Chapter 9

(Day 4, Kobuk River- dusk)

Ricky Ray had made good time since launching the rafts. According to his map, he had pushed almost thirty miles, or half way to Kobuk the village on the river of the same name. Twice during the day, he had seen the blue, black and white ASP helicopter flying up and down the river very obviously looking for him.

A stroke of evil genius hit Ricky and he pulled the rafts out of the water and under a stand of spruce trees. He would wait until evening and travel at night. It was exactly what the ASP concluded that he was doing. They had pinpointed his position using infrared imagery. A mere mile below him a net was strung across the river in anticipation of the night trip.

Since it looked like any other fishing net and wasn't really visible until one was right on top of it, even in daylight, the setup was almost flawless. With the water escape blocked, the two troopers moved in and apprehended Ricky without so much as a struggle before he could get the rafts into the water and get away. Of course he would not have gotten away. The net was removed and the helicopter called in to bring Ricky to Fairbanks for booking.

He would serve sixty days for the assault charge. Upon his release, Ricky would be turned over to the Pennsylvania State Police to stand trial for forcibly raping Kathy five years earlier. His attorney would argue that he was just fourteen at the time and should fall under the Juvenile Court. The prosecutor would use his assault conviction as evidence that Ricky was not showing signs of less violence, but more.

(Day 5, Anchorage 9:15 a.m.)

Grif and Tara left Nenana early that morning to fly into Merrill Field. Once there, they caught the shuttle bus to the Captain Cook where the Ray and Wilson families were staying. Aware by then, that Ricky was in custody, Tracy decided that her son needed some tough love - a taste of something that he couldn't use his money to buy his way out of. If he didn't change by the time Pennsylvania finished with him, she would not put him back in the will.

While Tracy would still be in Providence hospital for several more days, she now was able to walk with the aid of a cane. It had been two days since the surgery that had saved her leg, which was on the threshold of gangrene, and was thankful it was going to heal. One of the doctors that met them in Bettles had flown her directly to Anchorage in his Beech King Air 200, Air Ambulance. The fast twin-turboprop plane got her there a full hour faster than if she had gone to Fairbanks and flown by jet.

The Wilsons, along with Carol and Kathy Ray met Grif and Tara down in the hotel's restaurant and the kids were glad to see Grif, even if Sheila was a bit put off by Tara's presence. Grif explained that they had basically been fired over the bear incident.

Sheila insisted, "That wasn't your fault. It was Dick and Barry's if anyone's. I can't believe that. So how did you get here, by airline?"

Tara answered, "We came in my plane. I guess I should thank you, Sheila for shaking me loose on this guy yesterday morning. You actually made me jealous. I never even got jealous when Vern was running around on me. There you were and you came so close to taking my best friend away from me."

Sheila answered, "I tried to. I really did. I am glad though that I had a chance to clear my head and right now, I have realized that Griffin would have just been a life preserver to me. Sooner or later, I'd have gotten tired of his wanting to come back to Alaska and sent him packing. I would have tired of the jet set thing after a year or so anyway. Grif, as you said Tara, can't be bought, and I think in the business of political power, his ethics would become a liability. If you will stay with him, and be a good wife for him, I will be satisfied to know that."

"Tell him about the trips Aunt Sheila," Kathy urged.

"I was getting to that," replied Sheila. "Now one purpose of our trip was to get film footage of the scenery and wildlife to promote eco-tour packages to our members. Right now, Tracy and I control Animals First, the TV show, the Foundation, and the merchandising. After this trip, unloading the merchandise is a no-brainer. That is the unanimous consensus. Selling that trash would only give us a shoddy reputation to go along with the merchandise. We have a ready buyer, so that isn't a problem.

"The next item is that Tracy especially and I think that accurate representation of the wildlife should take precedence over the cutesy stuff. There was nothing cute about the bears that attacked us. We watched the video from the camcorders and it was right out of that 'Faces of Death' movie. People should be aware of these things."

Kathy added, "My dad was not a good person and the lies they told became starkly apparent on our trip. Mom and I want to change AFF from an emotionally based, save the poor animals organization, to a research based one. Aunt Sheila was going to divorce Uncle Barry when they got back anyway because he was sleeping with a girlfriend at the office."

"Let's not tell tales out of school Kathy," admonished Sheila. "Your mother looked the other way at Dick's affairs for years. As long as she let him get away with it, he wasn't going to leave her. As for Barry and I, well, I admit it was much the same."

Donna said, "Back to the trips, Mom."

"Ah, yes, the trips," Sheila replied. "Now the maps we saw, shows that Walker Lake is in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve," Sheila pointed out what they already knew. "Thus I know it almost takes an act of Congress to get a permit to build a lodge there."

"Yeah, it's basically a permanent wilderness area," Grif explained. "We have wanted to build some cabins or a lodge where we had the base camp. Of course you need a permit even to fly people into the park to camp. We were planning on finding out exactly what it will take to have a concession there."

"Well, I was on the phone to the Secretary of the Interior this morning," Sheila explained, "and he assured me that we can come to an arrangement on the lodging concession. The question is who would operate it for us if we do?"

Tara frowned, and Grif spoke up, "We actually wanted to do this without other investors that would control us. Getting the people to run it won't be your problem. Getting honest people to run it will."

"That's exactly what I was getting at," said Sheila. "We need to go meet Tracy at the hospital. The hotel shuttle will take us."

They took the shuttle to the hospital where Carol and Tracy were expecting them. Tracy's leg was still swollen, but much of that was from the surgery. Grif knew her doctor and greeted him as he left, after examining Tracy's leg, and had flown him out to Walker Lake earlier that summer. After the doctor left, they sat down to discuss what Sheila had only started to.

"As we were saying," said Sheila, "I need to find honest people to run this for us. Other than you, nobody I know fits that description."

"Quit crying over spilled milk, Sis," Tracy admonished. "I can tell they are good together. That brings us to the next point. In this envelope are two checks for $500,000.00, one from Sheila and one from me. That is a million bucks. If not for you, Grif, several of us wouldn't be here today to give this to you. For this, there are no strings attached."

"What does have strings?" he asked.

"Would you consider a contract to be in our employment?" asked Tracy. "We will take care of the political dance in getting the permits and will finance the construction. We would like for the two of you to have full supervisory and management control over the site. Just how big do you think we should make it? Fifty rooms does seem like a lot to me, Sheila. I think twelve is plenty."

"I think six is plenty," said Grif. "That is a wild area you speak of, and your group was as big a group as we have handled to date. We don't want to ruin the area. Some people we know have been known to litter and leave toilet paper strung all over the ground."

Sheila replied indignantly, "I will have you know that it is bio-degradable and dissolves with the first rain! Besides, it was an extenuating circumstance."

"Easy Sheila, I was just kidding," said Grif. "A lot of people mean a lot of litter. They use volunteers to help keep the park clean and there just aren't enough to go around if we suddenly generate a lot of litter. Your use of the paper was partly what saved you guys."

"Can we say twelve guest rooms?" asked Tracy. "Okay we can have twenty rooms Sheila, but we do need to be careful. Some people like to fish and some don't."

"Some don't like the ones that do and don't want them to be able to," Sheila countered.

"Maybe, the trick is to get the radical people out on the trail before the fishermen come in," Tara offered. "That way they wouldn't confront each other. Since the hikers and rafters would be gone, the same rooms could be used for the fishermen."

"Sheila, let's build it with twenty guest rooms, ten on either end of the lodge and six VIP rooms," Tracy suggested. "The fishermen and hunters if they are to be allowed, can use the west wing and the naturalists can use the east wing. That way the rooms will be decorated accordingly."

"That is fine, Tracy," said Sheila, "but Griffin, we want to hire you to find us people that will not steal us blind. We need someone that knows Alaska and has experience with the real wilderness, as opposed to the one on TV. Per my conversation with the Secretary, we will be able to put in a small airstrip large enough to accommodate business jets."

"There went the serenity part," noted Tara. "As long as you are floatplane accessible, you can get people in and out. That way you make a little off the charters."

Sheila smiled, "The Lord does work in mysterious ways. That is an excellent point Tara. The corporate jets can park in Beetles or whatever it is, and you can fly them from there Beetles, or wherever, and you can fly them in from there. Tara, you and Griffin have good instincts. I hope we can be friends?"

"Unlike some," Tara replied, "I can trust my man to stay out from between the sheets of another and still be friends with them. Yes we can be friends, but you ladies have a lot to learn about the real Alaska and people."

"You had that coming, Mom," said Donna. "I think we should pay them more considering all you will be having them do."

"Right," Tracy agreed, "we will cover the building, the permits, the supplies, that you see fit that we need, the airplane to bring the guests into the lake, the boats, the rafts and canoes to rent, the horses to ride along with their barn and feed, and, oh my, I am sure there is more. Yes, the staff. We will work up a list of necessary personnel, cooks, waiters, maids, and such and the wage rates. We need you, Grif and Tara, to coordinate everyone, see that they get in and out from the trips, hire skilled and competent guides and pilots and just be for whatever might come up."