Wild Men of Alaska 03 - Dreamweaver

front with Hugh.
    Fortunately, once they took off from the man-made Chena Marina and were soaring northwest into the brilliant blue sky, the noise in the plane was too loud to carry on a conversation without headphones and mics. Mac and Hugh were the only ones outfitted. Suited Tern just fine. There was too much back and forth going on inside her head to pay attention to anyone else.
    Why had she let Nadia talk her into getting on this plane? There was no way that this trip could end well. Other than winning and being named the best geocacher in the state. Regardless if she’d seemed a coward, she should have run from the hangar and left this crew on their own. The plane bumped along in a pocket of turbulence as though nodding in agreement.
    She’d introduced all these people to high-tech sport of geocaching, a treasure hunt where the participants used a GPS to find hidden caches full of rewards that ranged from simple trinkets, to further instructions, and sometimes money. Damned if these people would prove that they were now better at the sport than she was.
    After about an hour, the floatplane dipped, beginning its decent. She caught a view out the windows and anticipation replaced the foreboding that bubbled in her thoughts. A glacier-fed lake glistened like an expensive jewel below them, a color man would never be able to duplicate. Iced mountain tops, perfectly frosted by Mother Nature, crowded around the lake as though hoping to pick up any secrets it might whisper of time and space. Spruce ranging in colors of the darkest blue to green to black competed for space among the birch trees. A clearing revealed a nest of small cabins along the south bank of the lake, directly opposite of the glacier that receded above the valley.
    The DeHavilland skimmed the placid waters of the lake and came to a stop along the sandy bank near the cabins. Hugh powered down the Beaver and silence pressed in.
    “Welcome to Lake Nowhere,” Hugh said, rolling up his hip waders and climbing out onto the float of the plane. He hopped onto the bank and secured the plane to a birch tree before wading into the water. One by one, they climbed out onto the floats and jumped to shore. Hugh unloaded their packs, tossing them the short distance. It was up to them to catch them or not. Tern seized hers just as it would have smacked her in the face. As it was, she stumbled back a few steps.
    Hugh waded to shore and pulled out an envelope from his back pocket and handed it to Nadia. “Here you go. Instructions are in there on the rules of the game. I’ll be back in a week to pick you up.” Once that was done, he didn’t waste any time in untying the plane, turning it around, and hopping aboard.
    They watched, standing in a line, as Hugh took off. Tern wondered if they were all thinking the same thing she was.
    Just where the hell were they and what would they do if he didn’t come back?
    ***
    “Well,” Mac said, hitching up his backpack on brick-like shoulders and grabbing his rifle. “The day isn’t getting any younger. I suggest we make camp and cook up some grub.”
    They gathered their gear and headed toward the base camp just a few hundred yards up from the lake. The spot was breathtaking. Grasses so green it hurt Tern’s eyes to look at them were intermixed with wildflowers of blue bells, forget-me-nots, brook mint, and cowslips. The air was clean and crisp. Rejuvenating.
    Tern breathed in a deep breath and slowly let it out. She’d been locked up too long in her shop this season getting ready for the tourists. It was actually unheard of for her to take time off from work during the summer. It was her money making season, but she had a good crew, and she badly needed the break from commitments and responsibilities. The sun beat down with teasing fingers, tempting her into shedding her jacket.
    The camp was made up of three small log cabins nestled in a half moon. Tern and Nadia entered the first cabin, while the men carried their gear into the remaining ones. The small space housed two cots each. A shelf, hooks for clothes, an end table between the cots, and a wood stove for heating in winter. The bare necessities. It caused a smile to spread over Tern’s face, while Nadia frowned.
    “This is it?” she asked, scanning the small space as though some modern day amenities would suddenly appear.
    “Did you expect maid service?”
    “Running water would have been nice.”
    “There’s a pristine lake out front.” Tern