent all of their lives on one unbelievable detour after another. Yet still, for Mara and for Doug, this was their real Alaska home—this place up Knik River Road near the river that trickled down the mountainside from the massive Knik Glacier above.

  Along with the others, they spent most of the day outdoors, enjoying a rare sunny day in the otherwise cool and rainy summer. Ellie’s daughter Anna, now a preteen, was clearly enjoying some quality time with Thor in between her duties helping her mother play hostess to the barbecue that brought folks from all over Palmer to welcome Doug and Mara “home.”

  “You bought two seiners!” Ben teased them. “Next thing you know you’ll have a fleet.”

  “We’d love to take you out with us whenever you want,” Doug offered, handing Ben their address and phone number. “All you gotta do is show up.”

  “Won’t be this year,” Ben smiled, looking at Ellie. “Our baby’s due in five months.”

  Mara smiled, thinking of how the two had found love after so much tragedy had marked their lives.

  “Why, you’re hardly even showing yet?” she teased her friend.

  “Pretty surprising since I just learned this morning that it’s twins,” Ellie said, turning to see the look of surprise on her husband’s face.

  “Twins?” Ben said before sitting down.

  “Twin boys,” Ellie answered, lovingly grasping his hand.

  “Who’d have ever thought that at my age . . .” Ben said.

  Doug reached for Mara’s hand. Life at the homestead had come full circle since his brother Dan’s death had left Ellie a young widow. So much of both their lives had played out here in this place by the river where the two of them had first fallen in love. Finally, after years of feeling lost, everything felt right with his life. As Mara looked up at him and smiled, he knew she was the reason. Never again would he let anything come between them.

  “I’m gonna babysit,” Anna announced to the chuckles of everyone there. “Momma said I can be in charge when she and Ben need to go to the store sometimes—later, when the babies get bigger—you know, after they’re born, of course.”

  “You’re the perfect person for the job,” Mara told her, smiling at the way Anna was already embracing her new brothers. She had been a lovely child and she was obviously going to be a lovely young lady.

  “Thanks, Aunt Mara, maybe you can help me sometime when you’re not on your boat.”

  “And what am I, chopped liver?” Doug teased.

  “I meant you, too, Uncle Doug,” she scowled. “C’mon, Thor. Let’s go look for your ball.”

  By evening, when Joe and Sal had not yet arrived, Mara called Joe on his cell phone, concerned when she only got his voicemail. It was around 9 p.m. when Ben was the first to see him drive up.

  “Did you have trouble finding us? I should have flown you in,” Ben said after introducing himself and shaking the old man’s hand.

  “Had some complications with my wife,” Joe said, “but my niece is staying with her and so I didn’t want to miss such an important event as this . . .”

  Joe’s voice trailed off as he was introduced to each of the guests in turn, finally spotting Mara as she came out the kitchen door. He hurried over to see her.

  “Where’s Sal?” Mara asked him.

  “She’s home.”

  “Home?”

  “She’s been acting strange, Mara, ever since solstice and maybe even before.

  I don’t know what to make of it.”

  “What do you mean by strange? I mean, I obviously know about the skiff incident, but is there more?” Mara asked.

  “I don’t know. Kind of preoccupied, I guess. She was planning to be here as of this morning and then right as I was leaving, she suddenly decided she couldn’t take the time to leave the new business. It’s not like her to act this way. Something’s wrong, but I just don’t know what it is.”

  Mara hugged the obviously concerned elder, feeling something jab her lightly when she did. When she stepped back, she saw the feather that Joe had given her so long ago still sticking out of the pocket of the jacket she had tucked it into on the day of her wedding.

  “I see you wore your good suit today,” she smiled.

  Joe’s face flushed slightly as he tucked the feather back down into his pocket. He seldom dressed in anything other than jeans, a shirt, and some kind of jacket, and Mara suspected that this “good suit” was one he saved for special occasions like weddings, funerals, and celebrations.

  “I’m thinking that having the feather with you is some kind of sign, Joe—like maybe this time you need its special presence to protect you.”

  “Could be,” Joe answered in his usual monotone.

  “Did you notice that the red dot came back?” Mara asked.

  “That’s weird,” Joe answered, taking the feather out to confirm the presence of a small red dot painted on the outer curved edge about a third of the way down. “What we got going on this time?”

  Chapter Seven

  New York

  Elzianne LaMonte flipped her ermine jacket and matching bag onto the desk of her personal secretary as she walked into the suite of offices where she worked.

  “I’ll take care of that right away, Ms. LaMonte,” the middle-aged woman said.

  “Clear my appointments for this morning, Julia. And see if Mr. Drewstone can see me before noon.”

  “Right away, Ms. LaMonte,” Julia Bruce said, as she adjusted the hair clip that was holding her tight chignon.

  By 10:30 a.m., Elzi LaMonte had already reviewed a dozen pages of archival data with Harding Drewstone, preside
nt and CEO of the New York Cultural Museum.

  “I apologize for the lack of a formal presentation on this information,” she told him, “but Julia assures me she can have it all ready in time for the board meeting this evening.”

  By 3:30 p.m., she had finished presenting her findings to the board, and by 4 p.m., had received a firm commitment of three million dollars for the research and purchase of historically significant tsunami debris from Alaska.

  “You will not be disappointed in the exhibit that this money will allow us to present to the public,” she told them. “My source has ready access to all that we need, and that source, gentlemen, is someone whom I have known for a very long time.”

  The next morning, Elzianne LaMonte arrived in her office at precisely the same time as she did every day—7:45 a.m.—and flipped the same ermine jacket with its same matching bag onto the desk of the woman who had served as her personal assistant for the past thirty years.

  “As soon as things open up in Alaska—about four hours from now—please secure plane fare and accommodations for twelve to Hoonah, Alaska. And plan on spending the rest of summer up there with me and the rest of the crew,” Elzianne commanded.

  “But—well—excuse me, Ms. LaMonte—I’m sure that with all that’s going on that you may have forgotten that my only daughter is getting married in mid-July of this year—”

  “She’ll have to change it, Julia—or get married without her mommy being there. Now, make sure that the rooms are decent and at least have plumbing. It’s a god-forsaken place up there. And we’re all going to need those pants the hillbillies all wear. What do they call them—carhats or hearts or something? We’re all going to need those pants and some warm jackets and, for crying out loud, do make sure we all have some decent footwear. I didn’t see a stitch of pavement the entire time I was up there.”

  Julia tightened her jaw, reached back and adjusted the clip holding her chignon, brushed the wrinkles from the lap of her Chanel suit, and shifted almost imperceptibly in her chair before looking—as if for the first time—directly at the departing figure of the woman she had worked for her entire adult life.

  Through everything in her past, she had been as loyal as any personal assistant could be. Through her own marriage, the birth of her only child, a divorce, a bankruptcy scandal, and a cancer scare, she had reported to work every day exactly one hour before her boss’s arrival and had never once spoken a harsh or negative word to the woman who paid her twice what she would make elsewhere, and who afforded her first-class access to the finest shopping and dining facilities in New York.

  But today, well paid as she was, would be the last day that Julia stood by as Elzianne LaMonte relegated her needs to the level of the bathroom tissue she so meticulously replaced with a fresh full roll every time her boss used the restroom.

  At exactly 4:25 p.m. New York time, she handed her boss an itemized list confirming full travel and lodging accommodations for the entire upcoming summer, as well as receipts guaranteeing timely delivery of outdoor wear for each of those who would be traveling to Hoonah for the summer.

  Then, stepping through the door, she bade her employer her usual good evening, before abruptly turning back to face her, speaking in soft, definitive tones that left no doubt about the depth of her resolve.

  “I think you will find my desk in order and each of my assigned tasks either fully completed or with clear instructions as to how to finish them. I have taken the liberty of arranging to have my departing check sent to my home as I would find it next to unbearable to have to listen to your suffering voice or gaze into your pitiless eyes ever again.”

  With that, Julia Evelyn Bruce stiffened her spine and walked briskly out the door, leaving Elzianne LaMonte staring at the empty space beneath her ermine that had been occupied for thirty years by the only person who had ever been loyal to her.

  Chapter Eight

  Inside Information

  Sal got up from her recliner and threw another log in the woodstove. She looked at the matching chair where her husband usually sat, and set a fresh cup of tea on the small table she shared with him each morning. Mesmerized by the calm that the quiet, silky waters of Icy Strait brought over her, she basked in the warm comfort sipping the tea brought her from the constant drizzle that had left her feeling cold and alone since Joe had left for Palmer.

  When the phone rang, she tried to ignore it, but what if it was Joe, and what if something was wrong? She picked it up and heard her niece begin to speak.

  “I just got done cleaning the last of the rooms over at the lodge and I heard someone at the desk talking about a group of people from New York coming in to stay near that salvage place run by some guy they called Hoonah Joe and some woman they didn’t name. I think they were talking about your place, Aunt Sal.”

  “Hell’s afire, Della, can’t she just leave me alone?”

  “I thought you’d be happy, Aunt Sal. I figured tourism would be good for the business,” Della answered. “Besides, how’d you know it was a woman?”

  “What’d be good fer the business would be if ya quit cleanin’ fer other people and came to work fer me and yer Uncle Joe as long as yer gonna spend the entire summer here in Hoonah,” Sal answered, dodging Della’s question about the woman.

  “I know, Aunt Sal. I’ll think about it. Gotta go. Love you.”

  Sal paced across the living room several times before getting herself another cup of tea and sitting back to watch the fog move in.

  “She’s probably renting half that new cruise ship lodge up the road at the old cannery site,” she muttered. “Twelve people! Is she bringing danged TV cameras with her, too? She doesn’t seem to do much of anything without a blast of publicity surrounding it.”

  She shifted in her chair and watched the fog creep along the horizon. Maybe their paths wouldn’t cross that much, especially with hers and Joe’s operation being in the opposite direction just before the airport. She shouldn’t be overreacting this way. Hadn’t she managed to shield herself from her toxic relationship with Elzi for all these years? Sure, this was a bit too close for comfort and totally out of the blue, but Elzi could hurt her only if she let her. She was strong enough now and she would choose to rise above all this. Besides, Elzi would quickly tire of Alaska and be gone out of her hair soon enough, anyway. She shifted again in her chair, raised the footrest, and sipped some more tea.

  And what was with all this Hoonah Joe? Who had come up with that one? Treating her Joey like some kind of cheap tourist attraction. She’d Hoonah Joe Elzianne LaMonte if she ever did cross paths with her, which she fervently hoped would not happen, just as she full well knew that it was inevitable.

  Nice that Della had tipped her off. Maybe it was good that Joe’s niece was working at the lodge after all. It would be a good way to keep an eye on her sister without her even knowing about it. She made a mental note to discuss the matter with Della later. She wouldn’t tell her too much—like the very fact that Elzianne was her sister. She’d say that she was an old acquaintance from college—no, not that! No one in her current life knew she had ever gone to college. No, she would simply say Elzianne was someone she worked with as a young woman, many, many years ago.

  That’s what she’d tell Joe—and Mara and Doug, too, except she would also tell them that Elzianne had gotten into some legal trouble back then, causing her to distance herself from the woman who had once been her friend.

  For her part, she would be cordial, but wary. Elzianne LaMonte was about as welcome to Sal’s world in Hoonah as a case of shingles and plague combined.

  When the phone rang again, it was Joe. His voice sounded lighter when she told him she was feeling better and admitted that maybe she should have made the trip to Palmer. She’d meet him at the airport the next morning.

  “I love you, too, sweet baby,” she told him before hanging up.

  Maybe keeping the truth about Elzi from him was wrong, but the woman was so evil that it was all she could think of to do to p
rotect the man she loved.

  Chapter Nine

  Switched after Birth

  When she picked Joe up the next morning, Sal filled him in on Della’s job at the hotel as well as the news about the group that would be descending on them for the remainder of the summer. She almost felt like her old self again when they shared a laugh about his new Hoonah Joe moniker. When she told him that a troubled old friend from her past named Elzianne LaMonte would be spending the rest of the summer in Hoonah and it brought no more response than a nod of his head, her stomach churned just a tad less intensely than she had expected it to.

  “The kids will be coming in tomorrow,” Joe told her, referring to Doug and Mara by the affectionate name he had taken to calling them. “The good news is that they’re planning on spending the rest of the summer right here in Hoonah.”

  “What’s goin’ on with that, Joey?” Sal asked.

  “What do you mean? I thought you’d be happy about that. Don’t be getting all suspicious now, Sal.”

  “I ain’t suspicious now and I ain’t plannin’ on bein’ suspicious then,” Sal barked. “Although the way ya all been dotin’ on me woulda drove a lesser woman right around the bend and halfway down the next two roads a life what with all the danged ‘help’ yer hell bent on providin’ ta me.”

  “They’re planning on helping out with the shop, or whatever you need ‘em for, and just being here to spend some time with us. They went to a lot of personal trouble and expense to do it, too, Sal, so—well, just so you know, that’s all.”

  “Well, I love ‘em dearly and ya danged well know that, Joey, but hell’s afire, ain’t I got enough on my plate already what with getting’ the business goin’—and Della’s showed up, and now Mara and her ole man . . .”

  “Why do you keep referring to Doug by everything except the name he was given at birth?” Joe said, taking her aback.