“I have no idea.” I turn on the weather radio for the first time in a while, pleased when I get a strong signal and can clearly hear the forecast.
“Sunday, December twenty-fourth. At Lac la Martre, sunny. Increasing cloudiness this afternoon. Fog patches dissipating this morning. Wind up to fifteen kilometers per hour. High minus fourteen…”
“Christmas Eve, I guess.” I flip the radio off.
“Oh wow! We should put up a tree!”
“A tree?”
“Yes! It’s Christmas Eve, and we should have a tree.”
“Whatever for?” I ask. “Do you think Santa can make it down the chimney?”
“I assume, since we’re this close to the North Pole, that he’ll arrive early,” Seri says with a smile. “We should get a tree up quickly.”
“We are a long way from the North Pole.” When I look over at Seri, she’s pouting, and I realize she’s totally serious. I sigh. “Fine. We can go find a small one.”
“Yay!” Seri claps her hands and rushes to the door.
We find a small pine tree, and I chop it down. Seri is insanely excited, and I can’t help but smile as she starts decorating the tree with little scraps of caribou hide tied into bows.
“I need something more colorful,” she says when she runs out of bows.
“My empty cigarettes packs have red on them.” I dig a couple out of the trash bin and toss them at her.
“Perfect!”
I shake my head and leave her to her decorating while I get lunch together. As I stand in the kitchen, deboning fish and shoving Solo away from the food, I hear the rumble of a snowmobile engine in the distance. As it gets closer, I try to get a look at it out the window, but I can’t see it. I walk up to the door and shove my feet into my boots.
“What’s that?” Seri asks.
“Snowmobile,” I say. “Stay inside.”
“Why?” Seri asks as she moves closer to the door.
“Back up.” I hold my hand out, preventing her progress. “I don’t know who it is.”
I open the door a crack and peer out. The snowmobile has a familiar blue stripe down the side, but I don’t relax until it’s parked next to my Jeep, and Margot takes off her helmet.
“It’s Margot.” I sigh and place my hand over my chest, trying to calm my heart.
“What is she doing here?” Seri asks.
“Not sure.” I realize this does present a bit of an issue, not the least of which is Seri and Margot actually meeting each other. I have no idea how that will play out, but I’m more concerned about what
information Margot has that would bring her all the way up here.
“Do I get to meet her?” Seri asks as she folds her arms over her chest.
“Let me at least see what she wants first.” I pull my parka on and head out the door, shutting it firmly behind me.
“Hey there!” Margot waves.
“Hey.” I walk over to her, already feeling my muscles tighten.
Just the thought of someone walking up to my cabin has always put me on edge, and watching Margot’s approach is no different. My skin crawls and the back of my throat goes dry. I have to fight off the urge to just tell her to go the fuck away.
“I’m sorry,” Margot says immediately. “I know you don’t like company.”