Amaruq

Chapter 2: The 'Newbies'

The next few weeks were very interesting. Every morning we made the trek back down the mountain to the village. The people had started to wonder about me even more, but it wasn't hostile anymore. They were just curious now. The first day I had went into one of the shops the woman -whose name turned out to be Mrs. Arnaaluk- recommended to me, the people had still stared, but more decided to talk to me. I had shown the owner the paper Arnaaluk had given me and he knew exactly what I needed. Apparently he had inspected the place not too long before I came around. He gave me sealant and chinking for the log walls and roof. These would help keep air, water, and anything else from getting in or between the logs. He also gave me four new windows and all the equipment to put them in. By the time I had left that store, I had all the sealant in the world, new screws and nails, a power drill, new windows, a boat load of cleaning supplies, a lot of wood, and new flooring. I was all set for the remodel of the cabin. This cost me around five hundred at least. Surprisingly, the electricity and wiring throughout the house was fine. I thanked the Lord for this blessing.
   After that, I went and got a coffee machine, a low cost espresso machine, a whole bunch of creamers, and coffee beans. I plan on starting the shop up as soon as I get the main part of the cabin clean and sealed. It would take a long road to get the cabin completely done and I didn't have all the money in the world.
   The first thing I started on was the sealant for the logs. I had to scrape the sealant in between the logs and all over them with a paint brush and scraper. This also required several coats of evenly applied sealant. This one job took five days to do. Then, I waited for it to all dry on the sixth and seventh day. During these two days I stayed in wolf form mainly on the mountain. I only came down in wolf form on the back streets to check in on the process of the cabin. A few of the Inuit people saw me here and there and pointed me out to their companions, but I was not too worried. Wolves were natural in Alaska. It's not that strange to see one, even a huge one like me, to wander a few backroads.
   When the drying process was complete, I decided the windows would come next. I had fun busting out the old windows. Taking the frames out, I put sealant around the holes that the windows would go into. After that dried the next day I put the windows in, nailing them to the logs to hold them in place. I applied more sealant and silicone and left them to dry.
   Into the second week, I finally started cleaning. The mud was worse than I thought. Luckily, I found the small kitchen within the cleaning process. The counters were a white tile and the sink was aluminum. There was a space for a stove and a refrigerator. I also found a wood heater in the corner of the room. All of this had been covered in mud and dirt and old, muddy fabric. No wonder I had not seen it before.
   I tried to turn the water on, but the company must have had it off. I didn't have a clue where that would be, so I figured a trip to Arnaaluk's store was due. Walking to her store, I noticed a few people staring at me again. Trying to be friendly, I waved at them. Looking startled, they tried to give one in return before almost sprinting away. The people of this town were definitely not used to newcomers and I had even been here over a week. I continued my walk to her store and went inside. The people in this store did not stare. I had a feeling that was due to Arnaaluk.
She came around the counter when she saw me.
"Good evening, Tamaska. You are just the person I was talking about. Some of the community wanted to warn you about the upcoming blizzard. I'm sure you can handle yourself, but they were worried about the big snow and a new white wolf sneaking around the town. Don't want you walking straight onto a snow covered wolf. They are still a little wary of you, but wanted you to be safe." Startled that they cared, I just smiled and thanked her. As we walked to the back of her shop, I smiled gratefully at the people I passed. They were cautious, but sweet nonetheless. I even got a few smiles and nods in return.
   Sitting in her office, Arnaaluk made herself a cup of coffee. "So, miss mountain girl, are you going to be warm enough on that mountain with the blizzard?" She asked blowing on her hot coffee. I nodded and explained I had heat and warm clothes as well as a fur coat to put on. My wolf snickered in the back of my head. I just smiled. Accepting that, we started talking about where everything in town was. She showed me the water company, the power company, and several different shops. Small businesses stick together, she explained.                          Content with our visit and a new map in hand, I left to go get my water sorted out. However, as I walked along, the stares of the people were not aimed at me any longer. Instead they were focused on two men walking down the street with camping gear. I had never seen them around the past week and a half and judging by the locals reactions, they were newbies too. As the men got closer, my wolf started getting antsy. Thinking they were a threat, I ducked behind some of the shops away from view. My wolf whined, wanting to go back into the road. Obviously not a threat, but what then? Deciding to ignore her and the weird incident, I started on the backroads for the water company, reading the map as I went with my wolf constantly whining about getting back on the main road. Soon I made it to the water company and filled out the papers to get the water turned back on. From there, I decided to clean the rest of the cabin to get my mind off everything. It was just a weird coincidence. For hours I filled buckets with mud and water out the front door until the whole cabin was without a speck of dust. The difference in the place was unreal and I marveled at the accomplishment we had made. Without my wolf strength, the process probably would have taken a whole lot longer. Setting up the coffee machine, I made myself some coffee with some left behind dishes in the kitchen. I sat in the middle of the main room and looked around at everything.
   Finally, I could hear the first winds of the blizzard starting, so I drank the rest of my coffee and changed out of my clothes. Once everything was stuffed into the backpack, I shifted into my wolf and we started out the door. For a second, I thought I caught a familiar scent, but brushed it off. Arnaaluk would not come see me if the weather was about to get this rough.
   After catching a few of the usual rabbits, we made our way back to the cave to eat and sleep. Exhausted, we fell asleep fast. This, however, did not last long. We woke up with an intense feeling to leave the cave. Usually, we listen to our gut feelings. After all, this is how we have stayed alive for this long. We watched around us, listening for anything as we made our way to the mouth of the cave. In the distance, we could see a tiny light and what looked to be a tent. If a human was camping out here in the middle of this mountain in a heavy blizzard, there was a good chance they would die. This greatly unsettled us and we made our way down to the makeshift campsite. Once there, I was glad we came. The snow was already piled way too high onto the flimsy tent. These were not experienced campers. The tiny light in the tent was going out fast and soon there was no more candle light for the campers. The tent was opened a crack and sticking my nose close to the zipper, I could faintly smell the two new men from town. What were they doing out here, trying to get killed?  The men were in and out of sleep judging by their heartbeats and shivering from the cold. Peeking a gold eye through the open zipper, we could see one man looked like he had ice growing in his facial hair already. They would get frostbite if something wasn't done. Making sure I saw no weapons-which was also stupid of the two men- I crawled into the tent wolf and all. I checked the first man over and he didn't have any ice growing on him. I turned again to the man with ice in his facial hair and suddenly everything went quiet. Staring at his shivering form, I could no longer hear the raging blizzard outside or the chattering of both men's teethe. My wolf joined in on my awe of the man. I knew instantly who he was.
"Mate, Tamaska. He is ours."