Authors: Basil Sands

Midnight Sun (14 page)

BOOK: Midnight Sun

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“
You
okay?
”
Hilde
asked
.

“
Yeah.
” S
he
took
a
deep
breath
and
let
it
out
with
a
whoosh.
“
Little
Marcus
is
just
trying
to
tunnel
his
way
out
through
my
belly
button.
”

“
Why
do
you
always
give
the
child
my
name
when
it
hurts
you?
”

“
Because
I
love
you,
baby,
”
she
replied
as
they
exited
the
elevator.

“
Okay,
here
we
are,
”
Marcus said.
“S
ee
you
guys
up
stairs
at
dinner.
”

From
their
room
on
the
nineteenth
floor,
they
were
able
to
see
almost
the
entire
city
of
Anchorage,
as
well
as
the
surrounding
Chugach
M
ountains.
To
an
Alaskan,
it
was
par
for
the
course.
But
for
a
couple
from
Ohio,
especially
Hilde,
who
had
never
been
west
of
the
Mississippi,
it
was
breathtaking.

Hilde
picked
up
a
brochure
from
the
nightstand
that
listed
some
facts
about
the
city
of
Anchorage.
The
entirety
of
the
city
rests
at
the
edge
of
a
compact
triangle
of
low
land
at
the
end
of
Cook
Inlet.
The
Chugach
M
ountains
to
the
east and the
salt
water
of
Knik
Arm
and
Turnagain
Arm,
northern
limits
of
the
Pacific
Ocean,
flank
the
city,
forming
the
sides
of
the
triangle.
The
Knik
Arm
is
a
mostly
flat,
calm
inlet
fed
from
the
mouth
of
the
Matanuska
River.
Turnagain,
on
the
other
hand,
is
a
beautiful
mountainous
fjord
that
sports
some
of
the
highest
tides
in
the
world
and
is
home
to
pods
of
beluga
whales
and
other
creatures.
It
got
its
name
from
William
Bligh
of
HMS
Bounty
fame,
who
was
a
young
officer
on
Cook
’
s
ship.
Tasked
with
finding
the
Northwest
Passage,
he
found
himself
turned
around
yet
again
at
the
end
of
the
body
of
water,
hence
the
name.
The
city
of
Anchorage
itself,
founded
as
a
railroad
depot
village
in
1914,
eventually
grew
to
become
the
home
of
nearly
half
a
million
residents.
It
was
devastated
by
a
9.2
magnitude
earthquake
in
1964,
the
second-largest
earthquake
in
the
history
of
the
world,
but
quickly
and
fully
recovered
and
today,
Anchorage
is
home
to
fifty
percent
of
Alaska
’
s
population.