North to Alaska Read online

Harriet looked shocked. “You are going where?” The look of shock on the lady’s face caused the hairs on Amanda’s neck to stand up. Both of her sons gave her a curious stare. It was as if the three of them knew something she did not. Hope had stopped flitting about the room and was now sprawled out in the floor wheezing.

  Leaned back in the old armchair, Riley spoke up, “Don’t worry, Ma. She’s as full of piss and vinegar as he is. It’s a good match.”

  Something in the woman’s eyes told Amanda that her husband-to-be had lied to her about something else she had yet to discover. And if there was one thing Amanda Perkins didn’t take kindly to, it was being told a lie. Over the next three hours, she was about to find out how deep the lies went.

  The ride up the mountain was quiet as Amanda clutched her belongings. Ten minutes into the drive, she remembered the items she had shipped. “I’m sorry Mr. Bishop, but I shipped my things ahead, and I meant to go by the post office and pick them up...”

  His deep voice filled the small cabin of the Ford pick-up truck, “Don’t worry. They arrived a week ago and I took them up to Cullen’s place.”

  It was quiet again in the truck. Amanda was feeling twitchy because Riley smelled really good. It was a mix of sandalwood, some kind of shellac, and man. He was a lot of man. She felt like a trollop, about to be married to one man and feeling an unwanted attraction to another. Her eyes looked over at him.

  “Stop giving me the eye, lady,” he told her.

  She turned towards the window. “I am just checking you out for weak spots in case I have to defend myself.”

  Riley slowed the truck and with a look of disbelief on his face he asked her, “What about me gives off an I’m going to rape you vibe?” Truly, he wanted to know.

  “You are hungry,” she said with as much confidence as a game show contestant with the correct answer.

  The truck had come to a complete stop in the middle of the road with no around for miles, but the two of them. Riley asked, “I’m what?”

  She turned to face him in the truck as she delivered her answer, “You are starving for the feel of a woman. It has been a while since you have been with one and I reminded you of that the moment you laid eyes on me.”

  How the hell did she know that?

  Riley hit the gas and resumed driving. “It hadn’t been that long to make me want to tangle with you. Besides I don’t even like you, which means neither does my penis. So you are safe!”

  “Just make sure your brain jots down that note to your penis so the two of you are on the same sheet of music, Bub!” she told him as she turned back to look out the window. It was beautiful here, but Cullen lived a good bit away from civilization. Although Hope was still sitting on her shoulder trying to hold on, the poor baby was in need of an oxygen mask. By the time they made it to their final stop, almost an hour later, Hope had started to hyperventilate. It was far more remote than Cullen had let on. Also the cabin that they pulled up in front of looked nothing like the photo Cullen had sent her. “This can’t be right,” she told him as she scrambled through her bag to find the envelope with the photos of the cabin with the picture-frame windows. She held up the photo, her eyes trying to connect the disconnected images.

  Riley looked at the photo and chuckled, “That’s a picture of my house that Cullen helped me build last summer.” He pointed to the tiny cabin that looked like it only had one room. “That is Cullen’s cabin.”

  The disappointment that covered her face was as loud as a hungry baby. Cullen had lied again. That was strike two. Riley watched her closely as the disappointment turned into anger. He wasn’t certain anymore which one he felt sorrier for, his hunting buddy or this very pissed off woman.

  This was not going to be nice.

  Chapter 3. Aww Hell No...

  The first thing that hit Amanda as she walked up to the door was a peculiar odor. She looked at Riley and demanded, “What the heck is that smell?”

  Riley stifled his laughter as he replied, “He’s probably making soap from bear fat.”

  There was no expression on her face as she looked at him. Riley choked on the laugh that was easing up his throat. She continued walking toward the cabin and noticed on the side of the house a small handmade crate that appeared to be constructed out of bleached animal skulls. It was also filled with animal skulls in varying states of decay. Amanda pointed at the container and looked with wide eyes at Riley, who was trying harder than he ever had in his life not to laugh.

  She didn’t even bother to knock on the door. Amanda walked past it and around the other side of the house. There was one antenna on the roof, two buildings out back, one that looked like an outhouse. “Is that...I mean...that is not...”

  He bent over, clutched his knees and began to bellow so loudly that Cullen came running out the front door wearing nothing more than an apron and some boots. He was covered in blood and had a giant knife in his hands. Amanda’s heart stopped beating. Hope also had a heart attack and fell off her shoulder onto the pebbled ground. Riley, the sadistic son of a sandwich maker, was laughing so hard, he had hit the ground and was about to roll on top and squish the rest of the life out of Hope.

  “Baby!” Cullen yelled as the apron swished to the side to reveal far more of the man than she wanted to see so soon. It seemed his penis and the man were both very happy to see her. The scowl of disapproval on her face said something intense and Riley’s laughter ceased when he saw her square her shoulders.

  “Cullen, I am so happy to finally be here, but can you please put on some pants. It is very cold out here and we have company,” she said as she walked by Riley and kicked his boot.

  Her hubby-to-be was too excited to care. “I don’t know what I am putting them on for...I’m just going to take’em back off once I get cleaned up. I even started heating some bath water for us to get all spiffy for our special night.”

  That was all the Riley needed to hear. He handed his hunting buddy the part for Cullen’s truck he had been holding in his hand, patted him on the back, and climbed into his F150. He watched the lady walk into the one bedroom cabin and not even look back at him.

  For some odd reason, he didn’t like it. No one bit. She deserves someone better than Cullen.

  Putting the truck into gear, he started down the mountainside and headed back to town. Although he didn’t like the woman, she deserved a better life than she was going to get with Cullen Mulroney. This was the fourth part he had to bring up here to the man for that truck. In his mind, any man who didn’t know how to take care of his truck truly had no idea how to take care of a woman. Especially not one as fine-looking as Amanda Perkins.

  It’s none of your business, Riley.

  The cabin was a disgusting mess. The peculiar smelled that greeted her outside of the door was nothing in comparison to the funk inside the building. The door wasn’t even closed all the way before Cullen tugged at the strings of the apron, letting the leather fall to the floor. His body was covered in scars and scratches and he was poised and ready for consummating a marriage that had not even happened on paper yet.

  “Get over here with your sexy self and let’s get this party going!” He made a move towards her and Amanda took two steps back.

  He was a good-sized man. Not quite six feet tall, he was muscular, with a full beard. His blue eyes bored into her in way that made her uncomfortable. The sweet letters he had sent did not match this perversion of a man standing before her. She was going to have to fight.

  “Cullen, when is the minister arriving to marry us?” she wanted to know, hoping that the change of subject would calm him down.

  “What minister? I ain’t marrying no Idaho potato eating black girl without first sampling the goods. I may not even marry you after that. In a few days the snows will be here and you and I will be locked in here until spring,” he said. Cullen came at her and she kicked him in the leg. Yes, it was going to be a fight that she did not plan to lose.

  “Aww hell naww...it is not going to be that t
ype of party. I don’t care if I have to start walking back to town; I will not stay in here with you for another minute,” she told him.

  It happened so quickly that she had no time to react. His hand went up in the air and came down hard across her face. He slapped her with so much force she could feel his fingerprints tattooing themselves in the skin on her face. Stunned, but not dazed, she grabbed the first thing she could find and slung it at his head. He dodged the cup, but he did not get back up in time to avoid the kick to his groin or the cast iron chicken fryer that thudded in the middle of his chest. “You lied to me!” she yelled as she came at him with the butcher knife.

  “You lied to get me here so you could abuse me?” She yelled at him, louder this time, as his eyes grew wide at the direction her eyes were focused on with the knife. “I may be locked in here with you, but you can’t rape me if you have nothing to rape with, you lowdown, terrible excuse for a man!”

  A loud sound came from outside the back door. The bellow that followed was from a very large animal that did not sound too happy. A naked Cullen jumped to his feet. “Oh Shit!” was all he said as he kicked off the boots and started to dress quickly.

  “Baby, you know how to shoot a rifle?” he asked her as he grabbed an axe and a large knife.

  “Don’t Baby me, you psycho. I just may use that dang gun on you!” she yelled at him.

  “Damn, you are even sexier when you are mad!” He grinned at her. “Right now, we have to deal with a very angry momma Kodiak. You and I will get back to the loving when I come back in this door. You may as well prepare yourself. It’s getting dark and trying to walk back to town is only going to get you eaten by a pack of wolves and death by hypothermia.”

  The man had the nerve to wink at her before he raised his fist and punched her in the eye. “That is for kicking me in my dick!” He hit her again, this time harder, and it dazed her as she fell back on the floor. That blow was for defying him, he told her, and he went out to meet the very pissed-off bear that was trying to break into the barn.

  The sound was terrible. Amanda was trying to shake off the ringing in her ear from where his hand had cupped it in the last blow. She made it to her feet to peer out the filthy glass that he called a window. Cullen was swinging at the bear with the axe and the bear was swinging at him. He ducked under the massive arms to strike the bear in the back of the leg, but he missed a stepped and fell. The bear picked him up like a mother would a small child covered in chocolate pudding, holding Cullen’s body in front of her as the large teeth sank into the man’s neck. Amanda began to gag as the blood spurted from his jugular and the bear shook him in her mouth like a rag doll.

  Amanda picked up the shotgun, checked to make sure it was loaded, cocked it, opened the back door, aimed, and fired at the bear’s head. The animal dropped to the ground, landing on top of Cullen’s dead body. For good measure, she loaded the animal’s head with two more shots just to make certain it didn’t get back up. Amanda’s eyes surveyed the scratches on the side of the building from the bear’s claws. The big lady was after something in the barn. Slow, uncertain steps made their way to the storage building as she opened the door to find the cub of the bear along with a baby moose and a wolf cub.

  The moose, she set free. The other two, she would deal with later. It was getting dark and there was a lot of blood around. Instinct told her to get Cullen’s body into the shed. The angry bitch in her said to let him stay where he was and rot. Aunt Linnie had always taught her, in times of doubt, always listen to the angry bitch inside you. She will save your life.

  Right now, the life in her needed some sleep and something warm to drink. The hope she’d had for a future and family with Cullen was gone. The optimism that accompanied her on the trip in the form of Hope was as dead as her former husband-to-be.

  Father, order my steps.

  Amanda closed the door to the barn and left the two cubs inside as she shooed off the moose calf. She was about to fire a shot when she heard the sound of an engine and wheels coming up the gravel drive. One last gaze in the direction of where her dead abuser-to-be was hidden under 800 lbs of massive bear who nipped him down to size, she went back inside to the cabin to find Riley Bishop standing there.

  Amanda’s right eye was starting to close from the blow Cullen had given her and the swelling was making it hard to see. “You came back,” she said to him as she took a seat in front of the fireplace. She lay the gun on the floor as her body began to shake uncontrollably.

  The shock she was entering was the least of the problems about to come her way.

  Chapter 4. What Frickin’ Bear...?

  Riley did know what to stare at first, Amanda’s bruised face or the recently fired shotgun. He could smell the carbon from the weapon being recently fired. Either way, Cullen wasn’t inside the small building or by the reaction she was undergoing, his hunting buddy was dead. What the hell? He had only been gone fifteen, maybe twenty, minutes tops. He needed to know what happened.

  “Ms. Perkins, is Cullen dead?” His voice was low when he asked the question. Her response was low when she answered. “Yes, he is.”

  “Did you kill him, Ms. Perkins?”

  She was still gazing into the fire, “No, I killed the bear.”

  “What bear?”

  “She killed him,” she said as she started to chuckle.

  Riley found no humor in any of it. “What frickin’ bear?”

  Amanda checked her hands and they had finally stopped shaking. The floor under the stool she was sitting on was covered in a grimy, dingy layer of dirt, grunge, and what looked like blood. The soap was starting to scorch, and she rose and began to stir the cauldron size pot that hung in the fireplace.

  Absently, she used the large paddle and folded the materials over in the pot as she looked about for molding trays to pour the cooked soap in for formation of bars. Cullen was a crude man, so of course, the soap would be made into crude squares. The large ladle Amanda used to scoop out the material and evenly distribute it in the silicon holders was also crude.

  “Ms. Perkins? What bear?” Riley implored.

  It was as if she just remembered he was standing there, “The bear he was trying to dominate like he did me. She wasn’t willing to take his crap either. She ripped out his jugular and I shot her.” Another spoonful of the stinky soap was ladled into the holders. “I hated to kill her, but once she got a taste of human flesh, there really isn’t a choice.” Her eye was burning. She could barely see out of it. It was quite an uncertainty if the stinging came from the damage of Cullen’s fist or the fumes from the funky soap.

  Riley hadn’t moved from the spot he stood in when he entered the door. “You keep saying she. How do you know the bear was a female?”

  She turned her body to look at him squarely and he got a good look at her face. Even in the dim light of the kerosene lamplight, Riley was taken aback by the damage to her beautiful skin. Cullen’s hand was imprinted into her face and her eye looked really ugly. He needed to ice it.

  “Because your jackass friend has her cub in his barn!” She told him as she poured more soap into holders. “He also has a wolf cub and had a moose calf in there. Him, I let go.”

  Riley was trying to process everything she was saying. “Ms. Perkins, where is Cullen now.”

  “He is the same place he was a few minutes ago. Dead and under the bear,” and she turned to face him once more. “Wait, why did you come back?”

  Amanda bent down to pick up the gun. Even though it was unloaded, he didn’t know that. Riley held up his hands.

  “When I got down the mountain and hit the highway, I called my brother. Just as I suspected, the pastor hadn’t been contacted to perform your ceremony. I knew Cullen was up to no good and that the snow was coming. I wanted to make sure if you wanted to leave, you could.”

  He looked sincere, at least from what she could see out of her good eye. With a pair of really nasty gloves, she lifted the cauldron from the stove and took it out the back
door. It was really dark outside with light flecks of snow beginning to fall. Gently, she closed the misshapen piece of wood Cullen had called a door.

  “Ms. Perkins, there is nothing we can do tonight. However, at first light, we will need to skin that bear, break down that meat and clear that area before the blood brings in the wolves,” he told her, hoping she would understand that he had to stay overnight.

  It was at this moment that she decided to look in the bedroom. Slowly, she opened the door. It was even more disgusting in there than the rest of the house. Her hope chest was in the room as well as several boxes she had sent ahead. All were unopened. At least he hadn’t unpacked the boxes and used her underwear as happy time aids. It only took her a minute to open the chest and pull out two blankets that she used to cover the couch and chair. The fabric on both pieces of furniture was as dirty as the floor.

  Riley had a first aid kit in his truck, but it was so dark out, he was almost afraid to go outside with so much fresh blood from the dead animal. He hadn’t even bothered to look back there to see about Cullen. In truth, he had been more concerned about her. She was definitely a fighter. More importantly, Cullen hadn’t had a chance to touch her in that way. That made him feel even better. What made him feel bad was that he did not feel good about the way her face looked. I probably could have prevented this.

  “Ms. Perkins,” he said to her nice backside that was bent over the chair.

  She responded only with an, “hmm,” without looking at him. Her backside was distracting him and he knew he was going to say and do something stupid. It was a really nice and round bottom; just like he liked them. Something about her called out to me, from the moment I saw her on that sidewalk, I wanted her.

  He tried to soften his words. “We will only have six hours or so of daylight tomorrow. That’s not a lot of time to skin, gut, breakdown that animal and get the smokehouse going. It has to be done to see to Cullen’s body. The snow is coming tomorrow as well.”