Auntie, what the hell are you doing?

Kate had pulled Auntie Vi into Jim‘s office and closed the door behind them. I sell mine my boarding house. The diminutive eightysomething stood straight as a board, looking rather as if she were facing a firing squad of one.

Okay, Kate said, I got it the first three times you said that. Why?

Auntie Vi tried for an insouciant shrug and almost pulled it off. They pay my price. No haggle, I ask, they write check. She pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and brandished it.

The number of zeroes on the end of the amount made Kate blink. Didn‘t they want an appraisal, or an engineer‘s report?

Auntie Vi shook her head. They need beds for mine workers going in going out. Get stuck because of weather maybe, got business in Niniltna maybe, only house in town with enough beds for sure. Head jerk toward the outer office. She say save them money to buy instead of rent. She ask price. I tell her. She write check. Kate‘s mouth opened and closed a few times with nothing coming out, which pretty much expressed her immediate reaction. Viola Moonin, lifetime Park rat, one of the original founders of the NNA, one of the grand dames of her mixed tribe of Aleuts, Athabascans, Tlingits, Haidas, and one lone Tsimshian. Not to mention the stray infusions from Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. Subsistence fisher, hunter, trapper, net mender, world-class quilter, and all-around entrepreneur, owner and proprietor of the village of Niniltna‘s first and only bed-andbreakfast establishment.

Viola Moonin, one of the four aunties, the de facto moral center of the Park, the court of its first and last appeal, and for a brief moment mercifully past, its Star Chamber.

Viola Moonin, the first to speak out against the Suulutaq Mine and the danger it represented to the environment and the lifestyle of the Park.

Viola Moonin, the first to sell out.

Outside the door Kate heard Mutt give a whine with the hint of a growl on the end of it, audible enough that she must have her nose jammed into the crack. Mutt didn‘t like being shut on the other side of any door between her and Kate. What are you going to do? she said.

Another jerk of the head. Run it for them. They pay me. Auntie Vi smiled, and the resultant baring of teeth engendered a remarkable resemblance to the half husky half wolf on the other side of the door. They pay good.

Haynes and Maggie turned their heads when the door to Jim‘s office opened again. Mutt thrust her nose beneath Kate‘s hand and the feel of that thick gray pelt against her skin steadied her. She took a deep breath and looked at Maggie. She‘s made up her mind. It‘s a fair offer. Let‘s get this done.

Maggie notarized the bill of sale, Kate witnessed it, and Maggie made copies for everyone.