The Great Alone

“Sorry for what?”

“Come on, Matthew. You don’t have to be so nice.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“My dad was drunk,” she said cautiously. The admission was more than she’d ever said aloud before and it felt disloyal. Maybe even dangerous. She’d seen some ABC Afterschool Specials. She knew that kids sometimes got taken away from unstable parents. The Man could break up any family for anything. She would never want to make waves or get her dad in trouble.

Matthew laughed. “They all were. Big whoop. Last year Mad Earl was so drunk he peed in the smokehouse.”

“My dad gets … drunk sometimes … and mad. He says stuff he doesn’t mean. I know you heard what he said about your dad.”

“I hear that all the time. Especially from Mad Earl. Crazy Pete isn’t too fond of Dad, either, and Billy Horchow tried to kill him once. No one ever found out why. Alaska’s like that. Long winters and too much drinking can make a man do weird things. I didn’t take it personally. My dad wouldn’t, either.”

“Wait. You mean you don’t care?”

“This is Alaska. We live and let live. I don’t care if your dad hates my dad. You’re the one who matters, Leni.”

“I matter?”

“To me you do.”

Leni felt light enough to float right out of the canoe. She had told him one of her darkest, most terrible secrets, and he liked her anyway. “You’re crazy.”

“You bet your ass I am.”

“Matthew Walker, quit yapping and start paddling,” Mrs. Walker yelled at them.

“So we’re friends, right?” Matthew said. “No matter what?”

Leni nodded. “No matter what.”

“Groovy.” Matthew turned around and faced the bow and started paddling. “I’ve got a cool thing to show you when we get where we are going,” he said over his shoulder.

“What?”

“The bogs will be full of frogs’ eggs. They’re completely slimy and gross. Maybe I can get Axle to eat some. That kid is pure crazy.”

Leni picked up her paddle.

She was glad he couldn’t see how big her smile was.

* * *

WHEN LENI STEPPED OUT of the schoolhouse, laughing at something Matthew had said, she saw her parents waiting for her in the VW bus. Both of them. Mama leaned out of the window and waved like she was trying out for a spot on The Price is Right.

“Jeez. You really get the royal treatment.”

Leni laughed and parted ways with him and climbed into the back of the bus.

“So, my little bookworm,” Dad said as they rattled along on the dirt road out of town. “What useful thing did you learn today?”

“Well. We went on a field trip to Eaglet Cove and collected leaves for a biology project. Did you know that baneberries will make you have a heart attack if you eat them? And arrowgrass will cause respiratory failure?”

“Great,” Mama said. “Now the plants can kill us, too.”

Dad laughed. “That’s great, Leni. Finally, a teacher who is teaching what matters.”

“I also learned about the Klondike Gold Rush. The RCMP wouldn’t let anyone cross the Chilkoot Trail unless they carried a stove with them. Carried. On their backs. But most of the miners who came up paid Indians to carry their supplies.”