0 views
The Runaways: Chapter 5
It was lunchtime when they arrived back in Harlem. Less than a handful of businesses operated in town. Dany learned this by peppering Matthias with questions. The inn doubled as a post office, the convenience store peddled everything from food to clothing, a police station housed three officers, and the local radio station sat on the corner.
The only doctor managed a small consultation room adjacent to his house. If anyone needed a hospital or a bank, Anchorage was their only option. Council meetings, get-togethers, and movie nights were hosted in the community hall.
Ahnah, an Alaskan native, netted her teaching degree in Fairbanks. Her skimpy class of twelve ranged from age six to sixteen. Truth worked as her assistant, and together they ran Harlem’s only school out of Ahnah’s converted garage. Class numbers peaked at twenty-one a few years ago for the first and last time. The older kids called the Internet a blessing for their studies, slow and unreliable as it was. If anyone wanted to get a project done within a day, they’d best wait until the weather cleared. Cultural subjects like hunting, gathering, fishing, environmental protection, and operating in village life formed part of the curriculum, and sometimes Ahnah and her father and brother, Nanook and Silla, took the students out into the field to get hands-on experience, weather permitting, of course.
Dany watched from the truck as Matt talked to Ahnah. Her glossy dark hair spilled from her hood’s faux fur. She wore a brown parka, black pants, and fur-lined boots that constantly reminded Matt to hurry up.
He'd switched on the radiator in the truck, but in this powdery weather that probably didn't mean much to an eleven-year-old with a third of his body mass. Especially not a curious one who had the windows down to eavesdrop.
Matt explained the situation to Ahnah, who nodded her agreement. “I don’t mind taking her in for however long she stays,” Ahnah allowed. “I’ll make a few calls, get a feel for the curriculum they worked with, and adjust as I go along.”
Kind and caring Ahnah didn’t see down-on-his-luck Matthias as the bad guy either. She never treated him like a no-good drunk and understood his reasons, if they can be called that. Or would they be excuses? Everyone knew his history. Only forty-something indomitable folks lived in Harlem after all, and word travelled fast.
“I think she’d love it here....
The only doctor managed a small consultation room adjacent to his house. If anyone needed a hospital or a bank, Anchorage was their only option. Council meetings, get-togethers, and movie nights were hosted in the community hall.
Ahnah, an Alaskan native, netted her teaching degree in Fairbanks. Her skimpy class of twelve ranged from age six to sixteen. Truth worked as her assistant, and together they ran Harlem’s only school out of Ahnah’s converted garage. Class numbers peaked at twenty-one a few years ago for the first and last time. The older kids called the Internet a blessing for their studies, slow and unreliable as it was. If anyone wanted to get a project done within a day, they’d best wait until the weather cleared. Cultural subjects like hunting, gathering, fishing, environmental protection, and operating in village life formed part of the curriculum, and sometimes Ahnah and her father and brother, Nanook and Silla, took the students out into the field to get hands-on experience, weather permitting, of course.
Dany watched from the truck as Matt talked to Ahnah. Her glossy dark hair spilled from her hood’s faux fur. She wore a brown parka, black pants, and fur-lined boots that constantly reminded Matt to hurry up.
He'd switched on the radiator in the truck, but in this powdery weather that probably didn't mean much to an eleven-year-old with a third of his body mass. Especially not a curious one who had the windows down to eavesdrop.
Matt explained the situation to Ahnah, who nodded her agreement. “I don’t mind taking her in for however long she stays,” Ahnah allowed. “I’ll make a few calls, get a feel for the curriculum they worked with, and adjust as I go along.”
Kind and caring Ahnah didn’t see down-on-his-luck Matthias as the bad guy either. She never treated him like a no-good drunk and understood his reasons, if they can be called that. Or would they be excuses? Everyone knew his history. Only forty-something indomitable folks lived in Harlem after all, and word travelled fast.
“I think she’d love it here....
