“Thank you.” She smiled back. “I’ll try not to lose track of the time.” Easy to do when one is caught up in the beauty of nature.
“I’ll give a whistle when it’s getting close to leaving time. And remember what I told you at our first stop. If you happen to see a bear or moose while you’re standing out here by the water?—”
“Keep my distance,” she finished for him with an acknowledging nod. “I will.” Emilia McBain, a.k.a. Emmy, being her very best friend, had already stressed to Aurora before she’d flown to Alaska that while moose are quite huggable in stuffed animal form, they were not anywhere near as cuddly in real life. Especially during mating season, which, according to the internet, they were currently in.
After her guide walked away, Aurora turned and began snapping a few test shots. The lens she’d chosen did well in low lighting and could be safely used in damp conditions.
Stepping forward, she made her way along the river’s edge. Aurora focused on taking pictures she believed would stir a fisherman’s interest and lure him, pun intended, to Alaska. Because that’s whatWorld Adventures Magazinewas looking for.
It wasn’t until the rain started coming down harder that Aurora was forced to put her camera away. The oversized duck head hood of the poncho Billy had given her had helped to keep the camera dry while she’d been shooting, but the wind had begun to stir, the occasional gusts sending the light rain sideways. She was still careful despite having a waterproof casing over her prized possession.
A loud whistle had Aurora glancing back in the direction from which she’d started. She was surprised to find that she had wandered farther down the riverbank than she’d intended to.
Billy, who gave her the “you don’t want to miss your flight” signal, had backed himself up beneath the cover of the trees. His bright yellow duck hood, with its droopy orange bill, was pulleddown low over his face to block out the shifting rain as he stood patiently waiting for her to take her pictures.
She returned a quick wave to let her guide know she had heard his whistle as she started back. Fussy weather or not, her day had been a success. The hike back up the wooded hillside with her tour guide was far less eventful, and thankfully so. Her backside wasn’t up for another go at being a human bobsled.
“Thank you,” she said as Billy hurried past to open the Jeep’s passenger door for her. Aurora set her backpack inside and then ducked into the passenger side. Once she’d buckled herself in, she pulled her cell phone from the front pocket of her backpack and checked to see if she had any missed messages. No signal. Aurora pressed the power button, putting her phone to sleep.
“Sorry you spent more than half of your tour in the rain,” Billy apologized as he buckled in and started the engine.
“It worked out okay,” she assured him. “I’m sorry you had to stand out there for as long as you did. I completely lost track of time.”
“Easy to do when you’re someone who appreciates the outdoors,” he acknowledged. “And I can tell you do.”
She nodded. “This,” she said, motioning to the grandeur around them, “truly is my element.”
Smiling, he shifted the Jeep into Drive. “If you ever consider living somewhere else, you would make a great Alaskan.”
Aurora laughed softly. “I would have to put a little work into my wet hillside descents, but thank you for the compliment.”
They had only driven about a mile and a half back on the winding, mostly narrow road to town when Billy slammed his booted foot on the brake. His arm shot out at the same time, instinctively trying to keep Aurora from being thrust forward, despite her already being secured by the seatbelt.
“Hold on,” Billy said, his voice calm, though the vehicle fishtailed to and fro on the rain-slicked road.
When the Jeep finally came to a stop, Aurora sank back against her seat in relief. Ahead of them, a waterfall of water, mud, and loose rocks spilled out onto the road and down the mountainside.
“You okay?” the older man asked worriedly as he glanced her way.
Aurora nodded, realizing how close they’d come to being under that sudden deluge. Maybe her having lost track of time back at the river hadn’t been such a bad thing after all. “Well, that certainly added a little more excitement to the day.”
“Bad timing for a mudslide,” Billy replied with a troubled frown as he took in nature’s untimely temper tantrum.
Aurora followed his gaze to the still-oozing mess not even ten feet in front of them. “Do we drive through it?” she asked, knowing that driving through flood waters was a no-no, but this was mostly mud and a few rocks they could probably carefully navigate around.
His expression didn’t look the least bit reassuring. He gave a firm shake of his head. “Too risky. It’s not the worst mudslide I’ve ever seen. Road’s fairly clear. But there’s a chance a few trees might still come down with the rainwater running down the hillside.” Putting the Jeep into Reverse, he backed safely away from the mess on the road. “We’re going to have to wait it out.”
“Wait?” Aurora repeated. “For how long?”
“Until I know it’s safe to pass through. Don’t you worry. We’ve still got plenty of time,” he assured her, his gaze fixed on the road ahead.
“And if the rain picks up?”
As if reading her panicked thoughts, Billy glanced her way. “I’ll get you to the airport. Don’t you worry.”
He’d said it with such determination, Aurora couldn’t help but smile. Billy was an Alaskan tour guide for a reason. He understood the area, its beauty and its dangers. She just hopedhe wasn’t wishful thinking. She knew all about how that usually turned out.
“You really should reconsider my client’s more than generous offer,” warned Clive Wagner, the intermediary Spark Capital Management sent with their offer to buy his family’s retreat. “If not for your sake, then for the rest of your family, who stand to lose everything if your fishing retreat business goes under. Word around has it that such a time could be near.”
