Chapter 5
The Cessna 172 took off from Juneau airport and headed out over the rugged mountains toward Glacier Bay. The young bush pilot taking Matt and Lynn to Paradise Camp had indicated it was about a forty-minute flight from Juneau. As they flew, they marveled at the rugged snow-covered peaks, vast forests, and raging streams below. They saw deer feeding in the meadows, bears frolicking in mountain streams, and moose running across treeless mountain tops. Time went quickly and the pilot was soon pointing to a lake on the horizon. He pushed the controls forward and the plane began to descend toward its watery runway. When it was over Paradise Lake, he pulled back on the throttle and the plane settled into the frigid water and quickly came to a stop.
The pilot swung the plane around and began to taxi toward a cabin in the distance. As they got closer, Matt saw a small dock protruding out from the bank. The plane taxied up close to it, then the pilot cut the engine and let the plane drift up to the dock. After he had the plane tied up, he waved for them to come on out. Matt climbed out and jumped onto the dock. Then he turned and helped Lynn deplane. Matt looked around wide-eyed at the surroundings.
"Wow! Look at this place, honey. Isn't it beautiful?"
"Oh, yes. This is wonderful. It's like a postcard."
The pilot unloaded the luggage onto the dock, picked up a couple of pieces and started carrying them to the cabin. Matt took what was left and followed him. When they got to the cabin door, the pilot set the luggage down and unlocked the door.
"I came by this morning and restocked the pantry," the pilot said. "You should have plenty of food, and the propane tank is three quarters full. The water up here is excellent so drink to your heart's content."
"Okay, this is great," Matt said.
"This time of year it doesn't get below fifty at night, so you shouldn't be too cold. If you like to fish, there's fishing gear in the closet. You can fly fish or use lures. This lake doesn't get much activity so either way the fishing should be excellent. There's a Jon boat if you like or you can fish off the shore."
"What about hiking?"
"I wouldn't wander off too far from the lake as it's easy to get lost up here. If you hike around the lake, it’s about three miles so that should give you plenty of exercise."
"Is there anybody up here at all?" Lynn said.
"There's an Indian family about a mile from here. They maintain this place for us. You can contact them in an emergency. They have a shortwave radio."
"Good. I can't imagine anything happening, but it's comforting to know we're not totally isolated out here."
"I'll come check on you a couple times during the week. Don't leave any food out and put your garbage in the sealed disposal containers in your cabin. There are grizzly bears in the area and, if they smell food, they'll come looking for it."
"Are they dangerous?"
"Only if you provoke them. There's a shotgun in the cabin. If any animal bothers you, just shoot the gun a few times in the air and they'll leave you alone. Don't shoot at them directly though. If you don't kill them, they're liable to get really pissed off."
"We'll leave them alone," Matt said. "I've camped in the Colorado Rockies many times so we should be okay."
"Good. Most of the time this is the quietest place on earth."
"That's why we came up here," Lynn said.
"Well, I'm going to get along. I'll see you in a couple of days. You two have fun."
"We will, definitely," Matt said.
The pilot smiled and shook Matt's hand. He nodded at Lynn and then went out the front door. Matt and Lynn watched as he climbed back in his plane and took off. When he had disappeared, Matt took Lynn's hand and pulled her to him. They embraced and kissed passionately.
"This is going to be a great week," Matt said after their lips parted.
"Umm," Lynn replied, her cheeks slightly flushed.
"We can catch up on our lovemaking."
"You promise?"
"Absolutely, we'll start right after I go fishing."
"What?!"
"Just kidding," Matt said as he pulled Lynn up close and began to unbutton her blouse. She gave him a wry smile and led him into the bedroom to the big king size bed that lay waiting for them. There was a fireplace with wood neatly stacked, ready to be lit. Matt found a match and lit the fire. Lynn drew the shades and they finished undressing and got under the covers. As their bodies came together, Lynn sighed.
"Oh God! You feel so good. I love you so much."
Matt kissed her gently and replied, "Me too. This is going to be a great week."
They made love for hours until they were so exhausted they fell into a peaceful sleep in the comfort of each other's arms. They had slept a few hours when they were awakened by the sound of an airplane. Matt got up and looked outside. It was still light but he didn't see any sign of a plane.
"It sure sounded like the airplane landed, didn't it?" Matt said.
"I thought so, but I guess it just flew by," Lynn replied.
"Are you hungry?" Matt asked.
"Starved."
"Okay, let’s go see what there is to eat."
"Go ahead. I'll be right there."
Matt pulled on some boxer shorts and headed for the kitchen. Lynn yawned, stretched, and then put on a T-shirt. For a moment she just stared at the embers smoldering in the fireplace. She wondered if this was the happiest day of her life. She couldn't think of a single moment of her existence that she would cherish more. She sighed and then joined Matt in the kitchen.
Matt was taking a mental inventory of the contents of the refrigerator. It was loaded with meat, milk, vegetables, condiments, beer, and soft drinks.
"How about a steak?" he asked.
"Fine."
"You want a beer?"
"Okay."
Matt brought her a beer and then proceeded to make supper while Lynn watched him from a big stuffed chair across the room. She usually did all the cooking, so it was a great amusement to her to watch Matt fumble around the kitchen.
"You need some help?" she asked.
"No, I've got it under control. You just relax."
"You're so sweet fixing us supper. Are you going to do all the cooking this week?"
He smiled. "Don't press your luck. I'm just feeling grateful after having such great sex."
"Hmm. You enjoyed that, huh?"
Matt winked at her and replied, "Well. I'll just say, I'm glad I didn't go fishing."
Lynn stretched and gave a sexy moan. "I don't want to ever go back to Dallas. Let’s just stay here forever."
"You won't get any argument from me," Matt replied.
When supper was ready, they took their plates outside to a picnic table. By this time, it was after nine o'clock, but it was still daylight.
"Boy, can you believe it's still light?" Matt said.
"Yeah, I wish we had all this daylight in Dallas. The crime rate would probably plummet."
"No doubt."
"We should make this an annual ritual; don't you think?" Lynn said.
"Well, once we get our staff properly trained, we should be able to take a lot of vacations. After all, what's the point of being rich if you don't enjoy life, right?"
"Exactly."
After supper they got some fishing gear out of the cabin and tried their luck off the dock. It was just starting to get dark and the flies and mosquitos were swarming. Matt cast his line out about twenty yards out and waited. Nothing happened so he reeled it in and tried again. The line sailed gracefully through the air and the lure hit the water. Immediately a fish attacked the little yellow-and-black fly and was hooked.
"I’ve got one!" Matt yelled as the fish jumped out of the water.
Lynn smiled and immediately picked up the net. Matt worked the fish in until it was close enough for Lynn to sweep it into the net. He pulled out the hook and held it up. It was bluish green and about eighteen inches long.
"What kind is it?" Lynn asked.
"Some kind of trout, I think."
Lynn picked up her rod and cast it out into the water and just as quickly she hooked a fish.
"Oh my God! I've got one too!" she said as the much bigger fish jumped out of the water and then fell back, causing a big splash.
"Don't lose it, honey!"
"I won't—it's just so big! Jesus!"
After several minutes, Lynn brought the big fish close enough to the dock for Matt to net it. He pulled it up on the dock and held it up.
"Wow, look at the size of it," Lynn said.
"It must be thirty inches."
"That's good, huh?"
"I guess so."
"Hurry up and take it off, I want to catch another one."
Matt laughed at Lynn's enthusiasm and quickly removed the fish. She immediately cast it again to the same spot. Matt looked at the sky which was quickly turning dark. Lynn landed another fish and reeled it in.
"I think we better call it a night. I don't want to be out here in the dark with fresh fish."
"Oh, you're just mad because I've caught more than you."
"No, I'm serious. Grizzly bears can smell fresh fish a mile away."
"Oh. Good point," Lynn replied. “Let’s get these fish into the refrigerator then."
Sunrise the following day came very early. Matt and Lynn tried to ignore the bright sunlight that came flooding into their cabin. Lynn finally opened her eyes and gazed at Matt sleeping soundly. She smiled, yawned, and rolled out of bed. Since Matt had prepared dinner, she decided to give him breakfast in bed. She went into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and pulled out a carton of eggs and a pound of bacon. She set them near the stove and then pulled out a loaf of bread from the cupboard. After putting on some water to make coffee, she pulled open the curtain over the sink to see what kind of day it was.
"Ahhhh!" She screamed as a man was standing in front of the window looking at her.
Matt sat up and looked around. "What's wrong?"
"Somebody's out there!"
"What?” Matt said, and then jumped out of bed and rushed toward Lynn. “We're supposed to be alone up here."
"I got news for you—we're not."
Matt put on some jeans and a T-shirt and hurried out the front door. He looked around and, not seeing anyone, he circled the cabin and scanned the forest in every direction. Finally, he came back inside.
"He must have run off. What did he look like?"
"He was a tall, muscular man—his head was shaven."
"How old?"
"In his thirties, I would imagine."
"Could he have been one of the Indians up here?"
"No, he was white."
"Damn it! I can't believe this. I wonder where he's camped?"
"Maybe he came in on that airplane we heard."
"Maybe. After breakfast we can hike around the lake and see if we can find the camp or the plane."
"But we don't know who he is or what he wants."
"He probably means us no harm, but I'll bring the shotgun just in case."
"I don't know. Maybe we should just leave him alone."
"Maybe so, but I won't be comfortable until I know who's out there and what they're doing."
"Okay, whatever," Lynn said and then went back into the kitchen to finish breakfast. Matt went into the bathroom, shaved, and then finished getting dressed. During breakfast, neither Lynn nor Matt had much to say. Each was worried about the unexpected visitor.
After breakfast, Matt found the shotgun, some ammunition, and a pair of binoculars. Lynn did the dishes while he was getting ready for their hike around the lake. As they began their trek, it was a little chilly as a layer of cirrus clouds filtered the sun’s rays. Someone had cleared a trail around the lake so the hike was quite pleasant.
"If the sun would burn off the cloud cover it would be a nice day," Matt said.
"You think it will? I'm freezing."
"I don't know. Hopefully."
The trail went up a small hill and at the top they could see the entire north end of the lake. The hikers stopped, and Matt took a look around with his binoculars.
"Do you see anything?"
"Not yet," Matt said as he swung the binoculars slowly around the perimeter of the lake.
"I wonder who that guy was?"
"I'm clueless . . . wait. . . . What's that?" Matt said as he focused on a glistening object at the back of a cove.
"What is it?" Lynn asked.
"It's an airplane."
"Oh, shit."
"Single engine, red and white—a Cessna."
"So we did hear a plane land last night. I wonder who it belongs to."
"Your friend, Baldy, I'm sure."
"Do you think he's watching us?"
"It looks that way. Maybe he's planning to rob us?"
"Rob us!" Lynn said. "We should go back to camp. I bet he's stealing us blind while we're gone."
"Oh, shit! You may be right."
As they turned to head back to camp, they heard an engine turning over. They turned just in time to see the airplane taking off at the far end of the lake. It flew straight toward them, over their heads, and then disappeared over a hilltop.
"Thank God he left," Lynn said
"Let's make sure everything is okay back at the cabin," Matt replied.
They hiked quickly back toward the cabin. When they arrived, they looked around outside and then went in. They took a gaze around the room and inspected all their things. Lynn looked at Matt, breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I guess we're getting paranoid."
"It looks that way," Matt laughed. "Let's just forget this happened and start the day over, okay?"
"Good idea," Lynn said and opened the door to go outside. "Ahhhh!" She screamed as she nearly ran into a dark-skinned man standing in the doorway."
"Excuse me, Ma'am."
Matt rushed over and jumped between Lynn and the big Indian.
"Who are you?" Matt asked.
"I'm Tali Aku, I live here on the lake with my family. Sorry if I startled you."
"Oh, you're the caretaker," Lynn said.
"Yes."
"Did you know a man was looking in the window of our cabin this morning?" Lynn asked.
"Yes, I heard the plane land. I've been searching for it since dawn. When I finally found it, I told the two men who were camping that this was a private lake and they must leave."
"Oh, so that's why the plane left?"
"Yes."
"Was one of the men bald headed?"
"Yes, his name was Hans or something. I heard him talking to his friend."
"Hans?" Lynn said. "Hmmm."
"Anyway, I just wanted to make sure they hadn't disturbed you."
"No, not really," Matt said. "They just startled us. We weren't expecting company."
"I don't think they will be back, but I'll keep a close watch just in case."
"Thank you," Lynn replied. "We really appreciate it."
Matt wasn’t too concerned about the unexpected visitors. He figured they had nothing to do with him or Lynn and was anxious to resume their quiet holiday. Lynn, however, was troubled by it all and couldn't sleep that night. She didn't want to upset Matt and spoil his vacation, but she didn't buy the idea that the plane had just accidently landed on Paradise Lake. She had an ominous feeling about Hans. She wondered who had sent him and what they want.