When Park Ranger Ray Harper's First Nations former colleague, Tom Clellis, goes missing somewhere in the remote wilderness of Tweedsmuir National Park, Ray feels he owes it to his friend to set off to find him. Tom, son of a shaman heritage and hidi...
It was a very bright evening out over the Pass. Ray looked over to Anuxum, half-visible in the distance cocooned in warm light, the other half obscured by the rise known as X'ayaca Bluff, the hill behind the village. A smile came to his face, thinking of how the atmosphere would be down there - Big Moose and his micro-brewery business that the RCMP should be interested in, yet turned a blind eye to. Elly selling her beautiful blankets and shawls. The lovely Lacey would be there of course. She was related to Chief Gray Otter Lavigne of the Chilcotin over at Williams Lake, some niece twice removed or something. The Chief had a seemingly inexhaustible supply of relatives.
Like most men who laid eyes on her, Ray was both confused and enamoured with Lacey. But unlike the others, he wasn't happy feeling that way and opted for terse politeness around her. Let the other guys stumble around and gibber like idiots. Ray couldn't stand feeling out of control, even in the presence of some native goddess like Lacey.
'You got issues Chief,' was Norah's take on the matter, typically blunt. Of course Elly would no doubt have made some comment about Ray never finding the 'right woman'.
At the corner of his eye, Ray could see the light on the horizon flickering. He turned to look closer. Green shimmering curtains of light, turning to pale lemon, occasional faint flashes of rose leapt and fell in the distance.
It wasn't unheard of for the Northern Lights to be seen at this time of year, but they weren't normally so clear in light summer skies.
Something else yet again distracted his attention. Across the yawning chasm of the Wendigo Pass, Ray could see another person, standing on X'ayaca Bluff. The bluff was composed of red earth like the Cliff, the flecks of mica held within catching the remaining shreds of light. The trees that lined it looked dark and woolly, causing the figure to stand out despite the distance.
He couldn't distinguish who it was, or even what sex, but some sense told him it was female. Something about the way they moved. He wondered if it was one of the villagers or a tourist perhaps.
Suddenly a shock of connection coursed up from his toes, leaving his scalp tingling. He wondered if the figure across the pass was experiencing the same sensation. He fought the temptation to run down to the Expedition and drive over to the village to find her, get the answers to those questions.
'You're an idiot!' he cursed, as he realised he'd forgotten to use the binoculars, and he hurried to reach into his kit bag so he could see better who this mystery person was, but he never completed the action.
His eyes were drawn back to the Aurora. In parts of the curtains the colours grew more intense, disappearing back into the light to re-emerge elsewhere. It almost looked like something was trying to force its way through their atmospheric gauze into this world.
'What the hell is that?' he muttered.
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