Flying Home by Mary Anne Wilson

G. doesn’t sell anything. He’s into keeping all he can for his people on the Rez.”
    “Oh,” she said and in that single word he heard real disappointment.
    “But you never know,” he found himself adding. “He might get to like you, and want you to stick around and let you buy the place. By the way, which piece of land is it? He’s bought up a lot of Wolf Lake.”
    “An old Victorian two story. It’s blue, just like it was when I was a kid.”
    “The one on the side street near the inn that Mallory Sanchez owns and runs?”
    “Yes, that’s it.”
    “I heard he bought it years ago off Momma Dot, a teacher who used to work at the Rez school.”
    “Good to know,” she said. “I used to pass it as a kid and make up all sorts of scenarios about it, like who lived there and me buying it and...” Her voice trailed off. “I guess we’ll see what he’ll do down the road sometime.”
    “Yes,” he said, not adding that he hoped they both had another chance to meet up with Willie. “Where’s my headpiece?” he asked, deftly changing the subject again.
    “Here somewhere,” she said, and he felt her moving, then the seat by him shifting. He opened his eyes, watching her intent on what she was doing. She turned back to him and held out the headpiece, but he waved it off. “You put it somewhere safe. It’s no use to us now.”
    He watched her slip it in a side compartment by the backseat, and he asked as she moved back to the prone seat, “Why is Wolf Lake so special to you?”
    She didn’t speak for a bit, but finally said, “It’s always been home to me, and with my stepfather being in the military, we never put down permanent roots anywhere after we left Wolf Lake. Just places we stayed for a few months, or if we got lucky, a year. But no home.”
    “That must have been difficult,” he said softly.
    “That’s an understatement. I went to eleven schools before I graduated high school. The only time I stayed put was for college, and that was staying in a dorm room with three other students, taking as many credits as I could every semester and working to get extra money.
    “When I was done, I simply didn’t want to move again, not until the offer from Wolf Lake came in. Then, I got to go back home, and I’m being paid for it, at least for two years.”
    “Then what?” He really wanted to know what path she had planned.
    “I don’t know,” she confessed. “I’ve never come up with an answer for that even for myself. But I really hope I can stay with the center in some capacity.” She sighed. “And maybe buy Willie G.’s house.”
    The wind and snow shook the plane violently, and he realized how effective the pills were. Any pain from the sharp jerks was lost in a mellow haze. But Merry gasped, and gripped the sides of the prone seat.
    “Tell me we aren’t near any chasms or cliffs,” she demanded with a panic-stricken look on her face.
    “Just trees, lots of trees, especially that big one.” He didn’t know what was beyond the trees and snow, but he didn’t mention that.
    “I know, and it’s six feet away.” She sat back again and said, “Six whole feet.”
    “A miss is as good as a mile,” he said. “In any event, you need to get those thermals on, then we should get ready for the night.” He watched her tense up again, and he was almost grateful that he suddenly felt incredibly tired. His eyes fought to close as he rested back against the seat. But he kept them open.
    “The thermals,” she repeated and moved to pull them into her lap.
    “Use first class, and I’ll close my eyes.” He almost smiled as she hesitated. “I promise not to peek and I’m a man of my word. I keep my promises.”
    Her face fell, and she bit her lip hard. Wrong thing to say, he realized, when she murmured, “At least one of us does.”
    “Hey,” he said brightly. “You meant that promise. You did everything you could to make it happen. No one can expect more from you than that, even