

Arctic Passion

By Vera Hall

Published by Vera Hall at Smashwords

Copyright 2011 Vera Hall

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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Chapter 1

Laura looked out of the window of the small plane. The cold Canadian Tundra stretched below her.

"What am I doing here?" she thought as she looked down at the frozen wasteland. She shuddered "I can't be cold with all these clothes on; it must be the sight of all that ice."

Laura had to admit to herself that she was scared. She was having second thoughts about changing her life so drastically, but it was too late now, the plane was about to land. She had not wanted to come to this strange isolated place, but she had no choice.

Her husband Paul had been ill for three years before he died, and they had used up all their savings and had to sell their home. She had given up her job, so that she could care for him. When they married, Paul and Laura had such wonderful plans for their future together. Paul's illness had changed all that. Their hopes had been shattered and now Laura faced the future alone.

Laura had run out of money and could not find work, and when a friend found her

a good paying job in the Arctic, it seemed like the answer to her prayers. However, the closer she got to her destination, the more she wondered if that were true.

She saw a small group of lights, below in the distance.

"I can do this" Laura said to herself.

She heard Paul's voice saying, "Yes, Laura, you can do it."

"Whale Cove coming up," the pilot shouted. "Please keep your seat belts on until we are completely stopped. I don't want any of you to fall and break anything."

The passengers were excited and began to collect their belongings, ignoring the pilot's announcement. They were obviously glad to be home as they joked around and playfully pushed each other. The girls in the group smiled at Laura and then looked away and giggled.

These young Inuit were not what Laura had expected. They were dressed like teenagers in the south. They wore the same uniforms of jeans, running shoes, and jackets with conspicuously fashionable names printed on them.

She smiled back at them and tried to hear what they were saying to each other. She did not understand a word. They were speaking a language that she had never heard before, one that bore no resemblance to any that she had heard in all her travels to strange parts of the world with Paul. It occurred to her that the Inuit had their own language. How stupid of her not to know this.

"I wonder if any of these people will be in my class, "she thought," How I will be able to teach English to them, if I don't know their language."

The sound of the engine changed, the plane was landing. Laura couldn't see an airport, only a lonely row of lights below them and another group of lights from the village in the distance.

The plane landed with a THUMP that caused everyone to gasp. Some of passengers fell sideways and bumped into each other. The pilot came into the cabin, opened the door, and pulled down metal steps. He did not speak. Laura waited until the others got off and then made her way down the rickety steps to the slippery ground below. A strong gust of wind hit her face and she almost fell.

The pilot, opened the cargo hatch and unloaded several boxes, and piled them on the ground. "Those are for Wake," he shouted and several of the young men shouted back "O.K."

Laura was relieved to hear that at least some of them understood English. For some reason, this made her feel less lonely than she had been since she started her journey.

The pilot had not cut the engines and as soon as the cargo was unloaded, he got back into the cockpit. The plane sped down the makeshift runway and took off, causing an even stronger blast of cold wind to hit Laura. She realized that apart from a structure that looked like a large meat locker, there was nothing out there to protect them from the weather. The passengers huddled together under the floodlights of the runway.

"What happens now?" Laura thought as she moved close to the building to get out of the wind. She pulled her scarf up over her face and her parka hood forward to keep out the incredible cold. Fortunately, she had been prepared because she knew that it would be extremely cold and dark at this time of the year. She had experienced this same kind of weather the winter that Paul had worked in Moscow. She was glad that she was suitably dressed

Her tiny slender hundred and ten pound frame was overwhelmed by her outfit. Over her jeans and sweater, she had on pair of down overalls and a huge parka that stopped below her knees. Over her shoes, she wore huge, felt-lined rubber boots. Her ensemble was completed by a woolen hat and scarf, and a pair of snowmobile gloves. "I look like the Michelin tire guy. Well at least I am not too cold yet," she said to herself. "Surely someone will come out to meet me off the plane soon."

The other passengers were still in good spirits, talking and smoking cigarettes.

"How do we get to town from here?" Laura asked one of the young women

The young woman giggled and looked down. "The taxi," a young man replied for her.

"Well, I guess the taxi will get here eventually," Laura thought.

Wake was fuming mad. He got into the driver's seat of the taxi, turned the key in the ignition, and revved the engine. The engine sputtered a couple of times and then started. Wake knew that it was really stupid to rev the engine in this cold weather. It was probably 40° below zero out there. But he was so angry that he had to take it out on something. He should have been coaching the hockey team at this moment, instead of driving to the airport. Sam was obviously not capable of doing it and the passengers would be stuck out there if he did not go. Wake had no idea who would be on that plane, other than the teacher. The poor widow could be frozen to death waiting for the taxi. The only good thing about him driving to the airport was that his computer equipment might be on that plane. In Sam's condition he may have forgotten about it and left the boxes on the runway until the next flight came in, by which time the computer would be ruined. Sometimes Wake found that living in this village was frustrating.

He had seen the plane coming in for landing on his way to the arena to coach the hockey team. He had wondered why Sam's taxi was still parked outside the office rather than at the airport. When Wake went into the taxi office, he could see why.

Sam and his buddies were hunched over the table playing poker. There was no alcohol in sight, but it was obvious to Wake, from their reddened faces and their slurred speech that they had all been drinking.

"Sam. Didn't you hear your radio? The plane has landed," Wake said.

"Yes, I was jus on my way, jus finishing thish hand," Sam answered. He continued to play.

"Sam, you know the new teacher is on that plane, you can't keep her waiting too

long, she won't be used to the cold, and you know how cold it can get on the airstrip," Wake said.

"O.K, O.K., just let me finiss this," Sam slurred. He finished the hand and pulled the pile of money on the table towards him. "an I wis winning too," he said.

Sam got up from the table staggered over to get his parka from its hook on the wall.

He fumbled for his keys and walked unsteadily towards the door.

"Good God," thought Wake, "he is really drunk; I can't let him drive the taxi in his condition."

Wake was exasperated, Sam was a nice guy and probably had not had much liquor, but he was very drunk. This was usual for Inuit people. They seemed to get drunk on very little alcohol; their bodies could not handle it.

"It looks like I will have to do the airport run," Wake said to himself. "Let's hope that no-one finds these guys in here, or they will get a hefty fine for having liquor in the house."

Wake walked towards the door. "Give me the keys Sam, I will go and pick up the passengers from the plane," he said.

"Naah, No body takes Sam's taxi, I'm going mishelf," Sam replied giving Wake a nasty look.

"Give me the keys," Wake repeated his jaw tightening. "I am driving the taxi to the airport."

"Naah," Sam insisted

"If you don't give them to me, I will have to take them from you and you don't want that Sam. You are not driving to the airport in your condition," Wake said.

Wake's 6.2" frame towered over Sam. Sam knew he was no match for Wake, who was a much younger and fitter man than he.

"Don't know what all thish fush is about, anyways," Sam said as he gave Wake the keys.

Wake got into the taxi and slammed the door.

*****

Wake had been in the Co-op when he first heard about the new teacher coming.

"Wake, what do you know about the new teacher?" Jimmy called from the back of the store.

"What new teacher?" Wake was surprised

"They're bringin in a new teacher for the older kids. Lady teacher, pretty nice hey, looking for a man maybe," Jimmy said.

"You guys are fooling again, you're not getting me this time," Wake was used to them teasing him.

"No, really, they are bringing in a new teacher," Jimmy called again from his office in the back. "Go ask Ralph, he'll tell ya."

"Oh yeah," Wake waved his hand and went out of the door.

Wake dropped in to see Ralph at the school. "I hear that they have hired another teacher," he said.

"Yes, an older lady, a widow, "Ralph replied. "She is from Vancouver, apparently her husband left her penniless and she had to take this job to survive."

"Who told you about all this?" Wake asked, "that she is penniless? I mean."

"No-one actually told me the details, but she mustn't have any money if she is taking a job in the Arctic at her age," Ralph said.

"I don't think we should make any assumptions about the woman. We shouldn't have any preconceived ideas before we meet her. She could be quite different from what we imagine," Wake said.

"You're right Wake. I suppose much of what I said is just gossip," Ralph admitted.

As he headed for the airstrip, Wake wondered how the poor old widow was coping with the extreme cold. It would probably be at least fifty degrees below zero with the wind chill factor and there was nothing to protect the passengers from the wind. Wake had been lobbying for the community to put a small trailer out there now that the plane came in twice a week, but he had not been successful, so far.

He was driving as fast as he could, but the taxi was an old rattle trap and the road was a pathway of ice. It was a long time before he saw the runway lights in the distance.

Laura could see the taxi lumbering across the ice, skidding from side to side. She could not make out any road, but she assumed that it was frozen over. The vehicle didn't look too safe, but she was not concerned. She had been on many forms unsafe transportation on her travels with Paul.

"I wonder what he is thinking of all this. Wherever he is I know that he is watching over me, and it makes me feel safe. Thank you my love," Laura said looking up at the dark sky.

The taxi skidded to a halt a few feet from the group. It was an old battered panel truck, with no windows in the back. The driver was very surly; he didn't get out of the cab.

"O.K. everybody, get in," was all he said.

One of the passengers opened the back doors and started loading the luggage and the computer boxes for the guy in the village. Everyone piled in the back and shuffled about to find a comfortable piece of luggage to sit on.

"Not you," the driver said, looking at Laura. "You sit in the passenger seat in front, it will be more comfortable. Peter, you get in the back and let the lady have that seat."

Peter mumbled something and reluctantly gave up his seat and climbed n the back with the others. They all squealed with laughter as he got in.

"Keep the noise down," the driver shouted, "It is difficult enough trying to keep this old beater on the road without being distracted by the racket you are making. I need to concentrate, so keep it down."

"O.K., O.K." a voice said from behind them. They started to talk to each other again. Although Laura could not understand the words, she got the impression that they were arguing.

"I told you guys to keep it down," The driver shouted again.

It occurred to Laura that the driver was not Inuit. He appeared to have very long legs. He sat with his body cramped in the drivers' seat with one knee on either side of the steering wheel. He had his parka hood up and so she could not see him clearly, but from what she saw, he was quite good looking. She thought it a shame he was so bad tempered.

"Sorry," the driver said, "You must think I am very rude. You must be the wid...,." he caught himself, "the new teacher."

"Yes I am. I am Laura Newport," she said.

"Hi, I am Bill Wakefield, but everyone around here calls me Wake," he said.

"Oh you must be the one that the computer equipment is for. I heard the pilot say "those boxes are for Wake," Laura said.

He looked across at Laura. She was short and appeared very wide sitting in the seat beside him. She had her parka hood over her face and a scarf up over her nose. It was cold in the taxi; the heater was not strong enough to heat the cab in such a cold climate and there were gaps around the door where it did not close properly.

"The poor old thing probably got very cold waiting on the air strip." Wake thought to himself.

"Pretty cold out there," Wake said, "It is probably forty four below, without the wind chill and there is always wind chill on the airstrip. They need some sort of building out there for people to wait in."

"Yes it is very cold, fortunately, it isn't too windy" Laura said, sounding almost cheerful "How far is it to the village?" she asked, "I am really looking forward to seeing it. I don't know if I am excited or just plain scared," she said laughing.

"It's another two miles or so. I hope I can keep this thing on the road," Wake was impressed with the spunk of this woman; she wasn't at all what he had expected. He looked across at her again; looked properly this time. What he saw was not the 'poor old thing' he thought she would be, but a much younger woman with sparkling eyes shining over the top of her scarf.

It was dim in the cab, but he could see that she was quite an attractive woman, probably in her late twenties. She had small features that told him she could be quite slender and he wondered what she would look like if she were not encased in that big down outfit.

"I will find out soon enough," he thought, "I will take her over to Ralph's myself, once the taxi is unloaded."

"I don't usually drive this thing," Wake said, "The driver was incapacitated tonight and I had to fill in for him, I was pretty annoyed about it, I had other things I needed to do. I was nervous too because this jalopy has a reputation for breaking down. Sam has a way of getting it moving again, by magic, it seems. Fortunately, it did not break down this time. At least not yet," he laughed.

Laura did not like this guy any better, even after he had explained his dilemma to her. She could understand that he could be annoyed at having to drive to the airport in this awful old vehicle, but he should not have taken it out on the passengers. She wondered what his other plans had been. Why was he in this community and what was it that he did here. She knew that in this small place she would soon find out. She wondered too if he was the kind of man who got annoyed easily.

Her thoughts were interrupted as they entered the village.They passed a short row of brightly lit small houses. In the front of one of them, there were several groups of dogs on leashes tied to a short pole. There were skidoos parked in front of several of the houses too and what appeared to be skins hung on clotheslines. It struck Laura as strange, that there were bright overhead street lights. She supposed that they were there to prevent animals from coming into the village. She supposed that there would be polar bears and wolves, but she really did not know anymore than that. She did not know what kind of dangers she might be exposed to in the village. She would have to ask someone about that soon.

She decided not to ask Wake, in case he would think that she was afraid. He was a big man and he might be the macho type, who would treat her like a timid little woman. She did not want that, in fact that was the last impression she wanted to make in the community. Because she was small and slender, she was often taken for a timid little woman, but she was far from it. She had had to hold her own with her bossy older sister and her three male cousins on the farm. As the youngest she had always been trying to keep up with the rest and always out to prove that she could do anything they could do and do it better. That attribute would serve her well in this community. She knew it would not be easy being here alone.

Paul used to tease her and call her a "feisty little broad" but he really respected her strength. When times got tough, he knew that he could depend on her completely. Now she would have to depend on herself. She missed Paul so much.

They passed what appeared to be the school building and Wake skidded the taxi to a stop.

"O.K. this is it, everybody out," Wake shouted. There was a chorus of complaints from the back of the van.

"You're gonna make us walk, Sam takes us to our house," one guy said.

"Yeah, this is no fair," said another.

"I'm not Sam, just get the hell out, Watch my boxes," he yelled again.

The passengers were now walking off towards their houses, grumbling in Inuktitut.

A man came running out of the house by which Wake had stopped.

"Quickly, come on in, before you freeze," The man said as he pushed Laura ahead of him into the house.

"Oop's, forgot your bags," he said and turned around to go back outside. He bumped into Wake bringing Laura's bags to the door.

"Thanks Wake, see you tomorrow," the man said abruptly, as he took the bags and went into the house. He tottered forward as he dropped the bags in the hall way and closed the door. His face was bright red from the exertion. Laura was not surprised, she had wheeled her bags because she could not possibly have carried either of them, yet this man had carried them both at the same time.

The man threw himself into an armchair. "Whew! Those bags were heavy. I didn't realize they were until I put them down. Hope I didn't give myself a hernia," he laughed.

"I should have warned you," Laura said. "I truly hope that you did not hurt yourself."

"No harm done," the man laughed again. He rotated his shoulders and stretched his arms in a yoga pose.

Laura suspected that the heavy suit cases had caused him some discomfort.

"Please sit down. Can I take your parka? Would you like some tea, I usually have some at this time of the evening, I might even have a cookie somewhere," The man seemed very nervous and was making Laura a little uneasy.

"Are you Mr. Parker, the school principal?" Laura asked.

"Yes, of course, I didn't introduce myself did I?" he asked, continuing to rotate his shoulders.

"Afraid not," she smiled, "Are you sure you are O.K.?"

"I'm fine, just a little out of shape, you know," he replied. '

"I'm Laura Newport, the new adult education teacher."

"Nice to meet you," he reached his hand out and shook hers, ."Please call me Ralph. Please take your outdoor clothes off and have some tea," he said.

Laura did as he said. She was so glad to take off that down snow suit and those boots that she had been wearing for so many hours. They were so heavy that they made legs ache.

She looked around the room. It was a very ordinary house. She was not sure what she had expected, perhaps some kind of rustic cabin. This house was far from that, it was like any house that one would find in an "affordable housing" suburb. The furniture was plain and all in muted brown tones. There was a colonial style dining room set and several bookcases.

On the bookcases, stood many beautiful carvings that were made out of either stone, or whale bones. Several sets of antlers hung from the wall, one set, Laura noticed, was intricately carved with images of strange distorted faces of both humans and animals.

"I wonder if Ralph carves these antlers," she thought, "perhaps he has a dark side."

Laura's first impression of Ralph was that he was a harmless kind of person. He seemed very kind, but how could she tell. She knew that serial killers had often been described as nice inoffensive people by their neighbors. She had expected a woman to greet her when Ralph brought her into the house, assuming that Ralph had a wife. She wondered why Ralph had chosen to come to this strange place and why he lived alone.

It occurred to Laura that she was here alone too, in this tiny village in the middle of nowhere. No one in Vancouver knew exactly where she was. She felt totally cut off from her own world, like an astronaut on the outside of his ship whose life line had been disconnected: floating in space with nothing familiar to cling to. She shuddered and made a conscious effort to relax. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths.

The house was very hot and as she sat in the big easy chair listening to Ralph fussing about in the kitchen, she must have dozed off. In her half sleep state she could hear Ralph trying to get her attention.

"Ahem, Ahem" Ralph was in a dilemma, he needed to wake Laura up, but he did not want to have to touch her shoulder in case he startled her.

"AHEM, AHEM, Tea's ready," he said very loudly.

"Oh, I am sorry," Laura said, "It is so comfortable here and I have had a long day. I can't afford to go to sleep yet. I guess I have to go to the place where I will be living."

"Not tonight," Ralph said, "The council doesn't seem to have made up their mind where you will be staying, so I have agreed to have you stay here for a couple of days. Is that O.K?"

"Thank you. I guess it will have to be O.K, I hate to put you out," Laura replied.

"No, you are not putting me out. I am sort of the hotel here; I have a spare room and put people up who are visiting the village. Not everyone of course, just government officials and the like," Ralph explained.

They sat together and had tea and Laura tried to remember the questions she wanted to ask, but she couldn't seem to think of them, she was worn out.

Ralph was a nervous creature. He fidgeted while they drank their tea and he made Laura more tired just watching him.

"If you could show me my room and where the bathroom is, I think I'll turn in," Laura said.

"Oh, my goodness," said Ralph, somewhat dismayed, "I shouldn't have rambled on so much, you must be very tired."

"You didn't ramble on, but yes I am very tired"

Her room was quite spartan. .It contained a bed, a dresser and a chair. There were no pictures on the walls or ornaments of any kind in the room. She was startled by a very large black bear rug on the floor. In fact it was a complete bear pelt. The bear's head had been stuffed and sat upright from the floor. Huge claws adorned the parts of the pelt that had once been its feet. Laura felt that it was creepy to be spending the night in a room with a dead bear that someone had hollowed out to make a rug. She wondered why it was a black bear here and not a polar bear.

"I'll ask Ralph in the morning," she said to herself as she fell asleep.

Chapter Two

The whole village had been buzzing with gossip about the widow. After years of fighting with the government agent, the village was finally getting an adult education teacher. Ralph, the school principal, had been the first to get the news. The school counsel had been very pleased when Ralph told them that she would be here the first week in January. The counsel members were not pleased that the teacher was here to start a one-term pilot project and that further courses would only be continued if the pilot was successful.

The council had lots of questions for Ralph. They wanted to know where she came from, if she was married, if she was bringing her family with her. Ralph did not know much about her, except that she was from Vancouver and that her husband had died recently and she was coming to Whale Cove alone.

"Poor old thing," Ralph thought, "She must have been left penniless to have to take a job this far away from home."

"Poor old thing," Ralph repeated aloud to Marian, the nurse, when he dropped into the nursing station after the meeting. "Just lost her husband and had to take a job here to survive I suppose."

"I'm alone and have to work in this godforsaken hole to survive, but I get no sympathy," Marian complained, as she piled magazines on to the coffee table.

"Now Marian, you're different, you have been alone for a long time and you seem to like it that way," Ralph responded.

"That's what you think," she said not looking at him. She sat down on the couch. .

Ralph was surprised at Marian's comment. He had never thought about her as being anything but the efficient nurse. He supposed that it was lonely for her in this Inuit community. There were only six other white people here, two couples, a priest and himself. Ralph missed his family, but he was never lonely. He was able to spend time with the men in the community. He often played cards or went hunting with the Inuit men. He also helped Wake coach the sports teams.

Marian had no female friends. She did not mix with the Inuit women because she thought that it jeopardized her authority as the nurse if she became friends with them. She spent much of her time reading and watching the videos she ordered from down south.

"Well, perhaps we should make a real effort to make the widow welcome, look after her a bit if you know what I mean," Ralph said, looking at Marian.

"I know what you mean. I hope she is going to make it here. It gets pretty hard to take at this time of the year, the darkness and all," Marian added.

"I wonder if she knows that we only get an hour or two of daylight and how bad the weather can be in the winter," Ralph said.

"Well, she is a teacher, surely she had the sense to do some research before she agreed to come," Marian shook her head.

"I hope so, at least she would be somewhat prepared if she did. What a terrible time to come to the Arctic for the first time, coming from a Vancouver climate, to this one must be a terrible shock," Ralph said, sounding genuinely concerned.

"Well, if the shock is too much, she can get back on the plane and go back to Vancouver," Marian said.

"Perhaps the poor old girl has no choice," Ralph added, hoping to stir up some compassion in Marian.

"Oh Ralph, you are soft. Dealing with this place hasn't hardened you at all, has it? Want something to drink?" Marian asked. She filled the tea kettle and put it on the stove.

"No thanks Marian, I better get off, I promised I'd help out at the Bingo," Ralph said, already regretting that he had mentioned the Bingo.

"That's another thing," Marian said.

"Bye Marian," Ralph rushed out of the door before Marian could get started on her tirade against the bingo games. "See you tomorrow."

The guys in the Co-op had perked Wake's curiosity. He was anxious to find out more about the new teacher and so he decided to go to the nursing station. If there was any information to be had about anything, he knew Marian would have it.

Wake rang the bell at the nursing station and waited. It was probably the only doorbell in the village. It was not usual to have to ring the bell or knock on anyone's door. No ones' door was ever locked.

People usually came right in to your house and asked "Can I visit?" And expected that the answer would be "Yes"

Marian felt that this behavior was not appropriate for the nursing station. She was not only concerned about her patients privacy, but also her own. Maybe she was concerned about the drugs that she kept in the surgery cabinets or perhaps she had brought all her city phobias with her to this friendly Inuit community. She was just finishing her lunch, when she heard the doorbell.

"Don't I ever get the chance to eat a meal without being interrupted," she thought,. "These people think that I should be available twenty four seven, no matter how small their problem is, they can't even wait. Just like kids. Well they can wait. I am not interrupting my lunch." She got up and made some coffee.

Wake wondered why Marian had not come answer the door. She must be out he thought, but her ATV is still in the yard. She could have walked over to see a patient.

"Not like Marian to make a house call," he remembered how she hated to do that. No matter how sick the person was Marian always insisted on them coming to the nursing station, rather than her going to their home.

"I hope everything is O.K., perhaps she is sick or something," he thought. He tried the door, but it was locked. He rang the doorbell again and called, "Marian, are you in?"

At the sound of the door being rattled and the second ring of the bell, Marian decided to check who it was, just in case it was an emergency. She was pleased to see Wake on her doorstep.

"I was just about to leave, I thought you were out," Wake said

"No, I was just finishing my lunch and about to have coffee, will you join me? I happen to have some chocolate cake and I know you can't resist that," she said.

"I can never resist your chocolate cake Marian, yes; I will join you for coffee."

Wake followed Marian through the well ordered nursing station to her kitchen at the back. Marian took out china mugs and plates and poured coffee for the two of them. She took the cake out of the refrigerator and cut a generous slice for Wake and a sliver for herself.

Wake took off his parka and sat at the table. He stretched his long legs under the table and leaned his body towards her as she put the dessert in front of him.

"God he is gorgeous" Marian thought. She looked at Wake and wondered if he was aware of what he did to her when she was alone in her apartment with him. She watched him put the fork full of cake to his mouth. Her mouth opened in unison with his, waiting for his lips to envelop the fork. She caught herself staring at him and quickly picked up her coffee.

"I have got to stop this," she thought "he is far too young for me."

Wake looked across at her and smiled, "Great cake as always. You certainly know how to please a guy."

Marian felt disoriented suddenly. His beautiful dark eyes penetrated her soul and her body. She wanted so much just to touch him. She looked across the room to her bedroom door. She could see her bed from where she sat. She fantasized what it would be like to lie with him on that bed and caress his strong taught body. Her body quivered with excitement.

"Pull yourself together Marian," she said to herself. "More cake?" she asked Wake.

"No thanks Marian, that was a big piece and I did have lunch before I came over. What I really came for was to see if you had heard anything about the new teacher. Jimmy at the Co-op said that there was an Adult Education teacher coming soon, but I wasn't sure if it was true. You know how he loves to joke around," Wake said.

"Yes I heard from Ralph that they are bringing in an Adult Education teacher for the older kids, the ones that never got past grade eight. They think that they can get their GED and become trade apprentices, high hopes I'd say" Marian said.

"Could happen Marian," Wake said.

"Not with these people."

"You should not underestimate them Marian. Some of the kids I deal with are pretty smart," Wake said.

Marian looked at Wake and shook her head.

"The teacher," Wake said," Jimmy said that it was a woman. Do you know anything about her? "Wake asked.

"Yes I do, as a matter of fact I was talking to Ralph earlier and he told me about her. She is a widow, her husband died last year. Apparently he had been ill for several years. I don't know if they had children, anyway she is alone, so perhaps the children are grown and left home. She is probably an empty-nester, looking to help the poor natives. You know the type, do-gooder. We know how long they usually last, don't we?" Marion said.

"You are such a cynic Marian, Perhaps she will do well here. After all these kids do need help." Wake said.

"I am not a cynic, just a realist. I've seen so many of her type come and go in the years I have lived here. I know what I am talking about. You amaze me Wake, after all the years you have been around these communities and you still have hopes that things can change. You're optimism must get you hurt sometimes," she responded.

"It does occasionally, but when I see a kid doing well because I have helped, it is worth taking the risk. Anyway, back to the widow, when is she supposed to be here?" Wake asked.

"She is flying in early next week," Marian answered.

"What about accommodation, where is she going to live?" Wake wondered.

"Well Ralph will put her up for a few days at his house, until the council decides where to put her. The school council is having a meeting tomorrow afternoon to decide what to do about housing for her."

"I don't know where they will put her, there are no houses empty," Wake said.

"Perhaps she will have to stay with Ralph for the duration," that was the only solution that Marian could think of.

"She can't do that, you know that as there is no hotel here, Ralph's spare room is used to house any official visitors who come here." Wake said.

"Oh well, they will think of something"

"Perhaps they will ask you to take her," Wake chided.

"They can ask," Marian replied, "but they know the answer already. Anyway there is no way I am going to have anyone share this small space. Besides, this is a nursing station, suppose there is an outbreak of something contagious, we wouldn't want the old widow to be exposed to that would we?" Marian smiled.

"Well I guess you have it all figured out," Wake said, "I have to get going."

Wake reached for his parka that had dropped on the floor. Marian could not help but watch him as he bent down to pick it up. She looked at the curve of his back, his beautiful strong broad shoulders. Despite his heavy shirt, she could see the muscles tighten in his back as he reached down for the parka. She wanted to reach over and touch his shoulders and run her hands down his back. She imagined what Wake might look like under his shirt, under his jeans. She longed to touch his body, have his bare flesh next to hers. Instinctively she walked towards him as he slowly pulled the zipper up his parka. She reached over and pulled his hood up

"Don't want you to get frostbite, its 44 below today," she said softly.

They made eye contact, their faces close together. She had an incredible urge to lean closer to kiss him.

"If only he would give me a sign that it would be O.K. If only he would meet me halfway," she thought. She backed away, knowing that he was the kind of man who would have to make the first move. She would just have to wait until he was ready. When that time came, she knew that he would be gently aggressive. He was a man who got what he wanted. She wanted him so badly.

"Bye Marian thanks again for that great chocolate cake and the information about the new teacher," Wake said.

"You're welcome Wake," she called.

If only he knew how welcome. "What the heck is wrong with me" Marian thought "I am acting like a love-sick teenager, or more like a bitch in heat. I have been here in this isolated place too long, it is probably time I took a vacation in the south to regain my perspective."

Marian looked through the window and watched until Wake turned the corner to his house.

"Perhaps next time" she said aloud.

Chapter 3

Laura began to wake up and reached her arm across the bed, "Paul?" she said. Now fully awake, she knew that Paul wasn't there. It had been almost a year now, and she reached for him from time to time; expecting Paul to be beside her. She was aware that this usually happened when she was feeling stressed and she needed his reassurance and it made her feel sad when she remembered that he was no longer there.

She peeked through the curtains, to find that it was still dark outside. She turned on the bedside lamp and looked around the room. The empty bear looked back at her. There was nothing ominous about it now, it was just looked sad.

Putting on a robe, Laura tiptoed across to the bathroom washed her face and brushed her teeth. The house was silent except for the hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen. Ralph must be still asleep. She headed for the kitchen, hoping that there might be something to drink in the refrigerator. She had been reluctant to drink water from the faucet and she could feel the residue of toothpaste in her mouth.

The kitchen was immaculate. There was nothing on the counter-tops and the floor literally shone.

"Wow, someone is really a clean freak," Laura said to herself. Still trying not to make any noise, she found orange juice in the refrigerator and poured herself a glass. The clock on the kitchen wall read eight thirty. She had slept much later than she had intended, the journey must have worn her out. Ralph must have already gone to work. No wonder it was so quiet in the house.

She found a pot of coffee, still warm on the stove. She poured herself a cup and thought about what she should do next. She thought about the anxiety she had last night about Ralph. Well she was still unsullied this morning, so he probably was the nice man he appeared to be and not a potential serial killer.

The phone rang and startled her. She picked it up; it was Ralph. "Just checking to see if you are O.K," he said. "Hope I didn't wake you."

"No, I have had coffee and was just thinking about coming over to the school," she told him.

"Haven't had any visitors have you, you know just to see who you are?" he asked

"No, in fact I am just starting to get ready for the day. I didn't wake up until eight thirty. It is still really dark out there," she told him, as if he didn't know.

"Yes it will be for a couple of hours yet," Ralph said, "If you don't feel up to coming over here, I will see you when I get home. I will .be home at noon anyway, for lunch you know. Did you find anything for breakfast? "

"Yes, I'm fine. I will be over there in about twenty minutes. I am looking forward to seeing the school," she said.

Laura showered and dressed and made herself a piece of toast. She had just put on her outdoor clothes, when the front door opened.

"Anyone in," a man's voice called, "You there Ralph?" Laura recognized the voice.

"No, Ralph is not here, he's at the school," Laura replied, "I was just on my way over to see him. Can I give him a message for you?"

"Hi again," said Wake coming into the house. "How did things go with Ralph? Did you get a good sleep last night?"

"Things went just fine," she answered curtly, thinking that his behavior was inappropriate. This man had barged into the house without being invited and asked her questions. Not only was this guy bad tempered, but he was nosy too. There was something disturbing about him and she could not put her finger on what it was.

"Excuse me, but I'm on my way to the school," she pulled on her boots, put on her gloves and waited until he left the house before she left, closing the door behind her.

"Oh no, I need a key to lock this door, Ralph did not give me one. I wonder if there is one hanging inside anywhere," she said.

"A key?" Waked roared with laughter, "why would you want to lock the door?"

"Ralph has valuable art in here," Laura said.

"This isn't the city Laura; no one will steal Ralph's valuable art. Little lady, you have a lot to learn about living in the North," Wake laughed even louder.

Laura was furious "little lady, indeed" she said to herself, "I knew it; I just knew that Mr. Macho Man would use an expression like that. No wonder he makes me feel uncomfortable. He is so damn condescending," she mumbled to herself as she pulled her parka hood around her face and headed toward the school.

"See you later Laura," Wake called still laughing.

She did not answer him, she just kept walking.

Laura was surprised to find that the inside the school looked just like the inside of any other elementary school she had been in, it even smelled the same. She did not know what she had expected, but she didn't expect it to look so ordinary. The art projects on the peg boards lining the walls of the hallway looked the same as those in the south. There was no obviously Inuit art. There was nothing to indicate that the school population was Inuit except for the custodian.

The custodian came around the corner carrying a bucket and mop. He was wearing knee high boots made of some kind of fur. Laura smiled at him in greeting. He smiled back, his open mouth revealed one brown tooth sticking out of his lower gum. Laura could see no other teeth in the man's mouth. He continued to smile and nodded towards a classroom door. "Kid's pee," was all he said.

Laura walked down the hallway in search of the principal's office. Ralph was on the phone when she walked in to his office. He put his hand over the receiver and said, "Won't be a minute."

He continued a one sided conversation in which his only contribution was "Yes O.K." at regular intervals. Laura would have sat down, but every chair was piled high with assorted papers, books and unopened mail. The office was a shambles, a far cry from Ralph's very neat home. Laura got the impression that Ralph's job overwhelmed him. It looked as if he was out of his depth and not really able to meet the demands of his job.

"That was the school council; they want to meet you this afternoon. They may be a bit belligerent towards you at the meeting, but don't worry it will be O.K", he said

"Why will they be belligerent towards me?" Laura asked.

"Well, they wanted to interview all the candidates for your teaching job and choose the one they wanted, "Ralph said. "We could not have brought all the candidates here; they were from all over Canada. And besides, the people on the council wouldn't have a clue who to choose, they have no education themselves. The college had to decide who would get the job by having telephone interviews with those qualified," he said.

"Was there no one local?" she asked.

"No one qualified. That was another thing; the community wanted Bill Wakely to be their adult education teacher, because he gets on so well with the young Inuit," Ralph told her, "He's trying to pull together a hockey team. He and a bunch of guys in the other communities think it would be a good idea to have village teams compete with each other .He thinks that the kids need something to do, build self esteem you know. Wake did not want the job, but the council would not listen to him. They thought he was just saying no, but did not mean it," Ralph explained.

"Do you think that? I mean that he might really have wanted the job?" Laura asked.

"Goodness me no, he already has a job. He's a pilot for the NWT airline," Ralph said.

"I thought he was a relief taxi driver," Laura remarked,. "and not a very good one at that," she remembered him shouting at the passengers to get in the cab. "He picked us up from the plane last night."

"Oh that is where he was. I was helping him coach last night and he left the hockey game to get something from his house saying he would back in a few minutes, but he never came back. I thought it was odd that he did not come back. He's the coach you know. Something must have happened to stop Sam from driving the taxi out there. Wonder what happened. I'll pop over to Marian's at the nursing station, she will probably know," Ralph said.

"Wake did say that the driver was incapacitated, but that was all," Laura told him.

"That's right," Ralph got back to the original topic. "Wake brought your bags to the door last night. I thought afterwards that I should have invited him in. I guess I should ask him over this evening after dinner, if you are up to it."

"I'm sure I will be up to it," Laura said. Despite her initial impression, she was curious about this Wake, pilot, hockey coach and bad tempered taxi driver.

She remembered why she had come to the school to see Ralph. She wanted to find out where she would be living and see if she could move in today, so that she would get settled before she started work.

"What I really came over here for Ralph was to find out if you knew where I will be living for the next three months."

"The council has not told me yet," Ralph looked troubled. "I know they had one place in mind, but that did not work out Anyway, there is no rush, you can stay with me until they sort it out."

"When will the council decide?" Laura felt that she was being placated and she was aware that Ralph was uncomfortable talking about this.

"They will let us know after they meet you this afternoon. Don't worry, everything will get worked out," Ralph reassured her.

Ralph was concerned. He had no idea where they would house the teacher. He did not know of anywhere that was available. Mr. Fielding had promised the college the old house that he rented out, but there had been a fire that gutted the inside and he had not even cleaned it up, never mind repaired it. It would take months of work to put that house in livable condition. He knew that he would not be able to put Laura up for more than a few days, because he was expecting to accommodate several groups of government officials over the next month or so.

The officials were coming to investigate the feasibility of building a gym onto the school. This was a project that Wake had initiated. He had put the idea in the council members' heads that every school had a gym and that their school should have one too. He suggested that they needed to keep the teens active in the winter and that those who did not play hockey at the rink could use the gym for other physical activities in the evening. He suggested that they could practice their own native games and invite other communities to participate. The council had thought this was a great idea because the gym could be used for community celebrations too. They insisted that Ralph contact the school superintendent and make sure they got the gym built. The superintendent had passed this all on to the regional office and now several groups were coming to see if and how it could be done.

The builders, the public works officials, the school superintendent, even the education minister would be visiting the village and meeting with the village council over the next few months. All of them would be staying at Ralph's house. He was not looking forward to all the commotion. It was just too confusing for him. He preferred a much quieter life.

Ralph was not looking forward to the meeting this afternoon: he dreaded any meeting with the council. They generally spoke in Inuktitut between themselves and so Ralph could never actually take part in any discussion. Once they had come to a decision, one of them would tell him in English what they had decided. He always felt at a disadvantage.

Laura watched Ralph's face. He seemed to have forgotten she was there and was in a world of his own. The expression on his face told her it was not a happy world at the moment.

"What time is the meeting?" Laura asked.

"Three thirty. As soon as I dismiss my class I will take you over there."

"Where will I be teaching my class, I hope they have made a decision about that?" she asked.

"Don't worry, they will get that sorted out too at the meeting," Ralph said.

"They are doing this all at the last minute are they not?" Laura noted. She was annoyed at this point; she didn't know where she would be living or where she would be setting up the classroom. Surely someone should have thought this out. She would certainly let them know how she felt at the meeting.

"Yes, I suppose so," was the only thing that Ralph could say. He hoped that everything would work out. He did not want to see this nice woman getting back on the plane because the community could not make this work.

Laura was really discouraged, she felt that she had been dropped in this community and forgotten about. Where were the people who hired her? Why had they not got in touch with her? Why had they not dealt with all these details? She was angry now, not at Ralph; he was just the fall guy. She was angry at the people who hired her and then abandoned her, left her to her own devices. They had left Ralph to deal with all this and he had neither the authority nor the nerve to deal with the Inuit council. She wanted to do her job properly and they should be doing their job properly too. She was not going to let them get away with this.

"O.K. Paul, tell me how you would deal with this." She smiled, feeling better already. First, she would go to the meeting and tell the council what she expected and then she would deal with her boss at the regional office.

Chapter 4

The council meeting was an almost surreal experience for Laura.. She followed Ralph into the council building. The first room they entered was like a large mud room where one could leave coats and boots. It was very dirty. There were broken chairs piled up in the corner and the floor was littered with cigarette butts and candy wrappers. The room smelled of rotten meat and cigarette smoke. The odor was so strong that Laura thought she might throw up.

They went through to the council chambers. This room did not smell as bad, but the air was blue with smoke. The group, she later learned, were members of both the school board and the hamlet council. They sat in large leather chairs around an oval boardroom table whose elegance was incongruous with its surroundings. The meeting room was shabby. The walls were lined with cheap paneling material, and the floor was covered with worn linoleum. There were two small windows high up on the wall opposite to the door, but they did little to brighten the dismal room. Everyone at the table was smoking. The table was littered with coffee cups and overflowing ashtrays.

The people around the table had their outdoor clothing on, parkas, kamiks. Some of the men wore parkas they had probably bought at the Hudson's Bay store, and others wore traditional handmade parkas and boots made out of seal skin, with intricate patterns on them. The women had beautifully embroidered parkas with very large hoods. One of the hoods had a baby peaking out of it. Laura was dismayed to see babies exposed to all the cigarette smoke.

They all smiled at Laura and Ralph when they came in and then continued with their own conversations in Inuktitut.

"Hello Ralph," some of them called. Ralph nodded acknowledgement.

Laura walked across the room to sit in one of the empty chairs at the table, where the council members sat. Ralph grabbed her anxiously.

"No, No, we can't sit at the table, we have to sit over here," he said as he took her over to one of the folding chairs against the back wall. Laura was surprised at Ralph's reaction. She sat down on the uncomfortable chair and looked more carefully at the members of the council and waited for the meeting to begin.

After a few minutes a tall, rather handsome, man came in and sat at the table.

"Good afternoon," he said to everyone in the room.

"Good afternoon, Father," everyone replied in unison, like children responding to their teacher.

He looked across at the two of them sitting against the wall and came towards them. "Ralph, should you not introduce our visitor?" he asked

"Yes, yes this is Laura Newport; she has come to teach the adult education class." Ralph explained.

The man came over to Laura and said, "I am Father Marcelle, the parish priest. Welcome, we are all pleased to have you here," strangely everyone clapped. The priest returned to his seat at the table and the meeting began.

Laura sat there watching the interaction between council members. She could not understand what was being said but from the tone of the conversation, she assumed that there was some disagreement between the members. Father Marcelle, who spoke fluent Inuktitut, appeared to be the negotiator, quieting the arguments.

After what seemed like hours to Laura, but was probably less than twenty minutes, the man who was seated at the head of the table stood up.

"We have made a decision. As the Chief in Council, I will tell you our decision," he said in English in a very formal manner, "We do not have a house for you to stay in."

Laura jumped up from her seat, ignoring any protocol. "I will be leaving on the next plane then," she said. She was not sure if this was a statement or a question.

"No, No," It was Father Marcelle, "Please listen to the chief for a moment, he has not finished, he has a solution."

The Chief continued, "Until we do find you a house, Father Marcelle will let you stay in the Nuns' house. Please go with Father Marcelle now." The chief said something else in Inuktitut and Father Marcelle got up from the table. The meeting was over.

The priest came over to where they were sitting, "Let me explain. Perhaps the chief did not make it clear enough. I have a small house that belongs to the church. The house is only used during the summer months for visiting nuns. It is empty now and it would be a place to stay while they are finding you something better. I have agreed to let you stay there because I would hate to see you leave the community, the young people need help," he said.

"If the community wants their young people get help, then they should have found a place for me to stay," Laura replied.

"Yes, I know that they should have done that and I understand your concern., but perhaps you will humor me and consider taking a look at the house, before you make any decision about staying in the community," the priest said.

"Yes, I will do that. At least I should give it a try," Laura said, agreeing with the priest's logic.

"The house is quite primitive" he said, ignoring her comment. "It does not have any plumbing, but it does have a heating system, so at least you will be warm."

Laura was wondering what she had got herself into. "Am I supposed to go with you now and take a look at it?" she asked.

"No, it would be better if you came across to see it tomorrow afternoon. The little house has been closed up since the summer and I suspect that it will be cold and damp. I will turn the furnace on tonight and it should be comfortably warm and aired out by tomorrow afternoon," he said.

"What time shall I come over?"

"Anytime after twelve o'clock," he said, "Ralph will show you where I live and we can go across to the house together. Don't be too late in the afternoon; it gets dark early now. It would be better for you to see the house in the daylight."

"Thank you Father Marcelle," she said "I will see you tomorrow then."

All this time Ralph had been very quiet, he seemed to be disconnected from his surroundings. He had been fidgeting nervously during the meeting, clasping and unclasping his long slender fingers.

"Well, what do you think" Laura asked as they stood in watching the councilors leave the meeting, "that house doesn't sound very promising. What did he mean when he said the house had no plumbing?"

"I guess he means that there is no running water or flush toilet. I haven't been in the house, so I don't know what it is like," Ralph continued.

"It's a bit cold for an outhouse isn't it?" Laura had visions of wearing her parka on the toilet.

Ralph laughed, "There is no out-house, the toilet is inside the house, but it is probably a honey bucket. Do you know what that is?"

"Yes, I do. We used them in camp sometimes when we could not dig a latrine. Well, I will go to see it tomorrow, and if it's not habitable, I will get the next plane out of here. This whole thing is ludicrous.. I am so angry at the people who hired me that they would drop me off in this wilderness and leave me to my own devices. What could they be thinking?" Laura said.

She realized that she had been ranting on at Ralph as if it was his fault. He looked rather sheepish, like a small boy being reprimanded by his mother.

"Oh, I am sorry Ralph. You have been so kind and here I am ranting at you as if it was your fault. I didn't mean to rant at you. I guess I needed to vent." She was overdoing it now, trying to make herself and Ralph feel better. He did really seem to be a nice man and quite timid. She hated to think that she had hurt his feelings. Sometimes she wished that she wasn't so feisty. She rarely lost her temper, but when she did it was usually because she felt some injustice. This was definitely a case of injustice.

"We better get back home, there is nothing else we can do now. Perhaps the house will turn out to be better than we think," Ralph said." Let's go home and I will make you some tea. You'll feel better after a cup of tea."

"I could do with something stronger than tea." Laura joked.

"Well you will have to wait until you go down south for that, this is a dry community," Ralph explained.

"I know Ralph, it was just a joke, I didn't mean it .Lets go have that tea," she said.

As they were approaching the house, Laura saw a figure coming towards them. It was Wake.

"Hi Wake, we are just about to have tea, would you like to join us?" Ralph asked.

"Sure, I'd love to," Wake's replied quickly. He was looking forward to seeing what Laura looked like without her oversized parka. He had been disappointed to find her already wearing her parka when he dropped in to see her earlier in the day. He hoped that she was as pretty as he had imagined. He expected that she would be, if the rest of her matched the sparkling eyes that he had seen in the taxi.

"Oh no," thought Laura, "I have had a rough day. I really don't feel like socializing, particularly, with an arrogant man who called me 'little lady'. Chauvinist!"

Laura had no choice, but to follow Ralph and Wake into the house. She stayed back in the hallway to remove her outdoor clothes. She did not want to take off her down snow pants in front of anyone, especially not Wake. She had to twist herself about in such unflattering positions to take off her heavy boots and pants that she would rather not be observed.

After she had hung up her outdoor clothes, she smoothed down her pale blue sweater and tucked it carefully inside the belt of her jeans. Looking in the hall mirror, she combed her curly dark hair, taming it as best she could. It tended to be unruly at times, just like her temper. Her cheeks were pink from the cold, creating a nice contrast with her pale olive skin. She reminded herself how lucky she was that she had great skin and long eyelashes that curled naturally. She wore no makeup, but was pleased with how she looked. She walked into the living room and sat down on the couch.

Wake was lounging in the armchair, his long legs reaching to the middle of the carpet. His parka lay on the floor beside his chair. He wore a heavy checkered shirt open at the neck revealing a light-weight turtle neck sweater.

Laura recognized the logo on the neck of the sweater. It was one popular with skiers. Paul had owned one just like it. She found herself looking at Wake too closely. He was certainly a good looking man, she thought. He had the darkest eyes that she had ever seen, accentuated by almost black eyebrows. His skin was tanned and he had a large mop of dark brown hair. His hair was unruly too, she noticed, it could do with a trim. She turned towards the kitchen, hoping that Wake had not noticed her observing him.

"Can I help with the tea?" she asked Ralph, getting up from her seat.

"Yes, please," ever polite Ralph answered, "You could carry one of these trays with the tea things on.

Ralph came out of the kitchen and put a table cloth on the dining room table

When Laura went into the kitchen, she saw two trays, one with china cups and saucers and tea plates on it and another with a tea service and a plate containing a home made cake. She was surprised with the formality of the occasion. She had expected mugs with teabags in them, not matching china cups and saucers.

She recognized the pattern on the china. It was the same as the china her grandmother used on very special occasions. It was so delicate that one could see through it. She could hear her grandmother saying, "Just carry one cup and saucer at a time dear, and be sure to use both hands."

"My goodness, your best china," Laura commented.

"It's a special occasion, to welcome you to our community," Ralph said.

"Thank you Ralph, it is very sweet of you," Laura said following Ralph into the kitchen,

Ralph picked up the heavier tray holding the tea service and carried it to the dining room table. Laura picked up her tray containing the china and followed him into the dining room. As she came out of the kitchen, she caught her foot on something, tripped and stumbled forward. As if in slow motion, she watched with horror as the tea cups slid across the tray, and headed for the floor.

She felt something catch her before she fell. A pair of strong arms were holding hers and righting the tray. The china was safe. Seeing Laura stumble, Wake had leaped out of his chair and grabbed her and the tray before either she or the china had reached the floor. Laura was trembling as they stood together holding the tray.

"Here, let me," Wake said as he took the tray from her hands and put it on the table.

Laura was speechless. She was too embarrassed to say anything. What a klutz she was. She shuddered at the thought that she almost broken the set of Ralph's heirloom china. She was so thankful that Wake had been able to save the china.

"Thank you," Laura said catching her breath.

"That was quite a save" Ralph smiled, "Your reflexes are very fast."

"Well, damsel in distress and all that makes a man move fast," Wake winked at her.

He had actually winked. Laura wanted to just kill him. She was grateful that he had saved Ralph's china, but his damsel comment and the wink really disturbed her.

She turned to Ralph. "I am sorry to give you such a fright; I don't know what I tripped over. I am so relieved that the china did not get broken. That would have been terrible. You must have had that china in the family a long time. My grandmother has some just like it."

"Yes it has been passed down for a few generations I think, but there is no harm done. It was my fault anyway," Ralph apologized "I should have warned you that the strip in the doorway is loose, you probably caught your toe in it. I have done that myself many times. I should have fixed it before now. I hope you didn't hurt yourself, tripping like that, you could have pulled a muscle or something,"

"I didn't hurt myself at all, except for my dignity. I am so relived that I didn't break anything." Laura repeated.

"Thank you Wake," she said, "I am glad you were fast on your feet. You saved Ralph's china and me from falling on top of it."

"Yes," Ralph chimed in," You might have had a nasty cut falling on those broken cups."

Laura still felt shaken up and she sat quietly hoping that the subject would be dropped.

Wake felt really stupid. He was behaving like a teenager. "Why did I do that; make such a fool of myself. Saying "damsel in distress"and winking. How will I get past that now? She must think I am a total moron. I acted like one. I actually winked.

When Laura had come in to the living room, it was the first time Wake had really seen her. He had only seen her in her outdoor clothing. Seeing her now in a pretty blue sweater and jeans, she took his breathe away. She was beautiful. She was small boned and slender with curves in all the right places. Her cheeks had been red and there was some moisture on her long eyelashes when she came into the room. He liked the way she patted her hair down, and it did not stay. He couldn't take his eyes off her. He had been just getting up from his chair when he saw her stumble. He was amazed that he moved so quickly and grabbed her before she fell. He knew that she had been embarrassed. She must have got a fright too. She had been trembling. He could still feel her arms in his hands and smell the scent of her hair. He had wanted to put his arms around her in comfort, but instead he had made that stupid remark and winked. Actually winked.

Ralph was still talking about all the things in the house he needed to fix. Laura tried to listen, but her mind was racing. She remembered how good it felt to have Wake's strong arms holding her up. With an effort she brought herself back to the present.

"My goodness that looks like a nice cake, when did you make that?" she asked Ralph.

"Oh, I didn't make it, Marian did. She brought it over while we were at the meeting." Ralph answered. "Oh gosh, that reminds me, I told her I would call her when we got back. She wanted to come over to meet you. I'd better call her now. I hope she won't be too mad at me for forgetting to call earlier," Ralph went into his bedroom to use the phone. When he came out he was cheerful again. "She's on her way over." he said.

It was just a few minutes before Marian arrived. "Nice of you to forget to call me," was the first thing Marian said on her way into the room.

"What happened at the meeting anyway?" she continued.

She looked across at Laura, "Hi, I 'm Marian, you must be the new Adult Ed teacher. Elsie is it?"

"No, Laura, Laura Newport. You must be the village nurse," she said.

"I run the nursing station, if that is what you mean," Marian said curtly. Laura detected a hint of unfriendliness in her voice.

Wake came back along the hall from the bathroom. "Hi, Marian, how are you this evening"

"Oh hi Wake, I'm just great, you?" Marian's expression changed from the stern look she had when she came in to a soft smile. She was obviously pleased to see Wake.

"All the better for seeing you Marian," Wake said.

"You are such a smoozer Wake," Marian's smile widened.

At Ralph's suggestion, they all moved to sit around the table for tea. They discussed what had happened at the meeting. Laura noticed that Marian was not really listening to her or Ralph. However, when Wake said something she hung on his every word.

Wake seemed aware of Marian's response to him and he flirted with her.

"Well Marian, you outdid yourself with that cake. It was great as always," Wake said as he put on his parka.

"Don't forget lunch tomorrow," she said to him. "On second thoughts, I might as well leave with you now and you can walk me home," Marian said as she handed Wake her parka and he held it for her to put on.

"Goodnight you two," said Ralph.

"Goodnight Ralph thanks for the tea. Goodnight Elsie," Marian called.

Wake popped his head back in "Goodnight Laura" he said with a silly grin.

"Thanks Ralph."

Laura helped Ralph to clear the table, carefully avoiding the loose strip that had caused her to fall into Wake's arms.

Chapter 5

Laura spent the evening after the tea party quietly in her room looking through some of the teaching materials that she had brought with her. Her mind kept wandering back to her encounter with Wake. She wondered what impression he had of her. In retrospect, she was not sure what she thought of him. He seemed somewhat condescending and he was certainly a charmer. He was able to charm Marian until she turned into a giggling teenager. "I wonder what has brought him here, "Laura thought, "was he running away from something or did he have a purpose for coming here."

"What do you think bear?" she asked looking at the rug. Bear refused to get involved, it did not say a word,

After a night of tossing and turning, and a series of very strange dreams, Laura fell into a deep sleep and did not wake up until after Ralph had gone to work. She showered and dressed and had a leisurely breakfast of toast and coffee. When it started to get light, she decided to got for a walk and explore the village.

It was very cold, probably about minus 40, but the sun was shining and it was nice to be out in the fresh air. She walked down the street facing the school and arrived at the Co-op store. When she went in, she was surprised to see a group of men, smoking and drinking tea. She walked around the small store, looking at the shelves. There was very little food. A few cans of soup and boxes of pilot biscuits were surrounded with boxes of cookies and cans of soda. She looked around for vegetables, but there were none.

The men appeared to ignore her, but she knew that they were watching her. A man came from behind the counter. "This is the new teacher," he said to the group of men. "I saw you at the meeting," he said to Laura. "How do you like your house?"

"I haven't seen it yet, I am meeting Father Marcelle there later this morning," she told him. "As soon as I settle in, I will come back here and get what I need, Nice to meet you," she said as she headed for the door.

She continued her walk back up the street and around by the tented hockey rink. By this time she had run out of village unless she wanted to walk up to the nursing station. She decided to go to back home instead and make some tea for Ralph, who would be coming home for lunch.

After lunch, Laura went to meet Father Marcelle and they went together to look at the house. As the priest had warned her, the house was quite primitive. It was really only one room with a small closet at one end containing the honey bucket. At the other end of the room there was a curtained off section that contained the sleeping quarters. There was a large plywood shelf with a mattress on it and a tiny dresser.

There was a kitchen with a sink and faucet, but there was no running water hooked up to it. It was bright and cheerful and warm. It had a furnace and a water tank in the porch and a good cooking range. At least that was something. She could heat all the water she needed.

"This is the best I can do for you I'm afraid," the priest said.

"This will be just fine. My late husband and I worked in third world countries and we have lived in much more primitive places than this one. I think I can handle it for a while" Laura assured him.

"If you need anything please come over to the main house." he said. He was such a nice man.

"Can I move in today? I only have a couple of suitcases," Laura asked.

"Of course my dear, I think it will be warm enough now. The council said that you would be here until they find somewhere else for you, but I suspect that you will be here until your contract is up. I hope that is O.K."

"Well, unless I decide to leave, it will have to be O.K. Please don't worry about me, I will be just fine." she said.

"Don't forget to come to my house, if you need anything." He said again. He smiled and left her to survey her new home.

Laura had decided that she would make the best of her situation in Whale Cove at this point. She was anxious to open up the classroom and meet her students. She felt much more at ease after meeting the priest. He had given her the reassurance that he would be there if she needed help. Ralph too was so kind that she knew that he would also be a good friend to her. Perhaps even Marian might be more friendly when they got to know each other better.

Wake had possibilities too. His social skills needed some work, but he wasn't totally hopeless. He was obviously very intelligent. After Marian arrived to have tea and they were all talking, he had made some very astute observations about the politics in the community. If nothing else, he would be useful in helping her to deal with the council. He seemed to be respected by them and so he would have some clout. In her final analysis, Laura had to admit, Wake was rather pleasing to look at too..

"Rather yummy," her girl friend Dianne would have said.

Just as Laura was thinking this, Wake popped his head in the door. "Is this where they put you? What d'yer think?" he asked.

"I think it's just fine thank you," she answered. Why did this guy put her so on edge.

"When are you moving in?" he asked.

"Just as soon as I get my things from Ralph's house. I am just going over to the school to let him know I am moving out," she said.

"I'll come with you and help carry your suitcases," Wake offered.

"I really don't need help, " Laura replied tersely.

"Are you sure, those suitcases are pretty heavy," he knew because he had unloaded them from the taxi.

"I can manage them quite well, I don't need help. Thank you for offering though," she said.

"O.K., if that's what you want. If you change your mind, I am available," Wake said and left.

When it occurred to her that she had to carry the suitcases along the street from Ralph's house, she realized that she could have used help. The suitcases were very heavy. She had not thought about it because she had not had to carry them herself since she left home. Taxi drivers and airport redcaps had relieved her of that chore.

"I can manage," she thought, regretting that she had refused help, "the suitcases are big, but they do have wheels."

About fifteen minutes later, she started out from Ralph's house with her carry-on bag over her shoulder and pulling one of her large suitcases along the ground on its wheels. She had gone about fifty yards before she had to admit that this method was not working. The wheels on her suitcase were meant for city sidewalks, not rutted icy terrain. The wheels kept getting stuck in grooves in the ice and she had to pull hard to get them out. She decided that she needed both hands to pull the suitcase, so she left it where it was and took her carry-on bag to her new place. Now with two hands free she was more able to pull the large suitcase, but it still stuck in the grooves and after several minutes, she was not much closer to her destination. .

She thought, "Oh to heck with it, I will just carry it." With great determination, she reached for the handle on the side of the suitcase and heaved it towards her. Unfortunately, that was not a smart move. Her feet slipped from under her and she landed with a thump on her backside with the suitcase slamming down on to her knees.

She slid the suitcase away and attempted to stand up, but her boots slipped on the ice and she could not get any traction. She tried to get up a few times and kept falling back down. She thought of what a comical sight she must be sliding around on the ice like a demented break dancer. She started to laugh and that didn't help, but it did make her feel better.

Finally grabbing on to the suitcase, she was able to pull herself up. She was still laughing to herself, when she heard "I think you better let me do that," It was Wake. He had stepped in to save her once again.

Laura knew that it was better to let Wake carry the luggage rather than go through that struggle again, but it irked her that he was the one who had come to her aid. She should have been glad of his help and she wondered why she wasn't.

"Pretty hard fall there, are you O, K?" he asked.

"Yes, I have so much padding in this big snowsuit, I didn't really feel it. That is probably why I had such difficulty getting back up, it hard to move in these clothes," she said.

"You might have quite a bruise there though, where you fell, I mean," He turned away and picked up the suitcase. He picked it up as if it was filled with feathers and walked towards her new home.

Laura suddenly felt embarrassed knowing that he had seen the whole thing. He had probably seen her struggling down the street and he had definitely seen her fall and watched her amusing attempts to get up. She wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or pleased with him. He had not come to help her while she was trying to drag that thing down the road, but he had eventually come to her rescue after she fell. After all he had respected her wish to do it herself, but he did seem quite pleased with himself coming to her rescue. His comment about her bruise bothered her too. He had no business thinking about her backside.

When he accompanied her back to Ralph's house and picked up her other suitcases, she did not protest. In fact she was grateful. She knew that she should be less stubborn and accept help when it was offered. She had always has difficulty doing that, but with Wake it was almost impossible. She felt that he was too protective and it made her feel helpless. He was so infuriating. He always seemed to catch her at her weakest point.

Wake had watched her from the nursing station window. Marion had watched too.

"Silly woman dragging that fancy luggage on those little wheels through the ice. She must think she is still in Vancouver," Marion laughed,. "With that attitude, she is never going to make it here."

"I did offer to help her," Wake said, "but she said she could manage."

"Well you best let her," Marian replied moving away from the window. "Would you like some coffee? I was about to make some for myself."

"That would be great," Wake said as he continued to watch Laura. He knew that Laura was determined to get that stuff to her place without help. It had been difficult for him to watch her as she struggled with that heavy suitcase. He was waiting for one of the wheels to break off at any moment. But, she had made it quite clear that she did not want his help, so there was nothing he could do.

When he saw her fall down and have problems getting up he thought she might be hurt. He told Marian that he was going to see if Laura was all right and he would be back for coffee. By the time he had got to her she was already standing in the street laughing to her self. She was a tough little woman. He didn't give her a chance to refuse his offer this time. He just picked up the bag and walked away before she could say anything. He had done it again though: said something asinine. Why did he have to mention the bruise on her backside? She wasn't pleased about that, he could tell. It was probably inappropriate. He had been alone in the North so long, he had forgotten how to talk to a woman. He wanted her to like him, he certainly liked her, but he kept putting his foot in his mouth. He thought that perhaps he should talk to Marian. She could probably help him make a better impression on Laura. He would talk to her when he went back for the coffee that was waiting for him.

Laura was glad that Wake had just dropped her luggage in the house and had not hung around to chat. It was nice to be alone again. It seemed like forever since she had not been surrounded by people. It had been so hectic the last few weeks. She had rented her apartment to someone who was doing the same work as she was. He had a short contract to teach at the university. She was envious of him. It was too bad she could not have done that and she would have been able to stay in Vancouver.

Her mother had been glad to have Laura stay with her over the Christmas holidays. Her husband, Laura's father, had died almost fifteen years ago, but her mother never seemed to have got over it. The two of them had seemed very happy, they were best friends. They had been like peas in a pod those two. They were still in love when he died. Their young daughters had often been embarrassed by their displays of affection in public. It was no wonder her mum missed her dad so much. She and Paul had that same kind of marriage. Laura doubted that she would have relationship like that again.

Laura busied herself unpacking. She liked her little place. There were just a few pieces of furniture in the room, she didn't need any more. Her favorite piece was plush armchair that was big enough to curl up in. She made tea and sat in her chair now, drinking tea and looking out of the window. She could see most of the village from here. She watched the children coming out of school and the people walking in and out of the post office.

It was so quiet here. There was no traffic and people moved quietly about the village, the snow deadening the sound. There was gentleness about the place that she could not explain. Suddenly it made sense. It was fate that had sent her here. It was meant to be that the only job she could get was in this isolated community. Her life had been so busy and stressful and she had been exhausted when she left Vancouver. She had a sense of peace here. This would be her healing place. Laura knew that it was the right place for her to be at this time and she said a silent "thank you" to the universe.

A knock at the outside door startled Laura from her thoughts. She opened it to find Marian standing outside.

"Please come in," Laura said, "I thought no one ever knocked on doors, they just came in."

"Not me," Marian replied, "I haven't given up my civilized ways yet and I don't intend to."

Laura decided not to comment. She thought it best to keep on the good side of the nurse. Marian looked around and after she had made some negative comments about the minimalism of the place, she asked Laura to join her for supper. Laura had to say no, explaining that she was busy because her classes were starting the next day, so she had to go up to the school in the evening and set things up

"I won't take no for an answer. Why not come over at 5:30 and eat and then go over to the school? If you need any help setting up your room, I would be glad to go with you," Marian continued.

"Alright, that is very nice of you, if you don't mind me eating and running. I think I can manage by myself at the school." Laura said.

"No, I don't mind, it will be nice to have company for dinner. Except for the old lady postmistress, you and I are the only two white women in the community; we have to support each other," Marian said.

Laura wondered why Marian had been so friendly. She probably did mean what she said about supporting each other. She is probably glad to have another "white woman" as she put it, in the community. "She must get lonely," Laura thought," I probably will get lonely too so I should graciously accept Marian's offer of friendship, no matter what her motivation is."

However, Laura had the gut feeling that she would have to tread very carefully around Marian.

Chapter 6

Laura was feeling more positive about her life in Whale Cove. Things had started to fall into place. She had slept very well last night in her new home and she was happy about her new classroom. Ralph had been instructed to give Laura the study room in the school for her class. He was not pleased about it because it meant that the staff room would be used for extra tutoring for the special needs students

This was her first day and she looked forward to meeting the students. Fourteen students came to sign up and she spent some time with each of them talking about the course and answering their questions. Her real work would start tomorrow. She was pleased that there were more students than she expected. They all seemed to be very nice and thankfully, they all spoke some English.

What each of them seemed to want was to read and write English well enough to be able take the apprenticeship exams or work in an office in the community. The goal of the community was to get their own people trained and eventually become self sufficient and not have outsiders flying in to build buildings or fix electrical problems. They wanted their own people to learn how to do those things. All of the courses they needed to take to accomplish this were in English, so taking Laura's course was a step towards their goal.

By the end of the first week, Laura knew that she was in the right job. Her students were great and she loved working with them. Most evenings, she went back to the school to prepare her classes for the next day. Her students were at different levels of ability and so she had them on individual programs. It was hard work for her, but she loved the challenge. She wanted her work to count; to make a difference and she could see from the students' enthusiasm that it would.

When she went home at night, she enjoyed her little house. She would curl up in her chair reading and listening to the silence. On clear nights, when the moon was out, she would walk beyond her house and onto the frozen inlet. The reflection of the moon on the ice was so bright that she could see forever. There was nothing to see except ice and snow and the sky, but it was an incredible experience. Laura would stand on the ice, feeling overwhelmed with by the beauty around her.

Whale Cove was a very small community. So small in fact that almost every house had a view of every other house. There were no secrets here. The whole village knew who visited whom and gossip was rampant. After only a couple of weeks, Laura's students were passing on the latest gossip. By this time, she had met many of the people in the community and so she knew who they talked about. With child-like curiosity, individuals had come to her classroom, or stopped by her house, to see who she was. Some of them could not speak English, but they had smiled at her and made her feel welcome.

Almost every morning, one of the students would tell her what had happened to their relatives or neighbors. The objects of the gossip this week was Wake and Marian. From the window of their classroom, the students could see the nursing station. One afternoon when Wake went in to the nursing station, the girls in the class giggled and talked to each other in Inuktitut.

"What are you guys saying?' Laura asked. The girls giggled even more.

"Something," Nancy answered.

"What something?" Laura asked.

"The nurse and Wake must be kissing," she said shyly. The girls in the class giggled louder.

"That's none of our business. Please get back to work," Laura said, trying not to laugh with them. Each one went back to what they were doing, but the giggling continued.

The rest of the afternoon Laura had difficulty concentrating. She found herself glancing out of the window to see when Wake left the nursing station. Everyday after that, Laura noticed that she was watching out for Wake's visits to Marian. She noted that he visited every afternoon and stayed for at least an hour. She hoped that her students had not noticed her watching the nursing station and she reminded herself that whatever Wake and Marian did was none of her business.

Laura had begun to like Wake. He had taken to popping in to see her around supper time some evenings. They would have coffee and talk about things happening in the community. It was good to have someone to talk to about her day. He seemed genuinely interested in her perceptions of the students. He was enthusiastic about the potential that these young people had.

"They are intelligent people," he said. "All they need is the opportunity and most of them will do well. They often surprise me by how quickly they learn. Being the hockey coach has been great. I have got to know so many young Inuit from all the communities and I have great respect for their abilities."

"Perhaps I have misjudged this guy," Laura thought." He is really interested in doing good things in the community. He can't be all that bad."

She found that she looked forward to his visits. She usually made enough coffee for both of them after dinner and she was disappointed when he did not turn up. One evening Wake came in when she had just started to eat her meal.

"Yes, "she replied.

"Don't you have anything better? How is your food supply? Did anyone suggest that you bring some non-perishable food with you?" he asked knowing that she would have not found much at the small co-op store.

"My food supply is fine," she said.

He promptly went over and looked in the cupboard. "Is this it?" he said.

"Yes, but I have given the Co-op a list of things to order for me" she said.

"Those orders take months to get here. You'll be gone by the time your order arrives. I hope you did not pay in advance. Don't worry, we won't let you starve" he reassured her.

The next afternoon, when Laura came home from school she found a box of groceries on the table. There were cans of chicken and ham, canned vegetables and fruit, a box of rice and a bag of instant potatoes. In fact she had enough to make balanced meals for the next few weeks. On the top of the box was shiny a red apple; Wakes attempt at humor she supposed, but she enjoyed eating the first piece of fresh fruit in several weeks.

She waited for him to drop by that evening so that she could thank him. He did not come. Neither did he drop in to see her for the next couple of days, nor did she see him visiting Marian. Laura thought he may have gone out of town. He was probably working. .She remembered Ralph telling her that he was a pilot. She was too shy to ask anyone where he was. She did not want anyone to think she was interested in him, particularly since he and Marian seemed to be an item.

It was almost a week before Laura saw him again. She was late getting home from school. She had not had a good day. Nothing particularly bad had happened, but she felt out of sorts. She thought that she just may be homesick. After all she had been here for more than a month now.

When she opened her door, she knew that there was someone in the house. She wasn't alarmed. She did not lock her door and she often had unannounced visitors.

"Well, did ya miss me? " Wake was sitting in her armchair, his long legs stretched out across the old carpet.

"Have you been away?" she replied with a smile, not wanting to answer his question.

"Yes, I was working. This time I had to take the Winnipeg flight, the regular pilot was sick," he said.

"Where do you usually fly?" Laura asked.

"I fly the small jobs, twin otters mostly, from Rankin to the communities. You did not answer my question," Wake said, watching her face. She looked more beautiful each time he saw her. He had missed her and he hoped that she would say that she missed him.

Again she avoided the answer. She had missed him, but she did not want him to know that. .

"Before I forget I want to thank you for leaving that box of groceries, I have had much better meals this week. Thank you specially for the apple; I really enjoyed it. How much do I owe you?"

"Don't worry about it," he said. "I have cupboards full of supplies and I get pilots to pick stuff up in Winnipeg for me if I run short."

"You were right about the co-op ordering things for me, I went in today and they had forgotten to put the order in. There was nothing to eat in the store except cookies and soda. After the plane came today, I was hoping that they might have some fresh fruit or vegetables, but they didn't. The one thing I miss most living here is fresh vegetables. All I have had since I came is canned."

"Well you are going to love what I brought for you," Wake nodded towards the table.

She had been so glad to see him, that she had not noticed anything else. She looked beyond him and saw two cardboard boxes on the table. Inside the first box there was an assortment of fresh fruit and vegetables. The other box contained something carefully covered in bubble wrap.

"Be careful opening that one it is pretty fragile "he said, smiling again.

Laura removed several layers of wrapping to find a bowl filled with flowering spring plants. The budding tulips and subtle scent of the primroses warmed Laura's heart. This is exactly what she usually bought and put on her kitchen windowsill in Vancouver in February. How did he know? She was taken aback by the thoughtfulness of his gift.

"Oh Wake, thank you, what a wonderful gift. I could kiss you for this. Where did you get them? How did you keep them from freezing? They are so beautiful." She was so excited, she was babbling.

"Winnipeg has flower shops you know and they packed it well. I kept the boxes in the cockpit with me so that they would not freeze." He was very amused watching her dancing around the room. She made him feel so good.

Wake stood up as if he was leaving, but instead he moved closer to Laura.

"Did I hear you say you could kiss me for this?" he said.

"I" before she could say anymore, Wake was kissing her and she was kissing him back.

His lips were warm and seeking. She felt wonderfully helpless in his arms. They were caught up in a rush of power that Laura had not experienced before. She felt as if she was being swept ashore on a giant wave.

"I have wanted to do this since the first time I saw you at Ralph's. Remember how I caught you, when you tripped?" Wake said.

"Yes I do remember. What about Marian?" she asked.

"Marian, what about Marian?" he looked at her strangely He leaned over to kiss her again and she backed away.

"I thought you and Marian ..." her sentence was cut short by the door opening with a bang.

"Laura, do you have company? I thought I heard voices," It was Ralph. "Oh I hope I am not interrupting anything," he said looking at Wake.

"Not at all" Laura said, "In fact Wake was just about to leave."

She could see that Wake looked hurt, but there was nothing she could do about that now.

"I just came over to see if you would like to play cards with us tonight at the nursing station"

"Yes, I would," Laura said quickly. "That will take my mind off things."

Ralph did not inquire about the things she wanted to take her mind off. He never really listened anyway. He always seemed to be in a world of his own.

"Good, what about you Wake?"

"No thanks Ralph, I have a few things I have to do tonight. In fact I have to get moving." he left without a backward glance.

"Good, good, I'll see you about seven then?" Ralph said looking at Laura, "Oh, what lovely flowers. Is it your birthday?"

"No, they are just a gift from Winnipeg. Will there be the usual group playing cards?" Laura said, deliberately changing the subject. She hoped that Ralph would not mention the flowers this evening.

"Yes everyone will be there."

"See you later then," she said as Ralph headed for the door.

"What is going on," she thought, "What was Wake up to? She would probably see a similar plant at Marian's tonight. Or was there something else that he brought Marian to get on her good side. Lingerie, perhaps?" She tortured herself with thoughts of Wake and Marian together.

She was angry with herself. Why had she allowed herself to get involved with Wake and why had she let it go so far. He knew now that she liked him. Her response to his kiss had told him that. How could she face Marion after what she had done today?

Wake seemed like a decent guy. He didn't seem like a philanderer. However she could not deny that he had come on to her, when he was already seeing Marion. She saw him going into the nursing station every afternoon with her own eyes.He probably spent some nights there too. If he was charming two women, who lived so close together, Laura wondered how many women he had elsewhere. He probably had one or more in Rankin and perhaps even in Winnipeg. I am sure he isn't the only one that does that .There must be other guys in isolated communities that take advantage of lonely women. Well I am not that lonely, she reassured herself.

Despite her words, Laura knew that she was lonely. She missed the kind of physical contact that she could only get from a man she cared about. She had enjoyed her brief encounter with Wake. She wished that the circumstances were different; she wanted to feel loved again.

She wondered what Paul would think of her behavior. How could she want another man when she still loved Paul so much? "That's it" she said to herself, "I won't have anything more to do with Mr. Wakefield. I will have to be polite in front of other people because it is such a small place, but I will make sure that I am never alone with him again."

Laura continued to rant to herself aloud. She often did this when she was really upset.

Paul used to tease her." I knew you were really mad at something, I could hear you talking to yourself from the other room."

"Oh Paul" she cried," How did I get myself into this mess?" She did not hear his answer.

Chapter 7

Wake walked back to his house, wondering what had just happened between him and Laura. He decided it was best to get on with some work and get his mind off it. He made some phone calls to the hockey coaches in the other communities to schedule some games and busied himself catching up on paper work. He just could not concentrate. He could not stop thinking about what had happened with Laura. He had thought she liked him and in fact when he kissed her he felt a tremendous spark between them. She would not have responded like that, if she didn't like him. At least he did not think so. Why had she given him that look and literally pushed him out the door. He just could not figure it out. What had he done to upset her?

He thought that Laura was not the kind of woman who would change her mind on a whim. She seemed to be so genuine and outspoken. Obviously she was a strong, capable woman. She had come to Whale Cove alone and was very comfortable living in this strange place. He had never heard her complain about anything. She was always so enthusiastic. These were the qualities that had attracted him to her. Besides all of that, she was downright beautiful.

He thought perhaps that he had misinterpreted her rejection of him, so he dropped in to the nursing station because he knew Laura would be there. She all but ignored him. When he spoke to her directly, the tone of her response was polite, but cold. He could tell that she did not want to talk to him. Her responses to him up to now, had been so warm. They had seemed to have so much in common and had enjoyed each other's company when he had dropped in see her each evening. Something must have gone terribly wrong for her to change her behavior. He wondered if it had been his fault, perhaps he had rushed her. They had only known each other a few weeks. Maybe she was feeling disloyal to her dead husband .Wake could respect that. Perhaps all she needed was time. "I will leave her alone for a while and see how things go," he thought.

Wake had been surprised at how hurt he had felt when Laura backed away from him. He reasoned that if her rejection had hurt him so badly, that he perhaps he was falling in love with her. He had been very much in love once before and that was with his wife Lisa. When Lisa had told him that she wanted to end their marriage, he was devastated. It had taken him several years to get over it. He had not closed his heart altogether. He had hoped that he would find love again eventually, but he had not expected to find the special kind of love he had with Lisa again. He suspected that he had found it with Laura and he wanted to do everything he could to hold on to it.

His wife, Lisa had loved him, but hated his work. Like Wake, her father had been a pilot in the Arctic. It was through her father that Wake had met her. Her family had lived in small communities for several years. They had moved back south, when the children needed to attend a high school that would prepare them well for college. Wake had thought that Lisa would be happy married to a pilot and living back in the Arctic.

However, although she wanted to make a life with Wake, they did not stay together. The long dark days of the winter had a devastating psychological effect on her. The only solution was for Lisa to spend the winter months in the south alone, while Wake continued to work in the Arctic. Lisa was a wonderful woman, and she loved Wake and wanted him to be happy. She knew that he loved the Arctic and he would be miserable in a job down south. She remembered how moving south to live had affected her father, she did not want that for Wake.

After a couple of years, they began to drift apart. On the third summer, Lisa called Wake and said that she was not coming back. He offered to quit his job and move south with her, but they both knew that it was too late. They had drifted too far apart.

Wake had been reluctant to get involved with anyone else since then. His feelings for Laura had come as a shock. Scared, he had tried stay away from her, but he wasn't able to. When he was away in Winnipeg, he had thought of Laura all the time. On his way back he had decided that he was going to pursue her. Even though she might be leaving in a few more weeks, he knew that he had to try. Somehow, he had blown it. She didn't even want to talk to him. He had thought about asking Marian's advice, but decided not to. He knew that Marian and Laura were friends, but he did not think that Laura would discuss anything personal with Marian.

He was going out hunting with the Ralph this weekend. Out on the ice, away from the village he might gain a new perspective. He hoped that Laura would have a change of heart by the time he got back.

Laura was feeling so miserable. During the week, she had been too busy and distracted to think about Wake too much. Today was Saturday and she had nothing to take her mind off Wake. She got up and made coffee and tried to read. She turned on the old black and white television. Neither of the two stations available came in very clearly. She watched an old movie until the screen became too snowy and she had to turn it off.

After tidying her already tidy house, she got dressed and went for a walk. It was 44° below freezing, but the sun was shining very brightly and it was pleasant being outside. She walked up the street and called at Ralph's door. She still felt uncomfortable going in unannounced.

"Hi, Ralph, are you in?" Laura called.

"No he isn't, "Marian's voice came from the kitchen, "but come in anyway. He went hunting with Wake, early this morning. Didn't you hear them making all that racket?"

"Hear them?" Laura asked.

"Yes," continued Marian," They woke me up when they passed my house in their skidoos. They were like a pair of teenagers, trying to see who could rev their motors the loudest."

"When are they coming back?" Laura asked.

"Probably tonight. They are supposed to be going for the weekend, but I suspect that Ralph will change his mind and come back today, He doesn't like to stay out there overnight." Marian said.

"I don't blame him. It doesn't sound like my kind of camping," Laura laughed, "too cold and dark for me."

"Me too, but you know what stupid things men do, My weather report says that there is a storm moving in tonight, so I hope they don't leave it too late if they start back today. If they get caught in a storm they will have to stay wherever they are anyway until it's over."

"What will they do, won't they just freeze out there?" asked Laura.

"No, they usually take enough gear just in case. Wake knows how to build an igloo, even in a storm, so they would have shelter. They would be O.K." Marian said.

"I hope that they get back tonight before the storm hits anyway," Laura said.

"Me too. Would you like some tea, I'm sure Ralph won't mind if we make some here. I have to wait for the dryer anyway," Marian offered. "My dryer is caput, so I am using this one."

"Tea would be great," Laura didn't really want tea, but she needed the company today. It was better than going back home to sit around moping.

"You haven't seen a storm here yet, have you?" Marian went on without an answer. "Whatever you do, don't go out in a storm. It is a total whiteout. It is true that you can't see your hand in from of your face."

Marian must have seen the smile on Laura's face.

"Please take me seriously and stay indoors when there is a storm. Over the years there has been a few Inuit from this village that have frozen to death because they could not find their way home in the storm. I had to deal with one of them myself. "Marian said.

Laura was listening carefully now, Marian was serious. "How did they get lost and die in this small village? Did no one look for them?"

"Once you have seen a storm you will understand what I'm talking about. It's difficult to imagine, but if you had to go from here to your house in a storm, you are unlikely to find your way. The snow blows so hard and it is so dense that you can't see anything at all. You lose your sense of direction and if you veer left or right, even slightly, instead of going straight ahead, you could walk out onto the frozen tundra and keep walking. It is because the village is so small that makes it so dangerous. No one even tries to look for people during storms, because they wouldn't find them anyway and the searchers could get lost too." Marian explained. "Often the family doesn't expect the person to be outside. When a storm comes up, everyone is supposed to stay where ever they are until it's over. The Inuit particularly should know that."

"Well Marian, you certainly got my attention," Laura said.

"Good. Just wait until the storm comes tonight and you will see what I mean."

'I am not looking forward to it." Laura said. She had seen similar storms in Russia from the safety of their flat, but at least if she had been caught outside, she could have knocked on someone's door.

"I didn't mean to depress you, Laura. I just wanted to warn you. I can't emphasize the danger enough. It's terrible to see a frozen body being brought back into the village. It takes the community a long time to recover from that. " Marian reached across and patted Laura's hand. Marian was being so kind, that Laura felt even more guilty for kissing Wake. She saw herself as the other woman, threatening Marian's relationship.

I wonder if Marian knows what kind of man Wake is, Laura thought. She was tempted to tell Marian about her encounter with Wake, but something stopped her. She really did not want to hurt Marian's feelings. It had been her fault as much as it had been Wakes. She would just make sure that nothing like that happened again.

The next stop Laura made was at the Co-op, where she bought a lantern, a small camp stove and fuel, candles and matches. She was going to be prepared for the storm. If the electricity went out she would have some light and would be able to boil some water for coffee in the mud porch where there was lots of ventilation.

Several of her students were standing around an oil heater in the Co-op.

"I hear a storm is coming," she said to no-one in particular.

"A big storm, pretty scary, blow your house down," Sam said from behind the counter. The guys all laughed.

"It won't blow down your house, but it will be very noisy." Nancy glared over at the guys. "Will you be O.K. Laura?" Nancy asked quietly, "Would you like me to stay at your house? The storm might make you frightened"

"I will be O.K., but thank you Nancy. That was very nice of you to offer," Laura said.

Nancy came closer." Don't go outside when the storm is here.You stay inside the house, O.K."

"I will not go out. I promise." Laura reassured her.

It was almost dinner time before Laura got home. She unpacked the items she had bought. She filled the lantern and the stove with fuel, and put some of the candles and matches on the table and some beside her bed. Whatever she would be doing when the storm began, she would be able to find the matches in the dark. She was both scared and excited about the coming of the storm.

She had a simple dinner and tried to read, but she couldn't concentrate. She put on the television and for once, the reception was good. She watched some news programs and then a hockey game came on. She found herself nodding off. It had been a miserable day, she felt so downhearted and she was exhausted, and so she decided to go to bed early.

Before she settled for the night, she went outside for a few minutes to see what the weather was like. The air was calm and the sky was clear. It did not look to her, that there would be a storm before morning.

As Laura lay in bed, she thought about Wake and Ralph on their hunting trip. She hoped that they had enjoyed their trip and that they had started back for the village early enough so that they would not get caught in the storm. She wanted both of them to be safe.

Her last thought before she fell asleep was a vision of Wake all bundled up, driving his snowmobile crazily across the snow looking like Steve McQueen on his motor cycle in the movie The Great Escape. Wake was on his way to save her yet again as her house blew down around her.
Chapter 8

The temperature was dropping rapidly. Wake and Ralph decided that it was time to pack up and head back home. They had not sited any caribou all day, so they were going back empty handed. Ralph was disappointed, but Wake thought that it had been a good day anyway. It would have been great to take some meat back to the village, but all was not lost. The journey itself had cleared his head and it had been good for his soul to get out onto the frozen tundra. It gave him an incredible feeling of freedom to be out there on the vast open plain Trees did not grow this far north and there was nothing obstruct the view except an occasional dark rock protruding from the snow. The snow and the sky went on forever, in all directions. Wake loved to fly because it gave him a sense of freedom that is why he became pilot. Driving his skidoo across the vast white tundra was the closest thing to flying that Wake could imagine.

They had not gone too far away from the village because they had not had an Inuit man with them today. Wake thought that Inuit people were amazing. They could travel from one village to another using only the shape of the rocks to guide them. They built Inukshucks to tell each other that they were on the right track. Although Wake had spent much of his life in the Arctic he did not have the confidence to go too far without one of his Inuit. hunter friends.

They had gone out early that morning and set up camp about twenty miles from the village. From that camp they had made several trips in all directions hoping to see a caribou herd. They got very cold driving the skidoos, it was good to come back to camp, get inside their shelter and get something warm to drink. The days were getting longer now. The sun had come up about ten and had started to go down about three o'clock.

"Better start heading back now," Ralph said, "That was a wasted day, unless we see caribou on our way home."

"Maybe we will," Wake replied, "but if we stop to hunt it will be pretty late when we get back."

"It's almost dark now anyway. Once it gets dark, it won't matter how late we get back'. Ralph was reluctant to go back without a kill.

"Have you get lots of extra gas?" Wake asked.

"Yeah, we can drive about and stay as long as we like." Ralph replied.

Wake hoped that they would not see any caribou on their way back. He had enjoyed the day, but he was tired and he was ready to go home. He was a bit superstitious. He had a bad feeling about hunting on the way home. It was like that extra ski run, after you had decided to call it a day. It was usually on that particular run that you broke your leg.

They took down their tent, and packed up their supplies and started their skidoos. They had gone about ten miles when they spotted them. A large herd of caribou were standing directly in front of them.

Ralph took out his rifle and had fired several shots, before Wake could get to his gear. A caribou on the edge of the herd staggered and fell to the ground. Without thinking, Ralph drove his skidoo towards his kill. Spooked by the noise, the herd took off at great speed.

"Sorry, Wake," Ralph said when Wake caught up with him, "I didn't mean to scare them off, I guess I just got excited."

"Yes, I suppose so," said Wake, still amazed that Ralph would ride his skidoo into the herd. He should have known better, he had been hunting with Inuit men for several years. They would never do that.

"Anyway, at least we have something to show for our trip. There is plenty for the two of us," Ralph was pleased with the large buck lying on the ice. "Marian will be happy to get some of this. Perhaps we should give Laura some. She might like to try it."

"Good idea. When we butcher the caribou meat, why don't you take her some?" Wake said.

They looked at the dead caribou. The animal had not suffered, it had died instantly. Ralph was a surprisingly good shot. It took them much longer than they had anticipated to prepare the caribou with only the lights from their skidoos. They tied the carcass on the sled behind Ralph's skidoo and prepared to leave. It was colder now that the sun has set. It had been dark for several hours and the journey into the village would take them another hour at least. It was slow going with a skidoo pulling a sled over rugged icy terrain. They took out the stove again and made coffee and ate more food them keep warm on the trip home.

"I think the wind is getting up," Wake said.

"Yeah, Marian heard on that weather radio of hers that there was a storm coming through tonight," Ralph said.

"Its getting pretty late we better get a move on," Wake dumped his coffee and threw the supplies in his pack.

"Right, we don't want to get caught in a whiteout," Ralph still enjoying his coffee

"They come up so fast, we might get caught if we don't get moving," Wake urged.

They packed the rest of their gear quickly and got on their skidoos. Wake's skidoo spluttered, not wanting to start. After several attempts, it did start and they were on there way. On the journey home, Wake's skidoo made strange noises, but whenever he decided he should stop and look at it, it ran smoothly again. He was getting a bit worried. The wind was getting stronger and he thought again of that last ski run.

Just as they got to the edge of the village, Wake's skidoo stalled and quit. He tried to start it. The starter was O.K., but the motor just would not kick in. He checked his gas level, his battery terminals and a few other things that might cause the problem. Everything seemed O.K, but the skidoo would not start. There was nothing more that Wake could do.

"Damn it," he shouted to himself, "Only about a half mile to go and the thing had to quit on me. I wonder how long it will take for Ralph to notice that I am not behind him."

The two men had stuck very close to each other out on the tundra, but now they were close enough to see the lights of town, they had relaxed because there was no need to worry about the each other. Because Wake's machine had been slowing down, he had lagged behind and Ralph had gone on ahead had not noticed that Wake had stopped.

"He will probably turn around soon and I can ride in with him and we can tow this one in." Wake thought. "I'll stay with my machine until he gets back".

Wake sat on the skidoo and waited. The wind started to pick up and get stronger. From time to time it blew so strong that it obscured his view of the village completely. It occurred to Wake that perhaps something had happened to Ralph. Under normal circumstances, he would have been back by now to see why Wake had not come home.

It was less than half a mile and he could see the two street lights and the lights from the houses quite clearly. Laura's house was on the very edge of town, her back windows looked over the tundra. He could see the lights in her windows and he wondered what she was doing, what she was thinking,

Wake decided that he should start to walk towards the village. He thought he might come across Ralph, stuck in a snow bank. At least that would explain why he had not come back. There had to be some reason. Ralph would never leave anyone on that frozen waste with a storm brewing.

It was slow going. The snow was very deep and Wakes boots sunk up to his knees. He trudged through the snow, but it was hard work even for someone as fit as Wake. Concerned about the storm, he went as fast as he could, trying not to impair his lungs by breathing too hard. The wind was picking up, swirling the snow around him and making it difficult for him to see. He realized that he should have stayed by his skidoo until the storm ended. He looked back and could no longer see his skidoo in the distance. The option of going back to his gear and building a shelter no longer existed. He had to go forward.

Wake knew that he was in danger. The storm was whipping up fast and it would not be long before it would be a complete whiteout. He knew that when that happened, his chances of reaching the village would be very low. His chances of getting lost on the tundra would be extremely high. He would do his best and try to keep his head, but whatever happened to him now was really out of his control.

As he pushed through the snow, he realized how stupid he had been to leave his skidoo and his gear and head into the storm. It was particularly stupid of him to risk losing his life when he had so much to lose. He now had someone he loved. He pictured their life together, their home and the children they would have. The love they would share. He saw his mom happily playing with her grandchildren. If he perished in this a storm, he would lose all of that. He was not going to get lost on the ice and give all of this up. He was going to make it.

Thinking of Laura, and their life together, he lowered his head, like a bull about to charge, and trudged determinedly towards the intermittent light from the village.

Chapter 9

Laura woke up with a start, she was very cold. She could hear the storm. The wind was whistling and howling like nothing she had ever heard before. The windows on the other side of the room were rattling loudly. She switched on her bedside lamp and was relieved that the electricity was still on. She switched on the lights in the living area and checked the thermostat. The furnace was chugging like a steam engine going uphill but it could not compensate for the cold air rushing into the house. There was a strong breeze blowing in from around the back window frames, making the room very cold.

She remembered Sam joking about the storm blowing her house down. She was not afraid of that, but she hoped that the force of the wind would not blow the windows out. After putting on her heavy sweats and thick socks, Laura stuffed paper in the gaps around the windows. She knew that the papers would probably blow out easily, but they would stop the cold coming in until she could find something more substantial. She solved the problem by cutting up her storage boxes and duct taping the large pieces of cardboard over the windows. At least she hoped that she had solved the problem. The windows were still rattling, but the wind was not blowing in to the room. She hoped that the duct tape would hold until the storm subsided. She put her table on its edge and the tall dresser against the windows trying to keep the taped cardboard from flapping. She had no idea if any of this would work, but she did her best to keep herself safe.

Laura looked at the clock. She had not been asleep very long, less than an hour in fact. The storm must have come up very quickly because there had not been even a breeze blowing when she went to bed. She was not tired anymore, she was scared. It was a strange experience, being in this house alone with the storm screaming outside and the windows rattling. Suppose something terrible happened, she had no idea what that would be, she had no way to contact anyone, she had no telephone. That did not matter anyway because even if she could contact someone, they could not leave their house to help her. No one would come out in the storm for fear of getting lost. She wished that she had a telephone anyway, at least she could have talked .to someone and not felt so isolated.

She looked out of the kitchen window, but she could see nothing. It was as if the window had been painted white on the outside. She had never felt so strangely anxious before. She prayed for the storm to be over. There was no way she could go back to sleep She made some coffee and lit some of the candles just in case the electricity went out suddenly. She drank her coffee and listened to the storm.

She heard something banging on the side of the house and she became even more scared. She thought that perhaps part of the outside wall was being torn off by the wind. The banging stopped. Perhaps some flying debris had blown against the house and had blown away again. A few minutes later the banging started again. It was in a different place this time.. Whatever had hit the wall before, must have blown back, and was hitting the house again. She tried to ignore it.

The third time she heard the banging it seemed to be coming from the door. It was not as loud as before. She listened at the door. She thought she heard voices. Was she imagining it?

She listened again, but all she could hear was the sound of her heart beating. "thump, thump, thump"

"I am just scared," she said aloud, "Get a grip, Laura, it's only a storm."

"Tap, tap, tap" there it was again, it was softer now. She went through the mud porch and put her ear to the door. The tapping stopped. As she turned to go back into the living room, she heard the tap again and she was sure she heard someone calling her name. She was frightened. Suppose this was some kind of dangerous animal and she had imagined the voice calling. Suppose it was something carried by the wind that would blow the door off its' hinges. Her imagination was running wild, but deep down, she knew that she had to find out what was outside her door.

She quickly slipped on her parka and boots, just in case the door banged and she got locked outside. Holding the door firmly, so that it would not blow open wide, Laura peered outside. The snow was swirling and she could not see anything. A big gust of wind came and cleared her view for a moment. She saw what looked like a mound of something lying on the snow. Although she was afraid, she was compelled to find out what it was. She zippered up her parka and went outside. As she got closer to the mound it moved and made a sound. She could see that it was a person laying face down, covered with snow.

Laura quickly went over to the mound and tried to turn the person towards her, so that she could see who it was and what she could do to help. The person was Wake!

"Wake, Wake," she shouted "Are you all right?"

She tried to rouse him, but he did not respond. "Wake, its Laura, please say something," she begged. He groaned and fell back on his face. She rolled him on his side and shook him, trying to make him respond, but he lay there like a stone. She had no idea how long he had been out there, but he seemed barely alive.

It was incredibly cold and the wind was whipping across them both with gusts of ice and snow. She was amazed at how terrible the storm felt. Laura knew that she had to get Wake inside as quickly as possible, or they would both soon be lying frozen in the snow. She tried to push him towards the door, but he was such a big man, she couldn't move him. She heard him come to for a moment and attempt to talk.

"Thank God. You are still alive," Laura said. She didn't know where her strength came from, but she dragged him by his feet across the snow and through the door into the mud porch.

"That was the easy part." she thought, "what do I do now? I need to close the door and I can't leave him on the cold floor in the porch."

She kneeled over him, and wiped his face gently with a towel." Wake, Wake, Can you hear me? Please answer me Wake."

He mumbled and his body began to tremble.

"He must have hypothermia," Laura thought. She had no idea what she should do.

She knew that she had to get him warm, but first she had to get him off the floor Laura continued to drag him, by his shoulders this time, into the main room and tried to lift him onto her bed, but he was far too heavy. She left him there briefly while she boiled a kettle so that she could make him something hot to drink. She thought that tea with lots of sugar in it might help him revive, but she really had no idea what she should have been doing. If only she had a phone, she could have called Marian for instructions.

The warmth of the room seemed to be reviving. Wake a t little. Laura brought the tea and lifted his head. "Please drink some of this, it might warm you a bit," she said. She held the cup for him and he tried to drink but he was shaking violently and managed to drink very little.

"Wake, I think you have hypothermia, you must help me, I don't know what to do,".Laura pleaded.

"My wet clothes, "he mumbled. "Take them off. Let me have more warm tea to drink," he said.

Between them, they managed to take off all his outdoor clothes "Please get me some blankets and help me take off the rest of my clothes," His teeth were chattering and his body still shook.

"The rest..."

"Yes, my body temperature has dropped; I need to find some way to bring it back up The best thing would be to sit in a hot tub, but as you have no plumbing, we have to find another way," He was very calm for someone who had almost died.

Laura turned the furnace up and held a blanket over heating duct, hoping that it

might help. She tried to avert her eyes, while she helped him undress and wrapped the warmed blanket around Wake's naked body.

She helped him into her bed and wrapped him like a mummy with more blankets and a sleeping bag. She held his head up again while he drank more hot tea. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and he fell asleep with his head on her shoulder. He seemed more unconscious than asleep. His body still shook. Laura reached under the blankets and touched his shoulder. It was ice cold.

She had read books about mountain climbers getting stranded and what they did when one of them had hypothermia. She knew what she had to do. Laura took off her sweats. She unzipped the sleeping bag and loosened the blankets around Wake. Wearing nothing but an Indian cotton shift, she climbed in beside Wake. She pulled the blankets around them and zippered up the sleeping bag. She wrapped herself around Wake's icy body touching as much of his body as she could with her body. It was a tight fit for them both in the sleeping bag, but Laura managed to massage the parts of his body that she could reach from her cocooned position. She rubbed her body against him to create some heat.

Neither of them spoke. Laura did not know what had happened. She did not know how or why Wake was at her door. She just held him until his body stopped shuddering and he fell asleep. She lay there listening to the storm outside. Wake's skin was getting a little warmer now. Soon she would be able get out of the sleeping bag and leave him alone to recover.

Chapter 10

Laura arched her body. She was dreaming that she was lying in bed with Wake and they were making love. He was holding her in his arms and kissing her gently on the forehead. She lifted her head and kissed his mouth. Her kiss released a floodgate of passion. Wake held her and kissed her mouth, her neck and along her shoulder. He pulled her to him nuzzling his face in her neck. "Laura, Laura, "he moaned with longing.

Wake slipped her flimsy nightgown off her shoulder and kissed the top of her breast. He moved his face further down, until his lips touched Laura's nipple. Laura undid the buttons of her nightshirt and slipped it off her shoulders to uncover her breasts for Wake's caressing lips. She felt alive; her body tingled, wild and wanton. She stroked Wake's back as he moved his lips over her breasts and down her body. He was at the base of her belly now, searching, searching with his mouth. Her back arched and her legs parted as if they had a mind of their own.

"Yes, Yes, "she cried, "Now, I want you, Wake, Wake, Please now."

Wake's tongue was sending her into orbit. She had never felt a sensation as wild as this before.

"Oh my God," this was unbelievable.

Laura wasn't dreaming now. She knew what was happening, but it was all so wonderful, she never wanted it to end. Her body had never responded to anyone the way it was responding to Wake. Sated for the moment, she lay on her back. Wake's head rested on her stomach.

She stroked his head and pulled him up towards her, so that she could feel his body. He was muscular and lean and so beautiful. She ran her hand slowly down his shoulders. When she touched his nipples, he flinched slightly and became erect. She continued down his body until she reached his erection. It was hard and strong like the rest of him.

Wake looked at Laura. She was voluptuous for such a small and slender woman. She was so sensual; her lips were open waiting for his.

"My god you're beautiful," he moaned He reached over and kissed her again. They were both immediately aroused. He moved his leg across her thighs. Her legs parted and she could feel him fitting himself between them. It was sheer ecstasy.

"No. we can't do this," Wake said, moving away from her. This is all really great, but we can't afford to take a risk like this? You don't want to do you?"

It took Laura a few seconds to come back down to earth and understand why he had stopped. She realized that he was not wearing a condom.

"No, I don't," she replied quietly.

He kissed her gently, "I don't want to stop; this is so incredible. You are so incredible," he said. "It feels so good being together like this. I have been thinking about you so much, .I knew it would be this great whenever it happened, I did not expect it would be this soon. Hypothermia has its' advantages" Wake smiled.

Laura didn't say anything. She was suddenly feeling shy. She reached for her robe and ran to the bathroom. She was the one shaking now. She washed her face and brushed her teeth. When she looked in the mirror to comb her hair, a flushed and happy woman looked back at her. She looked more alive than she had for a long time.

When she came out of the bathroom, Wake was dressed and was making coffee. Laura quietly poured her coffee and sat down.

"You know you saved my life, last night? I'm sorry I got carried away this morning. I hope that you don't think that I took advantage of you. It just seemed so natural that I should want you." He stopped for a moment and looked at Laura. "I am not saying this very well, am I?"

"You really scared me last night," she said, ignoring the rest of his conversation, "I thought you were dead when I saw you lying face down out there in the snow."

"I think I was pretty close to it," Wake said.

"How did you get there, what happened?" Laura asked.

"One question at a time please," he teased her.

Wake told her what had happened and how he had used the light from her house to guide him to the village.Unfortunately, the storm had got so bad that he could not see the light anymore. He had walked around on the tundra for a long time until he literally bumped into the house. He kept falling down and was so tired that he wanted to lie down in the snow.

"I kept banging and you must not have heard me. I guess I gave up and lay down on the snow. Good thing you found me last night, or they would have found me this morning frozen stiff" he smiled across at her.

"You were shaking so badly, I assumed you were hypothermic. That's why I gave you my body heat. I didn't know what else to do .I had read somewhere about mountain climbers doing that, when one of them got hypothermia, I mean,"

"That was the right thing to do," he tried not to smile. He wanted to tell her how wonderful it had been to have her responsive body beside him when he woke up, but it did seem appropriate at this point.

"That's why I was in the sleeping bag with you, this morning, I..." She couldn't keep going, she was embarrassed. The more she said, the more uncomfortable she became.

"When he found me lying beside him almost naked this morning, he must have thought I was coming on to him": she thought. "No wonder he got an erection." she felt herself blushing."

"I don't remember much about last night except that you dragged me across the room and wrapped me with blankets," Wake said. Taking a cue from Laura, he was beginning to feel awkward now.

"Well, I better get going; I have to get my skidoo towed in." He put his hands on Laura's shoulders and looked down into her eyes.

"Thanks for what you did for me last night. You did save my life. Sorry about this morning. I am not sorry that it happened from my point of view, but I am really sorry if I offended you, I mean," He kissed her on the top of her head and he was gone.

Laura wondered what she must have been thinking to let Wake make love to her this morning. She had not been thinking, that had been the problem. She had been listening to her heart, certainly not her head. Or perhaps it was her hormones that had caused that to happen. Wake had a beautiful body and he was so viral and alive. She had wanted him so badly, but she should not have responded to him so openly. Now he would know how she felt. She had not wanted him to know that.

And then there was Marian. How could she face Marian? How would she explain to Marian that Wake had spent the night at her house? Someone was bound to have seen him leaving this morning and the gossip usually got to Marian.

Laura hoped that Wake would not tell anyone that he had hypothermia and she had slept beside him to get him warm. He did not seem to be the type to do that because he never talked about his relationship with Marian to anyone as far as she knew. The entire village knew about him and Marian because they saw him going in to the nursing station every afternoon. She supposed Wake went there in the evening too, but she couldn't see Wake's house or the nursing station from her house.

The thing that annoyed Laura about the incident this morning was that she had enjoyed it so much. Wake, a typical man, would probably make love to anyone lying almost naked beside him, without thinking about Marian. What a jerk he was. Laura was going to pretend that this episode had never happened and she hoped that Wake would do the same. She decided to deliberately avoid Wake for the next few weeks and then she would be gone.

A loud a knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. Only one person ever knocked on the door.

"Come in Marian. Want some coffee?" Laura asked

."Yes please," Marian said.

"Sorry I have no cookies or anything but I could make breakfast if you like," Laura offered.

"No thanks, I just dropped by to see what you thought of that storm last night. Were you O.K? I thought you might be nervous, being here all alone,." Marian's concern seemed quite genuine.

"Yes I was quite scared, actually, I wished I had a phone, it would have been nice to talk to someone to make me feel less isolated." Laura said.

"Funny, I was thinking that last night. I wished I could have called you to see how you were. It's a nuisance that there are so few phones," Marian complained.

"Yes, I was surprised that there wasn't a phone in my house," Laura said.

"Only the nursing station, the school and the government office have phones. They use the satellite, so they are too expensive for everyone to have. Perhaps the next time we are expecting a storm, you should stay at the nursing station overnight," Marian suggested.

"One thing about living at the nursing station, I don't feel isolated because I have so much contact with the outside. I even have live video so that I can see people I talk to from outside if I need to. You should see the video conferencing system that they installed at the station," Marian said.

"You have video conferencing," Laura was surprised.

"All the nursing stations now have video conferencing, so that they can get help from doctors in the south. If a patient has a serious problem, they can talk directly to the doctor in Winnipeg. I am hooked up to several hospitals in the south." Marion said proudly.

"It's amazing that you have that kind of technology in this tiny place," Laura commented.

"It is really handy for emergencies. There is a down side; I get to attend regional meetings by video now instead of travelling to them. I used to enjoy going to the meetings, it got me out of here and I could tack on a couple of days shopping. I don't use it much other than for meetings. Wake uses it more than I do," she said.

"Wake uses it?" Laura asked.

"Oh I am off track again," Marian ignored her Laura's question. You haven't been out yet, you probably have not heard about Ralph's accident."

"Is he O.K" Laura asked.

"Well he's not dead, if that's what you mean, Though, I must admit, poor Ralph looks like a corpse this morning," Marian laughed. "I know I shouldn't be so flippant, but the way Ralph carries on it's a wonder he isn't dead by now. He is absolutely clueless," Marian went on.

"What happened, will you please tell me," Laura asked.

"Well he was coming in from that hunting trip last evening, just before the storm started. "He must have been going too fast, he skidded and hit the metal building by the school. I heard a terrible bang and looked out of the window and saw his skidoo on its side and Ralph pinned against the building. I thought he had hurt himself badly, but he hadn't. People came out to see what the noise was. I got two of the guys to bring him into the station. He was pretty banged up, but no broken bones. I had to give him five stitches over his eyebrow and tape up his ribs. He sprained them. He had quite a concussion too. I had him stay in the nursing station overnight so that I could keep an eye on him," she said.

"How is he today?" Laura asked.

"He's O.K. He will be sore for a few days, buts that the worst of it. Drop over and cheer him up a bit. He is back in his own place this morning," Marian said.

"I'll do that after I have breakfast," Laura replied.

"Well I'm going to check on the invalid now. Drop over for tea after you see him. Oh, by the way, you haven't seen Wake have you? I thought I saw him coming from this direction a little while ago. I wonder if he knows about Ralph."

"I don't know. Why don't you go and find out if he's heard?" Laura said.

"Good idea," Marian said as she left.

Marian had been really sweet. Laura had hated to lie to her. Well she didn't really lie; she just did not answer the question. It had been stupid of Laura not to mention that Wake had been caught in the storm and had spent the night with her. If Wake told Marian, she would be very suspicious of Laura for not having told her.

"Marian is likely to confront me with this. What will I do?" Laura realized that she should have told Marian that Wake spent the night there. She would not have told her about this morning, that would really hurt her feelings, but it was foolish of her not to tell Marian about last night."

"How can I explain to Marian why I did not tell her?"

Laura would have to figure this one out quickly, before rumors started to spread.

Chapter 11

Ralph was lying on the couch watching a movie. He looked as if he had been in a bar room brawl. He had a large bandage above his right eyebrow, bruises around his eye and across his jaw. His face was pale and he looked very tired.

"Good to see you Laura. This movie has just started, do you want to stay here and watch it with me. I can rewind the first bit, so that you can see it from the beginning," Ralph suggested.

"Thanks Ralph, but I can't stay very long, I have to get ready for my class tomorrow. I just came to see how you were," Laura said.

"I'm not bad really, thanks to Marian," he replied.

"Marian said that you had quite an accident, you hit that building at high speed. She said that you had a concussion."

"Well Marion did insist that I stay in the nursing station overnight. She wanted to make sure I was O.K. She did say I had concussion," Ralph said.

"I haven't been to the accident scene, but if you hit that shed, you were lucky that you didn't break any bones," Laura said.

"Yes I was lucky I only sprained my ribs and not broke them.. That caribou is still on the sled outside. Wake should take his share. He'll probably pop in later. I am surprised that I did not see him last night when I had the accident. He was right behind me coming in. He must have passed me and gone straight home before I hit the shed. He said he was pretty tired. He did not want to stop when we saw the herd close to the village. Said something about skiing and how it was bad luck," Ralph said.

"Perhaps he was right, "Laura said, trying not to laugh.

"Yes, I think he was. I hope he is not mad at me for insisting we stop. I spooked the herd too before he could bag anything. Maybe that upset him. Funny guy, that Wake, I never know what to make of him," Ralph shook his head.

Laura wanted to tell Ralph what had happened to Wake, but the words would not come out. She knew that if she told him, he would certainly tell Marian. He would not do it for any malicious purpose but just because there was so little to talk about. Anyway he

would assume that Marian already knew. Laura was really in a dilemma. Now there were two people who would think that there was something strange going on because she had not told them about last night. She had to talk to Wake to see if he had told anyone. He obviously had not told Marian or Ralph yet. "What would Wake say, how much would he tell them?" she wondered.

Laura knew that she would have to find Wake and talk to him. She would have to tell him that she had not told anyone about him staying overnight. She would have to explain why she had not said anything to anyone. They would have to agree to either tell people or not. She was annoyed. Why did she have to feel like a criminal and hide the fact that Wake had stayed at her place over night. She had saved him from being frozen to death. No-one need know that they had made love this morning. She had made a big mistake by not telling Marian.

Talking to Wake would be uncomfortable. It was obvious that they both wanted to avoid talking about what happened between them. Why had they not dealt with it? Was it because it was not important, or because it was important? It seemed to Laura that last night had been more than just a casual encounter, it had been so intense. Wake had almost died. Perhaps he had made love to her as a reaction to that. He wanted to feel truly alive again. That may have been his reason, but what reason did she have to respond to him so ardently?

How had life become so complicated? Everything was so simple until he bought those things back from Winnipeg and she had kissed him. Why had she led him on when she knew that he was involved with Marian?"

Her mind was spinning. Ralph coughed and Laura was brought back to the present.

"Is there anything I can do for you Ralph?" she asked, ".Would you like me to make you some tea?"

"You know that would be nice, will you have some with me? There are some cookies in that blue can that my mother sent, they are very good."

"Yes, I will stay and have tea with you, and try one of your mother's cookies." She made tea and sat with Ralph. She was grateful that he watched the movie and they did not need to talk.

When she got back home, she remembered that she was supposed to see Marian after she had been to Ralph's. "I'll tell her I had a headache" she thought. "That would not be a lie; my head is aching with all this turmoil".

She went to find Wake. She saw him coming out of his house.

"Wake, are you busy? I need to talk to you," she said.

"Come on in," he said turning back to his house.

Laura found the inside of Wake's house was quite surprising. It was warm and inviting and quite elegant. They went through an immaculately clean mud room. Parkas hung on pegs on the wall and boots formed a neat row underneath them. The first thing that Laura noticed in the living room was the large Oriental rug. She went back to the mud room and took off her boots. She had not noticed Wake taking off boots, but he was wearing only his boot liners.

There were bookshelves up to the ceiling on two walls and a loveseat and two armchairs that were obviously expensive. A stereo system sat in one corner and an antique desk was in another. There was no television to be seen. One wall was covered with framed back and white pictures. She could see that most of them were exquisite photographs of Inuit faces.

"What a beautiful room," Laura said. "It is so unexpected to find something like this here in this village"

"I wanted to make myself comfortable. After all I spend a lot of time in here during the winter. Its important to me to have everything I need," he responded.

There were two doors off this room, one to the kitchen and the other to the bedroom. From what Laura could see of each room, they were very neat.

"Would you like something to drink? Tea or coffee? I have soda too if you like?' Wake offered.

"No thanks, I have just had tea with Ralph," she answered. "Did you hear about his accident?"

"Sam, at the Co-op told me. I guess that explains why he did not come back for me yesterday," he said.

"Did you tell Sam about you getting lost in the storm?" Laura asked.

"None of his business," Wake replied tersely, "Those guys would be teasing me for months, if they knew that. Crazy Kabloonak, walking about in the storm. I can just hear Sam now. It was stupid of me to try to make it home, An Inuit would have had more sense. Even that close to home, he would have built a shelter and stayed by the skidoo until the storm was over."

"I am glad you have not told anyone," Laura said. "I have seen Marian and Ralph and I did not mention it either I am not sure why, I just got a feeling that I shouldn't,"

"That's good," he said. Well for once his macho image was serving a good purpose. His embarrassment over getting lost was saving her embarrassment for not telling anyone.

"I guess you would rather I did not tell anyone then?" she asked, checking to be sure.

"If you don't mind, I rather you kept this between us," he said "I can't afford for these guys to think I would do something so stupid. I need them to trust me to get things done," he went on.

"In that case I will keep your little secret," she could not help the dig.

"About this morning," he said moving towards her. "I want you to know how I feel."

"I don't want to know. Let's just forget about this morning, it was just a mistake," she said.

"I can't forget it, you were so beautiful. I can't stop thinking about you," he moved closer.

"Well I can forget it and I intend to do just that. Please just stay away from me from now on and don't bring me any more presents," she said.

He looked startled by her outburst.

"The next time you get caught in a storm, please make sure that you knock on Marian's door, not mine," she said angrily.

"Why are you so mad at me? What have I done? "he asked.

"Don't pretend not to know," she glared at him.

"Can we talk about what ever this is?" Wake asked.

"I think I should go now," Laura quickly put on her parka and boots and walked towards the door.

"Laura please listen to me, I want to explain," he pleaded.

She slammed the door before he could say any more.

Wake was really perplexed. Each time they had been together there seemed to be a spark between them. When he kissed Laura the first time, he felt her respond to him. This morning, when he made love to her, he knew that they were meant to be together. He was sure that she felt the same way. Perhaps he was wrong. Perhaps Laura's response had come out of loneliness, or simply lust. After all she was a young sensual woman, probably missing the physical relationship she had with her husband.

"That's it. She is probably embarrassed that she let her self go like that. She is angry with herself, not me," he assured himself.

Wake knew that it would be difficult for him to be around Laura. He was in love with her. It was as simple as that. He didn't like this roller coaster he was on. What was this all about?

He kissed her: she kissed him back: she got angry at him. He made love to her: she responded lovingly: she got even angrier with him. The best thing for him to do was to forget about her. He would stay out of her way until she left. Being in love was just not worth it.

"No," he thought, "I am not letting her go. She is everything I want the woman in my life to be. There is some kind of misunderstanding going on here and I have to sort it out. I know this morning was not just her loneliness. I am sure that she cares for me."

"Darn it, she loves me. I know she does. Now the problem is, how do I get her to talk to me, so that we can fix things between us?"
Chapter 12

Laura sat in her armchair feeling desolate. She could not remember the how long it had been since she had cried.

"Oh Paul, what have I got myself into," she sobbed. "Is it just that I miss you and need someone to hold me, or have I fallen in love with Wake? I love you so much. I don't believe that I can love anyone else. I hope that it is just loneliness that is making feel this way." She waited to get some response from Paul. She seemed to feel him there listening to her.

"You know I am too level headed to fall for this guy. He is a philanderer, going out with Marian and coming on to me and to others I suspect. The worse thing is that his feelings seem to be genuine. Perhaps my loneliness has made me so vulnerable that I can't tell the difference. Perhaps I want to believe he's in love with me." She thought that she felt Paul's arms around her, warm and comforting.

"Why did you have to leave me, I need you," she sobbed.

When she woke up, she was terribly cold. The outside door was ajar, causing a cold draft around her chair. It was almost seven. She had been asleep for at least two hours. She felt groggy and stiff with cold. She was hungry too. The day had been so confusing that she had forgotten to eat lunch. There was still work at school she needed to do before tomorrow. She made a sandwich and headed for the school. Work had always been a good escape for Laura. She was able to focus on the task at hand and forget whatever was bothering her.

"Have you eaten yet?" Ralph's voice made her jump, his black eye and stitched forehead added to the shock.

"No, I guess not," she looked at the sandwich bag on her desk. "I brought a sandwich with me."

"Marian sent Wake down to ask you to come to dinner with us all at about six o'clock. He said that you were curled up in your chair, so sound asleep that you did not hear him come in. He decided not to disturb you," Ralph explained.

So that was how the door got left open. She hoped that Wake had not been able to see that she had been crying

"You're not sick or anything?" Ralph asked.

"No not even anything," she answered, "I didn't sleep well last night with the storm, and I must have been more tired than I thought. Should you be walking about after your accident last night: Shouldn't you be resting? "Laura asked.

"I did rest much of the day, but by this evening I got antsy and I just had to get out. We saw the light in here and Marian asked me to see if you would like some dinner. She has tons left and it is still hot." Ralph said.

He looked at her sandwich, "You can save that for lunch tomorrow. Come over and have some real food. Marian is such a great cook."

"No thanks Ralph, I have too much work to do. I should have been working here instead of sleeping at home," she said.

"Just come and eat and then you can come back and work. It will only take an hour," he tried to persuade her.

She did not want to face seeing Wake and Marian together. "No if I go over there, I will start talking and forget the time. I have to get this done," she pointed to a stack of papers.

"O.K. then, but on your head be it if Marion gets mad at me for not bringing you back with me."

Laura smiled, Ralph was such a sweetheart. He did let Marion bully him so. She wondered if Marian bullied Wake too. The way Marian fawned over him, Laura doubted that she did.

"No, I am not thinking about that, I have work to do," she said to herself. She settled back to work only to be interrupted a second time by Ralph.

"Marian would not hear of you eating a sandwich for dinner," he said putting a covered tray down on her desk. "You better eat it now before if gets cold," Ralph said removing the cover.

"This looks delicious. Tell Marian thank you for me." Laura said.

The meal was wonderful. Marian was a much better cook than Laura would ever hope to be. Wake was getting better meals than she could have created.

Laura was rinsing the plates off in the staff room, when she saw Nancy at the window.

"Can I visit," Nancy mouthed.

Laura nodded and Nancy went around to the front door." Why are you working on Sunday night?" Nancy asked.

"Because I have things to get ready for tomorrow," Laura replied.

"You should have fun, you're always working. That's no good."

"I like to work, besides what would I do to have fun here?" Laura asked.

"Lots of things, come hunting with us. You can ride on the komatik out on the ice"

"What a comtac?" Laura asked.

"Komatik," Nancy corrected. "You pull it behind the snow machine. Dogs used to pull them before."

Laura understood; it was a dog sled.

"We have tea and bannock out there. It's good fun." Nancy said.

"Maybe I will, that sounds like an interesting experience," Laura said.

"I'll get you some warm clothes and kamiks so you won't get cold. The whole class could go and we will be your teachers that day," Nancy laughed.

"Sounds like a good idea, Nancy. Why don't we talk about it tomorrow?"

`There's a big party for Anna next weekend too. She's eighty. Everyone will go, you have to go too," Nancy told her.

"All her family is going you mean? I have to wait to be invited."

Nancy started to laugh, "Not her family, everyone in Whale Cove, the white people too."

"Well in that case, I would love to go," Laura said.

"Can I help you?" Nancy pointed towards the work on Laura's desk.

"Yes, if you don't mind, I would like some help," L aura was glad of the company tonight.

They worked together until they had everything ready for the next day. Nancy talked about her little brother getting sick and how he had been diagnosed by a doctor in the south using the video conferencing at the nursing station.

"That Marion, I don't like her. She doesn't like us. Even if a baby's real sick, she won't come to see it. They have to bring the baby to the nursing station," Nancy said.

"Maybe she wants to do what she did with your little brother?"

"Naah, she doesn't like us. She only likes white people. She really likes Wake," Nancy said.

"What makes you think she likes Wake? " Laura asked.

"He goes there a lot," Nancy said knowingly,. "I saw him going in there tonight."

"Ralph was there tonight too Nancy. I was invited, but I had to work," Laura told her.

"Wakes nice, he likes us. He's helping all the kids with sports and building a gym. He gave his own money. That Marian," Nancy made a disapproving face, "we don't like her," she said again.

Laura was surprised by Nancy's comments. She was usually so pleasant. She had never heard Nancy say a bad word about anyone. Laura had finished working earlier than she had expected, thanks to Nancy. They had seen Wake leaving Marion's, so Laura thought it would be safe to take the tray back and thank Marian herself.

Laura was very busy for the next few days. She was determined to put the business with Wake in to perspective. She would not think about him. She would not watch the nursing station from her classroom window to see if Wake paid his usual visit. Despite her "not watching", Laura was aware that Wake had not been to Marian's house for several days. In fact, she had not seen him anywhere. This was very strange because the village was so small that everyone could see what everyone was doing most of the time. It was most unusual that she had not caught sight of Wake at all. She wondered if he was ill and if she should go and see if he needed anything.

"That's just an excuse to see him," she scolded herself. "Don't be such an idiot."

The students had arranged a hunting trip for this morning. They brought Laura a caribou skin outfit to wear so that she would not get cold riding on the komatik. The oversized pants and a jacket that she pulled over her head had the skin on the outside and the fur on the inside. They all laughed when, assuming it was inside out, she had tried to reverse it so that the fur was on the outside. They also brought her some kamiks, the soft boots that are made of sealskin. Because she was so tiny, the whole outfit was too big. She wore it anyway. She did not want to offend anyone, they were all so kind.

She was given a privileged place on the komatik. The students sat on each side of her and made sure that she was covered with caribou skins so that she would not get cold. The skidoo pulling the komatik that Laura was in did not want to start. Jack dismantled part of the engine and found the problem. He put it all back together again and the engine sputtered several times, but eventually started.

Laura was a bit concerned that they were going out on the ice pulled by this temperamental machine. She wondered what would happen if the skidoo broke down or a storm blew up while they were far away from the village. She was relieved to see another skidoo pulling along side of them. Nancy seemed particularly pleased that Laura had come on the hunting trip with them. She kept pointing to landmarks on the ice and telling Laura about them. She explained what would happen when they found a herd of caribou. Nancy was proud of her way of life and wanted to share it with Laura. Laura was touched by Nancy's kindness.

The day turned out to be absolutely wonderful. The ride had been very bumpy as the sled went over the ridges at the edge of the ice at what seemed to be breakneck speed. Once they reached their destination, the discomfort was well worth it. Laura was truly amazed. The sun was just coming up and the snow reflected the hues of pink and orange as the light changed in the sky. The landscape was pristine, the last fall of snow and ice had been untouched by humans until this moment when they had made a trail with the snowmobile.

Laura could imagine polar bears moving leisurely across the ice. The beauty of this place overwhelmed her. Laura felt a connection with nature that she had never experienced before. She knew that she belonged in this place. She was part of this landscape.

The women lit stoves and melted snow to make tea. They cooked bannock in large iron frying pans. The men left in search of caribou and came back before too long with one large enough to feed most of the community. This had been the first hunting trip of the season and everyone was happy that it had been successful. There would be a feast in the village and thanks given to the great Creator for providing the meat.

Laura had enjoyed herself and for at least one day, she had not thought about Wake.

She was so tired when she got home that she went to bed earlier than usual. She lay there thinking about her day and recalling how she felt out on the tundra. A feeling of contentment engulfed her as she went to sleep.

When she woke up in the morning, she felt good. She knew that she had to sort all this out with Wake. What a wimp she had been. Why was she letting Wake take over her life. All this worrying about him was using up far too much space in her head. She had to take control back.

"I'll confront him with this," she thought. "I will ask him what kind of relationship he has with Marian. I will ask him too, who he thought he was to try to start something with me."

Our making love was something that just happened and as he seemed to have a relationship with Marian, he had a nerve wanting to make more out of it than it was. This is my life and he will damn well have to answer my questions.

She had not seen him and she thought perhaps, that he had been avoiding her, but she was going to track him down and get this settled. She decided to go to his house after school the next day.

The next morning, she was having coffee before her class when Ralph came in.

"How is Wake doing," she asked Ralph casually "I haven't seen him around lately. I wondered if he might be ill or something."

"Oh, I thought you knew about Wake," Ralph said.

"Knew what?" Laura asked anxiously.

"Wake has gone south to see his father. Marion said that the old man is quite ill and may not last the summer out. There is some question of Wake staying in the south while his dad is still alive. He may not be back until next year, or not at all." Ralph said.

"Wake may be gone for good?" Laura asked, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice.

"It's a possibility," Ralph replied. "He may have to run the family business."

"The family business? What business do they have?" Wake had not told Laura anything about a family business..

"Some sort of Internet thing with video. You must have seen the one at the nursing station that Wake installed." Ralph said.

"No I have heard things about it, but I have not seen it," Laura replied, "Tell me about it "

"It's like close circuit television, there is camera at each end and you can see the person you are talking to. They have them in the big hospitals in the south and Wake thought it would be good to have one here, so that doctors down south can see patients here and help Marian diagnose and treat them .It has worked really well. It has helped a lot of people here and they are being put in the other communities too now," Ralph sounded very proud that his village was on the cutting edge.

"Yes, Nancy told me how it had saved her little brother.I did not know that Wake was responsible for that," Laura went on.

"Oh yes. Wake does a lot in these communities."

"It seems so," Laura said.

"It was good for Wake too; he was able to talk to his dad almost every day. Marion said that they could see that Wake's dad was failing. When they called Wake and told him his dad had collapsed, he got right on the plane," Ralph said.

"I'm so sorry.I had no idea," Laura said.

"Marian must have forgotten, because Wake asked her to let us all know. She came over and told me right away and I assumed that she had told you too,." Ralph said.

"No, she did not tell me. She was probably not thinking too clearly with Wake leaving like that," Laura imagined how upset Marian would have been. She wondered if Marian had offered to go with him.

"Well that settles that," Laura didn't realize that she was saying it aloud.

"Settles what?" Ralph asked.

"Oh nothing really, I was just rambling to myself," she replied.

She picked up her coffee and walked to her classroom. She was truly sorry that Wake's father was so ill. But the news had put her petty concerns into perspective. All her fretting and fussing had been for nothing. She would probably never see Wake again.

Chapter 13

It was a few days after Wake left that Ralph burst into Laura's classroom.

"There's someone on the telephone for you," he said with a broad grin on his face.

Laura wondered who could be calling her here. Her mother was the only one who had the telephone number of the school in case of an emergency. It could not be any kind of emergency because Ralph looked so smug and pleased with himself.

"Hi Laura, its Wake."

"Oh," was all she could muster.

"I guess you know what happened. I didn't have a chance to talk to you before I left. The guys dropping off that water tank for the gym were leaving for Rankin and they offered me a ride. I just grabbed a few things and got on the plane. I couldn't afford to miss the chance to get home to my dad. I phoned Marian and asked her to let you know where I had gone. I had no way of contacting you at your place," he explained.

"How is your dad?" she did not want to get into the Marian thing.

"He is better than I expected, considering how ill he is. I am meeting with his doctors tomorrow. I'll know more then," he sounded tired.

"I hope you get good news," she said lamely.

"I know we won't get good news, but they will probably be able to tell us about how long the old man's got."

"I'm so sorry Wake," she really was. "Is there anything I can do at this end for you?"

"Yes there is. There will be quite a bit of mail arriving for me at Whale Cove. Would you please make sure it is forwarded to me? I have given the post mistress my forwarding address, but she may let it sit there for a while. You know how she is. If you could pop over there after the mail is delivered and remind her that I waiting for some special mail, she might send things to me right away. I hope you don't mind, but you seemed the most reliable person to make sure it happens. You know that Ralph is very absent minded and Marion is coming down here for a conference next week."

Some conference Laura thought.

"It will only be for a couple of weeks I suspect because I have already notified the head postal station here to reroute my mail, but there will probably things they miss and some of it will be important. I am waiting for contracts for some of the young guys up there. They are depending on me, so I would hate to lose that mail."

"Yes I will be glad to do that. It is the least I can do," she said.

"How are you? Still managing to hang in with those students?" Wake said. "I have no idea how long it will be before I get back. Perhaps I can call you when I have more information. Would that be O.K?"

"Yes of course, that would be O.K. If there is anything I can do, please call me," Laura answered.

After she hung up, Laura thought of all the things that she could have said. She had hoped that it was a personal call. She hoped that Wake had called her because he needed someone to talk to, but that was not what it was. She would check the post office for his mail and make sure that it was forwarded to him.

Wake put down the telephone. It had been good to hear Laura's voice. He hadn't said what he wanted to say. In fact he wasn't sure what he wanted to say except that when things settled down here, he wanted them to talk about the future. Perhaps even make long term plans for their life together. His plans with Laura would have to be put on the back burner. There was no point in thinking about all of this now; there were too many other urgent issues for him to deal with. His parents had to come first right now.

The last time Wake had spoken with his father on the video screen at the nursing station, he had been shocked to see how ill the old man looked. Wake was aware that his dad's health was deteriorating. He had not looked well the week before, but on that last Tuesday, he had looked very ill. Wake was not surprised, when on Friday, he got a call to say that his father had collapsed. He was relieved to be able to hitch a ride with those contractors and catch the late Friday plane out of Rankin Inlet.

"Hi Mom, how are you holding up?" Nora was standing at the front of the crowd, waiting for the passengers coming off the plane.

"I'm glad you came," she reached up and gave him a hug. He leaned over so that he could kiss the side of her face. He was always surprised that she was so much shorter than he was.

"How is dad?" he asked.

"Well he seems to be a bit better now that he is in the hospital. The doctors don't tell us very much. When I asked the doctor how long your dad has, he just quoted statistics."

"What do you mean?" Wake asked.

"He said that statistically, fifty percent of the people in your dad's condition will still be alive in six months," she said.

"So they have no way of telling? How is he doing emotionally?" Wake asked.

"He seems to be fine with everything," his mom said.

When their conversation paused, Wake became aware of the noise. "You know you did not have to come to the airport in this terrible traffic. I could have found my way to the hospital," he told his mom.

"Now William, you know I had to come to the airport, and when did I ever complain about the traffic?" she said.

"Mom"

"And when did you decide to start looking after me? I am very capable of looking after of myself, thank you," Nora said.

"Mom, I just thought you might have enough on your mind right now," he explained. He knew he shouldn't have mentioned her not meeting him. She always came to the airport and he was always glad to see her. They had always been very close and enjoyed spending time together. Unintentionally, he had inferred that she was not as able as she once was.

His mom hated that. Getting old was not something she wanted to acknowledge. She was getting old though. She looked much older than when Wake had seen her a few months ago. She was probably very tired. He put his arm around her shoulder and led her to the exit.

"I don't have any other luggage, so we can leave. Would it be O.K. if I drive the car?" he asked. She got that look on her face again.

"I miss driving and I haven't driven a decent car since I left here at Christmas." he explained.

His mother was relieved. She had not had much sleep the past few nights and she was very tired. The traffic to the airport had rattled her nerves somewhat.

"Yes, why not. I am pretty tired and my concentration is not good. I haven't had much sleep since your dad..." she started to cry softly.

"It's going to be O.K. Mom," he said. He knew it wouldn't be O.K, but he never knew what to do when his mom cried. As he drove along, he patted her hand from time to time as if to reassure her that she had his support. It made him feel better too.

"How long have you got off work?' his mother asked.

"I am on indefinite leave. I can stay as long as you need me to," he answered.

She smiled up at him tearfully, "Thanks Will, it is good to have you home."

Wake could see that his dad was very ill. He was glad he had come home. This was going to be so hard for his mom. Bill was pleased that Wake had come home too.

"It's good to see you Will," his dad said to his namesake. They still called him William at home. The name Wake had been coined to distinguish him from the many other Williams and Bills in his dorm at university. Wake had liked the feel of that name and so he had adopted it. When he leaned over and gave his dad a hug, he was shocked at how frail the old man felt.

"Mom said you were feeling better. How are you doing really?" He prompted his dad to talk about his illness. They had always had a good relationship

"Really, I know that I won't get better. I wish I could convince your mother that there is no use me spending any more time in this hospital. They can't do any more for me. I just want to go home for the last few weeks, I think that's about all I have," he went on.

"O.K. dad, we'll do that, we'll take you home," Wake said.

"I don't want either of you to worry about me so much. I have had a very long and good life. Full of surprises. You were a surprise; I was fifty four when we had you. Never thought it would happen; getting married and having a son. I was already a crotchety old bachelor when I met your mom. I could never figure out what a beautiful young woman could see in me. I've been very happy; and that's more than many people can say. I'm sorry to leave your mom alone though. Financially she will be fine; I've made sure of that. She will be pretty lonely for a while, but she is still young. After I have gone, I want her to get on with her life. Do some travelling perhaps."

"It's a bit soon to talk like this dad. You could live a lot longer," Wake rationalized.

"No, it is my time and I have no regrets," he smiled wistfully. "I've had everything a man could want in a life."

Wake was amazed at how calmly his dad said all this. His dad had always had a strong faith and although he never said "The Good Lord is waiting for me." Wake was sure that his dad felt that it was so.

"I'll do my best to help Mom," Wake promised.

"I know that son," He touched Wake's hand.

"O.K. so let's get you home," Wake knew that it would not be easy to convince his mom. She still had vague hopes that Bill would get better. Taking him home would be an admission that he would not.

Nora went to the grocery store. She would need real food now that Wake was home. She had been eating very little except for the awful hospital cafeteria food. She bought some of Bill's favorites too. In her heart, she knew that he would not stay in the hospital much longer. She wanted him home too, but she did not want to face what that would mean. She loved Bill so much, and she would do what he wanted.

"Hi Mrs. Wakefield, you're late today," the nurse at the desk remarked.

"My son is with Bill. I thought I would do some errands while they got a chance to chat," she said.

"Good idea, you must need a break, you are here so much," the nurse smiled

Nora went over and kissed Bill. "How are you Love?"

"Great, I am going home today, as soon as I have seen the doctor," he said.

"Bill, are you sure?"

"Nora, we have to face it, it's time for me to come home." She looked at Wake. "Will agrees with me," his dad said.

"You two have always ganged up on me," Nora said trying to smile. "I guess I have no choice." She was glad he had made the decision to come home. She wanted him to be happy for the time he had left. She was also glad that the three of them could spend this precious time together.

They had a small private funeral for Bill as he had planned. Bill's brother and his wife came from Oregon and a few close friends came to offer Nora some support.

Nora thought that she was prepared to lose Bill, but she wasn't. She was devastated. Wake busied himself with the financial arrangements that Bill had put in place, and gave his mom the space that he knew she needed.

"It's time you went back to work Will," Nora said at breakfast, "I should be O.K. now."

"But is only been a few days, Mom," Wake replied.

"I know, but you've been here six weeks and you do have a job to get back to. If I am going to spend my life alone, I had better get used to it. The sooner I start managing by myself, the better," his mom said.

Wake knew she meant it, but he wondered if he was ready to leave her. "I don't know if I am ready to go back yet," he said.

"You understand, don't you Will? I have to find out how it is going to be," she asked him.

"Yes I do Mom "he said. He had always been surprised by how strong his mother was. He knew that her heart was aching and she was going to deal her loss in her own way. He put his arms around her. She hugged him tightly.

"You know mom, I am not ready to go back yet. I need a bit more time with you. I would like us to spend another week together, just talking things out, you know."

"I know Love, I forget that this is hard on you too," she said. "It will be good for us to spend some time together," Nora could see the pain in his face.

He had already made the coffee, when she came downstairs the next morning,

"I am going to sell the house. Your dad said he wanted me to get on with my life and I will. I don't need this big place, full of memories. I need to start afresh, perhaps a small apartment in town," she explained. Her feistiness was coming back.

"That is a pretty big decision to make so soon. Are you sure you don't want to put that off for a while?" he asked.

"Until I am not so upset, you mean?" she said.

"Not really, but it is pretty soon to make a big decision like that isn't it?" Wake said. He was not sure how to put it, but he was afraid that she might regret selling the house after his dad had been gone for a while.

"I thought about this many times before your father died. Financially, it makes no sense to keep the house and I wouldn't be able to keep the place up properly. An apartment in town would be the right place for me now that I am alone. I am going to call an agent in today and get the house on the market," she said.

"What can I do to help?" Wake asked.

"You can go through the house with me and help me sort things out. I won't need all this furniture. Decide what you would like to have and you can put in storage until you come back south to live," she said. Wake knew that there was no talking her out of this.

"You can help me look for an apartment too if you don't mind. If we get on with it, we could have this all done by the time you have to go back."

"Where do you want me to get started?" Wake asked his mom.

Nora went over and gave Wake a kiss on the forehead and said." You're a good boy Will."

He smiled to himself. His mom had been doing that same thing to him for as long as he could remember.

Chapter 14

The week had been very disturbing for Wake. He felt as if his whole life had disappeared in a blink of an eye. His father had died, his mother was changing her lifestyle and his family home was gone forever. All of this had happened in a couple of weeks. He would no longer be able to stay in his old room when he came back to visit, he would sleep in the spare room of his mother's new condo. Although he had left home ten years ago and had his own home now, there was still part of him that did not want to let go of what this home had meant to him.

The house had only been on the market for three days, when an acceptable offer came in .His mom had found a new condo in town that she could move into right away and she had agreed to be out of the house within three weeks. She was convinced that she had made the right decision.

"It was meant to be, Will, or it would not have gone so smoothly," his mother assured him.

Wake agreed with her. It had happened very smoothly and so perhaps it was meant to be. Never the less, Wake felt a great sense of loss, everything was changing. He insisted on staying yet another week, so that he could clear out the house and help his mother with her move to the condo.

When Nora took Wake to the airport he was having second thoughts about getting on the plane. He was reluctant to leave his mom. She would be living alone for the first time since she married his dad. He worried about her being lonely.

"Mom are your sure you will be alright living alone?" he asked

"Yes, of course," she replied.

"You know I could find work down here and get a place to live close by. The guy who bought dad's business gave me a standing offer of a job anytime I wanted it," he said.

"Please stop fussing over me Will, I have lived in this town all my married life and I have lots of friends. Getting settled in the new place will keep me busy for a while. Besides you have your own life and I have to get on with mine".

"You have my phone number. Please call me. I can get here in a couple of days if you need me to," Wake said.

"Will, give me a hug and get going before we both start crying," Nora said.

"I love you Mom." Wake said with tears already welling in his eyes.

"I love you too Will, please be careful up there," Nora said with tears running down her face.

Wake gave his mom another quick hug, picked up his bags and hurried into the airport.

Wake had only contacted Laura twice since he had been home. He had called her the second time to tell her that that his father had died and that be would be staying with his mother as long as she needed him. The conversation had been very formal.

While he was packing to go back to Whale Cove, he was suddenly aware of how much he wanted to see Laura again. He had thought about her so many times, but he had pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind. He did not know exactly what was going on between them and he could not attempt to sort it out while there were so many things happening at home. He thought that their relationship could only be nurtured by them meeting face to face. Besides that, he had not wanted anything to distract him. He had wanted to focus on his dad for the short time he would be with him, He wanted, too, to be fully present for his mom. She needed that. Perhaps he did too.

He had not been able to sleep on the last light thinking about Laura. He looked at the clock behind the check-in counter. "The school should be open by now," he thought, "I will give her a call to let her know I am on my way back."

"Hi Wake. I heard the bad news. How are you doing?" It was Ralph.

"I am on my way to Whale Cove. I am at the airport in Winnipeg, in fact. I should be there by tomorrow," he explained

After a bit more small talk, Wake asked to speak to Laura.

"Oh, she's gone," Ralph said. "Her contract was over. If we can get the funding, she may come back in September, but you know how that is."

"Do you know where she is? "Wake asked.

"Afraid not, somewhere on the coast I think," Ralph said.

"Does anyone have a forwarding address?" Wake asked.

"I don't know. Maybe they do at the college," Ralph replied.

"I will see you tomorrow," Wake said. He was shocked to hear that Laura was gone. He hoped that she had left him a message to say where he could reach her. .

A week earlier, Laura had been curled up in the big armchair, thinking about the job she had applied for in Vancouver. The teaching job at the college would not start until August, so if she got it, she would have time to visit her mother in Ontario and go to England to see her sister and the new niece that was almost three months old.

Laura and her sister Alice had always been very close and they missed each other terribly. The publishing company that Alice and her husband worked for had opened a new office in London and they had sent both of them there to get it up and running. They expected to be in London for at least two years.

Baby Julia had been born while Laura was in the Arctic and so this visit would be the first opportunity for Laura to hold the little girl. The proud parents had e-mailed tons of pictures that made Laura even more anxious to see Julia in person. She was also anxious to see Alice in her new role as a mother.

Laura looked at the pictures of the baby. "She is so beautiful," Laura thought, "I wonder if I will ever have a child."

She doubted that she would. She had tried to persuade Paul to have a child, but he had put her off while they were travelling and then when he was sick he did not want to leave Laura with the responsibility of raising a child by herself.

"You were right, Paul. Look where I am now. What would a child do here?"

She thought of Wake. "What would their child have looked like? "She wondered. "Damn you Wake," she said. "You stirred up my feelings, and now you're gone too."

She had talked to Marian about Wake once she heard that his afternoon visits to the nursing station were to talk to his father. She had been very direct.

"Are you and Wake an item?" she had asked Marian.

"That's none of your business," Marian had replied.

"Well it is really, because I like Wake. He has been very kind to me. He got into the habit of dropping in for a few minutes almost every day to see if I needed anything. He brought me groceries back from Winnipeg," Laura said.

"Did he bring you those flowers too?" Marian asked.

"Yes he did, as a matter of fact."

"Well, lucky you," Marian sounded sarcastic.

"Come on Marian, I am leaving soon. I just want to know that's all."

"Why" Marian was not cooperating.

"Because he has been flirting with me and I wondered if he was just a jerk. He seems like a genuine kind of guy, but if he is in a relationship with you and coming onto me then he is a jerk," She realized that she had probably said too much.

"Well not exactly coming on to me. Perhaps I was imagining it," she tried to recover. "It doesn't matter now anyway. I just did not want to leave with the wrong impression."

"No, we are not an item, I should wish," Marian said. She would not have been this honest with Laura if Laura had been staying in the community. Marian always hoped that she may have a chance with Wake when he came back.

"It's not that I haven't tried, but he doesn't seem to notice me. I might as well be Ralph." Marian said.

'That is a shame," Laura really meant it. She could empathize with Marian. She had been in turmoil about her feelings for Wake too.

"What a mess for both of us," Laura said.

"I kept my distance from him, even though I did not want to, because I really thought that you and Wake were in a relationship and that Wake was a two-timing jerk. He didn't seem to be that kind of a person. Now that I know the truth, it's too late. He has gone and if he ever comes back, I will have left the community." Laura went on.

"I wish you had asked me earlier or at least asked Wake," Marian said.

"Well it was too personal. It was awkward. I am relieved in a way, because after losing Paul, I feel very vulnerable and it is probably not the best time to get involved with anyone. I was so hurt when Paul died. I felt that I would never want to fall in love again. It is too painful," Laura explained.

"I know, I felt like that for a long time after my husband died," Marian confided. "Unfortunately, after a long time, I may have fallen in love again, but rather pointlessly with Wake."

"Oh Marian, I am sorry,." Laura put her arms around Marian. Marian stiffened, unused to being hugged. "I'll get over it," she said.

It was the first time that Marian had verbalized her feelings for Wake and admitted to herself that he had no feelings for her and he probably never would.

"I wonder how Wake feels about me," Laura said. She did not realize that she was saying it aloud.

"It would be hard to tell how Wake feels. He is a pretty private person. We have both lived here and been friends for years and yet has never talked to me about his life. The only things I know about him is what other people have told me," Marian said. "He does not seem to have any close friends. He is really great with the kids. He has done so much for the youth of these communities; getting gyms built and coaching hockey teams, but he does not seem to be very close to anyone,." Marian said, "He must get lonely too."

"What do you know about him Marian," Laura asked directly, "Now I am intrigued."

"Well I know that he was married once," Marian responded.

"What happened, does he have any children?"

"I don't know the details, but I think that his wife had some kind of psychological problems and could not handle the winters here. She used to go back south during the winter and they drifted apart. Someone said that she found another guy in the south. I heard that Wake almost had a breakdown when she left him," Marian told her.

"He must have really loved her then," Laura said.

"I suppose so," Marian agreed.

"Did they have any children?" Laura asked again.

"That was another thing. I heard that Wake wanted children, but she didn't," Marion replied.

"Maybe that is why he enjoys working with the young people so much," Laura concluded.

"Maybe" Marion said.

Laura now had a much better understanding of Wake. He had obviously been very hurt too and was just as frightened of getting hurt again as she was. That was probably why she had not heard from him. He had regretted letting himself go. He had regretted making love to her. If just like her, Wake had loved very deeply and been badly hurt by the loss of his wife, then just like her, he would be really scared of it happening again.

The lovemaking had caught them both by surprise. Up to now, Laura had put love and sex out of her mind.. She had wanted to get on with her life alone and not clutter it with another person right now.

"I am putting my hormones up on a shelf. I have too much to do to get sidetracked," she had told her sister.

Alice had laughed at her. "With your looks they won't be up there very long. You know what they say, the best laid plans...."

Alice had been right. The hormones had not stayed where she had put them. This whole thing had been a lapse in good judgment. Wakes arousal had aroused her too. If she had not thought that he was cheating on Marian, she would have probably taken him back to her bed, prepared this time, and got the hormone thing out of the way.

Well it was too late now.

Chapter 15

Laura was packing her suitcases ready to go back to Vancouver. Her term was over and she had no choice but to leave. If she had a choice she may have chosen to stay. She wasn't sure. The school board had been pleased with her work and wanted her to come back in the fall, if they could get another program funded. She had thanked them, but could not make any promises because she did not know what would be happening in her life at that time. Her ultimate goal was to get a full time job in Vancouver, but if that did not happen she would consider coming back to the village.

She had thought about calling Wake to tell him that she was leaving, but she decided against it. She had only heard from him twice. The first time was about his mail forwarding and the second time was to tell her that his father had died and he did not know when he would be coming back to Whale Cove. At that time, she had wondered if he had called her instead of Ralph because he thought that she would be the more reliable one to pass on the information, just as he had chosen her to keep track of his mail. She had hoped that he had called her so that she could provide some comfort for him, but it did not turn out that way. She had felt awkward and did not know how to respond except to express her sympathy for the pain he and his family must be going through. She assumed that he would get comforting words from Marian. It seemed inappropriate for her to remind him that she would be leaving the village soon.

She wondered if he would care anyway. She assumed that once he was out of the Arctic, and living his old life again, the attachments he made in Whale Cove would fade quickly. She hoped fervently that would happen to her. She had fallen in love with this place and was reluctant to leave. Living here had given her whole new perspective on what civilization really was. This was a truly civilized culture.

Her students had been so kind to her and the community had made her welcome. The place was so peaceful and she had learned to slow down and just enjoy being. Her life had been hectic and stressful for the past few years. She had cared lovingly for Paul, but sometimes the responsibility had overwhelmed her. In this place she felt free. She had learned to appreciate the life she had here.

She had been here at the worst time of the year when the weather was at its coldest and the days were the shortest. She knew that if she loved it at its worst, then she would love it more at its best. With Wake by her side she would be truly happy here. They both had a strong commitment to help the young people in the community. Working together they could achieve so much. They would have a fulfilling and happy married life, perhaps even have children.

Laura shook herself out of her fantasy. "Grow up woman, it's all over now," she said. "It was just a stupid infatuations brought on by loneliness and isolation. Not only was he the only man available, but he is quite gorgeous. No woman would have been able to resist that," she said.

The students had asked Laura about a ceremony to celebrate them all completing the course. With Nancy's help Laura had put on a scaled down version of a graduation ceremony in the community hall. Everyone in the community attended. Each student had been given a certificate of completion for their one term course. They had all dressed up in their best traditional clothes to accept their certificates. The elders had made speeches. Laura was thanked by the dignitaries and been given gifts by her students. After the ceremony, there had been a community feast of bannock and caribou stew. The students had honored Laura by serving her right after the elders had been served. It had been a wonderful evening.

Laura had spent the day saying goodbye to the people in the community. She spent a pleasant hour with the priest and left with a commitment to send him some good Belgium chocolate. She went to the post office to say goodbye to the post mistress and left her forwarding address. Marian had already left for another conference. Laura had not given Marian her forwarding address, because they each knew that their friendship had been temporary. There would be no reason for them to keep in contact with each other.

She had already said goodbye to her students and was almost ready to go. She carefully stowed the gifts that they had given her in the middle of her suitcase. They were wrapped in her sweaters so that they would not get broken. She would treasure these small carvings even though some of them were quite primitive. Each one reflected the personality of the student who had carved it.

Laura dragged her suit cases outside and left them beside the door ready for the taxi driver to pick them up. She took a last look around her little house absorbing the good things that had happened there to make sure that she was taking the memories with her. Each thing she touched reminded her of her connection to the place. She gathered the food from the cupboards, placed them in a box and headed for Ralph's house.

Nervous as usual Ralph said "Come in. Come in." as she passed him to leave the box on the kitchen counter..

"I am taking the plane out this morning. I came to say goodbye and to thank you for all you have done for me, "Laura said.

Ralph was unusually quiet and looked quite sad. Laura wanted to put her arms around him, but she thought that it would make him uncomfortable.

"You have been such a good friend. I couldn't have managed without your help," she told him.

"I am sorry to see you go, I really enjoyed you being here,." Ralph said.

"I may see you here in September. They may continue the program and ask me back to teach again, "she said.

"I won't be here in September," Ralph said sadly.

"Why ever not?' Laura said without thinking.

"I am being transferred out of here," Ralph replied.

"Where did you ask to be transferred?" she asked.

"I didn't ask, I was told. The powers that be think I would be better off as a teacher than a teaching principal like I am now. I have been here for four years and they think it's time for me to have a change," he went on. "They are right, you know, I find it more difficult each year to deal with the Education Council and to keep up with all the administrative duties. I get bogged down, you know. I have too much responsibility. It will be good for me just to teach and be in a bigger school with other teachers. My life will be easier."

"That's great if that is what you want," Laura said.

"I didn't like the idea at first, but I must admit I have been getting a bit squirrelly with the isolation of this place. My family at home noticed it last summer. My mother worries about me. She thinks I should move back to Manitoba, find myself a nice young woman and start a family," he said. "You know what mothers are like?"

"Only too well," Laura was reminded how controlling her mother could be.

"You haven't told me where you are going next fall," Laura said.

"I am going to Arviat. They have the largest population of all the communities. I will be teaching grade eight. All the teachers are female and they need a man to teach that level. So that is where they are sending me," he said.

"That sounds great Ralph. Perhaps you will find that nice young woman and make your mother happy," she laughed

"I don't think so, but it will be nice to mix with younger people again," he seemed to be cheered by the thought.

Laura hoped that he would be tough enough to handle grade eight boys but nevertheless she was glad that he was moving to this new job. When she has first seen his office, she had suspected that the job was too much for him. She had noticed too how the village counsel walked all over him. And of course, she had always noticed how nervous he was. Perhaps squirrelly was a good word to describe him.

"Perhaps I will see you there. One never knows where one's life is going to go," Laura said.

The door opened. "Taxi," Sam called, "Got your bags from the Nun's house."

"How did you know where I was." she asked and then started to laugh. Everyone in Whale Cove knew where everyone was at all times. "Thanks. Sam," she said.

"Goodbye Ralph. I will miss you. Thanks for everything," Laura said.

To her surprise Ralph put his arms around her and gave her a hug. She could feel the tears in her eyes and could see that Ralph was a bit teary too.

"Goodbye Laura,." he said." It won't be the same here without you. I hope I do see you again."

"I am ready to leave now Sam" Laura said and she realized that she really was.

Her life here was over.

Chapter 16

The journey home had taken two days. Laura had to lay over in Winnipeg the first night and had taken an early flight the next morning to Vancouver. The taxi driver had been rude, Winnipeg had been noisy and her hotel had been seedy. The morning flight to Vancouver had been crowded with business travelers. She had been put in center seat, squashed between two large men with glowing laptops. By the time the Laura reached Vancouver, her legs were cramped and her eyes ached.

The sun was shining in Vancouver and the taxi ride from the airport turned out to be the best part of her trip. She rested her head back feeling the warm sun on her face she relaxed and began to doze off. The taxi stopped with a jolt. She was home. The daffodils and irises were in bloom in the front of her apartment. The convenience store across the street had a brilliant array of spring flowers displayed on the sidewalk in front of the door. Yes, this was the Vancouver that she loved. It was an incredible contrast to the place that she had left only two days ago.

Laura looked around her apartment. She felt that she was seeing it for the first time. She could not determine what was different about it, but there was something. It was not the warm familiar place that she had left a few months ago. It didn't feel like her home at all.

She looked around her apartment, trying to reconnect with it. There was an odd smell, many odd smells, in the place "That is what it is. It smells of the person who had rented it. That's why it feels odd," she thought. She opened the windows, hoping to expel the aura of the renter. The traffic screamed beneath the window. She flinched at the noise.

"I am just tired," she thought. "The traffic won't bother me after I get some rest."

The renter had left a bowl of spring flowers on the windowsill in the kitchen. It reminded Laura of the one that Wake had brought her from Winnipeg. It reminded her of the way he had kissed her and she had kissed him back. She relived that kiss, feeling Wake's lips on hers once again. She savored the experience. She shook herself as if she were shaking sand off her skin.

"O.K. Laura, that's enough. That part of your life is well and truly over," Her life was going to be normal now. She was back in her apartment in Vancouver with all the amenities of the city. Her almost surreal experience in the Far North was behind her. She could put it all away. She was confident that before long she would have a job in Vancouver and the Whale Cove episode would fade in her memory

The phone rang. It was her mother. "Welcome home dear. How was your flight?"

"The trip wasn't too bad. I am terribly tired though. It took me two days to get here. I just got home about half an hour ago. All I can think about is getting a hot bath and a decent night's sleep in my own bed," she said.

"How did it really go up there, anyway?" her mother asked.

"It went fine, Mom, I will tell you about it some other time. I told you all about it in my letters, anyway," Laura said.

Laura was pleased to hear from her mother, but she did not want to be bombarded with questions about the past few months. She wanted to forget it all.

"How are things going with you? From your letters things seemed to be going well. How are you really?" Laura asked. That was usually her mother's line. Laura was feeling a bit mean spirited towards her mother.

"Things are going well," her mother answered catching the sarcasm, "I think you should go and take that hot bath, it will help you relax. Give me a call soon when you are feeling up to it."

"I'll call you tomorrow Mom. It was good to hear your voice," Laura felt guilty for her mean behavior, but relieved that it had ended the conversation.

The hot bath felt so good. It was her first one since she had left Vancouver. Her nightly showers at the school had worked, but soaking in a bath filled with bubbles was far more relaxing. She dozed in the bath thinking of nothing except the sensation of the warm water on her body. She had placed her nightgown on the heating duct and it too felt warm and comforting against her skin when she put it on. Drowsily, she curled up in bed. It was getting dark and it had started to rain.

She lay there listening to the rain beating on her windows. She got up and looked out. The rain was lashing the small trees on the boulevard. The twilight made the scene grey and miserable. The street lights were standing in lonely vigil. Suddenly the comfort she had felt left her and she was bereft. Tears filled her eyes and she sobbed uncontrollably.

"Oh Paul, I miss you so much. I would give anything to have you here with me. I know you are always here, but I want to see you. I want to hold you and make love with you. Why did you get taken away from me?" She waited for his response, waited to feel his presence beside her. He was not there. She took Paul's ski sweater out of the drawer to bring him close to her. .

"Oh my God " she said, when she realized that it was exactly like the one Wake had worn the night he had caught her when she tripped with the tray of china. She wanted to nestle her face in the sweater for comfort, but she couldn't. She felt confused. She had lost both of the men she loved. She lay there thinking about them both. They seemed to intermingle as she drifted into sleep.

ClANG, CLANG, beep, beep beep. CLANG

Laura woke up with a start. "What was that?" she thought. It wasn't even morning yet

The clangs and beeps continued. "Oh it's the street cleaners," she said aloud to herself. She had forgotten how noisy the city was. She did not remember being awakened by this noise before she left. In Whale Cove it had been completely silent when she woke up. It had been scary at first, as if she was the only person left on earth. She had actually thought that once. After a few days she began to enjoy the silence and the tranquility that it brought with it.

She thought of Wake. She wondered where he was. Was he still with his mother somewhere in Manitoba or was he making his way back to Whale Cove? She had not had to handle his mail directly, and so she had no idea where his family lived in Winnipeg. The postmistress had been very efficient forwarding his mail on to him. Laura had asked if she could have Wake's address, but was told that the post office could not give out that out personal information. Marion had already left and Ralph did not seem to know anything either. She left her own forwarding address at the post office and her phone number with Ralph, perhaps hoping that Wake might ask about her.She fell back to sleep thinking only of Wake this time.

When she woke up again, it was quite late in the morning. It was still raining. She got dressed quickly and went out for breakfast to her usual coffee shop. On her way back she checked her mail box. Her mail had been forwarded to Whale Cove, until a week before she planned to be back home, so she expected her mail box to be quite full. There was lots of junk mail and one letter. The letter was from the college that she had been interviewed by before she left Vancouver and had been turned down. The letter said that there was another position opening in September and that they were offering her the job if she was still interested. She was to call before Friday. It was Thursday today.

She ran back up to her apartment and called the personnel manager at the college and accepted the job.

"What a relief," she thought. She could relax for the summer and know that she would be working until Christmas at least. There was a good chance that they would renew her contract in January. All she needed was a foot in the door.

She called her mother." I just got a letter offering me a job at the college in September. I called them to say I would take it. I have to go over there tomorrow to sign the contract."

"That is wonderful," her mom said. "It's too bad that you did not get it earlier and you wouldn't have had to go to that terrible place this winter."

"It isn't a terrible place, Mom. It is quite wonderful. I fell in love with it. I wouldn't mind living there permanently."

"I know you love those odd places, but you would be better off staying in Vancouver. I worried so much when you and Paul lived in those weird countries. I was afraid that you would get some terrible disease or be killed in an uprising or something. Look what happened to Paul, the same thing could have happened to you. You have no idea how worried I was when you took off to the Arctic by yourself. You take too many risks. I wondered if I would ever see you again".

"You worry too much. The world is not as weird as you think it is," Laura assured her.

Her mother went on, "Why can't you be more like your sister and lead a normal life?"

"My sister moved to England," Laura countered. She hated having this conversation with her mother. She had heard most of it before, many times in fact.

"Well that's not such a strange place. At least they speak our language."

"That reminds me, I want to come to Ontario very soon, to see you. I plan to go to England to see Alice and the new baby and I wondered if you wanted to come with me," Laura asked.

"Yes that would be lovely when are you coming here? I'll book our flights for England," her mother responded.

"I guess we should talk to Alice before we make arrangements," Laura said. "Can I call you back in a couple of days Mom?"

"Yes but you still haven't talked about your adventure in the Arctic" her mother reminded her.

"We will have lots of time to talk about that when I come to see you," Laura told her.

She hoped that she would not feel as upset then as she did now.

Thinking about the conversation with her mother made Laura realize that it was time for her to make new friends and get on with her life. She would take some classes and perhaps join a ski club; she couldn't mope around her apartment and do nothing but work. For now she would focus on planning a trip to Ontario and England and put off any future plans until she got back.

Her mother met her yet at the airport in Toronto. They were glad to see each other. Although it had only been a few months since Laura had seen her mother, she was particularly grateful to have her mom's arms wrapped around her.

"I missed you Mom." she said trying to hold back the tears. "It is still awful for not having Paul with me."

"I know, losing Paul must be so hard on you. When you dad died, I just wanted to die too. It gets better with time." Her mother held her tightly. "You're young you'll find someone else."

"Please don't say that Mom you didn't find anyone," Laura said.

"No, I didn't have time. I had my career and my two young women to get through college and by then I was too used to being alone, I couldn't adjust to another person."

"Tom is still around isn't he?" Laura asked.

"Yes, he is but we are only good friends. We each have our own place and that works for both of us."

Laura settled into the room she used to share with Alice in her mom's small house. The next two days they spent shopping for Julia and for some items that Alice had asked them to bring that she couldn't get in England. Laura it didn't look forward to another long plane journey, but she was really anxious to see Alice and Julia.

Alice looked radiant. Philip, her husband had the smile of a proud father as he held Julia in his arms. He looked like a man who had everything. Julia slept peacefully. They were a picture-perfect family.

Laura was so happy for Alice, but deep down, she felt a pang of envy. Her youngest sister had everything that Laura wanted: a loving husband and a beautiful child. Suddenly Laura was overcome with loneliness. She longed for a life like Alice had.

As soon as they got back to Alice's house Ruth took over the baby. Alice was glad to give Julia to grandma, it gave her the break she had needed for the past few weeks. It also gave her a chance to spend some time alone with Laura. Alice followed Laura into the bedroom and sat down on the bed while Laura unpacked.

"How was your time in Whale Cove?" Alice asked. "Did you meet any gorgeous bush pilots?"

Laura laughed. "It's above the tree line, no bush pilots."

"I know you, I bet you did meet someone, didn't you" Alice said.

"Well, I did meet someone and he is a pilot. I will tell you about it if you promise not to say anything to Mom," Laura said.

"I won't tell her. How many things did we both keep secret from Mom? We both know what she's like. She has always been overprotective but, you know, she had a lot of responsibility raising us on her own. I didn't understand that until I had a daughter my own."

Laura told Alice everything about her involvement with Wake.

"My God! A pilot, a social worker, and a great body. Why did you let him get away?" Alice asked.

"If I had known the whole story, I probably would've held onto him," Laura said.

"Anyway, it's too late now I have a new job in Vancouver and I will get on with my life. Besides, I still love Paul and this whole thing made me feel I'm unfaithful to him," Laura said.

"Laura, Paul is dead. Do you think he would have wanted you to become a nun? You have to let him go and make room for someone else. I am not saying that you should stop loving him, but you know he would want you to be happy and be loved again I think you are just using him as an excuse, because you are too scared to take a chance with anyone else," Alice said.

Laura was shocked at what Alice had said to her. Alice had always been able to see through her so perhaps she was right. But what she said hurt Laura all the same.

Alice moved to Laura's side and put her arm around her. "I know what I said was pretty cruel and maybe I'm wrong but I love you, Sis, and I don't want you to see you shutting yourself off from love because you were hurt once."

"What can I do now; about Wake I mean," Laura asked.

"I'm sure you'll figure that out, "Alice said. "Now let's get on with your vacation, you can to worry about Wake when you get home. There is so much to do in London you'll run out of time. What should we do today? The Tate, the Tower, Buckingham Palace? I'll get Julia ready and we can get going. Being a mother is not all it's cracked up to be, I'm not very good at it, 'Alice said.

"I don't believe that for a minute," Laura said.

"It's an awful lot of work, having a baby. I have to remember to bring so much stuff when we take Julia out.. I hope I won't embarrass you if I feed her in public. I'm usually very discreet. I was uncomfortable at first, but she cries so loudly when she's hungry that I had to get over that," Alice explained.

Laura and her mother had a wonderful vacation Alice showed them around her London. Ruth took charge of Julia, who seemed quite happy in her stroller. Laura helped Alice with Julia's bath time. After the first few times Laura got to bathe Julia by herself. She was scared at first but soon stopped worrying that she would drop the baby. When Laura held Julia, she experienced a feeling that she had never had before Julia's skin was so soft and when Laura took her out of the bath and wrapped her in the hooded baby towel, Julia nuzzled in to Laura's neck. Laura's heart swelled with love for this small person. She was now sure that this was what she wanted for herself.

Laura handed the baby to her mother to be fed. "Julia is so beautiful," Laura said with tears in her eyes. Alice gave Laura knowing look.

Both Laura and her mother were sad that their vacation was over. They tried not to cry when they said goodbye to Alice and Julia at the airport, but they did cry anyway.

"Alice seems so happy. I think Phil is probably a good husband, he is just crazy about the baby," her mother said, "it was hard to leave them. I look forward to them moving back to Ontario so that I can visit with my grandchildren. I expect they'll have at least one more child, what do you think?"

"Yes, mom I suppose they will," Laura was feeling very sad because she had to leave Alice and Julia behind, but also because she wanted a child of her own. Her mother had not said anything about Laura remarrying and having children. Laura was glad that it was left unsaid. She had thought a lot about what Alice had said about her using Paul as an excuse because she was scared. Deep down, she knew that Alice was right. But what could she do now.

The weeks passed and the memories of Whale Cove began to recede. Her job at the college was hectic and kept her occupied almost all of her waking hours. The preparation of her classes and the marking of papers left her little time to dwell on anything.

Her mother called as usual on Sunday evening, "Are you getting out at all?" she asked "It seems to me that you spend all your time working."

"It's just because I'm a new instructor, my workload will be less once I get into a routine," Laura said.

"Surely you don't need to work so hard. You need to get out and have some fun you'll never meet any one holed up in your apartment."

"Mom, please don't start that again. You would be upset if I tried to tell you how to live your life. How do you think that I feel when you do that to me?" Laura asked.

"I am just worried about you, thats all. Perhaps you can call me back, when you are not so tired," her mother said.

"I'll do that," Laura hung up.

Chapter 17

Laura felt badly that she had snapped at her mother. After all these years, her mother still tried to exert her control and Laura still resisted her. She wondered how old she would have to be before she learned not to respond to her mother that way and end up feeling guilty.

In an attempt to forget the incident, she turned on the television. The sports news was on and she decided to make herself some tea before the next program started. A familiar voice startled her. She turned around to see Wake on the screen. The camera moved away quickly. She had only got a fleeting glimpse, but she knew it was him; she couldn't mistake the sound of his voice.

"Thanks, Ray," the announcer said,"That was our correspondent Ray Feeny, reporting on the Arctic Games in Yellowknife."

Laura's heart pounded. She had been right, it had been Wake. He must have taken some young people from Whale Cove to compete in the games. She was shaking. Seeing him unnerved her completely.

It had been almost five months now since she left Whale Cove and she hadn't heard a word from him. She had felt such a strong contact between them, but she thought now that perhaps she had been mistaken. If there had really been a connection, he would have been in touch with her long before now.

"Oh Wake, why did I have to fall in love with you. I thought I was over you, but when I heard your voice and saw you, my feelings welled up again," she said.

Wake got off the plane in Whale Cove with a group of disappointed young men. Their hockey team hadn't done well in the competition Wake was disappointed too. He would have to work harder with them next year. On the whole, they had a good time. Most of them had never been out of the village and they had many new experiences. Wake could see that some of them had been afraid to fly, they had tried not to show it but he knew them all so well that he could tell which ones were afraid. They had marveled at the traffic and they had complained about the noise and the glare of the street lights shining in to their hotel room windows at night.

On the plane home they had talked about the great times they had, the other at athletes they had met and their television appearance. Wake had been pleased to take them to the games, they were a handful but it was worth it to see how much it meant to them. They were all so proud that their families and friends had seen them on the television.

His first stop in the village was the post office. "I brought the mail from the plane. Can you open it and see if there is anything for me," he asked the post mistress.

"Yes a few things," she handed him a bundle of mail

He quickly sorted through the bundle there were three letters from his mother. Two had been mailed several months ago and only one was current. There seemed to be no logic to the mail system. No one had been able to tell him where or how the mail got held up. His mom was funny, she wrote him every week even though he called her every Sunday night. She seemed to be coping well in her newly single state. She had made friends with her neighbors and was taking some film making courses at the local college this fall.

"Perhaps she was going to come up to the Arctic and make a documentary film about it," he thought. He wouldn't be surprised. She had sounded upbeat when he spoke to her on the phone but she may have been putting on a brave face so that Wake would not worry.. When he went home for Christmas, he would be able to tell how she was really doing.

He kept hoping that he would hear from Laura it had been more than seven months since he had seen her. He had written to her many times, but she had never replied. Each time he went to the post office he hoped he would find several letters from Laura that had been held up somewhere. He had tried to contact her by phone but she had an unlisted number. He wondered why she hadn't left the phone number with anyone in Whale Cove. He had even called the head office at the Education Department to ask for a number, but the clerk said that she couldn't give out employees' information. The only thing he had left now was to wait for Laura to reply to his letters; he had no choice. At least he knew where she lived; thanks to him winning the heart of the postmistress who gave him Laura's forwarding address.

He was about to give up on Laura, she could have at least called him. She knew that if she called Whale Cove, she would be able to reach him. He began to think that she did not intend to contact him again. Perhaps she had met someone else in Vancouver. It would be easy for her to get caught back up in our old life and have second thoughts about living in the Arctic. In his heart he knew that he and Laura were meant to be together in one way or another it would happen. It had to.

Laura called Alice after seeing Wake on the television and realizing how much she still felt for him.

"Al, what you think I should do now?" Laura asked. "He hasn't written or called me since I left. The last time I talked to him was when his father died and he just called to ask me to let everyone know that he wouldn't be back for a while. He knew I would be leaving before he got back, but he didn't ask for my address or anything."

"His father died, he probably wasn't thinking straight. Are you sure that there was a real connection between you two or was it lust? I expect that when people get lonely in those isolated places, they imagine all sorts of things," Alice said.

"There really was a connection and it was very strong," Laura answered "There was some lust involved though.

"If that is so, and you haven't heard from him then there must be some kind of communication problem. Did you give him your number in Vancouver?" Alice asked.

"No, but I gave Ralph my address and phone number and told him that he could give it to anyone in the village who wanted to contact me. Damn it, I was settling down nicely to my single life until I saw him for those few seconds on the television. I really screwed everything up didn't I?

"Yes you did. It isn't like you to play these kinds of games. The Laura I know would just have said what she thought and took the consequences. You always went after what you wanted. What happened to you Sis?"

"I don't know, Al, I guess I was really scared this time. This guy is an adventurous type, like Paul, and you know what happened to him. I loved Paul so much and...," Laura started to cry.

"I know, I know, I can't imagine how you must feel until I think of how I would be if I lost Phil. I wish I was there to give you a big hug. Okay now what can we do about all this? "Her sister moved from being sympathetic to being practical. "How can you unscrew it? Why can't you just call him?"

"I don't think I can after all this time, maybe he's just moved on. He may even have a girlfriend by now."

"You'll never know if you don't call," Al said. "Look Sis, you have to close this chapter of your life one way or another. You think you love this guy and you seem sure that he loves you. He hasn't contacted you even though you know he has access to your phone number. It took you several months to lay the experience to rest then you saw him on the television and off you go again. I think that if he was interested in you he would've called you by now. Call him and get it over with. I can't stand what you were doing to yourself. You need to put this to bed for good; excuse the pun," Alice laughed.

"If you are so sure that he isn't interested, why are you insisting that I call him?" Laura asked.

"Please Laura, just do it," Laura could hear Julia crying in the background and Alice said goodbye quickly.

Laura dialed the number the school at Whale Cove. A strange voice answered. She remembered that Ralph had moved to Arviat. She introduced herself to the new principal.

"I am pleased to hear from you," he said, "I have heard good things about your class last winter. We didn't get it this fall because of the changes at the school. The community was quite upset, particularly some of your students. Now the education committee is pushing for a permanent adult education center here so that they won't have to send the young people to high school in Rankin Inlet. It will take some time, but they are building a new nursing station and the old one is likely to be used as an adult education center. As you probably know the nursing station would be big enough for both classrooms and living quarters for the teacher; quite spacious, in fact. We are hoping that we can set up the building by the spring. Classes would start in the fall next year. The education committee suggested I call you to find out how you felt about coming back to run the center. Nothing is set up yet, but I'm compelled to follow it up and report back to them. It was such a coincidence for me to get this call because I was about to call head office to get your number. No one here seems to know your whereabouts at all. Someone speculated that you might be teaching abroad somewhere. Has anyone contacted you from the education committee? It is strange that you should call just today," he said.

"No, this is sheer coincidence. I was calling for the phone number for Wake Wakefield,

"Do you happen to have it handy?" she asked.

"No, I don't, but Marion should, she keeps track of everything in the village. Before you go, if you're interested in that position I mentioned, would you give me your number and e-mail address so that if he does come to fruition, I can let you know. I can e-mail the job description and the qualifications we need, but according to your job evaluation and the education council's enthusiasm, I would expect that the job would be available to you if you wanted it," he said.

"I am working in Vancouver at the moment" Laura said, "but one never knows what will happen. Send me an email when it becomes available, just in case." She gave him her email address at the college.

"Thank you. I will give Marion a call." she said. She called the number he had given her for the nursing station. "Hi Marian, it's Laura, how is everything going?"

Marian was surprised to hear Laura's voice. "Are you thinking about coming back next year?" she asked.

"I don't know at the moment I'm working in Vancouver now. The principal has offered the job, if I want it when it comes up," Laura answered.

"The council and all your students would be really happy if you could come back. I am sure that they are not the only ones that would love to see you coming back," Marion said.

"Well, it is almost a year away. I told the new principal that I would see how I felt then. How is the new principal? He seemed very formal."

"He is very formal. It is nice to have someone else other than me, who believes in social standards. He is treated with the respect he demands in this community. He is not a pushover like poor Ralph," Marion said.

"What's he like otherwise?" Laura asked with a laugh.

"He is older than Ralph; a bit older than me, I think. He is tall, a bit too heavy for my taste but quite nice looking. He is divorced with grown children, I hear. I haven't had enough time to find out any more about him yet," Marion answered.

"You seem to know quite a lot about him already," Laura said.

"I've seen a lot of them, come and go. I can't help wondering why he is here and what is he running away from," Marion said.

"Don't be so cynical Marion, he sounds perfect for you. You can't put him on diet pills and slim him down" Laura said.

Marian giggled, "Maybe I should try it. By the way, just in case you're interested, Wake is doing well. He has organized a hockey team for the kids. He takes them to other communities to play. He took some teenagers to the Arctic games. I don't see much of him now that he doesn't use my video equipment. What do you hear from him?"

"I don't hear anything. I haven't heard from him since I left?" she said

"That's odd, I must be mistaken. I thought Mrs. F. said that he wrote to you every couple weeks. She did say that she hasn't seen any letters coming from you from Ontario. We assumed that you phoned him instead of writing back." Marian told her.

"He wrote to me every couple of weeks? Is she sure?" Laura said.

"I would think so. You know how she keeps tabs on all of us, by watching our mail coming in and out. I think she keeps a secret list."

Laura's heart was pounding, she could hear it. "Do you have Wake's number?" she asked.

"Yes I do, but there would be no point in calling him, he's not here. He took off this morning without saying anything to anyone. I hope there is no emergency at home. You know, his mom is living by herself now? I hope nothing has happened to her." Marian said.

"Would you give me his number and I can at least leave a message for him," Laura asked. Her mind was racing. "How was Ralph by the way, have you talked to him lately?" she asked Marian.

"I talked to him just after he got to Arviat, but I haven't heard from him since. I have heard from my young niece, though. She got her a RN, and I got her a job at the nursing station in Arviat. She meets the new teacher's socially and she tells me that Ralph just loves his new job. The way she talks about him, it seems that he is really coming out of his shell. She thinks he is quite cute. That's not the Ralph I knew. I always thought Whale Cove was not the right place for him. He seems much better now that he's with young people and enjoying himself," Marion said.

Laura called Wake's number just in case Marion had been mistaken and he was at home. She left her number on his machine and put the phone down with trembling hands. She expected that the next few days would be difficult while she waited to see if he would call her back.

Wake was tired from his trip to the winter games. He had not got much sleep. Chaperoning the team had been a twenty four hour job. He was glad to have a few days off. He opened the book he had brought from Winnipeg and hoped that no one would come to visit and disturb his peace. He heard the plane come in and he was reminded that the mail would be available at the post office in a couple of hours. He was engrossed in his book when the phone rang. It was the Phys Ed. teacher from Rankin Inlet asking him about the next hockey game. He looked at his watch and was surprised by how long he'd been reading. He got up and headed for the post office, the mail would be sorted by now. Every time he went to the post office he hoped to get a letter from Laura.

"If only she would call me. I really must have screwed things up," he thought, sadly.

"Anything for me?" Wake asked Ginny. "Where's Mrs. F. today?"

"She is on vacation for a couple of weeks. She went to Calgary to see her son. She will be sorry that she missed seeing this big bundle of letters for you," Ginny laughed.

Ginny handed Wake the parcel. It contained all the letters that he had sent to Laura. Unknown, return to sender, recipient not known; the words were different, but they all meant the same. Laura had not received any of his letters. He wondered how that could have happened. Did he have the wrong address, or had Laura refused to accept them?

"I must have sent these to the wrong place," Wake said, "Can you check Laura's forwarding address for me please?" he asked Ginny.

Ginny looked in the record book. "I can't see it, Mrs. F must have taken the page out. She usually does that after the forwarding date expires. Sorry Wake, you will have to give Laura a call," she said.

"I don't know her number," he said, "no-one seems to have it."

"Perhaps she wants it that way," Ginny said.

He had to know why those letters had been returned. How could he do that? The only way he could was to go and see Laura and find out. He had a sudden urge to get this over with. If she did not want him, he could live with that, but he wanted to hear it from her own lips

There was not another flight scheduled from Whale Cove for two days. He knew he could not wait that long, so he called traffic control in Rankin Inlet.

"Hi, this is Wake. Is there anything flying to Whale Cove today? I need a lift into Rankin."

"You're in luck. There is an old Hercules delivering building supplies for the new nursing station. They have already left Rankin and so they should be above Whale Cove about now. They will just have time to unload the container and come right back, so you'll have to be ready to go ASAP."

Thanks Bill, I'll be ready," Wake assured him.

Wake quickly packed his knapsack and picked up some of the letters with Laura's address on and headed for the airstrip in his skidoo. By the time he got there, the plane had landed and they were unloading the huge container out of its belly.

"Hi Wake, Bill radioed that you needed a lift. Glad we can help. It's going to be real cold in there. This trip must be pretty important. A family emergency?" The pilot asked.

"Not an emergency, but pretty important. I appreciate you guys giving me a lift." Wake said.

The plane was an old Hercules that had been used in WWII to transport troops and tanks. The cavernous plane had no seats,so Wake sat on the floor against the wall. The propellers droned noisily and the plane vibrated so violently that Wake thought that he might crack his teeth as they banged together. There was no heat in this part of the plane and Wake could see his breath creating a fog. Even with his Arctic clothing on, he was unbearably cold. He got up to walk about the plane and warm up.

"You better sit down. There will be some turbulence and you could fall against some of the stuff stored in there," the pilot warned.

Wake sat down again and jiggled his legs and rubbed his hands together to keep warm. At last he heard the noise of the engine change and he knew they were about to land.

"We are about to arrive in Rankin Inlet. I hope you have enjoyed your flight," the pilot announced formally, and the three of them laughed.

"I hope you did not get hypothermia back there," the copilot said.

"It was pretty cold, but I was glad of the ride. Thanks," Wake said as he jumped down from the plane and ran into the airport building to get warm.

Hypothermia. He thought about the night that he did get hypothermia and how Laura had saved him by lying beside him. He had fantasized about that morning so many times. He wanted to hold her now.

Chapter 18

Wake's timing was good yet again. The plane from Winnipeg was deplaning and would leave on the return journey in about forty minutes. He called his Mom to tell her what time he would be in Winnipeg and that he would be staying overnight. She told him how pleased she was that she would get the chance to spend a little time with him, but wondered why he had come on such short notice. She hoped that there was nothing wrong. He assured her that there was nothing wrong and that he would tell her all about it when he arrived.

He called Winnipeg airport and arranged to be on an early flight tomorrow to Toronto. His pilot status opened doors for him sometimes and he was assured a seat.

His mom was all smiles when she saw him. He noted how well she looked. She had been so stressed when his father was ill that she had looked much older than she was. Now she looked rested and had regained her youthful looks. She had dyed her graying hair and the color and style were very flattering.

"You look great Mom, Your hair," Wake said.

"I know its foolishness, but it makes me feel better," she said.

"I think it suits you, you look like your old self again, or should I say young self?" He gave his mom a hug.

"What on earth are you doing here on such short notice? I hope there is nothing wrong," his mom said.

"No, there is nothing wrong, I have to go to Ontario and I thought that it would be nice to stop overnight and see you,' he said.

"You're up to something Will, I know that look," his mother teased.

"I'll tell you as soon we get to your apartment and I get some coffee," he said. Wake realized he was very hungry. He hadn't eaten anything but airline peanuts since he left Whale Cove this morning. His mother bought coffee and sandwiches she had made before she left for the airport. She sat and watched Will across the table waiting for him to finish eating.

"OK Mom, I met this incredible woman in Whale Cove and that is why I'm going to Ontario," he said.

Wake told his mom what had happened and why he was going to see Laura in Ontario. He did leave some things out, because after all, she was telling the story to his mom.

"Well, this is all very romantic, rushing to find a woman to declare your love," she smiled.

She noted how Wake's face lit up when he talked about Laura.

"Will, if she sent your letters back unopened, do you think she really wants to see you?" his mom asked. "Are you setting yourself up for disappointment?"

"I don't know, Mom, I just know that I have to find out one way or another. I keep thinking that something happened to the letters. The mail system up North is such a mess, they could have gone anywhere. You and I have had the experience of not hearing from each other for weeks and then getting several letters at the same time. That is the why we started calling each other on the phone, even though we get that terrible echo on the line most of the time," he explained.

"Why haven't you called Laura," his mother asked.

"No one has her number except for the Human Resources Department, and they won't give it to me. I tried directory assistance and her number is unlisted. Anyway by tomorrow evening I will know one way or another," he said.

Nora insisted on taking Wake to the airport. She hugged him and wished him luck on his search. He promised to call her that evening and let her know what he found. Her heart went out to him. She fervently hoped that Laura felt the same way about Will, as Will did about her. He was a good man and he deserved to find happiness again.

Wake dozed throughout the plane ride. He hadn't slept well last night. He had

been rehearsing what he would say to Laura when they finally met. He rented a car at the airport in Toronto and mapped out his route to Niagara-on-the-Lake. Three hours later he was in town and feeling very nervous. He set the GPS for Laura's address and headed towards it.

When he got there, he parked at the curb and walked up the driveway. The house was quite small and looked neglected. The yard was overgrown with weeds. He could not imagine the Laura he knew, letting her home go in this way. Perhaps he really didn't know her after all. He rang the bell. He heard a small dog yapping from somewhere in the house. There was no one home. He picked up an old newspaper from the porch and went back to his car to wait.

Before too long, a car passed him and turned into the driveway. An elderly woman got out of the car and walked to the front door. The dog yapped louder than before. Wake got out of his car and called to her. She turned towards him and he could see her resemblance to Laura. She had the same curly, unruly hair and small features.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for Laura Newport," he said.

"Who are you and why do you want to see her?" the woman asked, seeming quite alarmed.

"My name is Wake. I'm a friend of Laura's from Whale Cove. I am visiting this part of the country and thought I should drop by and see her," Wake explained.

"Laura doesn't live here. She hasn't lived here for 10 years, how did you get this address?" Ruth asked.

"The post office in Whale Cove gave me this as her forwarding address," he answered.

"That's very odd. Laura wouldn't get her mail forwarded here. She would forward it to her own place in Vancouver," Ruth was quite worried now. Why would this stranger come knocking on her door asking for Laura. Living alone with just a little dog for protection made Ruth very cautious about inviting strangers into the house. She wondered what this was all about. She looked at Wake suspiciously, "This makes no sense. Why would a post office in an Eskimo village, give you my address?" she asked.

Wake could see that she was suspicious of him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to alarm you. It's just that I sent so many letters to Laura at this address and they were returned unopened. That's really why I'm here, I need to see Laura and talk to her and find out why she has sent my letters back," Wake explained.

He pulled a letter from his pocket and gave it to Ruth. "Do you remember any letters like this being delivered here?" he asked.

"Oh dear, you must be the W. Wakefield, who sent all those letters," her face blanched. "You had better come in."

Ruth unlocked the front door and then another one leading into the house. A little dog ran past them to relieve itself in the front yard. It came back in, jumped up and yapped happily. She went over and put some food in the dog's dish.

"I sent them back," she said.

Wake was really upset, but he did not want to alarm this woman any more than he had already. "Why did you send my letters back? Did Laura tell you to do that? What is going on?" he asked.

"No, Laura didn't tell me to send them back. She doesn't know anything about them. Laura had never talked about you and I had no idea who you were. I thought you were some kind of stalker, some weirdo from up there, trying to find out where Laura lived. I didn't want Laura to have to deal with it. She seems upset enough as it is these days," Ruth told him.

"We were good friends, Laura must have thought that I had forgotten about her when she didn't get my letters," Wake said. "She has probably found someone else by now."

"She hasn't mentioned anybody to me, but then she didn't say anything about you either," Ruth said.

Wake could see that she was still suspicious of him. He was dumbfounded that anyone would have done what she had done: returned someone else's letters. She had no right to make that decision for Laura. He was so angry that he had difficulty staying calm, but he knew he must if he wanted this woman to help him contact Laura. .

"I need to talk to Laura. It's very important. I assume you have her number. Can you please call her for me so that I talk with her? I understand if you don't want to give me her number, but please call her for me," Wake said.

Ruth dialed a number and handed him the phone.

"Laura, its Wake. I need to talk to you. I wrote so many letters to you and they were all returned unopened. I thought that you had sent them back. I thought you had finished with me; didn't want to see me again. I couldn't understand it and so I came to Ontario to sort things out. I need to see you Laura, I hope I'm not too late," he said.

"It's so wonderful to hear your voice. I need to see you too, Where are you? Did you say Ontario? I called Whale Cove today and Marion told me you had left Whale Cove in a hurry. I left a message on your machine," Laura said.

"I'm your mother's house in Ontario. This is where I sent the letters and your mother returned them unopened," Wake told her.

"I don't understand why she would do that. Why didn't she just forward them to me?" Laura said.

"I don't know or care, now that I've found you and know that you still want to see me. Give me your address in Vancouver and I will get the earliest plane I can out of Toronto tomorrow," Wake told her.

They talked for a long time trying to sort out all the misunderstandings that had led them here. In the end, none of it mattered; they would see each other soon. Laura would be waiting when he arrived at the airport.

When he got off the phone, Wake could see that Ruth was distraught.

"I did a terrible thing," she said "I opened your first letter by accident, truly by accident. I didn't look at the envelope and I opened it with the rest of my mail. When I started reading it, I realized it was for Laura. I read it out of curiosity. I was just being nosy really. I could tell that you two were quite serious and I wondered why Laura had not told me about you. Anyway Laura had a good job in Vancouver was settling down there in her new life. I didn't want anything to change that. I wanted her to meet some nice man in Vancouver and have children, like her sister Alice. I wanted that kind of life for her. I didn't want Laura to marry an Eskimo and spend the rest of her life in the Arctic. I planned to move to Vancouver and spend time caring for all my grandchildren when Alice came back from London. I thought it would be best for Laura to stay close to her family. She had such a rough life traveling to all those godforsaken places with Paul. I was sorry when he contracted that rare disease but I was relieved that Laura would have a chance of a normal life. I know it was a terrible thing to do. I thought it was for the best. My girls are all I have," Ruth sobbed.

Wake almost felt sorry for her. He was angry that she caused him to almost lose Laura but he could understand why she wanted to keep her daughter's close to her. She was so different from his mother who was living our own life independently. She was a needy woman, who lived her life through her children.

"You can't get the plane until tomorrow morning," she said "please stay here overnight".

"No, thank you. I will get a hotel close to the airport so that I can get the earliest flight. I can't wait to see Laura again," he said.

"Please forgive me. I thought it was for the best," Ruth said again.

"You need to ask Laura to forgive you. It doesn't matter what I think. You need to make peace with your daughter. You should call her as soon you can and explain to her why you did it," Wake said as he headed to the door.

Wake called his mother from the hotel and told her what it happened. She was so happy for him that Laura wanted to see him.

"I am so glad you found someone after all this time. She sounds wonderful. Perhaps now I can have those grandchildren I always wanted," she laughed. "When do I get to meet this wonderful Laura?"

"I will let you know after I have spoken with her. I am not sure how long I will be in Vancouver, but I will stay overnight in Winnipeg on my way back," he told her.

"Will, don't be too hard on Laura's mom. She is probably a lonely lady who thought she was doing the right thing for her family. She obviously loves her children very much and I can understand why she wouldn't want Laura to go so far away. She was trying to keep her child out of harm's way. I don't think that she should have done what she did, but we have no idea what was going through her mind. Have some compassion for her. I know you can do that. You're a good man Will," his mother said.

Chapter 19

Laura didn't mind being awakened by the telephone at six o'clock when Wake called her to tell her that his plane would be boarding and a few minutes.

"Laura my love, it won't be long now. My plane is making one stop in Edmonton and so it will arrive in Vancouver at about noon. I have no luggage to wait for, so I will get a taxi right away and I will probably be at your place in less than an hour after we land. I can't believe that this is actually happening," Wake said.

"No, I can't wait that long, tell me your flight number and I'll be there waiting for you when you get off the plane. I only have one class this morning and I will be finished at 11 o'clock and then I will come straight to the airport," Laura said. "I can't believe it either. After all this time and all the things that have happened, we are finally meeting each other. I won't believe it until I see you at the airport."

"Believe it, I will be there in about six hours and we will try to make up for the time we have lost. They will be the longest six hours that I have ever spent I can't wait to see you," Wake said.

Laura had so much on her mind that she was glad she didn't have to teach a class. Her students were taking their midterm exam and she only had to sit at her desk while they completed it. She looked at the nervous faces of her students and felt quite sorry for some of them. She hoped that they could not tell that she was nervous too. She had had to read the instructions to them twice, because she wasn't thinking properly. She thought of her students in Whale Cove and wondered if she would be teaching them again. She thought about her future with Wake, Did they have a future? Would they still feel the same about each other when they met. Would the spark still be there or had it faded in the time they were apart?

Laura had been angry when her mother had called and confessed to what she had done. Laura felt that her mother had betrayed her by interfering in her life and causing her to think that Wake had forgotten her. It had caused her so much pain. Did her mother not think that she had been through enough pain when she lost Paul? Surely her mother should have been glad that Laura had found happiness again. But that had not been so, Ruth had put her own needs first and Laura had been the one to suffer.

Ruth had always been controlling with her daughters. Laura had been the rebellious one of the two girls fighting her mother's control. Alice had dealt with her mother's controlling behavior in a different way and had avoided the head-on clashes that Laura had with her mother.

Although her mother had liked Paul, she had not wanted Laura to marry him. Laura knew that Ruth had resented Paul for taking her child to work with him in foreign countries. When Laura had married Paul, her mother focused all her interest on Alice and seemed to dismiss her. Laura wrote as regularly as she could, hoping to keep their relationship alive.

When Paul became ill, Laura's mother relented and gave her support to both Paul and Laura. After Paul's death: Ruth did everything she could to help Laura deal with the pain. Ruth understood what it was like to lose a husband. They became closer than they had ever been.

Once again, her mother had exerted her need for control by doing this terrible thing. When Ruth called last evening and explained what she had done and why she had done it, Laura was shocked and angry. She couldn't understand that if her mother loved her, she would rob her of the thing she wanted most. Her mother had sounded so pathetic on the phone that Laura couldn't cope.

"Mom, I know what you did. You have told me why you did it. I don't understand your reasoning and I'm very upset. I'm too upset to talk about it now," Laura had told her.

"Please Laura," her mother sobbed, "I'm so sorry."

"I need to sort this out in my head," Laura said. "I love you Mom, but I can't talk to you about this anymore now. Goodnight Mom, I'll try to call you tomorrow."

After the call from Wake, the next morning, Laura felt more charitable towards her mother. She remembered how hard her mother had worked to put both her daughters through college. As well as a secretarial job, she had worked in stores at Christmas time, so that Laura and Alice didn't have to do without anything. Laura could identify with how lonely her mother must have felt after her father died and how lonely she must be now with Alice and Julia so far away in England. On some level, Laura could understand why her mother had tried to prevent her from moving to the Arctic. She decided to call her mom as soon as the exam was over.

Laura was relieved when she got her mother's answering machine. "It's Laura Mom. I was just calling to let you know that I understand. I'm not as angry with you anymore. I am just rushing to the airport to meet Wake. I will call you soon after he leaves. I am not sure how long he will be staying; probably a day or two."

Wake was so happy and excited. After all these months, it was now only a couple of hours until he would see Laura again. He was a bit nervous too. He wondered if perhaps, after this long time and all the anticipation, the spark was just in their imaginations. Perhaps their romance would fall flat after they had their first kiss. He would soon know.

Wake's flight was just arriving when Laura got to the airport. It was raining and the traffic was slower than usual. She had been worried that she wouldn't get there in time to see him getting off the plane. They didn't need another miscommunication.

She saw Wake walking down the hallway toward her. Her heart filled with love for him and suddenly, she felt shy.

Wake stopped walking and stood still about ten feet away from her. He had forgotten how beautiful she was. He just stood there, looking at her.

Laura ran towards him and he picked her up off her feet and kissed her with all the longing he had felt for the past few months. She kissed him back and felt that this was where she wanted to be for the rest of her life.

The traffic was very heavy so they agreed to wait until they got to Laura's apartment before they said very much to each other. Laura thoughts were distracting enough without actually saying anything. She focused on her driving with every part of her being. After all this she wanted to keep them both safe.

Wake was a nervous passenger. He was used to driving and being in control. Laura was a good driver but other drivers were unpredictable when it rained so heavily. He was white knuckled when they arrived home. Wake was about to complement Laura on her driving and realized that it would sound condescending. It would be another "little lady" comment that he must learn to avoid.

Wake was struck by the warm ambience of Laura's apartment. The furniture was utilitarian, but the splashes of color from rugs and the art pieces that represented her travels, brought the place to life. Laura flicked the switch on the fireplace and created a warm haven from the overcast sky and the heavy rain beating on the windows. He watched her fussing about the kitchen. They were alone for the first time since they had both been in Whale Cove together. They seemed to be dancing around each other; each waiting for the other to make the first move.

"Do you want to pick out some music while I find something to eat," Laura said pointing to the CDs on the bookcase. "Would you like to open the wine too? It's in that bottom cupboard. There isn't much selection I'm afraid."

Wake turned Laura around and kissed her "This is what I want to do first," he said, kissing her again.

"I can't imagine anyone jumping on a plane and flying across the country to find out how someone felt about them. Do you realize how little we know about each other? We didn't even know where each other lived in the south. Maybe we are moving too fast. Perhaps we were just carried away by our hormones. Situations can be pretty unreal in isolated places when people get lonely. We should spend some time getting to know each other better, before we make any commitments," Laura said.

"Laura, I know how I feel. You do excite me and I do lust after you, but there is much more to it than that. I love you. I fell in love with you in Whale Cove. After my dad died, I planned to come back and nurture our relationship. I didn't think about you leaving before I got back. I suppose, I wasn't thinking straight with all that was going on in Winnipeg. I know that you love me and everything is going to work out now," he assured her.

"Can't we get to know each other again, before we make any long lasting decisions?" Laura said.

"If that is what you want," Wake said, "If you have any doubts about us, you should take all the time you need." Wake was disappointed. They were finally together after all this time and Laura seemed to be having second thoughts, He could understand that she was afraid; he was afraid too, but he was ready to take the risk and he had hoped that Laura was. There was nothing he could do, but wait for her to decide.

After a simple meal, they finished their wine in relative silence. They talked about the people in Whale Cove. Laura told him about her discussion with the new principal.

"That would be great. At least you would have a job after we get settled up there," Wake said.

Seeing the fleeting panic on Laura's face, Wake went over and put his arms around her,

"I know that we are going to spend our life together. We don't have to rush anything, we have lots of time," he kissed her gently.

"I'm sorry. I am sure that I love you, Wake, but I am a bit scared. It's such a big step." she said.

Laura opened up the sofa bed in the living room," This bed is quite comfortable, but if it is too short, you are welcome to sleep in my bed," she said.

"With you?" Wake asked.

"Give me a little time, OK." Laura said.

"Yes love. I will sleep in here."

The next two days were wonderful. The rain had stopped and the sun shone. Vancouver was at its best. They ate at quaint restaurants and took long walks. They talked about their lives before they met. The time for them both to go back to work loomed over them.

"I have to go back to work on Wednesday, but I will be home in the evenings, " Laura said, "What are your plans?"

"I need to get back to Whale Cove. I should probably leave on Wednesday too. My buddy has been filling in for me and I will have to do his flights when I get back," Wake said. "I don't want to leave you. I want you to come back with me, but I know that you can't just drop everything here."

"We won't be able to see each other until the Christmas holidays." Laura said. "My course finishes in mid-December. What do you do at Christmas?"

"I usually go home to see my parents. This will be my mom's first Christmas without my dad. I thought I would take her somewhere this Christmas that would be different, something that wouldn't have the same associations as our usual family Christmas. I am sure it will be difficult for her this year. I thought I would ask her if she'd like to go on a cruise but now things have changed haven't they," Wake said.

Laura was fussing about in the kitchen again, just like she had been that first day when he arrived. Wake put his arm around her waist from the back and nuzzled into her neck. "I think we should invite both of our mothers to Vancouver. We can get married and then escape to Whistler for a few days and leave our mothers get to know each other," Wake suggested.

"Get married," was all she heard. "Get married?" she asked quietly.

"Oh!" He got down on one knee. "Laura, will you marry me?" he said.

"Yes, Wake, of course I will marry you," she said with tears in her eyes.

"I was going to wait until I bought a ring, but somehow the words just slipped out. Will this do until we can choose our wedding rings?" He took the silver ring from his pinky finger and put it on her ring finger. She leaned over and kissed him.

"I hate to go back without you. At least now I know that were going to spend our life together and I can go back to Whale Cove knowing that it won't be too long before you join me."

Wake packed the few things that he had brought with him in his knapsack. He had bought clothes in Vancouver because he had brought so little with him. He left them in Laura's closet until he came back for their wedding.

"Those clothes hanging there, will remind you that I am in your life. I will miss you so much. At least we can talk every night before we go to bed," he said putting his arm around her again.

It was his last night in Vancouver they could both feel the sexual tension between them.

"I don't think you should pull out the sofa tonight," Laura said as she took his hand and led him into her bedroom. She was the aggressor this time. She unbuttoned his shirt and kissed his shoulder. She ran her tongue up the side of his neck. There was no miscommunication now. He stood and left her caress him with her tongue as long as he could without moving. He wanted her in control this time he wanted her to make the decision; to tell him that she was ready to commit herself to him.

As Laura kissed him, she ran her hands slowly up and down his chest, hesitating slightly as her fingers brushed his nipples. Wake was aroused to the point where he could not stand still any longer. He reached over and undid the zipper down the back of Laura's dress and eased the straps from her shoulders. Laura stepped out of her dress and into Wake's arms. They undressed each other slowly, savoring the rediscovery of each other's body. He caressed her body with his hands and his lips, as she moaned with unimaginable pleasure.

"I want you now," she said, feeling as if she might explode with desire. "Now," she repeated, as she pulled him inside her. As they moved together, it was as if they lost contact with their own being and became one beautiful pulsation. The world exploded into a million tiny stars.

"Laura, my love, Oh my God," Wake yelled, "Oh my love."

Laura was so overcome by a deep love for this man that she couldn't speak for a moment. She was so happy. She held onto him tightly, not wanting this wonderful feeling to subside.

"I love you so much," Wake said. "That was out of this world, we were so in tune, it was amazing."

"I love you more than I can say. You were so wonderful. We are just incredible together. I am so happy at this moment and I know I want to be with you forever," Laura told him.

She laid her head on his chest. He put his arm around her and gently kissed the top of her head. They fell asleep wrapped in each other's love.

As they drove to the airport the next morning, they both felt sad that they would be separated for the next few weeks, but they were both so happy that they had found each other again. Last night had been the confirmation they had both needed, that they were truly meant for each other.

Laura mentioned that she still had a problem with what her mother had done. Wake suggested that Laura made peace with her mother. "You must try to understand, that she was trying to protect you. After all, you hadn't told her anything about me, and she may have thought I was a stalker and she didn't want you to be worried. You know how people down here, think the only very strange people moved to Arctic."

"I don't think that was her motive, I think she just wanted me to stay in Vancouver," Laura said.

"Whatever her motive was doesn't matter. I think you should let her off the hook. It is so great that we found each other in spite of your mother's interference. Let's not spoil what we have by holding a grudge against her," Wake said.

"You're right; I just don't know how to get past it. Perhaps I should invite her to come to Vancouver and help me to plan the wedding," Laura said.

"I thought it was just going to be our family. What is there to plan?" Wake asked.

"No, there won't be much planning for the wedding, but she can help me pack up my things that I will be bringing to Whale Cove and the things that I will be putting in storage until I know what I am going to need up there. There is a lot involved in starting a new life so far away," she said.

"Do whatever it takes to mend this rift. I don't want you to be unhappy," he kissed her.

Wake called in to see his mom on his way back to Whale Cove. "Well, did you find that woman Will?" his mom asked.

"Yes, and you are invited to our wedding, during the Christmas vacation in Vancouver. The weather will be warmer there than it is here so it will be a nice break for you. I wish you could meet Laura before that, but I know you will approve. She is so much like you Mom," Wake said.

"Are you going to tell me more about all of this, I am just dying to know what happened when you got to Vancouver," his mom said.

"I suppose I should have called you and kept you up to date with what was going on. Everything was so crazy. If you will make me one of your famous sandwiches, I will make coffee and then I will tell you all about it," Wake said.

While they ate, Wake retold the story of his meeting with Laura's mother who had thought he was a crazy person stalking her daughter and so had kept the letters from Laura. He told her about going to Vancouver and staying with Laura, and how upset Laura had been with her mother.

"You two will have the chance to get to know each other. You will both be staying at Laura's apartment after the wedding while Laura and I take a few days in Whistler. When we come back we will be moving to Whale Cove," Wake told her.

"Will, you look so happy. I am so glad you won't be alone anymore," his mom gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "You're a good man, you deserve this happiness."

Nora had listened to Will talking about Laura all evening and it seemed to her that he had found the right person this time. She was looking forward to meeting Laura and to seeing Will and Laura getting married. She wondered if they would have children. She knew that Will had always wanted to have children and she hoped that this wife would want to have children too. She still wondered why Laura's mother had not forwarded Will's letters to Vancouver. She reminded Will, "Don't think badly of her. We have no idea what she was thinking when those letters arrived. In her own strange way, she thought she was doing the right thing."

"Laura is anxious to make peace with her mom. She is inviting her to Vancouver to help with the packing and the other things they need to do to get Laura ready to move to Whale Cove," Wake told her.

"I am really looking forward to meeting Laura, she must be very special. I am looking forward to meeting her mother too," his mom said.

"I know you will just love Laura, Mom and I'm sure she'll love you."

Nora's goodbye to Wake was even more tearfully than usual. She was sad to see him go; she had never stopped missing him since he left home. She was crying with joy too because she could see he was happier now than he'd been for such a long time.

Wake was glad to get back home to Whale Cove; he had so much work to catch up on. Instead of working, he called Ralph and told him the news. He told Marian and anyone else who would listen, that he and Laura were getting married at Christmas and that he was bringing her back to Whale Cove. Everyone seemed to be happy for him, even Marian. He noticed that she had turned her attention to the new principal.

Chapter 20

It seemed like years, but it had only been weeks, since Wake and Laura had spent that wonderful night together. It had been so difficult for both of them to be apart after they had discovered how much they loved each other and had made the commitment to be together for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately there was nothing they could have done differently because they both had responsibilities to honor their work contracts. .

Her teaching contract was over in December, and so Laura invited her mother to come to Vancouver to help her to get ready for the wedding and her big move to Whale Cove. Ruth was pleased that Laura seemed to have forgiven her, and had asked her to be part of her wedding plans, but she was still unhappy that Laura would be marrying Wake and going to the Arctic to live. Deep down Ruth still wished that her plan to come between Wake and Laura had succeeded

.Laura was so excited that Wake would be arriving in Vancouver tomorrow and within days they would be married.

Wake could see his mom looking anxiously for him at the airport. He was staying in Winnipeg tonight and tomorrow they were going to Vancouver together for his wedding. He was excited that his mother and Laura would meet for the first time.

His mother looked great as she stood waving to him, After their usual warm greetings, Nora told Wake that she would be travelling around British Columbia for a few weeks.

"You're a brave woman to travel around by yourself. Are you sure you'll be O.K?" Wake had already regretted his words. He saw the usual look of disdain on his mother's face.

"I don't know why I am saying that, I know you will be just fine. I think one of the reasons I fell in love with Laura was because she has that same independent spirit that you have always had. I know you two will get along well," Wake said.

Wake was right. The two women he loved most liked each other immediately. They hugged each other warmly.

"You have made my son a very happy man and I hope he will always make you happy too. I am so glad that you two are getting married," Nora said to her soon to be daughters-in-law

The wedding was as simple civil ceremony, with only their mothers as witnesses. With her mother's help Laura had chosen a simple, cream dress that draped across her body beautifully and a short Chanel style jacket embroidered with tiny pearls around the neck line. She wore the gold stud earrings that had belonged to her grandmother and the blue sapphire bracelet that her mother and Alice had worn to their weddings.

Laura had talked to her sister, Alice, many times in the past few weeks. Alice was delighted that Laura was getting married to Wake. She called the morning of the wedding to wish them well. Laura had to promise Alice that she and Wake would visit them in England early next summer

When Wake and Laura got back from their idyllic honeymoon in Whistler, they were more in love than ever. Ruth and Nora were becoming friends. They worked together packing .Laura's belongings ready to be put in storage. They confessed to each other that neither of them wanted to have their children move so far away.

"It's what they want, and it is their lives you know, we just have to make the best of it," Nora said, "If it is any comfort to you, I understand exactly how you feel, but we have to be happy for them".

"I am happy for Laura, now that I have got to know Wake. I won't worry about her, but I will still miss her," Ruth said.

"On a more cheerful note, I am going to stay in a hotel in Vancouver for another week, and then I will rent a car and explore British Columbia.," Nora told Ruth, "if you don't have to rush home for anything, and would like to join me, I would be happy to have your company."

"I would love to join you in the Vancouver part of the trip, but I do have to go back to work," Ruth answered. "You should come to Niagara on the Lake next summer and I could show you my part of the country."

"That would be great," Nora replied. "Perhaps we can go together to Whale Cove and see our grandchildren, before too long," she laughed.

Ruth and Nora drove Mr. and Mrs. Wakefield to the airport. Their tears this time were of both sadness and joy. The tears were about the end of their visit and the beginning of a new and happy life for their two children.

Laura and Wake were pretty tired by the time they got off the plane in Whale Cove. They were the only passengers. They huddled together on the runway watching for the taxi. Laura thought about the last time she had been here alone waiting for her first glimpse of Whale Cove. She thought of how her life had changed since then and how fate had sent her here to work in this place.

"This is where it all started," she said, "You were such a grouchy taxi driver."

"I was expecting to find an elderly widow waiting for the taxi and look what I found instead," Wake laughed.

"You were so lucky," Laura joked. "I guess I am too."

They spotted the taxi coming towards them.

"I can't wait to get home and make love with you in our own bed,." Wake said.

"In our own home, together," Laura added. "We'll be there in less than twenty minutes."

That was not to be. There was a big crowd waiting for them when arrived in the village. Everyone cheered when they got out the taxi. Before they could go to Wake's house, they were ushered into the new school gym. The sounds of drumming and singing filled the hall. The mayor took Laura's arm and the mayor's wife took Wake's arm and they led a procession around the hall. The whole community clapped and cheered.

A feast of caribou stew and bannock was laid out on long tables. Someone had made a simple wedding cake. Banners hung from the ceiling saying "Welcome Back Laura, Wake's Wife." and "Happy Marriage"

The women hugged Laura and the men shook Wake's hand, and the elders made long speeches. They cut the cake and delivered a piece to each of the elders and then everyone else after that.

Wake and Laura were touched by the kindness of the community and thanked everyone for celebrating their wedding with them.

It was several hours before they were able to say goodnight to everyone and go home. It had been a wonderful evening, but they were both exhausted.

"There isn't much room here for my stuff," Laura said, looking around the house.

"Let's worry about that tomorrow, I am wiped out, it's been such a long day," Wake said as he flopped on to the bed.

By the time Laura came out of the bathroom, Wake was lying on his back, with his mouth open, sound asleep.

"Well, I guess I am just an old married woman now, the honeymoon is over," Laura laughed to herself and she got into bed.

"Not quite," Wake said sleepily as he pulled her towards him.

