Page 41 of Untamed Coast

He pulled on the other boot. This one was dry. “Partway through the season, I’m usually trying to come up with more ways to have crab. Crab dip, crab enchiladas, crab cakes, crab risotto, crab eggs Benedict, just plain crab. Michelle made fabulous crab wontons.” Marco tried to push back the catch in his voice. “Sometimes I get so tired of picking crab, I don’t bother to put down traps.”

“Well, I’m not quite as jaded as you yet, Mr. Floating Gourmet.” Bill pulled the last crab out of the bucket and cracked it. “Dungeness is still quite a delicacy where I come from.”

“There’s a decent chance there are salmon right outside the cove here.” Marco pulled his Grundéns jacket off the hook and checked the lining to be sure it was dry, then slipped it over his hoodie. “I hear the coho are just starting to come in. Maybe we’ll try our luck before we head out.”

Bill dropped the last of the crab halves into the bucket and washed the yellow-green guts and gills through the drain holes at the back of the cleaning table. He leaned over and used the spray to rinse the remnants of the slaughter off of Radio Flyer’s hull, then sat down and pulled on the rubber boots Marco had loaned him.

“Oh, take this.” Marco handed Bill a bright orange spray canister with an illustration on the side depicting an angry bear, mouth agape, baring huge sharp teeth. “This plastic part is the safety. You slide that off and then squeeze this trigger. Don’t use it unless you have to.”

Bill turned the can over in his hand, examining it.

Marco clicked his own bear spray onto his belt loop with a carabiner. “There’s a cargo pocket in that jacket where it’ll fit nicely.”

Marco led Bill up the small dock toward shore. At the top of the dock, he headed down a narrow trail, his XTRATUFs sinking several inches into the mud with each step. “First, let’s go check out the tree swing.” It was the largest rope swing Marco had ever seen. He had no idea who had put it up or when, but it was one of his favorite things at Taku.

Bill held up a sealskin pouch, bound by leather ties. “What’s this book thing here in your coat pocket?”

Marco was confused. “What are you talking…Oh, I forgot about that. I found it when I fell off the cliff. The eagle musta carried it back to line her nest. Stuck it in my jacket pocket and then got a little preoccupied, you know, trying to avoid plummeting to my death and all. It’s got a book in it?”

Bill held the pouch up. “Feels like it. I didn’t open it. Didn’t wanna invade your privacy. Once you’ve borne witness to another man’s true confessions and unicorn doodles, you can’t unsee that.”

Marco ran his fingers along the soft fur of the pouch. “Ah, well, it’s not mine. We’ll check it out when we get back to the boat.”

Bill dropped it back into the coat pocket. They emerged from the muddy trail into a clearing in the forest where a giant rope swing hung from a high tree limb.

Bill gasped. “Wow! You weren’t kidding. That’s gotta be, what, fifty feet high?”

Marco held the thick rope toward his friend. “Take it for a spin!”

“Okay, I’m twelve again…” Bill hoisted himself onto the wooden seat. “Can you give me a push?”

Marco pulled Bill back as far as he could lift him, then let go. “Feet up! Don’t drag em! Watch those tree roots!”

Bill’s hair blew wildly as he lurched forward. “Oh my God. Yes!” he squealed.

Marco took a turn on the swing, then led Bill back down the trail the way they’d come. He wanted to walk Bill through the cannery ruins, where there were all kinds of rusting cannery artifacts that visitors had arranged on top of old pilings, creating a sort of impromptu abstract sculpture garden.

The path broke out of the woods and into a clearing that went down to the shore. Marco caught a whiff of something.

Wild.

Game-y.

Movement.

“Bears.” Marco held his hand up and froze. He kept his voice low and smooth. “Bill. Stop. Don’t make any loud noises. Just stand here and talk with me in a normal calm voice.”

Bill bumped into Marco from behind. “What?”

Marco’s pulse quickened. His hand shook as he reached cautiously for his bear spray. “Sow with two cubs over there to our left. They’re coming this way. Don’t make any sudden moves. We need to stay calm. She already knows we’re here.”

“Marco…” Bill whispered back, sounding frantic. “I’m…”

Marco fumbled removing the safety clip from the spray canister. “Just stay calm and keep talking. Don’t use the spray unless she charges.”

Bill whimpered.

A bear cub tumbled from the tall grass into the middle of the trail ahead of them. It started in their direction. Marco took a small step backward and Bill followed.