MOONKISSED

Latoya Morris

MOONKISSED

First published: April 18th 2024

© 2024 Latoya Morris

© 2024 Hamley Books Publishing

Cover design by Designs by Lotte

Interior design by Designs by Lotte

ISBN 9789464945058

NUR 285

Theme Code: YFCB 15+

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1.

“Goodbye, city. Goodbye, shops. Goodbye, friends.” Sitting as far backward as she possibly could on the back seat, Sadie watched Vancouver disappear.

“Cut it with the drama, for crying out loud,” her mom, Norah, sighed from the passenger seat. “It’s only an hour and a half away!”

“An hour and a half too long,” Sadie muttered.

“I’ll buy you a private jet; that’s probably faster,” her dad, Richard, said, flashing an annoyingly happy smile at her through the rearview mirror.

Sadie shot upright. “Will you be making that much money with the documentary?”

The moment she saw the teasing twinkle appear in her dad’s eyes, she knew she had walked right into that one. “Very funny,” she grumbled.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation had asked her dad, who was a great nature fanatic and expert, to shoot a documentary for a nature channel. Mostly because of some kind of rare white bear, but Sadie hadn’t really been listening when her dad dropped that nuclear bomb on the Quinn residence. Which ultimately destroyed her entire life in one single, devastating blast. Completely obliterated it. And just when Brett, also known as the hunk of her class, was finally starting to show an interest in her...

But obviously, that wasn’t the only issue Sadie was worried about. For at least one year, they would be living in the wild; there was no way of sugarcoating it. Her dad had, very enthusiastically, presented pictures of the “house” they would be renting. A bunch of nailed-together wooden boards was what Sadie had seen. And you couldn’t even get there by car! You had to take a boat or floatplane. Sadie had been forced to leave more than half her stuff back home because they simply couldn’t take that much with them. How could she possibly choose between all her clothes? That alone had proven impossible!

“You could make new friends?” Norah suggested. “There’ll be plenty of animals to bond with!” she added with a chuckle.

“Ha-ha,” Sadie sneered.

Her phone chimed, and she saw a text from Kennedy, one of her best friends. She had sent a selfie with her face all sad. Already miss you, she wrote.

Crap on a stick...

“We’ll have a pit stop in Bella Coola first,” Richard said, trying to re-establish eye contact with his daughter through the rearview mirror, which Sadie effectively ignored.

“For groceries,” Norah explained.

“It’s our last decent chance to stock up on supplies,” her dad continued. “The locals at Great Bear Rainforest grow their own produce, catch their own fish. Might be a good idea for us as well.”

Sadie screwed up her face at him and turned to look out her window. The scenery grew greener and more mountainous, and buildings seemed to dwindle rapidly.

It’s a dark day, Ken, she texted her friend back. I don’t see any shops anymore... She added a bunch of weeping emojis.

Richard pretended not to notice his daughter’s sulkiness and continued forcing his ridiculous cheerfulness on her. “Wait till you see the Kermode, Sades!”

“The Ker-what-now?”

Her dad sighed. “The white bear! Also named spirit bear. Apparently, a cub was born in the spring. I can hardly wait! We’ll have an excellent native guide; I’m meeting him tomorrow to get acquainted. God, we have so many wonderful things waiting for us!”

Sadie could practically see the dozens of exclamation marks floating around her dad’s head. Exhausting.

“We’ll yet turn our Sadie into a nature fanatic,” Norah said.

It sounded like a joke, but Sadie knew she was dead serious. Both her parents were purebred nature fanatics and had been trying to involve Sadie in this as well ever since she was a little girl, with little to no success so far. No matter how beautiful nature could be, especially in this part of Canada, Sadie preferred getting a tan on the beach or going shopping with her friends.

But there was yet another reason she wasn’t overly fond of the wild, to say the least. Both her birth parents had died while hiking through the more remote forests of Banff when Sadie had just turned four. Richard and Norah had adopted her. She hardly had any memories of her birth parents. One of the few things she remembered vaguely was that she spent most of her time outside when she was little, playing in the woods, swimming in natural lakes, and eating fruits and nuts as she found them.

And now, once again, she had parents who were crazy about nature and the wild. That was like ha-ha, what are the odds; who makes this stuff up; thank you, universe, what did I ever do to you? By now, she knew all there was to know about survival in the wild, but what good would that do her? She was used to a luxury life, and the prospect of having to live in a log cabin in the middle of a freaking rainforest for an entire year made her think of the horror movie she had watched very recently with Kennedy and Meghan. Something about teenagers in a summer cottage being harassed by a serial killer...

***

Bella Coola didn’t live up to its name at all because, in Sadie’s opinion, there was nothing cool about it. To her, it seemed there was only one street with a couple of log cabins and a Co-op supermarket, which didn’t even sell her favorite kind of chips. Just perfect.

Richard and Norah stocked up on whatever they figured they needed, after which they drove on to Middle Cove Guesthouse, which was situated by the water in a cove in between two gorgeous fjords. Hence its name. Sadie couldn’t help but stare at the natural beauty of these surroundings, but she made sure her parents didn’t see.

Apparently, boats left from the guesthouse for touristic tours along the first fjords of the Great Bear Rainforest, but it was still early on in the season and there were only a few cars in the parking lot. On the water, Sadie saw a single boat in the distance, but it looked more like a fishing boat than a tourist barge.

This was also where they would leave behind their own car, Richard told them. The expenses for the long-term parking—as well as for the cottage they would live in for a year—were covered by CBC. This way, they would have the rental at their disposal whenever they needed it. Richard’s manager had even offered to pay for all their groceries, but Sadie’s dad had thought that too much.

The Middle Cove didn’t look like much, Sadie thought. Like three separate little cottages had been pushed together to form one whole structure. She had looked up the guesthouse on Google and learned that it had ten rooms to let. The pictures on their site showed very cozy and cute accommodations, but Sadie had her doubts. It seemed to be the only accommodation near the rainforest.

A man in jeans and a crisp blue button-up shirt emerged from the lower building next to the guesthouse. He waved at Richard and then came sprinting toward them. He had very dark eyes with smile lines, a fat nose, and a big smile.

“You must be Richard!” he said, offering Sadie’s dad his hand. “I’m Chavy. We spoke on the phone.”

Richard took the offered hand and shook it. “Ah, yes, a pleasure to meet you!”

“Trip here okay?” Chavy inquired.

“Very good, thank you. Hardly any traffic anymore after we passed Nanaimo.”

Sadie quickly lost interest and turned around to have another look at the stunning view of the cove. At that exact moment, she heard a sound like water sprouting up into the air with great force.

“Sadie, look!” Norah exclaimed, grabbing her by the shoulders.

Up ahead, between two high green fjords, where you could just see the open ocean beyond, the surface was disturbed, and fine water drops had created a mist, which grew thinner as Sadie looked at it. Not three seconds later, she saw water spurt up, making that same whooshing sound that echoed between the fjords.

“Ah, humpbacks,” Chavy said with ill-disguised pride in his voice. “You are very lucky!”

“No way!” Richard came to stand next to Sadie, catching a last glimpse of the mist reflecting the sunlight. “This close?”

“They hardly venture very far into the cove,” Chavy explained, “unless there’s lots of krill. There’s two of them out there right now, by the looks of it.”

Sadie strained her eyes and willed the humpbacks to come up for air again, maybe even leap out of the water like you saw on TV. But apparently, they had had enough fresh air for the time being because the water remained undisturbed.

“Would you folks like to have a bite to eat before we take the Orca?” Chavy asked, gesturing at the guesthouse. “My wife makes a mean chowder.”

“Orca?” Sadie asked, confused. She actually pictured herself and her parents on the back of a giant killer whale racing across the water to their ramshackle cottage. However silly this might be, she decided to store it in her mind to draw a picture of it later. She was sure Kennedy and Meghan would think it hilarious.

“Wild Orca,” Chavy replied, smiling that broad smile at her. “Brand of our floatplane.”

“We could do with a hot meal, couldn’t we, hon?” Richard asked his wife.

“That would actually be lovely,” Norah agreed. “Come on, Sades.”

Her parents and Chavy started walking away from her and up to the guesthouse.

Would have been nice if they’d asked my opinion as well, Sadie thought moodily. But they rarely did. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be here in this wilderness now but comfortably back home, in the real world.

2.

Chavy didn’t take them into the guesthouse but to a cottage behind the guesthouse’s building, almost tucked away like an afterthought. A vast forest loomed up behind it, flanked by high rock formations. The cottage looked sturdier and better kept than the Middle Cove. Its timber walls were olive green, which almost made it look invisible against the thick trees. It had a wraparound porch and two pointy roofs, the right a bit higher than the left. Large windows were adorned with white curtains embroidered with flowers, which looked very feminine.

And no sooner did the thought cross her mind than the porch door flung open and a tall woman appeared. Sadie found it impossible to guess her age because she had one of those ageless faces that seemed to stay young no matter how old the person got. Her auburn hair didn’t show any traces of gray and was done up in a low bun, leaving a few curly strands to cup her face. She wore ordinary faded blue jeans and an apron over a beige sweater, oddly enough covered in bright red and green smears.

“Honey, these are the Quinns!” Chavy called out to the woman, whose friendly face instantly broke out in a huge smile that was almost too big for her rosy cheeks.

“I thought as much!” She came down the porch steps and stretched out her arms as if she wanted to grab all three of them in one giant hug. Instead, she shook hands with Richard and Norah. “Welcome, you guys! My name is Vera.”

Some pleasantries were exchanged, and then Vera approached Sadie. She had crystal-clear blue eyes rimmed with long, curly lashes, a tiny dot of a nose, and full, glossy lips. A few freckles adorned her cheeks, but not nearly as many as Sadie had.

“Look at that gorgeous shock of red hair!” Vera exclaimed. “You must be Sadie!”

Sadie was nothing if not raised with good manners, so she extended her hand and said, “Nice to meet you.”

Vera shook her hand vigorously, squeezing it. “You too, Sadie.” She let go and tucked one of the stray strands of hair behind an ear. “I’m sorry I’m such a mess. I was decorating cookies for the shop. But please, Chavy, take our guests to the restaurant; Puck will be serving the chowder by now. I will join you shortly.” She kissed Chavy’s cheek and turned to head back to the cottage. “Enjoy!” she called out before she went back inside.

“What a lovely wife you have,” Richard said, smiling at Chavy.

“The best,” he agreed. Then he grinned coyly. “The way to a man’s heart is through the stomach, people say. Well, I can tell you, the way Vera cooks, I fall in love with her all over again every single day.”

“Aw,” Norah said.

Just in time, Sadie kept herself from pretending to puke, which she would certainly have done if she had been alone with Kennedy and Meghan. But in all honesty, no matter how gooey Chavy sounded, she secretly longed to find that kind of love one day. She was a romantic at heart—rom-coms were her greatest guilty pleasure, especially with a touch of fantasy—and with her seventeen years of age, she had started fantasizing about her own Prince Charming.

“I’m afraid I’m not such a great cook myself,” Norah said, looking almost guilty. “I can follow a recipe, yes, but there’s hardly any imagination involved in what I conjure up.”

“I can vouch for that.” Sadie thought she had mumbled it softly enough, but the little punch against her upper arm she received from her dad told her otherwise.

“Sadie Quinn!”

Chavy burst out laughing. “That’s one sharp-tongued girl you have there, Richard.”

“She’s a piece of work, alright.”

Richard cast Sadie a piercing look, but there also seemed to be a tiny smile hidden in the right corner of his mouth, probably because he knew she was right. Sadie had always been a fussy eater, which didn’t make things easier for her mom. It was Richard who had a better knack for cooking, but since he had an office and external work locations to go to and Norah worked from home, it was her doing most of the cooking.

Chavy led them around the back of the main house and into a nameless restaurant. Cozy warmth and the smell of an open fire and pine greeted the Quinn family when they entered. It was a rather small space, practically cramped with round tables with two or four chairs. There was also a kind of lounge area with a circular couch and antlers on the wall. This was where the fireplace was situated—a huge, authentic stone one with an actual old-fashioned hunting rifle hanging over it.

There weren’t many guests, only an elderly couple at one of the tables, eating a steaming dish out of pots that looked like miniature cauldrons. The lounge area was occupied by a young woman and two men, who were drinking a hot beverage and chatting and laughing loudly. One of the young men, not much older than Sadie it seemed, glanced their way and locked eyes with Sadie. While his head turned back to the conversation, he kept looking at her for three seconds longer than necessary, which made Sadie a bit queasy. He was very handsome.

Chavy walked up to the bar, where a gray-haired man was wiping a beer glass with a dishcloth. Chavy leaned over the counter and greeted the bartender. “Meet Puck,” he said. “Our chef-slash-bartender-slash-handyman-slash-beer brewer.”

“That is quite an elaborate profession.” Richard laughed, then introduced himself and his family.

“Ah, yes, the family from Vancouver who is going to camp in Great Bear for a year.” Puck sounded very amused.

Sadie, on the other hand, felt like some sharp object pierced a hole in her stomach. “Camp?” She almost choked on the word and turned to Richard. “But you said... You showed us the cottage!”

Puck, who looked friendly enough with his kind eyes and neatly trimmed beard, chuckled, sending a jolt of irritation through Sadie. “Matter of speaking, sweetheart,” he said, putting the clean glass down. “You might be staying in a nice big home, but life can be harsh out there.” He spread his hands out in front of him, one of them still holding the cloth. “But, if you ever get tired of eating raw fish and berries, you are welcome to come here and have a nice hot meal for a change.”

More horror seeped in through Sadie’s veins, and it didn’t even matter that she’d seen her parents stock up on several canned foods, pasta, rice, eggs, and bacon.

Norah started chuckling. “You should see your face, Sades!”

Before Sadie could figure out a way to keep some of her shattered dignity intact, Puck came out from behind the bar and led them to one of the tables with four chairs. “Here you are,” he said.

“Could we get one more chair?” Chavy asked. “Vera will be joining us.”

“Of course!” Puck pulled up one of the chairs from a nearby table. “Chowder for all?”

All agreed, except for Sadie. “I don’t really like fish,” she explained.

Puck crossed his arms in front of his chest, and what looked like a mocking grin appeared on his face. “Would you like me to fish the fishy bits out for you?”

“Don’t be silly,” Norah told her daughter. “You could at least try it.”

“Drinks?” Puck asked, still grinning.

Richard and Norah ordered a Coke Zero, Chavy ordered ale, and Sadie went for iced tea since she didn’t like anything with too many bubbles in it.

Puck walked back to the bar, but before he made to go around the counter, he dashed sideways and disappeared through a door to the left.

Chavy and her parents started chatting, and Sadie’s gaze wandered back to the lounge area. She started when she saw that the young man was looking in her direction as well. And just like that, he got to his feet and, with a determined and very handsome smile, walked right up to their table. His skin was tanned, and he had shoulder-length hair as black as night. He wore a simple white polo shirt with a logo on it she couldn’t yet decipher and faded skinny jeans. With every strong stride, Sadie felt her heart skip a beat.

When he halted in front of their table, she saw that his eyes had the color of molten dark chocolate, the kind that oozed out of a lava cake.

“Sorry to disturb you.” His voice was deep but light at the same time. “But you must be the Quinn family.”

“Seems we’re quite famous already,” Richard joked. “Yes, we are, indeed.”

“Meet Riverty,” Chavy said, waving a hand at the young man. “He’ll be taking you up to the rainforest today.”

The young man smiled widely. “Very nice to meet you!”

“Riverty? That’s quite an extraordinary name,” Norah remarked.

“I was conceived by a river, where my parents were having tea,” he said, grinning.

Richard and Norah both burst out laughing. Sadie felt the corners of her mouth twitch as well but was too amazed to actually laugh.

“True story.” Chavy chuckled.

“I swear it is,” Riverty said. “But you can call me Riv, like everyone else.” His eyes skimmed Richard and Norah politely and then darted back to Sadie.

“I don’t mean to offend you, Riv,” Richard said, “but aren’t you a little young to be flying a plane, even a floating one?”

“No offense taken. Out here, you learn how to operate both boats and floatplanes at a young age. I just turned eighteen.”

“Don’t worry, you will be perfectly safe with him,” Chavy assured them.

Riverty’s eyes locked with Sadie’s once more, and all of a sudden, she felt so insecure she couldn’t bear to look him in the eye for very long and let hers drop to the logo on his shirt. It consisted of two black-and-white orcas positioned over each other, like a yin-yang symbol, and Orca Airways Ltd. printed next to it.

“Very nice to meet you, Riv,” Norah said. “I’m Norah, that’s Richard, and this is our lovely daughter, Sadie.”

Why she added lovely all of a sudden, Sadie didn’t know.

“A pleasure.” Riverty seemed to nod only at Sadie, who refused to look up, afraid she might start babbling nonsense out of sheer bewilderment. “We leave at three p.m.; that should give you plenty of time to settle in before dark.”

Sadie was almost of a mind to ask “What happens after dark?” but was wise enough to keep her mouth shut. Meeting a very cute boy was one thing, scaring him away the very first minute by asking silly questions would require a massive hole in the floor for her to disappear into. She almost felt relieved when Riverty left, expressing his hopes that they would enjoy the meal.

“My, my, what a lovely young man.” Norah glanced at her daughter with twinkling eyes.

“Don’t start,” Sadie growled.

“Yeah, Norah, don’t start,” Richard agreed. “It’s immature.”

Sadie’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, but then Richard added, “But you’re right, he’s definitely a... beefcake. Is that what you kids call a good-looking fellow these days?”

Chavy laughed.

For a moment, Sadie closed her eyes, wishing very hard she was back in her bedroom gossiping with Kennedy. Then their meals arrived, and she was spared any further embarrassment.

Sadie looked into her bowl of chowder and saw an unappealing beige mush with bits and pieces floating around in it. She slipped the spoon out of her napkin triangle and, very reluctantly, tasted the dish. It was salty and creamy, actually not bad at all. As long as she managed to keep those very suspicious pieces of fish and whatnot off her spoon. Luckily, Puck had also provided some freshly baked bread with the chowder. She tore off pieces, using them to scoop up enough of the liquid so that her parents would be satisfied—she hardly ever finished dishes.

They were nearly through their chowder when Chavy’s wife joined them, and conversation soon turned to the rainforest’s wildlife.

“We have three kinds of bears out there in the forests,” Chavy explained. “Black bears and grizzlies are of course most common. Black bears will normally steer clear of you, so no need to worry about them, except when they have young cubs. Make sure you make noise when you venture out on your own or simply take bear spray with you. You should be safe enough with that.”

“I bought some in Bella Coola,” Richard said.

Chavy nodded. “Now, as you might very well know, given your work, grizzlies are a bit more aggressive and more prone to attack people. Again, bear spray would be your best defense, but the near surroundings of your cottage are black bear territory, so you would not encounter a grizzly so quickly there.”

“What about the spirit bear?” Richard asked eagerly.

“Ah, yes, our white wonder. The main reason you are here, is it not?”

“It is, and I feel like a little child waiting for Santa, to be honest.”

Sadie rolled her eyes, but no one saw.

Chavy’s eyes sparkled almost just like Richard’s when he said, “To see the great Kermode only once would mean the greatest happiness you can imagine. That is what folks say here anyway.”

“Have you?” Richard pressed.

“Oh, yes, several times. So, imagine my happiness.” His grin was so wide it almost touched his ears.

Richard very nearly clapped his hands; Sadie could tell. “And the cub?” he asked.

“Only Matt has seen it so far.” Chavy’s grin faded, and he grew a little grim. “He was supposed to be your guide in Great Bear, but unfortunately, he passed on last week.”

“To where?”

Chavy grimaced.

“Sorry,” Vera said, putting a hand on her husband’s forearm. “Chavy meant he died.”

The look of horror on Richard’s face was accompanied by a weird, choked sound coming out of his throat. “I’m so sorry, I...”

“Don’t be.” Chavy sighed deeply. “I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but better you hear it from me than from the locals up there since they tend to get a bit carried away by their imagination.”

Sadie’s ears propped up, and she even stopped looking in Riverty’s direction, which she had been doing every now and then since he rejoined the other young people in the lounge area.

“What is it?” Norah asked.

“Well, Matt knew the rainforest like the back of his hand, and he had never encountered any troubles before, even though he almost always hiked out alone and even stayed in the forest overnight, camping. He was one of the few natives who was able to get very close to our spirit bears and study them elaborately, providing the community with very valuable information. But then, last week, when he was on another one of his long hikes, he...” Chavy swallowed and shot a glance at Sadie, who felt something shift in her stomach. “I really don’t want to scare anyone, but Matt... was found dead in the forest where he had been camping.”

“What happened to him?” Sadie asked before she could stop herself. Somehow, it seemed better to know than to wonder.

“He was, quite literally, torn apart,” Chavy replied. “That’s how they found him anyway. Seemed like he was attacked by an animal, but...”

“Chavy...” Vera’s tone was threatening. “You said it yourself not two minutes ago; people here tend to exaggerate and make things up.”

Chavy sighed. “I know, I know. It just doesn’t make any sense. He would never let himself get surprised by a wild animal. He knew how to handle himself in the wild, how to survive. Besides, even a grizzly wouldn’t have left a man so horribly butchered as...”

“Enough of that,” Vera said, her voice soft but unmistakably urgent.

That strange twisty thing in Sadie’s stomach gnawed its way up into her chest.

“I’m so sorry,” Richard said after a pause. “That’s really horrible.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Chavy said, too cheerfully. “And no worries about your guide either. I have already asked Riverty for you, and he would be very happy to do the job since he’s quite the woodsman himself.”

“He’s a jack-of-all-trades, isn’t he?” Norah said, with another one of those meaningful glances in Sadie’s direction.

Sadie herself was too busy imagining having Riverty around a little longer than a floatplane ride to be annoyed by it. She forced herself not to look in his direction anymore, afraid to give herself away.

“He’s the best,” Vera said, almost lovingly. “He lives on Gil Island with his dad, who works for coastal First Nations and helps them prevent logging and poaching in the rainforest.”

“I would love to interview people like him and hear about their excellent work here,” Richard said.

“You can start with Riverty; he knows almost as much as his dad and is very active in wildlife preservation as well.”

“I will, thanks!”

As interesting as hearing more about Riverty was, Sadie couldn’t get the image of a man named Matt, lying in bloody shreds on a forest floor, out of her head.

3.

Sadie had seen floatplanes on TV shows and in movies before, but now that she was standing right in front of one, it seemed a lot bigger than she’d thought it would be in “real life.” Overall, it just looked like a small airplane, this one white with a broad red stripe across and red-tipped wings, but instead of the wheels that usually pop out of a plane right before it lands, the Orca had two very prominent floaters, doing what their name suggested: keeping the plane afloat. The entire thing wobbled gently on the surface, its backdrop of fjords making it look like a picture right out of a brochure from a tour operator.

For one tiny moment, Sadie clearly understood that she was actually very lucky to be here, lucky to go and live in a place so beautiful and secluded. Trips to the rainforest were organized regularly for tourists, but they were limited to tours by boat or floatplane around the fjords. Only a few tours would actually get you into the forests, and they weren’t cheap and required several days of hiking and camping.

The moment was gone just as quickly as it came when she remembered the picture of their cottage, the roughness of the wild, and the fact that she had to miss her friends for a very long time. She couldn’t imagine them visiting her here, not even on holidays, so she could only hope her parents would plan trips back to Vancouver every now and again—she doubted they would let her go on her own.

The floatplane seated six passengers in two rows of three seats. There wasn’t enough room for all of their luggage and groceries. Riverty would drop them off and then head back to get the rest. Apparently, the little Orca could take them to their cottage in around forty minutes.

“I wasn’t able to get you a floater for your private use,” Chavy mentioned when they were saying their goodbyes. “But you will find a nice little boat you can use to travel back and forth. Takes a little longer than a plane, but Gil Island isn’t that far away, and you can get fresh fruits and vegetables there as well. If you need to do some bigger shopping, you can always let me or Riv know, and one of us will come and get you by plane.”

“I can’t thank you enough, Chavy.” Richard shook his hand heartily.

“I should thank you,” he said. “People are always so quick to tear down forests and harm animals; maybe you can help talk some sense into them with this documentary.”

“I will sure do the best I can.”

“Everyone get in,” Riverty said, opening the door to the pilot’s seat. “I’m gonna fire her up.” He smiled at Sadie and climbed in, headset already on.

Richard helped Norah in. Sadie climbed in after them. She planned to sit right behind her mom in the second seat to the right, but then Riverty stuck his head out of the open cockpit and said, “Sadie, if you’d like to sit in front here with me, you can enjoy the view better!”

Stunned, Sadie was about to ask if that was actually allowed but thought better of it and glanced at Norah instead. She was all smiles and nods.

Sadie dropped the seat belt she had been about to fasten and moved up to where Riverty sat behind a dashboard scattered with buttons and switches and displays. There were indeed two seats and also two yokes, both shaped almost like a bull’s horns.

“Here.” Riverty handed her a second headset. “These planes don’t make as much noise as regular ones, but it’s better all the same. Plus, we can communicate.”

She took the headset and put it on.

“Can you hear me?” His voice was loud and clear in the headphones. A little too loud maybe.

Sadie nodded.

“Have a seat and simply enjoy the ride.” He winked, which made him all the cuter.

He thoroughly checked if everyone was buckled up correctly before he fired up the plane’s engines. It was the usual metallic roar, but it also sounded a little like the rush of water. Sadie felt the vibrations of the plane run through her, and they mixed with her growing excitement. Beyond the windshield, the fjords were waiting.

The plane came into motion, and for the first fifteen minutes of their journey, Riverty kept to the water and just navigated the natural infrastructure of the fjords’ waterways. Sadie simply gaped at the beauty of it all. Seagulls soared above and alongside them, and she even thought she spotted a bald eagle at one point, just before it disappeared behind the green top of a fjord.

And then, the open sea. They never lost sight of the fjords, and all too soon they were closing in on them again, and a large strip of island came into view.

Riverty’s voice sounded in her headphones, “That’s Gil Island. My home.”

“It looks...” Don’t say green. Don’t say green. Don’t say... “...gree... ate.” Her mind had tried to stop her from saying green, hadn’t succeeded entirely and changed its course into “great” a split second too late.

Riverty glanced at her, cocking one eyebrow. “Gree-ate? Is that some kind of city slang I don’t know?”

Sadie felt her cheeks grow hot and pretended to inspect the island, leaning forward in her seat as much as the seat belt allowed. “Yeah, sort of,” she mumbled.

“You can see Californian sea lions there most of the time,” Riverty continued, sounding amused. “And we have three Indian reserves.”

When Sadie didn’t reply—scared senseless to have another one of those not so eloquent episodes—he flipped a switch on the dashboard in front of him and spoke again, this time addressing her parents as well, “Attention, this is your captain speaking.” He chuckled. “I’m gonna switch to flight mode for the last part of our journey.”

“What are we running away from?” Sadie mumbled dryly.

Riverty snorted, and they glanced at each other briefly, his dark eyes twinkling.

“Enjoy the view!” He flipped the switch back, operated some other switches and buttons, and the next moment, the little floatplane took to the air gently, lifting off ever so lightly, creating the sensation in Sadie’s stomach of going down in an elevator, which was kind of a weird paradox.

“Wow,” she breathed when they were a little higher up and the islands, fjords, and inlets of the Great Bear Rainforest region glided by under them.

“I know, right?” Riverty said. “Best place in the world to live.”

“I wouldn’t say that since you lack shopping malls, cinemas, and, oh, I don’t know, anything fun to do?”

“There’s a lot of fun things to do here.” Riverty sounded genuinely surprised.

Sadie glanced at him sideways. “Like what?”

Riverty shrugged. “Swimming with sea lions, diving with humpbacks...”

“Flying with eagles?” Sadie said mockingly, even though she was secretly impressed by those options.

“Not yet, but that would be an awesome addition!” Riverty laughed.

Sadie felt herself smile and then turned her attention back to the scenery. The waterways seemed to be thinning, while forests grew denser and more widely spread.

As if hearing her thoughts, Riverty said, “We are nearing the rainforest itself; these are actually its edges.”

The floatplane wasn’t flying very high, just above the treetops. Sadie almost expected to see a black bear or a grizzly trotting through the forest, or perhaps some deer. But then she realized they would be spooked by the plane’s drone or the sight of it and stay out of view.

It took another ten minutes of vast rainforest before Riverty announced they would be landing on the water. The sliver of water he chose looked so small from above that Sadie feared they’d never fit, but Riverty touched down neatly and had a couple of yards to spare up to the banks on either side. The floats made the water splash, and fine droplets hit Sadie’s side window. From the corner of her eye, she saw something move on the bank to her right.

“A raccoon!” she cried out.

“If you’re that excited about a raccoon, wait till you meet the Kermode!” Riverty remarked.

Sadie turned to look at him, but he kept his eyes on the water in front of them, navigating its many curves. “Have you ever seen one?” she asked.

“A couple of times, yes.”

“Do you think we will see one?”

“I’m absolutely positive! Especially since I’m your guide.”

“Is it really white, like... a polar bear?”

“No. More like... a blond bear. The color of a labrador, you know?”

Sadie nodded, but he couldn’t see.

“There it is.”

Actually thinking he meant the spirit bear, Sadie let her eyes search the banks they were passing, her heart rate kicking up a notch. But then she realized he meant the house that emerged in between large silver firs on the shore straight ahead of them.

As they got closer, Sadie started thinking Riverty must have made a mistake because the house looked nothing like the picture Richard had shown her. It seemed like that little ramshackle cottage she remembered had swallowed a magic potion and turned from a frog into a prince. It was made of wood; that much was true. Beautifully polished timber the color of red deer. But the right part of the first floor and the left part of the second floor were glass-fronted from floor to ceiling, which undoubtedly provided a brilliant view. The right side of the house had a slanted roof and a chimney. It also had a wide porch.

Riverty “parked” the floatplane right next to a jetty set in between the water and the sandy shore leading up to the house. On the other side of the jetty was the “small” boat Chavy had mentioned, even though it looked more like a miniature yacht, albeit a little worse for wear. It was white and navy, with a cabin large enough to fit six, it seemed.

“My God, the house is even more magnificent than Chavy promised it would be!” Richard, who had taken off his seat belt and come over to the cockpit the minute Riverty killed the engines, put a hand on Sadie’s shoulder, squeezing it.

Sadie removed the headset. “You knew it would look like this?” she asked, flabbergasted.

“I had no idea! Chavy mentioned they’d been refurbishing it for some time, meaning to maybe rent it out to tourists in the future, but they were actually glad CBC is now renting it for the year, doing something more useful with it.”

“But, Dad...” Sadie stared at the house that couldn’t be called a cottage any longer. “It’s...”

“Gorgeous!” they heard Norah cry out. She had already jumped out of the plane and passed Sadie’s window, walking down the jetty with her eyes wide and her hands cupping her cheeks.

Richard made a squeaky sort of sound and then dashed out himself.

With his headset off, Riverty grinned at Sadie, who was still too stunned to move. “Pretty great, huh?”

“OMG!” Sadie told him.

“Oh Mighty Grizzly?” Riverty guessed.

Sadie laughed. “Oh my God. Jeez, you live under a rock or what?”

Riverty chuckled. “I know what it means; I’m just messing with you!”

Shaking her head, Sadie tried to open her door but couldn’t find a lever.

“Here, let me.” Riverty leaned over her, reached for the door, and pushed it open. His face was so close to hers Sadie could see little specks of gold in his dark-brown eyes. She was also very aware of his full lips, the upper one shaped almost perfectly like a Cupid’s bow. He didn’t move for two, three, four seconds, holding her gaze. When he finally backed away, she somehow felt lighter, as if he had single-handedly altered gravity.

“Need a hand?” he asked when she swung her wobbly legs out of the cockpit.

“N-no, I’m fine, thanks.” She hopped down and landed on her feet. Looking up, she saw Richard and Norah standing at the beginning of the jetty, their arms around each other and staring up at the house. They looked so peaceful and happy; it moved Sadie. She started thinking that maybe, just maybe, this year wouldn’t be so bad after all.

4.