Season of Death Read Online Free PDF

that sent a chill up his spine.
    “Baby?”

FIVE
    “W HAT’S THE MATTER?”
    Ray was fumbling with the phone, punching in numbers, stabbing the SEND button, cursing at the NO SERVICE light, mashing on END , starting the process again.
    “What’s the matter, partner?” Billy Bob repeated. “Ya look kinda … funny.”
    “Huh? Oh … uh … I’m fine.”
That is, if you don’t count the nuclear bomb that just went off,
he thought. His entire universe had just been forever altered by a simple, two-syllable disclosure. Maybe he had misunderstood. Maybe she had used the word as a term of endearment. Except that she didn’t do that. Margaret occasionally called him honey, even sugar. Never
baby.
    He tried the number a fourth time, a fifth time. The plane was hedged in by mountains now, buzzing through a narrow valley. The green NO SERVICE light continued to mock him.
    Lewis turned in his seat and watched for a moment, smirking. “Been gone few minutes … gotta check in with da ball an’ chain. Poor
avinnaq.”
    Ray ignored him. He tried speed dial, listening as the cellular beeped and chirped: no service. Swearing softly, he went back to manual, pressing each button slowly, to ensure full contact with the keypad electrodes. This time there was a crackling sound: the circuit connecting!
    She could have said “maybe,” he decided as he waited. Or “gravy.” With all the static and engine noise it had been difficult to make out. But the heavy sense of anxiety that was quickly draping itself around his shoulders, clutching at his neck, told him differently. It told him that there was nothing wrong with his ears, that Margaret had, in a cheery, lyrical voice, said “baby.” Add that to the fact that she had received a call from the lab at the doctor’s office, that she was contacting Ray with good news, and that she had intimated a surprise … There was no other way to look at it. Ray was going to be a father.
    There was a click, then … the NO SERVICE light blinked on. Ray resisted the urge to beat the device against the side of the plane. Reaching forward, he nudged Jack. “How much longer?”
    “‘Bout twenty minutes,” the pilot grunted without turning his head.
    “Twenty minutes!” Billy Bob exclaimed. He began fussing with his pack, digging out his “Bush” clothes.
    Ray leaned back, closed his eyes, and let the phone drop into his lap, not sure he could last twenty minutes. It was an eternity. He needed to talk to Margaret NOW!
    Taking a deep breath, he tried to consider the bombshell objectively. So they were going to have a baby. Okay … It wasn’t
that
big a deal. Couples had them all the time, didn’t they? And as Margaret had been reminding him, she and Ray were the right age, even on the farside of the childbearing window. This was natural … to be expected … a wonderful development … a door opening upon a new season in their life together … He should have been shouting the news, sharing it with his hunting buddies. Instead, he was on the verge of panic.
    A
father
? Was he ready to be a father? He grimaced. It was a little too late to worry about being ready. In nine months, ready or not, he and Margaret would be thrust into the role of caretakers, accountable for an innocent, totally helpless human being! The question was no longer
would.
they be parents, but
what sort
of parents would they be?
    It was an odd sensation, a combination of absolute terror and pure joy. He and Margaret were about to be parents!
Parents!
Ray felt small, unworthy, yet indescribably happy, thankful for the privilege that had been afforded him by biology, the
tuungak,
God, the stork … whoever or whatever was ultimately responsible for sending babies into the world.
    The confusing mixture of emotions continued to swirl through his mind as the Otter began its approach to Shainin Lake. Jack brought the plane in low for two quick passes, surveying the surface for hidden obstacles, scrutinizing the banks,