“You’re smart.”
“Not really,” Amanda said.
“I never wanted to talk about it. We all make mistakes, right? Those men were my friends. Friends stick up for each other. They didn’t meanto do anything wrong. I believe that to this day. But they ended up heroes, with funded research positions, and I ended up here, working at a coastal aquarium, writing research reports no one sees.”
“Was it like they said?” Amanda asked.
“No, it was not.”
“I want to help Molly,” Amanda said.
“You think knowing what happened will help her?”
“Yes, I do.” She stopped and looked at him. The wind picked up her hair. “Maybe it will give me an insight.”
They resumed walking. The town began to fade behind them. Ahead of them was only sand, and then the mountains, jutting into the sea. On the other side of the rugged range was Eagle Cove. This entire land, Amanda thought, could not be tamed.
“Another thing doesn’t make sense,” Amanda said.
“What’s that?”
“The reports said the mother was found dead on the ice. But female polar bears don’t den on the ice.”
“She could have gone there.”
“But why would she? Wouldn’t she have returned to her den?”
He kept putting his hands in his pockets as he walked beside her.
“When I got the position at the research station,” he said, “I was elated. First Native at the station. I had big dreams. Turned out they wanted an errand boy. My job was transporting them—I have a pilot’s license—and picking up their dirty laundry. Literally. You have never met a filthier bunch of men in your life.”
“I guess they weren’t your friends, after all.”
“Maybe not. Maybe not.”
A few hours later, Amanda was leaving the aquarium with a small stuffed seal in one hand. Pete had given it to her.
They stood by the octopus tank to say goodbye. The octopus, seeing the man he knew, swam out. Pete tinkled the water in greeting.
“Why do you stay here?” Amanda asked.
“Probably the same reason you are at the zoo. You start caring for the animals. Did you know, years ago, some guy broke in here and ‘rescued’ a captive giant lobster? He ran with the poor fellow to the ocean, fell, and killed him. That lobster would have never survived in the wild. This octopus? Maybe he would. Maybe not. I don’t know, and I like living in the unknowingness. It is a comforting place to be. I have a feeling—no, I am certain—that you like the unknowingness too. You are okay not knowing it all.”
“I have to be,” Amanda said, tinkling the water. The octopus glared at the intrusion.
“He’s like your bear. He knows when the people will not return.”
“Thank you for helping me.”
“I think you’re closer to your answer now.”
“I am. The question is, can I do it?”
“Good luck, Amanda.” He smiled and held out his hand.
She took it. “See you around, Pete.”
“Where were you?” Larry asked. He was outside the hotel, looking worried.
