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Chapter 26
Day 163 of the re-emerged Hat Island pack, Sunday, Nov. 17, Nespelem, WA
Benny rode slowly alongthe road that wound through the forest and hills to Nespelem, a cluster of homes of a couple hundred people who mostly worked at the big government center building. Naomi was involved in all kinds of projects around preserving the language and the culture. She also ran a bunch of tutoring programs.
Once a teacher, always a teacher. He wished he could tell her about the boarding school on Hat Island.
It was a beautiful ride, although the devastation of a wildfire a few years back was still visible. He mourned for the tribe —they’d had to evacuate Nespelem and lost a number of structures. No one had died, but 10,000 acres burned. Restoration was slow.
Naomi George had a small white clapboard house, not far from the Nez Pierce cemetery. It had a white picket fence, and although it was all dormant now, she still gardened just as she had in Okanogan when he first knew her.
He hadn’t seen her since he turned 40. Like a lot of shifters, he’d found that was the age when you stopped being able to fool the humans who had once known you. And you died — or like him, found a reason to relocate and stay in touch by phone. Ryder was 42; he was fighting off that day, in large part because of this woman, Naomi George. Benny didn’t see how Ryder was going to manage, now that he was back in the area, but that was Ryder’s problem, not his. And he was grateful it wasn’t — he didn’t have any advice to offer, either.
So Benny hadn’t been out to see this house —the last time he’d been out here was on a high school field trip to the fish and wildlife offices at the government building. They’d watched a man working on a canoe, saw basket weaving, and finished the day with a salmon bake —Okanogan school’s gesture toward this multifaceted culture that predated that sleepy little community by he didn’t know how many years —eons.
He glanced at his watch; he was on time. Being late wouldn’t be a problem but being early would be.Naomi went to a small Protestant church in Grand Coulee, another small town, 30 miles south of here, but she’d be home by now.
He parked his bike, fastened the lock around it. He didn’t need some kids trying out Maggie’s bike for a joy ride. He winced at even the thought of having to explain that. He left his helmet on the bike, and nervously walked up to the front door, carrying dessert that he’d bought in Omak — two large, chocolate brownies. They’d survived the ride up in his saddle bags — mostly.
The door opened, and a stout woman who barely came up to his shoulder stood there with a welcoming smile. Her hair had gray in it, and her face had lines, but he would recognize that smile anywhere. “Ms. George?” he asked. “Benny Garrison sent me.”
He stayed the afternoon, finally deciding to leave when it started getting dark. That winding road wasn’t easy even in the daylight. She’d offered her arms up for a hug as he left. “I can’t believe how much you’re like the Benny Garrison I knew,” she said. “Your looks, of course. You must hear that a lot. But so much about you! I’m so glad you came. It’s like having a visit from the past.”
Benny glanced at her quickly, wondering, but he didn’t address it. “I’m glad I did too,” he said instead. “It’s been a wonderful visit. I’m moving on in the morning, but I’ll be sure to tell Benny I saw you.”
“You do that,” she said, smiling. “But you be honest with him, now. Because I’ll be telling him about this visit too, and he’ll compare stories. That’s what he does after all.”
Benny laughed. It was what Benny Garrison did, he thought, as he unlocked his bike, and started slowly out of town. Truer than she knew —though the Benny she knew through phone calls had been a museum director until his recent retirement.
The thought that he was going to lose this woman who had been so pivotal to his own life —not to mention Ryder’s was hard to take. He railed against that future. She had probably another 10 years? Her health was already becoming problematic, he knew.
It didn’t have to be this way, Benny thought suddenly. He chewed his lip as he thought about what he wanted to propose: Give Naomi George Garrison the serum.
She’d have to relocate, of course. It would mean a completely new life somewhere else. But there were plenty of places she could go. Ryder could move her to Penticton. He’d welcome her to Hat Island. Wouldn’t she be an asset to his boarding school?
He worked the details out in his head as he rode out to his father’s cabin. He’d stopped in Omak and stocked up on some groceries. He needed something for supper, and Ryder and Jessie would be down in the morning. He’d bring it up then, he decided. Titus was planning on making Ryder pack Alpha, and then they’d talk.
Relief coursed through him. He didn’t have to lose her after all.
And he shifted and went for another run. These runs were good too. That and the shared control of the bike rides, and their collaboration to take out that sniper and his buddy. He felt more comfortable with his wolf than he had since Russia.
