Bear Alaska

Chapter One

Leah pushed through the wispy cloud of pungent cigarette smoke a man blew out where he stood near the doorway hiding from the cold wind, and walked into the small diner. The difference in temperature from the cold of early spring outside to the warm, coffee and breakfast scented air inside was significant and welcoming. The place seemed rather crowded, everyone escaping from the blistering cold wind and swirling snow outside, but she spotted a single table towards the back that was not being used when she glanced around her. This was her first time in here since she had found her way to Fairbanks, Alaska.

Not once did she wonder why the other tables seemed to be over populated and that lonely table was not. She did not pay much attention to her surroundings except for the simple glance that would show her anyone that could look suspicious by sitting alone at a table or wearing the colors of a motorcycle club.

Coming here was a last ditch effort to find some measure of freedom here, while still being able to make a living. She had bought a small farm that had no more than a two bedroom log cabin and a few small outbuildings, which she intended to expand into a small chicken and vegetable farm, while assisting local farmers as the vet that she had studied for and never really been able to use. She still had to decide if she wanted to just be self-sufficient or to sell her crops, but she supposed that would be decided with time if she could settle here permanently.

She planned on being self-sufficient, at the very least, mostly because she had no other choice – at least not yet.

She had only come into town yesterday and had been busy with finding a temporary place to stay and an old reliable pick-up. After breakfast she would go to the hardware store to purchase some basic supplies she knew she would need. But for now, she wanted – needed food since she hadn’t eaten much since her flight had landed the previous day.

She quietly made her way to the table, noticing absently the three extra-large, handsome men that filled every inch of the corner booth across from her intended table that spoke quietly amongst themselves. They were large in stature, but something about them also seemed larger than life for some reason. But her pace slowed as she approached them and sensed the tension rumbling off of them, though their body language did not seem aggressive in the least. When they seemed to ignore her presence with their heads lowered in a private conversation, she finally decided it was safe enough to sit down at the only empty table across from them. 

But the moment she passed them while she pushed the hood of her parka off her head and found a seat, she noticed one of them raise his head with a jerk as if something had caught him by surprise and goose flesh rose on her skin when the tension she felt from their direction seemed to intensify tenfold. Leah kept her eyes averted to avoid their attention until the tired looking waitress approached her with a menu and took her order of coffee.

Her entire future here would depend on how little attention she would draw with her presence. The less people noticed her in town, the longer she would be able to stay here. She needed the anonymity to make any kind of success of this move. And she wanted to make this a success; she was just too tired to pick up her life and start over again.

Though she kept her eyes averted, she noticed the one with the lighter hair among his friends, the one who had seemed startled, staring at her with almost a scowl on his features. But he made no move in her direction, though his intent glare made his friends glance in her direction and then stare in what appeared to be surprise.

She was sure there wasn’t an extra appendage growing out of her forehead, but the way they stared at her made her feel as if they saw something strange in her. Did they know about her? Surely they couldn’t know about her this far north? Could they? She had come here to be anonymous, but now she worried that they had recognized her. It made her even more nervous and she knew it would be best to remove herself out of the situation as soon as possible, but she needed to eat.

When the waitress returned, she asked her for her breakfast in take-away and the bill because there was no way she was staying here while they stared at her like that. Oddly the woman seemed sympathetic as if she guessed the reason she had suddenly changed her mind about eating here.

The three men across from her had stopped staring, but she sensed a definite increase in intensity in their emotions and she thought it best to get away before something happened. She fixed her coffee with sugar and cream and sat sipping it quietly while she tried to keep her mind on making the list of what she would need to take with her to her new home.

She didn’t want to forget anything that could make her initial venture onto her land less helpful and have to do without, since she would be quite a distance out of town and she wanted to get started on things on her homestead so she would be better prepared for the short growing season she had to work with. She would have to see what she could do about getting herself ready for the winter, since her funds were low to start with. Honestly she didn’t have much working in her favor to start with.

When the waitress, Darlene, returned, she had her take-away and the bill in her hands, and Leah gratefully paid her bill and took up her take-away. Pulling her jacket hoodie over her head she took the opportunity of a few passing patrons to slip among them before she hurriedly left the diner, hoping that the other patrons had covered her retreat enough that she could slip into her truck unnoticed.

She had no idea why they had stared at her like that, but she was not about to take any chances, so she used the flimsy plastic fork to eat her breakfast in her new old truck and then headed to the hardware store she had seen earlier. After that it was the grocery store, and then she would be headed out to her new home.

She spent most of the day buying what she could with the small budget she allowed herself to give her some wiggle room for emergencies, under the curious glances of town’s people who clearly recognized her as a new character, but it was nothing compared to what she had sensed from the three men in the diner. And thankfully she didn’t run into them again that day. 

She had no idea how long it would take before she would generate a new income, so she wanted to use as little as possible of her funds and get as much as possible with it; which meant she focused on the special deals in the grocery store. But by late afternoon she finally drove into the overgrown and neglected yard of her new home. 

She was sure she would be safe here, with no one knowing who she was – unless those men had recognized her. And she was so far out of town that it would be difficult for someone to spot her by chance. But that still gave her some peace, since they wouldn’t know whether she was passing through or living in the area and even then there were a lot of wide open spaces between settled areas, so anonymity was all but guaranteed if she stuck to her homestead.

Leah started by unloading her groceries and getting the house ready for her first night there. The house was in dire need for a good spring clean, but first she wanted to collect firewood for the night and make sure the solar and wind turbine had loaded the batteries fully for the electricity she would use for the night. Quietly, she thanked her father for raising her somewhat like a boy and teaching her things that were useful to her now.

So when she had carried in four armfuls of wood and checked the electricity, she started unloading the hardware from the truck and locked it in the shed where the tools and the quad were. Once she was done with that, it was getting late and she lit a fire inside and grabbed a can of baked beans to eat for dinner. She would think about something better for tomorrow.

Leah made her bed with fresh linen and made it an early night, knowing that she had a lot of work on her hands to get her new life in order. The neglect was obvious in the house, so it would be just as bad, if not worse outside; it was clear that the previous owners had not been out here for quite a while. She was so tired that she was asleep as soon as her head hit the freshly changed pillow and she was wrapped up in the clean and warm blankets, which was a welcome change to her usually sleepless nights of worry.

***

The next morning she was up early and made herself a breakfast of fried eggs, toast and bacon with strong black and sweet coffee. She knew she would need the calories to get through her day. She switched on some music to listen to while she ate her breakfast and then went through her list of chores that she needed to sort out – yes, she liked her lists – and tried to decide what needed to be done first.

Eventually she decided that she would have a look at the building she had considered turning into a chicken house. Then she would have to start planning where she would build her green house for her crops. Later she might get a goat or two for milk and cheese, but for now she would stick to the basics.

Once she had decided on her plan of action and had washed her dishes and put it aside to dry while she was outside, she turned off the music and pulled on her jacket. Leah opened her cabin door and then froze. On the wooden plank floor of the porch were the muddy footprints of a very large bear.

She hoped a bear had not claimed this neglected farm as its territory before she had bought it. She knew that the farm had been standing vacant for a few months, but she hoped she would not have a bear raiding her livestock when they were delivered in a few days. Taking a step back she slipped the strap of the rifle over her shoulder and grabbed the bear repellent in case she came across the creature.

Leah did not want to shoot the bear, but she certainly didn’t want it to be a problem either. Glancing around her yard to be sure it was not still hanging around, she stepped nervously outside with her only protection and went to the outbuilding she wanted to use for the chicken house.

On closer inspection it seemed the building had held up well despite the neglect. She just wanted to add a chicken wire fence around the doorway, so the chickens could be outside in the warmer weather and somewhat protected from predators that might lurk. She would also need to add a few containers the chickens could use for nests and roosts. But otherwise it would be well suited to its intended purpose.

She took a deep contented breath when she stepped out into the early spring sunlight again. This peacefulness seemed like a balm to her battered soul, and she felt at home already, despite all the work she still had to do to get everything ready to live here.

If not for the neglect and the family’s willingness to get rid of the place after her husband’s death, she would not have been able to afford this place and everything that came with it. She had pretty much all of the hardware and tools in the shed that she would need, along with a quad and a wagon for the quad. If she decided to start working fields she’d have to buy a tractor and the tools needed to work the land, but for now she was sorted to get on her feet.

They had sold her the place at the best possible price with so much included. She had hesitated at first when she’d seen the listing of this place. The price and the items included seemed unrealistic. But after some research and checking the facts, she finally realized that it was a legitimate sale and the widow had just wanted to be rid of the place. The unrealistic listing had come like a blessing when she had needed it most and apparently because of it, she had been the only interested party. So she had used some of her inheritance to buy this place.

There was something about these peaceful surroundings that seemed like she was meant to be here. This felt like it could be home. She needed a home. She did not mind being alone in the least, since she tended to be an introvert with her sensitivity to people’s emotions and after what had happened to her in the last year. She just wanted peace and quiet now.

During her inspection of the other outbuildings she found some small wooden crates that she could re-purpose into nests for the chickens and she happily dragged them outside to move to the chicken house when she went back towards the house again. She also found the bear tracks all around the yard, as if it had explored the yard as well and it added an edge of worry to her thoughts. After her initial exploration, she decided that the outbuildings were in pretty good shape and she could start measuring out the area for her green house.

She would have to start the greenhouse from scratch, but she didn’t mind it in the least. She would start digging holes for the framework in the morning. For now she would get the chicken house ready, since her chickens would be here in a few days. So she measured out her green house and then the area she wanted to use in front of the chicken house.

Once she was sure how big she wanted the chicken yard to be, she started digging holes for the fence posts and she was making some good progress before she finally realized by late afternoon that she had forgotten to stop for lunch in her excitement to get everything ready. A little wobbly from the physical exertion and the lack of calories she should have had, she finally went inside and lit the fire in the fireplace.

With a can of creamed corn and two fried eggs, she sat down to her dinner while she worked through her planning. Leah was pleased to find that she seemed to be on schedule so far, since she just had to finish planting the posts and then finish the fence. The inside of the hen house was already cleaned, and ready for the chickens with fresh bedding. She had just spooned some corn out of the can, when she thought she heard something.

Freezing with the spoon halfway to her mouth she sat quietly and listened to the snuffling sounds outside the cabin door. The heavy tread that made the porch creak under the weight, made her think that it might be the bear that had come back to inspect his new neighbor.

She sat quietly for a moment, wondering what she should do. Should she make noise and hope it would make the bear keep its distance or just live and let live? Should she reach for her gun in case it wanted to break through the door? But there was no sound of the animal attempting to gain entry. Could it just be mild curiosity that had the large animal inspecting the obvious changes and new scents in its usual territory?

She hoped her chickens would be safe with this bear prowling. Granted, a few chickens would hardly be a good meal for a large grizzly, especially as large as this one seemed to be if she judged by its tracks, but it might make a nice snack if it was desperate for food. She would have to think of a way to keep her chickens safe from this bear.

Finally the snuffling from the door moved away and the porch creaked with relief when the animal seemed to be ambling away as quietly as it had come. Apparently she had a neighbor, who was fine with her presence for the moment; even curious, if she thought about this being its second visit in as many nights.

So far they didn’t seem to have any problems, but she hoped it wouldn’t change, since she didn’t want to have to kill an animal when she had studied to treat them and help them live a long and healthy life. Would she even be able to raise the gun and kill it despite knowing which shot would be lethal?

Finally she stood and ran herself a hot bath, as hot as she could stand, since she could feel the exhaustion in her strained muscles and if she didn’t do something about it tonight, she would have some trouble getting out of bed in the morning. She still probably would have some trouble getting up in the morning with all the exercise her body clearly wasn’t used to. For good measure she added some baking soda and some Epsom salts into the water and took a long soak to ease her muscles.