this story has mature themeslanguage within-a reference is made to another story called "Magnificent Nine"

The Father Circle

PROLOGUE

The young Inuit woman ran breathlessly toward the chainlink fence, her long black braids flying behind her. She darted a look behind her once and pelted into the eight-foot high fence. The gate of it was padlocked shut. In desperation, she pulled and tugged on it uselessly as if the force of her will would instantly snap open the gate. She tried to climb the fence but seconds later a big red hole exploded out of the whiteness of her thick parka and she fell dead.

Lisa Tugiak brushed the stubborn lock of black silky hair from her daughter's left eye. The four-year-old fussed with her plush white polar bear ignoring her mother's caring hands. Lisa pulled a soapstone pendant in shape of an owl and placed around her daughter's neck. The girl walked away from her mother still caressing the stuffed animal.

A brusque knock on the door, like a death knell, caught Lisa's attention. She swallowed an obstruction and gazed fondly once more at her daughter. Lisa walked to the door and answered it.

Anna, the girl, climbed the stairs and sat in the nook of the balustrade near the landing. A sound as loud as a crash of thunder stirred her out of her reverie. Booted footsteps ascended. Anna was frightened. She ran stealthily to her room and hid under her bed. She pushed the stubborn lock of hair from her face and hugged her polar bear. She could see the boots as they passed her bed. But the wearer did not see her and left the room. Anna shut her eyes tightly and closed her body in a fetal position.

Downstairs, a river of blood ebbed on the hard pinewood floor. Lisa's hand limply lay dormant eternally.

A Mountie looked closely at Lisa. Severe rifleshot wounds to the head. He wrote this down in his notebook. Books, furniture, plates and even the laundry were strewn about the house. Oddly enough, nothing was taken. No signs of forcible entry were found. Had Lisa let the culprit in? Anna hugged the bear. She remained silent; her eyes picked a fixed focal point on a nice piece of off-white rug, away from the carnage. Around her, R.C.M.P. officers snapped pictures of the crime scene, dusted for fingerprints. Some had even asked to speak to her but she would not talk.

Joey Walkwood worked with Lisa at the veterinary office. He couldn't believe that she was dead. He brushed back wisps of red hair with his sweaty hand.

"When I left her this evening she was fine, happy, I guess. I just came to give her the X-rays on Wilson's dog, you know, the barky Malamute..."

"What time did you arrive, sir?" asked a stone-faced Mountie.

"About 9:15," Joey guessed as he glanced at the body. Something in him twitched. In his memory there was a sign, a voice uttering damning phrases that made him shake. He looked at Anna. She was alone now. No one watched her and the Mountie questioning him had walked away. Joey walked over to her and grabbed her hand. They climbed the stairs and went to her room. Joey pulled a bag from her closet and started to put some clothes in it.

"Anna," he said quietly, "we're going to your grandmother's house for a while, okay?"

Wordlessly, Anna placed a scrapbook and crayons in the bag. She donned a shoulderwrap in which she put her dolls and pulled on her baby-pink parka. With her polar bear under her arm, Anna left with Joey soundlessly for her grandmother's house.

Matilda squinted her Inuit eyes and wiped the tears from them. Anna sat opposite from her at the kitchen table; Anna was all she had to remember her daughter, Lisa, by.

Frank, Anna's grandfather, lifted his head from his chest and put his hand firmly on the table.

"She's not safe here," he said finally. He turned to his younger daughter, Terri.

"You will take her to her father's house. There she will be safe."

Terri nodded in obedience and left the kitchen to pack.

Within the hour, Terri and Anna had boarded a commuter plane to Yellowknife. From there they would go to Anna's father.

CHAPTER ONE

Terri's eyes looked on the endless series of buildings in the city. She had never been in America before. What she had seen of the United States was in movies; all the resplendid grandeur and excitement was in reality a sordid dullness. Still, she stared out the window of the Greyhound bus with interest.

The bus pulled into the terminal. Terri and Anna filed off the bus and pulled their luggage from the coach. Terri smiled reassuringly at Anna. Anna did not smile back. She was sullen, unapproachable. Terri walked further from the bus away from the other passengers who crowded into the terminal for coffee and waited for other buses. Anna clasped her aunt's hand effortlessly.

They turned left from the terminal adjacent to a bar. They walked further into an alley where Terri stopped to tie her bootlace. A loud chink of metal startled Terri. She looked behind her. A tall man in a leather jacket stirred from the bar and chased them. Terri grabbed Anna's hand and ran with her. They veered right skirting garbage cans and cardboard boxes. Terri wedged Anna in the narrow space between brick barriers leading to another alley. Just as Terri was about to follow her, a bullet struck her in the back and she fell.

Anna ran further on. When she could no longer hear footsteps behind her she turned around. Terri was gone. Anna retraced her steps. She still could not see Terri. The man jumped from behind a wall and frightened her. Anna ran to the only place she could think of - the bus terminal. She ran into the bus terminal and into the crowd. The tall man followed her but stopped and turned away when Anna ran into the terminal.

Anna looked around, frightened. She headed into the office and hid under the ticket master's desk. She clasped the polar bear's paw and placed it on her lap. She removed a photograph from her parka's pocket and stared at it. *If only he would come*, she thought desperately. Her mother always promised her that he would come. She huddled in the darkness in fear.

The ticket master returned to his post with a hot cup of coffee. He scooted into his chair. He stopped as his feet hit something. He looked below the desk. A small child huddled under desk. She was terrified of him.

The man smiled gently at her.

"Come on, come on out," he said reassuringly. "I won't hurt you."

Anna resisted.

"Where's your mum?" he asked.

Anna remained silent.

The ticket master took the photograph from her and studied it.

"I know this guy. I'll take you to him, okay? You'll be alright."

Anna felt that perhaps she could trust him. He took her by the hand and left with her.

Ray burrowed his head into the *Chicago Times* and read the international page.

"Hey, Benny," he called as he saw Fraser approach his desk, "there's some news from your home and native land. A larger-than-normal' grizzly bear attacked these people at a ski lodge. They say it took five rounds from a high-powered rifle to bring it down. Does that happen a lot in Canada?"

"Rarely, Ray. Most bear attacks occur when people intrude in the bear's territory."

"I see," concurred Ray as he put the paper down. "Are you ready?"

Fraser nodded.

Ray shook his head and rose from his desk.

"I can't believe you're on time for a reprimand."

Ray and Fraser walked out of Lieutenant Walsh's office. Ray didn't expect that Walsh would be *that* mad.

"I'm tellin' ya, Benny, if I knew that would have blown up the way it did there would be no way I would have done it."

"Well, Ray, nitro glycerine *is* an explosive material." The ticket master gripped Anna's hand firmly. He walked over to Huey's desk.

"Excuse me,' he said politely, "I found this little girl at the bus terminal. I don't know where her mother is or anything. She won't talk. I looked at this picture she was holding and I recognized the guy in it. He works here, right? So I brought her over. Maybe he could help her."

Huey crouched to Anna's height.

"What's your name?"

Anna would not speak.

"What are your parents' names? Where do you live?"

The girl was silent. Huey rose.

"Where did you find her?" he asked the ticket master.

"She was hiding under my desk. I guess she was scared or something. You know, little kid lost in the big city away from her mum and everything."

Huey pointed at Anna's bag.

"What do you have in there? Is there anything with your name and address on it?"

Anna stared at the floor clutching her bag tighter than ever. She still would not speak to Huey or anyone. She remained aloof and quiet. Huey was frustrated. He sat down and talked to the ticket master, trying to ilk all the information he could from the man.

Anna let her gaze lift from the floor and straight ahead of her. A wave of recognition washed over her. A rush of joy streamed through her veins. She ran with her arms outstretched.

"Daddy!"

Her small arms embraced Fraser's legs. Huey cast his glance quickly over to Fraser. Fraser looked at her aghast. Ray, likewise, was puzzled.

"Hey, little girl," Ray said," you've got the wrong guy.'

Anna broke her embrace and looked at Fraser. Fraser knelt down and cupped her small face in his hands.

"No,' he uttered softly and sincerely, "she looks just like her."

"Your name?" he asked gently.

"Anna."

Fraser smiled ruefully.

"Where is your mother now?"

Anna recoiled and did not answer him.

Ray was in shock.

"Come on," Ray grabbed Fraser's shoulder, "conference."

Ray motioned for Anna to stay put and drew Fraser into the broom closet. Elaine observed Anna. She didn't know what to think. She, like the others, tried to deny the child's claim of parentage but they could not. There was something definite about it.

Anna sat quietly on a bench outside of Walsh's office. To her left a Mountie sat inert staring straight ahead of him. His gray eyes were at once vapid until they looked at Anna.

"Who are you?" Anna asked.

"Bob, Bob Fraser. I would be your grandfather."

Anna shook his hand.

"My name is Anna. I guess I would be your granddaughter."

A pause fell between them but they did not seem to notice it.

"Would you like some ice cream?" Fraser Sr. asked.

Anna nodded feverishly.

Fraser Sr. sighed.

"Well, I would buy you some but you see, I'm rather dead."

Anna groaned.

"Oh not to worry, not to worry. Just because I'm dead doesn't mean that there is nothing we can do together. We could - well, actually, there's nothing we could really do together but that doesn't mean all is lost. Let me tell you about the time when your father brought a woodchuck home..."

Ray pulled the closet door shut.

"What the hell was all that?"

Fraser simply looked at Ray.

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" Ray huffed. "I mean that little girl, who is she? Why did she call you Daddy? That's what I mean. What are you holding out on me?"

Fraser's eyes avoided Ray's concerned glare. His palms were sweaty. He was in turmoil; a daughter he had never known appeared out of nowhere. His sins were apparent.

"That girl is my daughter," Fraser mumbled silently, "she must be."

"Must be?! Must be- oh, this is rich," Ray slapped his forehead. "Must be isn't good enough. Have a blood test taken."

Fraser glared at his friend. He could not believe the audacity of such a request.

"Ray, I've never before asked you to believe the impossible in me but now I am. That child is *mine*."

Fraser recounted the last moments he spent with Anna's mother, four years ago.

Lisa shuffled the files and put them in the cabinet. The snow fell heavy and crusted on the window panes. She looked at Fraser as he completed the report on the axe murderer caught less than a week ago. Lisa pondered again the whole reason she took on the job as errand girl at the Inuvik R.C.M.P. post. She loved him; always had. She played with him as a child; whenever he built snowforts, she would be the look-out against marauding droves snowball-flinging classmates; she would be the interim goalie whenever his sister, Bess, decided she had something better to do. As they matured, Lisa's amiability towards him turned into a driving obsession to win his approval and, ultimately, his love. But he had always seemed so distant. She would follow him wherever he went, stood by him in his cause aright, prayed for him. These subtle hints of love were lost on him. She would not say what she felt if he would not reach out to her. The bridge burned at both ends, never crossed.

"I'm going home now," she uttered, "do you need anything else?"

Fraser at last looked at her.

"No, that will be all. Thank you, Lisa."

Donning her coat, she looked at him once more. She was about to utter something, Fraser could see, but stopped short and with that she left the office and walked through the town of Inuvik in the heavy falling snow.

Fraser watched as she left. She was such a forlorn creature. He found it hard to understand her. He noticed that she had left behind her novel, *Persuasion*, by Jane Austen. He shuffled the papers into his desk, put on his parka and Stetson, switched off the light and left the office. He walked through Inuvik in the driving snow. He thumbed the book burrowed in his deep pocket. The street lights shone dimly on the white snow. As Fraser progressed, the lights got fewer and the snow got deeper. Ahead, the lone cabin of Lisa stood partially buried in the snow. She lived there alone. It was her uncle's cabin. She stayed in it while he went off for the winter and worked at the R.C.M.P. post during the day saving up for veterinary school in Edmonton. Fraser climbed the steps of the porch, kicked off the snow from his boots and rapped on Lisa's door.

Lisa answered the door. She seemed surprised to see Fraser, almost pleased.

Fraser looked at Lisa. Her face exuded a warmth that surpassed the raging fire in the cabin. His cheeks could feel the sting of the cold. Snow brimmed his Stetson.

"You left your book...in the office," he said shyly and handed her the book.

She took the book from him.

Fraser turned to leave.

"No, wait," Lisa opened the door wider, "come in. You are cold. I've made some coffee."

Fraser didn't want to refuse. Something, courtesy, perhaps, compelled him to accept the offer. He stepped in and kicked off the remaining snow from his boots. He removed his hat and paused, uncertain if he should go in and sit down. Lisa led him by the hand to the sofa by the fire. He sat down beside her. He could sense something inside of her, a longing that strangely compelled him to give in.

He offered no protestations to her advances. When at first one lead the other, it ultimately was the entwining of the two into one, finding comfort in the bosom of a warmth far greater than the Promethean blaze that burned away in the hearth of the cabin.

Fraser looked at what he had done. As he rose, he stroked Lisa's hair. A blissful sleep made her oblivious to his movements. Before the Arctic dawn touched the horizon, Fraser made his way from Lisa. As much as he had wanted to, he would never see Lisa again at that point. She left for Edmonton and he left for the Yukon and then to Chicago.

"I don't know why she didn't tell me," Fraser sighed. "I suppose life would have been so much different if she had."

Ray shook his head.

"I can't believe this...of you!"

Fraser glared at his friend.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I mean," Ray retorted, "that something's come back to haunt you instead of somebody else for a change. I think that kid bought back more than what you'd done in the past, Benny. You can't shake that. Nobody's going to think..."

"I don't care what people think of me, Ray. If there is something I've learned to live with it is guilt."

Ray bowed his head.

"Sorry."

"Hey, look," Ray suggested, "why don't you let the munchkin stay with me until you've got somewhere more secure to crash?"

"I thought I would let her stay with me, that is until her mother comes for her. Besides, my place isn't as bad as all that."

Ray laughed.

"Reality check, Benny. I wouldn't live there unless I was Jackie Chan. That's no place for a kid. If her mom finds out that you've kept her there, she'll eat you whole."

"Nonsense, Ray. The North is a place for the hardy. Anna has survived the North and she is none but four. She will be quite safe with me."

"Suit yourself."

"One of my first priorities is to find out why she's here, who brought her here and where they are."

"You've got ten million and one priorities, Benny," Ray declared. "You have a 365-day-a-year priority for the rest of your life. You've got to pick up where your father left off."

Ray left the broom closet. Fraser pondered what he said. Ray was right. He now had the indelible mark of a father, an unwashable token burned on his soul. He thought of his own father; he was there for him after his own death. It was as though his own death had beaten the finality of the human body and retained the relationship they had when Robert Fraser was alive. But something else bothered Fraser. How could he not repeat the mistake of his own father and leave the girl with an extended family rather than himself? Fraser fell under the burden of these thoughts.

"What's the matter, son?" Fraser Sr. asked.

"Where did you come from?"

"No matter, no matter. I've seen the girl. A fine girl. Reminds me of Bess when she was younger. Spritely young thing she was."

Fraser Sr. observed his son. His head bowed pensively, almost with guilt.

"I know what you're thinking, son."

Fraser looked at him.

"You do?"

"What's done is done. You can only make a clean breast of things now."

"Like what you are trying to do?" Fraser shot back.

Fraser Sr. took offence to that.

"I know I haven't always been there for you but can't ever say that I never loved you. You're my son, for God's sake, and that is profoundly unchangeable. I'm living proof."

"But you're dead."

"Trifling matters! The point is you're now in my situation. Not dead, of course, but - you have a chance to do what I've tried to do. To be a father."

Fraser's blue eyes became downcast.

"The truth is, Dad, I don't know if I want to be a father."

Fraser Sr. shook his head.

"But you already are one, son. You can't change that now."

"I mean...' Fraser stuttered, "I'm not ready. I'm not sure how to act, how to be there for her if she needs me, what to say to her if she's troubled..."

"Let me tell you something, Benton,' Fraser Sr. quipped, "when you were born I was terrified, I mean scared out of my wits, like you are now, because I had no idea how to be a father. There are no manuals for being a parent, you just have to do what you think is best. This might sound like cold comfort but it does work out in the end."

Fraser thought for a minute. Perhaps his father was right, he thought. Nothing could prepare him for the role of a father. He had to embark the journey sightless and soundless gradually attaining the senses of sight and listening on the way.

Anna still waited patiently on the bench outside of Walsh's office. Fraser Sr. had amused her with stories of her father's childhood, the tales of Simon Fraser who fought along side William Wallace and numerous reasons why she should never torment the muskox. The spirit of her grandfather diffused for a time promising to return. A young black man sat next to her in handcuffs. As was the fashion, his toque was loosely placed on his head. Anna removed the toque and fit it more snugly on his skull.

"You should keep your head warm always," she advised, "you lose a lot of body heat if your toque isn't on properly."

"Thanks," he said dryly.

Elaine approached Anna.

"Hi," she said politely, "I'm Elaine. What's your name?"

"Anna, Anna Fraser."

"Would you like something to drink, Anna?"

Anna nodded yes.

"What about your bear?"

"Do you have any dried fish?"

Elaine chuckled.

"I'll see if we have any left."

.Elaine smiled and left Anna.

Anna felt welcome. Her tension began slipping away. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the tall, red-coated man she addressed as her father. He crouched beside her.

"Hello, Anna," Fraser said quietly.

"Anna, where is your mother?"

Anna did not respond.

"Is she here with you? Did she send you here?"

Anna stared at him with her soft blue eyes.

"She always told me that you were away doing really brave things and that when you were done, you would come and visit me. You never did. I came here, instead."

"But you didn't come here by yourself, did you?"

Anna turned her head from him. The code of silence responded for her. Fraser did not know what to think of it.

"I came with Terri but Terri got lost," Anna admitted.

"Then, we will have to find her," Fraser returned and smiled at Anna softly.

Elaine returned with a cup of hot chocolate and a tunafish sandwich. She made a passing glance to Fraser and handed Anna the cup.

Diefenbaker nuzzled Anna's hand. She put down her cup and started to friskily pet the animal.

"It's a puppy dog!" she cried gleefully.

Fraser instantly felt the need to correct her.

"Well, actually he's a...'

Fraser stopped. He would indulge for now her childish assumptions.

"It's a puppy dog."

Walsh poked his head out of the doorway and noticed Anna playing with the wolf.

"Vecchio, Constable, could I have a word?"

Ray and Fraser went into Walsh's office and stood at attention.

"Your wolf ate my sandwich, Constable."

"I'm sorry, sir."

" You don't understand, Constable. Your wolf is an eating machine. It cares for no one else but itself."

"Understood, sir."

"Another thing, Constable, who is the little girl?"

Fraser hesitated for a moment.

"Her name is Anna, my little girl."

"Oh, really,' Walsh said disinterestedly. "First, you bring your pet and now your kids. I actually didn't know you had kids, but that's probably none of my business."

Anna walked into Walsh's office.

"The puppy ate my sandwich."

She frowned.

"He's just an eating machine with no concern for anyone or anything but himself."

Walsh was amazed at this girl's remarkable perception. Fraser seemed to expect it of her.

"Can we keep her?" Ray asked suddenly. "We can have her as our mascot, you know, a little Mountie uniform. She'll be a little Dudley-Do-Right. She'll look so cute!"

Ray fell silent.

"I went goo-goo, didn't I?"

"I hoped you would maintain some dignity, Ray."

"Why didn't you stop me?"

"How could I, Ray? The idea of the Mountie outfit seemed so attractive."

"Well, how do you not go all goo-goo?"

"I don't know what you mean."

Anna placed Walsh's stapler in her mouth.

"This is an alloy," she remarked.

Ray grimaced.

"Oh my God, this is genetic. Anna get that out of your mouth."

Fraser smiled.

"Do all Canadian children taste things?" Walsh asked.

"I believe they should start early," Fraser replied.

"At any rate, I would like it very much if you kept your pets-and kids-at bay. Feed them, Constable."

"Yes sir."

With that, Ray and Fraser walked out with Anna and Diefenbaker following them at a leisurely pace.

"Chili dogs?" Ray suggested.

Fraser stared at Ray.

"Chili dogs are not healthy. What Anna needs is some good, nourishing food."

"Well, chili dogs are good. I don't know about nourishing but they are good. Well, Dief likes them."

Elaine shook her head at the both of them.

"You two have no idea how to look after kids, do you?"

"We do so," Ray shot back.

"Of course, we do," Fraser concurred. "We have a complete handle on the situation."

"I have to go to the bathroom," Anna announced.

"Elaine!" Fraser and Ray cried in unison.

The four climbed into Ray's Riviera and drove away from the precinct for lunch.

"Anna," Fraser called over the backseat, "I would like you to tell me where you and Terri were left off."

"At the places where the buses are," Anna said and busied herself with her scrapbook.

"Where are you going, Ray?" Fraser asked suddenly.

"To a friend of mine."

"But Ray, we have to find Terri."

"In a minute.'

Ray eventually pulled up to the curb outside a costume shop.

"Ray, what are we doing?"

Ray grinned.

"You'll see."

Ray and Fraser walked into the musty costume shop.

"Hey, Freddie!" Ray exclaimed, "How's business?"

"Fine, Ray," the elderly, bespectacled man answered. "What can I help you with?"

"Do you have anything like this, only smaller?" Ray asked and showed him a picture.

"I've got just the thing, surprisingly enough," Freddie answered and went into a back room. He came out with a suit bag.

"Will this do?"

Ray inspected it and nodded.

"This is great," Ray said and left. "See ya around, Freddie."

Ray tossed the package to Anna.

"Here ya go, kid. Try it on.'

"What is that?" Fraser pointed at the package.

"Oh," Ray cooed, "you'll see."

The Riviera drove past the bus terminal.

"Here!" Anna pointed.

"A bar?" Ray gawked.

"That's where she got lost," Anna said.

"Right, I'll stay here with Anna," Fraser said finally.

"What if I need help?" Ray asked. "Besides, I don't know anything about this Terri person. Let Dief stay here. She'll be alright."

"This is a dangerous part of town, Ray, anything could happen. I don't want to expose Anna to that kind of risk. I'll simply stay here until you come back."

"Unh-unh, Benny, the locals know you now. They're less likely to shoot at you. Leave Anna here with Diefenbaker and lock the doors. We'll only be a minute."

Anna waited in the car with Diefenbaker at her side. Fraser looked back at her worriedly. Ray and Fraser entered the smoke-filled bar where beer-slurping men shot pool.

"Well, well," the bartender clucked, "if it isn't Vecchio and his friend, the Defender of All That is Good and Decent. What brings you in here? Somebody swipe maple syrup?"

The men turned around, guns at their sides.

"Actually," Fraser said, "we are looking for a girl aged fifteen years, black hair, brown eyes, answers to the name of Terri."

"Any of you guys pick up a girl like that?" Ray sniped.

The men angrily pointed their guns at Ray.

"Don't shoot them."

Fraser and Ray looked behind them. Anna's little eyes pleaded with the men not to shoot. She wore the full Mountie outfit. Ray was overjoyed.

"It's a little Dudley-Do-Right!" a man laughed.

The rest of the men put their guns away and esteemed the little Mountie. This affection seemed lost on Anna. She had an ordinate fear of guns and merely wanted them put away. One man had not put his gun away and was sharply rebuked by Ray. Fraser knelt by Anna.

"Anna, I thought I told you to wait in the car."

"Diefenbaker let me out," she explained leading Fraser to seriously consider withholding his donut privileges for good.

"Here," said the bartender to Anna, "have some milk, on the house."

Anna gulped the milk down in stages whilst the bartender studied the picture of Terri.

"I've never seen her before but I'll keep an eye open," he agreed.

"Thank you kindly," Fraser said and led Anna out of the bar.

"Wow," Ray remarked,"this kid is a goldmine."

The threesome hopped into the Riviera and drove downtown.

"I'll file a missing persons' report and have some people look for her but I can't really do much else," Ray admitted.

"Thank you, Ray. You will telephone me if anything comes up?"

"Oh, yeah," Ray agreed and turned the corner to Fraser's dismal apartment.

The afternoon approached and the air got colder. Each passing minute divulged no more secrets that day.

CHAPTER TWO

Evening descended upon Chicago. Fraser cleared away the supper dishes and gazed wistfully over his shoulder at Anna who busied herself by colouring in her scrapbook. Diefenbaker nuzzled at her side providing her with more amusement. Fraser finished the supper dishes and settled down at the table with a cup of tea.

"Daddy, were you always a Mountie?" Anna asked.

"Yes, I was."

"Why did you become a Mountie?"

"I wanted to help people. I thought that by being a Mountie I could do that."

"What did your dad do?"

"He was also a Mountie."

"What about his dad?"

"His father was a librarian, but my great grandfather was a Mountie."

"Was everyone in our family a Mountie?"

"No," Fraser laughed, "our forefathers from Scotland had much different occupations."

"Like what?"

"Well, they were kind of an angry sort of people - waving swords around, burning things to the ground, headbutting people, not bathing..."

"Why?"

"Why not?" Fraser countered not realizing that Anna's thirst for knowledge could not be quenched by his rhetorical thinking.

Anna sensed futility in this line of questioning so she pursued something else.

"Where were you born?"

Fraser took out an atlas and opened the page to Canada.

"There," he pointed, "Fort Nelson."

"I was born there," Anna pointed at Edmonton. "Have you ever been there?"

"No," Fraser replied, "but I have been to Moosejaw."

"That isn't close," Anna observed.

"Perhaps not," Fraser agreed, "but when you've travelled as much as I have, close doesn't mean so much anymore."

"Why not?"

Fraser smiled.

"Another time, Anna. It is time for bed."

Anna rushed to the bathroom and prepared herself for bed.

Anna jumped on his bed.

"Oh, this will do," Anna chirped.

Fraser looked at her defeatedly. He would have to sleep on the couch.

"Very well then, have you brushed your teeth?"

Anna nodded.

"Did you floss?"

"Yes."

"Did you wash your face and the space behind your ears?"

"Yep."

Fraser fell silent. "Is there anything we've forgotten?"

Anna nodded. "I have to say my prayers," she folded her hands in benediction, "God bless Daddy, Uncle Ray, Mr. Huey, Diefenbaker and Elaine. Amen."

Fraser shut the lamp off. Diefenbaker hopped onto the bed with Anna.

"Traitor," he muttered and set the couch up for the night.

The night wore on. Anna moaned softly, tossed and turned in her bed.

"No!" she screamed thrashing at an unseen demon.

Fraser ran to her bedside and pulled the wailing child to him. She sobbed profusely on his shoulder.

"It was just a dream, just a dream," he soothed and coaxed her back to sleep.

CHAPTER THREE

Anna skipped along side her father en route to the Canadian consulate. Fraser stopped at the 27 precinct to see if Ray had any news on Terri.

"Good morning, Elaine," Fraser greeted Elaine, "is Ray here?"

"He's on time this morning," Elaine commented, "Hi, munchkin."

Anna ran to Elaine and hugged her. Already, Fraser could see a bond forming.

Ray was on the telephone when Fraser approached him. Ray motioned that he would only be a moment. Huey walked over to Fraser.

"We still haven't found anything on that missing girl of your's," he reported.

"That sucks!" Anna blurted much to the dismay and shock of others, especially her father.

"Anna, where did you learn a word like that?" Elaine asked.

"That sucks!" Ray cried over the phone. "That really sucks. I mean that guy is the king of suckdom. He sucks for a living. He is the suckiest suck that ever lived to suck."

All eyes were on Ray. Ray finally sensed something wrong when he hung the phone up.

"What? What did I do?"

"Ray," Fraser said frankly, "I think you are a bad influence on Anna. Your language is atrocious."

"That's a load of crap!" Ray countered. "Why the hell are you telling such damn lies about me?"

"My innocence is lost," Anna bemoaned.

"Ray, my grandfather had a terrible language problem when he came back from the war. It was so bad he was dismissed from his job. To solve his problem, he had a swear jar in which he would put nickels in every time he swore. That ultimately cost him so he finally stopped swearing. None were so pleased than his employers who let him have back his job teaching Grade one ."

"So what does this have to do with me?" Ray huffed.

"You have to stop swearing or get used to putting nickels in a swear jar."

Ray nodded. "I can get used to that. In fact, I bet I cannot swear for a whole day. Just watch me."

Elaine pulled the phone receiver from her ear.

"Ray, Louise cancelled your dinner date with her. She says you're a jerk."

"Ray," Huey said, "Walsh wants you. He's really mad."

Another officer walked over to Ray with a file.

"Your sister spilled nail polish all over this report of yours'. You'll have to type it over again."

Ray grew livid with rage. He curled his tongue in his mouth and bit back the urge to swear loudly and most profanely.

Fraser held Anna's hand tightly as they crossed the street and entered the consulate. Turnbull greeted them with his usual grave expression.

"Thatcher wants to see you," he said as immediately as Fraser walked in.

Thatcher stood up as Fraser walked into her office. Beside her were three Mounties, a short mustachioed man, a blond, curly- haired woman and a man Fraser recognized, a tall, serious man with coffee-coloured hair.

"Constable Fraser," Thatcher said sternly but with a hint of nervousness,"these officers have come on urgent business from the Territories. This is Sergeant Richard Andrews, Constable Susan Mitchell and..."

"Leftenent Lysak," Fraser offered glaring at the tall man.

Lt. Jake Lysak offered his hand warmly to Fraser.

"It's good to see you again, Constable."

Lysak looked down on Anna and crouched to her height.

"Hello. You must be Anna."

Anna hid behind her father and avoided Lysak. Lysak, seeing his greeting was not welcome, stood up again at full height.

"May I ask what this appointment is about?" Fraser queried.

Sergeant Andrews spoke up.

"I wish these were much pleasant circumstances under which we arrived but they are not. I must ask you where you found this little girl?"

"She arrived yesterday under suspicious circumstances. The child's aunt accompanied her here but went missing shortly afterwards. We're still trying to determine her whereabouts."

"How did she come into your custody, Constable?" asked Mitchell.

"She was taken by a concerned citizen to the 27 precinct where she recognized me.. To be her father."

The Mounties, including Thatcher, went pale at the announcement.

"Indeed," Mitchell sounded shocked.

"Then, this is not a chance happening," Andrews declared.

"May I ask what this about?" Fraser asked exasperatedly.

"I'll do the asking around here, Constable," Andrews huffed.

Fraser was taken aback.

Turnbull opened the door.

"Detective Vecchio is here for you, Constable Fraser."

Ray paced into the office breathlessly.

"Who is this?" Andrews asked.

"Detective Ray Vecchio, Chicago P.D." Ray introduced himself.

"What is your purpose here, Detective?"

"I found a missing girl we've been looking for..."

Andrews cut Ray off.

"Detective, whatever business you have with Constable Fraser will have to wait until he returns from Canada."

"Why am I going back, sir?" Fraser's face went pale.

"Constable, you are to be questioned in the suspicious death of Lisa Tugiak and the absconding of her daughter, Anna. You will accompany us on a flight for Inuvik that leaves this afternoon."

Fraser was breathless and stunned. A shock overwhelmed his body. Lisa was dead. As before, all that needed to be said was left unsaid. There would be no good-byes for the woman he once loved. Moreover, Anna was a reflection of himself and this scared him more than anything.

"I'm afraid she'll have to come with us for the mean time," Mitchell softly apologized.

"I'll take her,' Fraser uttered, choking back emotion and clinging on to Anna.

"You can't," Lysak cut in.

"If she's going with anybody she's going with me,' Ray piped in.

"Why?" Lysak asked nervously.

Ray produced a recently taken photograph.

"The girl we were looking for, Terri Tugiak, was found three blocks from where she was last seen-dead. Shot in the back with a silencer. Anna is the last person who saw her alive, that makes her my business. When you're finished with your investigation I can begin mine."

Lysak was resigned to accepting this even though it appeared on his face that he was perturbed.

"I'll see you guys in Canada," Ray smiled smugly as he walked out the door.

"Well, that being said, we leave at 2 in the afternoon, Constable," Andrews said and walked out with Mitchell and Lysak.

Fraser stood alone with Anna. The barriers of solitude were penetrated by the pervading forces of darkness and shame.

"Elaine!" Ray exclaimed as he charged into the precinct, "Pack your bags. We're going to Canada."

"Why?" Elaine asked nearly spilling her coffee in the process.

"Because our case is going to Canada," Ray quickly explained, "now rush home and get few sweaters, a parka, thermal underwear, all that stuff."

Elaine put down her coffee and glared at Ray who was being extremely obscure about their purposes in Canada.

"What are you talking about, Ray? I'm not going to Canada and neither are you. Now look..."

"No, you look, Elaine. Three Mounties showed up at the consulate with a double dose of bad news. Anna's mother has been shot dead and they're taking both Benny and Anna back with them. They think Benny's dirty. Elaine, I wouldn't ask you except that the kid's involved. Please?"

Elaine didn't need to think about it.

"I'll bring my Irish wool sweater. And I have the window seat."

Ray smiled.

"The next plane leaves at four. If we make it on time we can get the commuter to Inuvik at eight."

Walsh walked from his office, Hoagie in hand, gaping at Ray as he tried to leave.

"Detective Vecchio, I would like to speak to you and Officer Besbriss in my office if you don't mind."

Ray bit on his lip nervously. He had a feeling that Walsh would not let him leave.

Elaine and Ray stood at attention.

"What is this I hear about you going to Canada?" he asked with resignation.

"Before you say anything further, sir, I would like to say that this has to do with the girl we found today."

"This is the Mountie thing, isn't it?" Walsh surmised with a deal of foresight.

"Well, yeah, there is..are..at least four Mounties in this picture, yeah."

"Oh, four Mounties, that's something different," Walsh added.

"Sir," Elaine piped in, "the little girl is the only witness to the crime. If we let her go to Canada without an escort there's no saying if we can ever get her here to testify. Our case will fall apart and..well, sir, think of the child."

Walsh was still expressionless.

"I was merely going to say don't forget warm clothing. Dismissed."

Elaine and Ray grinned from ear to ear and left Walsh's office, jubilant, for Canada.

CHAPTER FOUR

The plane touched down softly on the snow-packed runway in Inuvik. Fraser still peered out the window of the plane until he was nudged gently by Mitchell.

"Constable Fraser, we're here."

Fraser stepped off the plane and into the hanger. He retrieved his bags and got into the car driven by Mitchell to the post headquarters for debriefing. Still, he stared out the window of the car. Canada was different to what Fraser remembered of it. It wasn't as still but quietly burgeoning from the depths of isolation and cold bringing the darkness that always accompanies civilization. Yet there seemed a forlorn nature about it. This was home.

The R.C.M.P. post headquarters were a labryntine maze of long halls, small rooms and drab surroundings. The winter freshness that covered the tundra on the outside was a welcome change of pace for those who worked sleepless hours on the inside. Fraser followed Andrews and Mitchell to the office where Inspector Carradine awaited their arrival.

Andrews rapped sharply on the office door and waited to enter. Once he did, he saw a fortyish man putting a golf ball into a paper cup.

"Ah, Sergeant Andrews," Carradine exclaimed, " you're here; good, good. Chief Inspector Forbes is on vacation, lucky devil. I'll be handling this case. Please, stand at ease."

The officers stood before Carradine, backs ramrod straight and hands tucked behind them. Carradine settled himself at his desk.

"As you have travelled great distances for a great amount of time, I will be brief. As we all know, three days ago one Lisa Tugiak was found dead and her home ransacked. Her daughter, one Anna Belle Tugiak, went missing and later found out to be spirited out of the country by relatives of the deceased and found in the possession of one Constable Benton Fraser who professes to be a relation of sorts to the girl. Being that I cannot trust the immediate family of the deceased, I will hereby relinquish custody of the child to one Elizabeth MacLeod, until our inquiries are over. If there is any more deception the girl will become a ward of the Crown. Is that clear?"

"Sir," Andrews entreated, "Mrs. MacLeod is the sister of Constable Fraser, whom the child was in custody and whom we are investigating for suspicious behaviour regarding this case. I implore you to leave the child in someone else's care."

"I believe I've made my decision, Sergeant. Dismissed."

The three officers nodded their assent and left Carradine's office. Andrews scowled at Fraser. Fraser could feel his angry stare at the back of his head. He turned to face the angry man.

"You don't agree with Inspector Carradine's decision, Sergeant?" Fraser asked.

"I don't trust you," Andrews replied, " murder is a dirty business, Constable Fraser, as dirty as abducting a child from her home."

"Anna was never kidnapped,' Fraser countered.

"We all know that she didn't board the plane herself,' Andrews replied and left Fraser.

Fraser stared at him suspiciously. He mistrusted Andrews more than Andrews did of him.

Bess waited from her front porch for Elaine and Ray to arrive. She wrapped her shawl tightly around her, then briefly went inside to see if the coffee was ready. Ray parked the Ford Jimmy in front of Bess' house and got out.

"Ray!" Bess was elated as she ran from the Fraser homestead to Ray's side. She peered in the Jimmy. "Where is Ben? Where's Anna?"

"They're still at the post," he replied. "They should be here soon, I would think,"

Elaine got out of the Jimmy and hauled her bags out. Bess ran over to help her. The three pulled the bags inside and settled for a cup of coffee.

"I've set up the upstairs rooms for you," Bess called over her shoulder, "I hope you'll be comfortable."

The three sat down on the Victorian armchairs in the expansive pine living room. Bess was jittery. She seemed capable of leaping out of her seat at any moment.

Bess swivelled her head to Elaine.

"Oh, what does she look like?"

"She's as cute as a button," Elaine smiled and gulped her coffee.

"I've told Rory all about her," Bess quipped. "He's excited as I am to finally meet her."

Bess quietly placed her cup down on the coffee table. She at once became solemn and concerned.

"I want to thank you...for backing up Ben like this. He's always spoken highly of you, that you would support him no matter what. You believe in him That's important."

"We've always believed in him," Elaine confided.

"Even when it meant certain death, we've always bit the bullet,' Ray said with a faint reminiscence in his voice of the time when Fraser made him blow up his car.

The snow echoed the rough sounds of a car pulling up. Bess ran to the window. Fraser stepped out of the car and opened the passenger door. A girl, spritely in nature, subdued herself and drudged out of the car. Bess ran outside and embraced her brother. She walked over to the shy Anna.

"Hello," she said sweetly, "you must be Anna. Do you know who I am?"

"You're my Auntie Bess," Anna said in quiet recognition.

"That's right," Bess confirmed. "Oh, Anna, we're going to have a lovely time. I'll braid your hair, and teach you how to make bannock and scones. You'll meet your cousin. He's been looking forward to meeting you."

"What's his name?"

"Rory."

"He's a boy. I don't think I like boys."

"Well, you'll like this one. Come on."

Fraser was surprised to see Ray and Elaine waiting for him when he entered the house. Anna immediately ran to them and embraced them.

"I didn't expect to see you here," Fraser admitted.

"Well, we didn't expect to be here," Ray sighed, "don't they clear the roads here?"

Fraser chuckled.

"Sometimes," he joked.

It was already seven in the evening and it was pitch-dark, Elaine remarked to herself. She was unsure if she would last here for the week. She gazed out the window at the expanse of snow through a little hole burnt by breath through the frost on the window. She was jostled by the two young children, Anna and Rory, Bess' son, an active curly-haired boy. She smiled as they shrieked across the living room. Diefenbaker ran for cover. Fraser grabbed the two children and scurried them upstairs to play. He then plunked down on an armchair exhaustedly.

Fraser picked up an open edition of the *Inuvik Standard*. The column to the right carried a paragraph reading of the death by suicide of Joseph Walkwood, aged twenty-six.

"Bess, have you ever heard of this man, a Joseph Walkwood?" Fraser asked.

"Yes,' she replied hesitantly as she looked over at the newspaper, "He worked with Lisa. He's been the third to die in the last two weeks."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, quite a few people have turned up dead under strange circumstances, almost right after the other. Some girl was found dead past Parson's Creek with her back blown out. An animal-rights activist, I believe. They say she was a radical and her death may have been at the hands of an opponent. Then there was Lisa and now that guy. Fallout, maybe."

Fraser looked from the paper and stared vapidly into space.

"Fallout, indeed."

"Do you think that those cases are related to Lisa?" Elaine asked.

"I can't say," Fraser admitted, "I am not allowed to see the case file or visit the crime scene. Anna doesn't want to talk about it..."

"It's terrible when the brass has the mitts-off' policy," Elaine huffed and slumped into an armchair closing her eyes from fatigue. She dazed. Visions of her past flight showed blurredly in her head. The never-ceasing snow, the droves of elk dancing across the tundra, the rock that jutted out from the barren land.

Fraser bemused himself with other visions, those in the scrapbook Anna carelessly left on the coffee table. He laughed to himself when he saw Diefenbaker and his outlandishly huge paws and tongue. A humorous depiction of Ray asking Franny for food. A picture of himself reverently drawn touched Fraser. He studied the lines painstakenly drawn by a child's hand. He remembered that he himself had once drawn a picture of his father. It was never displayed anywhere. He found the lost sketch in the diary bequeathed to him. Another sketch was folded crookedly and hidden in the nooks of the hind pages. A young woman lay on the floor with X's for eyes and a red halo about her head. An angry man stood over her body. Fraser dropped the picture.

"Oh my God!" he exclaimed.

Bess drew herself from the kitchen and Elaine opened her eyes.

"What is it?" Elaine asked.

Fraser ignored her and ran upstairs to Anna's room. Elaine looked at the picture and shook when she thought what it could have meant.

Anna was jumping on the bed with Rory. When her father charged in the room, she stopped and remained silent, not expecting her father's recent discovery.

"Anna, come here," he ordered breathlessly.

Anna approached him not knowing what to think. As she came near him he pulled her to his body and held her more tightly than he'd ever held anyone or anything. Anna was stifled in his strong embrace. Suddenly, he pushed her away from him.

"Why didn't you tell me what you saw? Anna, you are not safe! Do you understand?"

Bess came into the room and pulled Anna to her.

"Ben, what is going on?"

"Anna isn't safe her. Don t answer the phone and don't let anyone in the house," Fraser ordered.

Ray awoke from his slumber and ambled down the hallway.

"What the hell is going on here?" he demanded as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Ray, look after the house while I'm gone. I have to see Inspector Carradine."

Inspector Carradine wrapped the evening gown tightly around his body, undid the latch on his door and opened it. Fraser appeared breathless and his cheeks were ruddy from the cold. He did not do his leather jacket up but did not seem chilled.

"Constable Fraser? What are you doing here? Come in. You'll catch your death."

"Terribly sorry to bother you, sir," he apologized as he made his way in, "but I have to see you. It's urgent. I couldn't wait until morning."

Carradine made his way into the den and poured himself a glass of sherry and offered some to Fraser who declined the offer.

"This is highly irregular, Constable," Carradine noted.

"Yes, sir, I know," Fraser concurred, "but I have shocking evidence to show you."

Carradine lifted his eyebrows.

"Really? What?"

Fraser pulled from his breast pocket the picture that Anna drew and showed it to Carradine.

"Anna saw who murdered her mother and the killer would like very much to silence her."

Carradine gawked at the picture. He brushed his hand through his greying sandy hair.

"Inspector, I need to see the case file on Lisa Tugiak," Fraser requested.

"I can't allow that, Constable Fraser. You know that!" Carradine countered. "You are in suspicion of absconding Anna from her home, even her mother's death. Now, I know you are telling the truth and I'll support you in any way I can but I cannot allow you to investigate this case."

"Inspector, this is my daughter! How can you be so obtuse?!"

"Obtuse?"

"Yes!'

"Get out!" Carradine ordered. "Report to my office 09:00 hours."

Fraser slammed the door as he left and trudged through the snow to his car. He punched the dashboard and threw his head back. He closed his eyes and thought of Anna. He then thought of the man in the picture, a tall black coated man staring angrily over Lisa's body. His thoughts raced to one fixed zenith of suspicion. He started his car and drove home.

Ray dusted the light snow from his shoulders as he stepped into the post. Fraser removed his parka and placed it on the coat hook. Together, they walked to Carradine's office where Andrews and Lysak waited for them.

"I see that being in America has deprived you of your ability to be punctual, Constable," Andrews remarked, "you are ten minutes late."

"I apologize for my lateness, Sergeant. The snowfall was quite cumbersome."

Andrews nodded.

"Who, might I ask, is this?" Carradine nodded to Ray.

"This is Detective Ray Vecchio from the Chicago Police Department," Fraser explained. "He is investigating the disappearance of Terri Tugiak, Anna's aunt."

"And what is your claim in this case precisely, Detective?" Carradine queried.

"Anna was the last person to see Terri alive. She is needed for my investigation and I'm here to make sure she is alive to return to Chicago with me."

Lysak raised an eyebrow.

"You believe the child saw something?"

"Children are such bright individuals," Ray said sarcastically.

Lysak laughed.

"I think you are making this up," he accused.

"I think you're a pig," Ray shot back.

"That will be enough!" Carradine stood from his desk and handed the picture to Lysak. Lysak glanced at the picture quickly then tossed it on the desk.

"A child's scribbling, nothing more."

"Oh, I don't know, Leftenent," Fraser spoke up, "the man in the picture bears a semblance, don't you think?"

Lysak flashed an angry look at Fraser. Fraser kept his composure, determined to staredown the insidious Lysak.

"I will have no more insinuations or accusations, Constable," Carradine cried. "Either you will cease with your insolent behaviour or you will be suspended. Is that clear?"

Without lifting his gaze from Lysak, Fraser responded.

"Yes, sir."

"I have agreed to give Constable Fraser a summary of the case we are currently reviewing," Carradine said as he handed a paper to Fraser. "I will resume the inquiries tomorrow same time as today. Dismissed."

Ray immediately fled to the coffee machine in the cafeteria.

"Oh, God, I need a cup of java. I didn't even eat breakfast..." Ray said not realizing that Fraser was not with him.

Ray turned around to see Fraser and Lysak a few metres away angrily facing off. He sipped his coffee greedily. Fraser took a liberty snapping at Lysak like that, he thought. However, Lysak wasn't a savoury man, nor was Andrews. They always seemed one step ahead in this case, devouring the morsels of intensity like the show-offs that they were. Ray decided to ignore Lysak and let him blow off some steam. Fraser and himself would sweep up this case by themselves and leave the two hotshots in a pickle. Ray glanced at the Danish tray and proceeded to choose one. Lysak leant over to Fraser and whispered something in his ear. Unthinking, Fraser swung at Lysak with such force everyone in the cafeteria could hear the pop of Lysak's jaw. Lysak crashed into a table, scattered the patrons of the cafeteria. Fraser picked him up and threw him against the wall. Ray ran to him and pulled him away from Lysak. A few other officers restrained the two from fighting.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Ray yelled.

But Fraser would not answer. He glowered at Lysak who wiped the blood from his lip.

"I think your friend has gone off the deep-end, Detective," Lysak curled his lip, "I simply wanted to know why he was hostile towards me. And he struck me."

"You provoked him," Ray accused.

"I see he gets the predilection of paranoia from you," Lysak ebbed the flow of blood from his mouth and left the cafeteria.

"What the hell was that all about?" Ray demanded.

"Let's go," Fraser pressed and walked out of the cafeteria.

"Oh, great!" Ray exclaimed with sarcasm, "First, he punches a guy and now he wants to leave. Who the hell do you think you are? Mike Tyson?!"

Fraser climbed into the car and Ray parked himself in the driver's seat.

"Don't go postal on me, Benny," Ray spat.

"I don't know what you mean."

"I mean that you've gone crazy on me, absolutely fucking crazy! That's what I mean! You've never hit anyone before, you never told me about Lisa and you're getting really weird hunches, weirder than ever."

Ray paused for a moment.

"Where are we going?" he asked softly.

"To Lisa's house."

Ray pulled back the yellow police tape, slipped a credit card in the door and let himself into Lisa's house.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Benny?" Ray asked with hesitance in his voice.

"Ray, this is the only way," Fraser replied, "the report says the entry wasn't forced and the house was ransacked, particularly the desk. Now this indicates that Lisa knew her killer and that they didn't find what they were looking for because nothing was taken. I know this is not orthodox but it seems like I cannot trust anyone."

"You can trust me," Ray confided. "What are we looking for?"

"A computer disk, a file, anything that would store information."

Ray walked over to Lisa's desk. He picked up the diskholder and flipped through the disks.

"Word Perfect, Games, Backup files, case studies...Benny, I don't know where to start."

Fraser looked around the room. He pulled a CD from the living room cabinet. The Guess Who. Fraser smiled. Lisa had quite a collection. The Rush CD's were in order of appearance, Sarah McLachlan, Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot-*The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald*. Fraser pulled this CD from the shelf. He opened up the case. The CD did not contain anything by Gordon Lightfoot. Instead, it was blank with only a company's logo on it.

"Ray," Fraser cried as he shook the case in his fingers, "I have what we are looking for."

"What is it?"

"What Lisa's killer was looking for."

Ray switched on the computer and placed the CD in the CD-ROM device. A note was placed on the screen reading for a password.

"What do I type?" Ray asked Fraser.

"Try- INUKSHUK," Fraser suggested.

Ray typed it in and the screen read affirmative.

"You're good at this. Want to pick my lottery numbers?" Ray said and began to read the document.

"Some other time, perhaps."

January 26, 1996

By the time this is read, I, Dr. Lisa Tugiak, will most probably be dead. I say this because others who have learned what I have are now dead. This CD acts as my last will and testament. What I type here is a faithful narrative leading up to my inevitable death..

"This all started before Lisa's death," Fraser observed, shocked. He did not fathom that this could be bigger than what it appeared to be.

On December 13, 1995, a young woman named Jennifer Uglimak approached me at a cafe in Yellowknife with, what she said, was important information. She told me that she worked for an animal-rights organization called Freedom for Animals. At first, I was reluctant to listen to her because her organization was radical and often resorted to violence to achieve its ends but she begged me to listen and so I did. She told me that a drug was being produced by the company, SpiroChem, that could induce super strength and agility and that it was being used on animals. I didn't believe her and dismissed her story as nonsense. In retrospect, I should not have done that.

Recently, there has been a rash of violent attacks on humans by bears and wild cats. These animals showed no fear of man and were reputedly larger than normal. More so, these animals should have either hibernated for the winter or moved to warmer climes. When I asked to do an autopsy on the animals, Darren Smythe, head of the NWT Conservation Department, refused saying that these animals were simply anomalies. The bodies were then destroyed and I was given strict orders by Smythe not to investigate the matter further and certainly not to perform autopsies. However, on one animal I did.

A male grizzly bear attacked a group of skiers at a lodge west of Vancouver. After its death, I flew down to perform an autopsy. The animal was tagged In NWT, approximately 2 years old and was abnormally big. Its incisors alone were 15 cm. The heart and liver were badly damaged by the bullets used to kill it but there were larger than a normal bear's organs. An analysis of its blood turned up the most unusual thing yet. An artificial hormone was present in the animal's blood stream. I've never seen it before. After the autopsy, I had the body destroyed and copied down all the information I had gathered including the chemical compounds found in the bear's blood. I told No one of what I discovered. When I returned home, I decided to look into the matter further. I broke into the main office of the SpiroChem plant. I know what I did was illegal but I had to settle the matter best I could. I found in the chairman's office a grey disk which I learned belonged to a man named Gerhardt Wagner.

"Wagner!" Fraser cried. "Will wonders ever cease?!"

Wagner made an artificial hormone which he intended as a street drug. This hormone induces extreme elation, super strength and agility in the human subject. But after twenty-four hours, the hormone causes cardiac arrest, seizures and ultimately death. The chairman of SpiroChem, David Armstrong, was interested in this hormone and suggested that it could be modified into a stimulant or steroid. He tested this hormone illegally on animals, aided and abetted by Darren Smythe and two RCMP officers, Sergeant Richard Andrews and Leftenent Jacob Lysak. The latter two I believe act as the strong-arm of the operation. I downloaded all that was on the disk onto this CD.

"This reads like a freaking John Grisham novel!" Ray swore.

Now I am convinced that my life and the life of my daughter are in danger and I do not expected to out of harm's way. I only hope that this disk will fall into the hands of someone who can stop this for once and for all.

Dr. Lisa K. Tugiak

"It only makes sense," Fraser noted. "Before Alicia "died", she claimed that she didn't kill Wagner. She didn't. The tracks outside of the cottage came from one set of boots, boots worn by loggers on the West Coast. An easily bribed ex-convict, no doubt. Wagner took the disk for himself to affect extortion not out of Parava but out of Armstrong, and ultimately Andrews and Lysak."

"So Andrews and Lysak wanted to pick up some cash so they agreed to help Armstrong," Ray followed up.

"Precisely. They probably killed Joseph Walkwood as well fearing that Lisa might have told him about the operation."

"Do you think that Lysak killed Lisa?"

Fraser shook his head.

"I think that only one person could tell us that."

Ray knew immediately that Anna would have to reveal what she knew, even if it hurt her to do so.

Ray left the document and noticed that there was another document on the disk.

"I can't get into this one," Ray said, " but what we have here is good enough to lock these bozos away."

"All we need now is a warrant or what we've just found is no good," Fraser replied.

"Well, you go get that warrant, Benny, and I'll keep an eye on the Boy Scouts."

Ray's cellular phone went off and he answered it. Fraser looked at the document menu. The second entry stared at him and invited him to read it. Instinctively, Fraser typed in *persuasion*. The document, not too long to read, appeared on the screen.

Dear Benton,

I meant this document to be for you. There are things I need to share with you that we could never share together. It is my greatest regret.

When you left that night I did not cry. I knew that you would leave for something that possessed you more than I ever could and wanted. When you left, I had only the memories and much more to cling on to. Your daughter, Anna Belle, was born on the 26 of September. She looks so much like you. Her hair is stubborn and her eyes are blue. I wanted her only to know of the good things of you, not that you left me or that you possessed a distance that you place around yourself, but that you are simply a good man. Be a good father to her, I know you will.

I will not forget you.

Lisa

Fraser bit on his lip. He touched the screen gently.

*Good-bye, Lisa*.

"I have to leave," Ray announced, "my mother's really sick."

Fraser picked up the CD and left the house with Ray to the airfield.

Fraser walked into the cabin where he saw Elaine sitting with Anna.

"Hello!" he announced.

Anna and Elaine swivelled their heads around.

"Hi, Daddy! I drew you something," Anna waved a piece of paper in front of Fraser, "See?!"

Fraser took the picture of Bess and himself standing in front of the cabin. He smiled.

"I like it, a lot. It should be framed."

Fraser turned to Elaine.

"Where is Bess?"

"She's gone to get some groceries," Elaine answered. She could sense that Fraser needed to speak to Anna alone. "I'll make some coffee."

Fraser put a black backpack on the table where Anna worked.

"Anna, I want to show you a few pictures. Look."

Fraser sat down next to Anna and pulled out a bundle of photographs.

"Who's that?" Anna pointed to a worn black-and-white photo.

"This was my great grandfather, Hamish Fraser."

Fraser flipped to another photograph.

"This is my father, Sergeant Robert Fraser..."

"Oh, I know him," Anna laughed, "I've seen him before."

Fraser stared at Anna.

"I thought I was the only one who saw him."

Fraser lifted a picture from the middle of the bundle. A tall and slender woman carried in her arm a small child with feathery dark hair and small eyes. Her hair billowed out from the French roll she affected. Her face was porcelain-smooth, young and open. Her blue eyes cast a gaze to the photographer. It seemed to say that he could capture her features on film but not her thoughts. They would belong to no one, never expressed or shown to anyone.

"Who is she?"

Fraser laid the picture flat on the table.

"That was my mother. And that was me. She died when I was very young. I think you would have liked her."

Anna kept silent.

"I miss her a great deal and now that you're here, I miss her even more," Fraser admitted. He turned to Anna. "You remind me of her."

Anna did not know what to say but she could sense that he felt the way she felt now. It was not easy losing a mother. As he had been before, she was everything to her father.

"Do you have a picture of Mum?"

"If I wanted to see your mother again, I would look at you," Fraser paused. "You are so many people at once and yourself at the same time. You amaze me."

Anna felt special. It had been a long time she felt apart of something. She had always been told that she was reminiscent of her father and now, her father could see the people he loved the most in her. And *he loved her*.

"This is Ray; this Ray and myself; this is Diefenbaker eating Ray's pizza..."

This evoked laughter. Fraser pulled a photograph with Lysak in it. Anna froze.

"What's the matter, Anna?"

"Nothing," her voice quivered, "show me another picture."

"Why? This is a picture of myself and a man I worked with. His name is Leftenent Lysak..."

"Show me another picture," she nervously demanded.

"Why?" Fraser asked, sensing that he touched on something. "Do you recognize him?"

Anna started to shake.

"Anna, no one will hurt you. I promise. Have you seen this man before?"

"He was in my house..." tears rolled down Anna's face. "He yelled at Mum...he hit her...I ran under the bed because I was scared of him. He wanted to hurt me the way he hurt her. "

Fraser held Anna and allowed her to weep against his shoulder. He swore to himself that Lysak would pay for what he had done.

The telephone rang. Fraser picked up the receiver and spoke.

"Hello?"

"Ben, this is Bess. Look. I know I shouldn't be doing this but I remember I saw something in a file once. Do remember Gerhardt Wagner?"

"Yes."

"Three days after he was shot, a parolee named Les Herman was picked up at the B.C./Washington border carrying a sawed-off shotgun. The arresting officer was Sergeant Andrews."

"Bess," Fraser said as he wiped the stress from his eyes, "Andrews and Lysak are responsible for Lisa's death, possibly others. They are very dangerous. Where are you now?"

"At headquarters. Look don't worry about me. I'll be back in no time. Bye."

Bess hung up. Fraser put the receiver in its place and grabbed his parka.

"Elaine, lock the doors, telephone Carradine and have him issue an arrest for Andrews and Lysak."

Elaine nodded and held Anna as Fraser drove frantically to the post.

Bess was soundless in the hallways of the post. She gently pulled the door of Andrews' office open and made her way to the file cabinet. She pulled the second drawer open. Bess pulled the file from the cabinet. She was startled by a sudden noise. She swivelled her head back. Lysak stood in the doorway leering at her suspiciously.

"My, my, Bess," he clucked, "up to no good, I see."

"Jake," she breathed, "it's you."

"What are you doing, Bess?"

Bess thought for a moment, sucking on her tongue.

"Ben needed to see a file and he couldn't come down so I thought I would..."

"Get it for him?" Lysak interrupted. "Oh, now, Bess. You know that's against the rules. I can't let you do that. It wouldn't be right."

Bess frowned and started to put the file back.

"I suppose I could let you have it, unofficially, of course, being such a trustworthy person. Go on - take it. I'll say I never saw you."

Bess smiled and put the file in her bag

"Thanks, Jake."

Just as Bess walked out the door, she felt a crack on her head and saw blackness.

CHAPTER FIVE

Bess woke up eye level of the floor of a small wooden shack in a clearing amidst expansive woods. The pervading cold covered her like a cloak. She wore no winter garments, only her casual dress. She could feel the coarse ropes that bound her hands and feet. A small hole in her black jeans exposed a gash on her left knee. Her head hurt. Her baby-blue eyes wandered and found that Lysak stared at her. He sat on a chair next to an unlit stove.

"Where am I?" she asked brusquely.

"Parson's Creek," Lysak promptly answered.

"Where you dumped Jenny Uglimak."

"I had to put her somewhere," Lysak smiled.

"Does the word sadistic' mean anything to you?" Bess asked sarcastically.

Lysak pulled Bess up and held the gun just under her chin.

"I don't know whether or not it would be a pleasure or a pain to kill you."

Lysak stroked her face.

"I can see why that Yankee takes a liking to you. You're so.. beautiful..."

Lysak pressed his lips to Bess'. Bess nudged his face away and spat on him. Lysak formed a fist and backhanded her. Bess fell, her nose bled.

"Whore!" he cried. "You're all the same! Don't expect that Yank to come for you, nor your brother, because they're dead. Then the little girl, then I'll have you."

Bess screamed and kicked.

"You bastard! You bastard!"

Lysak took a cloth and shoved it into Bess' mouth to gag her. Feeling useless, Bess stopped thrashing and cried.

An hour went by. Bess lifted her ankles and rubbed the rope onto a sharp corner of the stove. She stopped when Lysak came back from talking to his look-out.

"In a better mood?" he asked.

Bess simply glared at him. Lysak edged closer to her. Bess could feel the ropes give way. She struggled a little until they became loose and she kicked Lysak with all of her might. Lysak flew back. Bess got up and ran to the trees surrounding the shack.

"Get her!" Lysak yelled to his look-out.

The look-out chased her into the woods. Bess ran in a zig-zag motion, ignoring tree branches as they whipped her face and stumbling on roots. She proceeded down an incline and slipped. She hit a solid body and when she looked up she saw a familiar face. Ray put a finger to his pursed lips and cocked his gun. The look-out went down the incline and searched for Bess. Ray struck him on the back of the head. Ray untied the ropes that bound Bess' hands and wiped the blood from her nose. He smiled and winked at her.

Lysak took his gun and cocked it. He made his way slowly out of the shack, listening carefully to every sound and darting his head to see if anyone was following him. He heard a gun click and turned around swiftly. Lysak felt something strike him and he fell. He looked up seeing Ray and Fraser pointing guns at him.

"You're supposed to be dead," Lysak gaped.

"It's a good thing I have a predilection for paranoia," Ray scoffed. "Oh, and my mother's fine, by the way."

Fraser cocked his service revolver and pointed it at Lysak's head.

"Leftenent Jacob Lysak, you are under arrest..."

Ray swung the interrogation room door shut. He grinned at Lysak who sat grimly at the table with his hands folded, waiting for the axe to come down.

"Well, well, Leftenent Jacob Lysak," Ray mused sardonically, "commended twice for bravery and sited various times for courage well above that expected of an officer in the Queen's service, it looks like you'll be facing charges of one, two, no three counts of murder, two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, assault and battery and forcible confinement."

Ray sat across from him.

"It looks like you won't be getting that merit badge after all."

"You don't like me, do you, Detective Vecchio?"

"Let's just say I have healthy dislike for people who kill kids."

"Oh, you mean Terri."

"And Anna."

Lysak sighed.

"I'd like to speak to my lawyer."

"Funny thing about Canadian roads," Ray remarked, "they always seem covered with snow. It looks like your lawyer will be late."

"I want to speak to him now," Lysak demanded.

"He's on his way."

Lysak protested but Ray grabbed his wrist and rasped under his breath.

"I'm sick of this by-the-rules' bullshit. As we all know, you're no Boy Scout, you're just a sadistic pig with a tendency to piss a lot of people off at the same time. Not anymore. You're right where I want you so don't fuck with me."

Lysak pulled his wrist away.

"You think I'm sadistic, eh? A real monster. I have it in for Constable Fraser. I want to ruin his life and his family. Is that correct?"

"That about sums it up, yeah," Ray concurred.

"Constable Fraser is the real homewrecker."

Ray laughed. "Yeah, I have my doubts about people who listen to the Carpenters, too."

"You are ignorant, Detective. Ask the good constable where he was on the night of January 25, 1992. I know where he was. He was sleeping with my wife. That's right. Lisa was my wife and he had an affair with her."

Ray sat stunned. He left the interrogation room and encountered Fraser in the hallway.

"Is he talking?" Fraser asked.

"Why didn't you tell me that Lysak was Lisa ex-husband?"

Fraser went pale.

"What?"

"You didn't tell me that Lisa was married to Lysak. He's a suspect! What? Did that little fact just slip your mind?"

"Ray, I can explain..."

"Explain nothing! I'm here busting my ass trying to find out who shot Terri and a host of others, nearly getting shot in the process by a Mountie who's seriously unhinged and he reveals that you've been having it off with his ex. No wonder he's bitter. You were screwing his wife!" Ray walked from Fraser angrily but Fraser grabbed his shoulder.

"Ray, I didn't even think Lysak was the murderer..."

"You never liked him," Ray shot back, "you mean you didn't suspect anything?"

Fraser leaned against the wall.

"You don't know Lysak. He was married to her, yes. And yes, I had an affair. It was never meant to be that way. He beat her. Whenever he did, she ran to me.."

Fraser trailed off, remembering the first moments in the rain with Lisa as she fled the brutality of Lysak. She sought the refuge of his arms often. Clandestine meetings in fall evenings, behind the snow-laden trees in the dead of night, snatching quick moments of passion in the absence of her husband. Everything Lisa then did reflected her secret lover. The flowers on the dining room table, enjoying the particular musky scent of the red tunic, the milk and two teaspoons of sugar when she only took her coffee black. Lysak had been told, but never listened until it was too late.

"I'm finishing this, Ray," Fraser promised.

The two men entered the interrogation room and sat across from Lysak.

" I maintain innocence, as my lawyer has recommended I do," Lysak stated, "Until I see my lawyer, I will say no more."

"You're finished, Lysak," Fraser returned, "Anna has identified you. The gun you had with you matched the gun used to kill Joseph Walkwood, Lisa has even incriminated you in the CD you couldn't find. Gordon Lightfoot-*The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald*, a classic."

Lysak let out a nervous laugh.

"Then there is the little matter of Terri. Can't prove I killed her, can you?"

"What if Terri could finger you?" Ray asked.

"What? From the grave you mean?" Lysak laughed once more.

Ray opened the door. Constable Mitchell pushed a young girl in a wheelchair.

"Terri?" Ray pointed to Lysak who now turned pale.

Terri sniffed and rubbed her tear-filled eyes.

"He shot me," she sobbed and Mitchell wheeled her away.

"Tough to see a kid paralyzed from the waist down, huh, Lysak?" Ray spurred.

Lysak bowed his head.

"Oh, perhaps I should have told you," Ray slapped his forehead lightly. "You see, Terri wasn't really dead when we found her, but almost. When you came we thought to ourselves that you knew more than what you let on so we kept Terri secret."

"The evidence you have is circumstantial, at best, and it won't mean anything without a warrant, or my lawyer," Lysak pouted nervously.

"I don't think you fathom what you are in for, Lysak," Fraser rasped. "The evidence stacked against you is overwhelming, as are the charges. We have a warrant for the CD we found and a warrant to search your house," Fraser produced the warrant. "What we need is your confession. It would make things easier at the trial."

"I'd like to think that a trial will not come of this," Lysak answered.

"Andrews won't save you now," Fraser responded. "You are a loose cannon, a liability. If your brutality does not get in the way of your work the evidence we have against you can and will damn you."

"Well, then," Lysak sighed, "I suppose I have no choice. Before I begin, I wanted to say that this *was* personal. I loved Lisa. When I saw you with her I swore that I would make her regret the day she set eyes on you. I don't think she ever did. Even when I shot her, she simply closed her eyes. She didn't cry or beg...and that killed me. Nothing in her expressed a sorrow or regret. She slept in *your* bed, carried *your* child and even died for you. I couldn't kill that so I thought I would kill the next best thing - Anna. This was more than an order, it was a directive for me. I made it my personal mission in life. I was ordered to kill Lisa. There were to be no witnesses. Even if it meant the girl, too."

Fraser rose from his chair, shoved Lysak against the wall and pinned him with his elbow.

"You son-of-a-bitch! If you even look at my daughter, I'll shoot you myself."

Ray pulled him away.

"Fraser, this isn't the way. We'll get him in court,

"We'll see about that," Lysak smirked.

Fraser stomped his way out of the interrogation room. Ray followed him. Ray grabbed his shoulder.

"Cool it, Benny," he reassured him, "Lysak's nailed. He's not going anywhere.'

"I hope so."

A young officer approached Fraser.

"Inspector Carradine wants to see you in his office, Constable."

Fraser and Ray walked to Carradine's office. Carradine waited for them, carefully putting a golf ball in a paper cup.

"You've just interviewed Lysak?" he asked.

Fraser nodded in the affirmative.

"Let him go."

Fraser stood aghast.

"Sir, why?"

"His lawyer was not present," Carradine explained.

"But, sir, he contacted his lawyer. We have a confession..."

"It is useless," Carradine cut him off, "without his lawyer. Set him off.. You have no choice. Even if this confession is valid, it will mean nothing in court if the defence learns that a legal representative was not present. You'll be dead in the water. Do yourself a favour and do things right, Constable. It will save you a lot of headaches."

"But it won't save my daughter," Fraser snapped back and stormed out of Carradine's office.

Lysak entered the car Andrews drove.

"You've messed up, Leftenent," Andrews growled.

"I won't this time," he promised.

"Kill the girl," Andrews ordered.

"You don't need to tell me twice," Lysak said.

Elaine glanced out the window. She scratched the surface of the pane and flicked the frost away. Anna played with Diefenbaker in the living room. He barked at her and she barked back in mimic. Elaine smiled at them. She turned her head for a moment and saw the corner of a white car in the distance.

"Anna, go up to your room, right now," Elaine ordered.

Anna obeyed Elaine. Diefenbaker barked and ran to the kitchen. Elaine spun her head around. Diefenbaker growled and whimpered when the sound of a gun blasted. Elaine pulled her gun from her hip and cocked it. She ran to the opposing wall and hopped to the kitchen. She stood face-to-face with Lysak. He fired his gun at Elaine. She dropped to the floor, rolled and fired back. The bullet skinned Lysak's hand. He dropped his gun and tried to stop the profuse bleeding in his hand. Elaine pulled herself up and pointed the gun at him. She shook. Her upper lip was laden with a nervous sweat. Lysak bowed in pain. He pulled a switch blade from his ankle cuff and slashed at Elaine. The gun fell from her hand and he charged at her. She fell under his weight but held his hands aloof. The knife was squeezed in his hammy hand. Her face read of the desperate struggle to live. Lysak could see that. It provided him with a perverse pleasure. Elaine jerked her knee to his groin and Lysak doubled up in pain. Elaine tried to reach for the gun. Lysak grabbed the switch blade and plunged it into her hand. Elaine screamed. He pulled the gun to her head.

Ray kicked the door of the cabin open.

"Drop it, Lysak!"

Lysak yanked Elaine's hair and held the gun just under chin.

"I'm going to blast this bitch's head off, Fraser! Back off! You don't want to lose a second woman!"

Ray put his gun down. Fraser raised his hands above his head. Lysak sighed in relief.

"I don't think so, Lysak," Fraser said suddenly. In one swift movement, he reached his hand back between his shoulder blades, pulled out a semiautomatic and fired at Lysak. Lysak fell back dead. Elaine collapsed. Fraser and Ray knelt beside her.

"You're pretty handy with a gun, Mountie," she smiled weakly.

Fraser smiled back as he brushed a lock of dark hair from Elaine's eye.

Ray wrapped a dishtowel around Elaine's bleeding hand.

"You'll be bunk buddies with Bess," he joked.

Fraser examined Diefenbaker. The bullet grazed the animal's skin but he was not seriously hurt. Fraser swung his head around.

"What was that noise?" he asked and ran upstairs to Anna's room.

She was missing.

Anna trudged through the snow. She would not hide under the bed as she did the last time. She picked up speed and slowed down to see what was behind her. She struck a solid body. She swung her head to the body.. Andrews grabbed her and clapped his hand over her mouth.

"That fool Lysak might not be able to keep you quiet but I will."

"Andrews has Anna," Fraser cried.

He pulled Ray to his feet.

"We have no time," Fraser panted, "Andrews will kill her."

"I'll come with you," Elaine offered as she rose still nursing her hand.

"Elaine, I can't ask you to do that," Fraser said, "you are already injured and Andrews is a dangerous man."

"Hey, I've nearly made it a whole week here. Besides, I have a claim on that kid."

Ray smiled and slapped the two on the shoulder.

"Let's show these Canucks how we do things in Chicago, Elaine," Ray said as he walked out into the cold.

Andrews brushed his hand through his hair and sat at the table of his cabin. Things had gone terribly awry. He knew he should have killed Lysak off after Lisa died. He was too much of a liability. God knows how much he divulged to Fraser and Ray, Andrews thought. But that would not matter. He would be in Cancun by tomorrow if Armstrong would hustle and Anna would be no more. Night dimmed the Arctic air and the great white bears boldly hurtled their huge white masses on the edge of the northern civilization.

"The bears are coming," Anna said to Andrews, "one bear knows your name. She is my mother and she turned herself into a bear. She will come for you."

"I've had enough of your Inuit fairy-tales, young lady," Andrews said and grabbed a bottle of ether which he applied to a handkerchief. He put it to Anna's face and then let her rest on the couch while he thought of his getaway plans.

Fraser pushed the pine branch from his face.

"The lights are on in the cabin," he observed, "there doesn't appear to be anyone else with him. I suggest we move."

Inspector Carradine held him back.

"Constable Fraser, patience," the man implored him.

Fraser became irate.

"Sir, we have been far from patient. Now where Lysak has failed I assure you Andrews will succeed. I don't want anything to happen to my daughter."

"Neither do I, Constable," Carradine shot back, "that is why I am urging you to be patient. If Andrews is as unstable as you say more harm could come to your daughter. I know I have been hesitant and indecisive in the past but now I am confident that we must bide our time and do this in stages. Please."

Ray nodded.

"He's right, Benny. We'll put the collar on this son-of-a-bitch. Don't you worry."

Elaine placed her good hand on Fraser's shoulder trying to comfort him. A roar pierced the evening air.

"What the hell was that?" Elaine jittered.

Fraser knew that primal howl all too well.

The royal-blue sky was etched with white stars that matched the glittery snow on the tundra. Anna looked around her. Lisa stood before her smiling benignly and took the child in her arms. Anna felt warm at last. She remained in her mother's embrace for a long time. Lisa broke from the embrace. Anna blinked once and saw a large white polar bear in front of her. The bear led Anna to a cabin that was warmly lit and motioned for her to go in. Anna stepped forward on the verge of wakefulness...

Andrews' body was terribly mauled. He was splayed out on the couch opposing Anna. Huge gashes tore away his trunk. His eyes lifelessly stared out into nothingness.

"Quite a bold animal, the polar bear," remarked a Mountie as he examined the body.

Fraser lifted Anna from the couch and cradled her in his arms. She opened her eyes slowly.

"Daddy," she said softly, "I had the most wonderful dream. Mum came back and turned into a polar bear. She led me to a cabin and told me to go in so I wouldn't be cold."

"I'm sure she did," Fraser said as he stroked her raven hair.

Elaine put her hand on her shoulder.

"It's over now, Anna. You'll be okay, now."

Anna smiled at Elaine.

"I know," she replied. Anna took off the owl amulet. "Here, Elaine. This for you."

Elaine took the gift from Anna.

Ray nudged Fraser on the shoulder.

"Armstrong and Smythe have been apprehended. They tried to leave town, naughty boys. Our work here is done."

"Not entirely done," Fraser answered as he turned to Anna, "I think it's time for strawberry ice cream, Anna."

"Oh, good!" she earnestly agreed. "You know I was promised ice cream but I never got any. It's about time."

Fraser Sr. shrugged his shoulders.

"She's a bold thing, son. You might want to pick her suitors when she gets older."

"We have time for that," Fraser supplied and the three Frasers walked together into the Arctic night.

THE END