*
AN HOUR LATER, Leni stared up at the one-room schoolhouse. Slinging her backpack’s strap over one shoulder, she made her way to the front door, her lunch box clanging into her right thigh. Lollygagging, Mama would have called it. All Leni knew was that she was in no hurry to get to class.
She was almost to the front door when it banged open and students came out in a laughing, talking clot. Matthew’s mom, Geneva, was in the middle, her work-chapped hands raised, telling everyone to calm down.
“Oh. Leni! Great!” Mrs. Walker said. “You’re so late, I thought you were going to be absent. Tica couldn’t make it in to school today, so I’m teaching. Ha! I barely graduated, let’s face it.” She laughed at herself. “And since I was more interested in boys than lessons in school, we’re going on a field trip. I hate being inside on such a beautiful day.”
Leni fell into step beside Mrs. Walker, who put an arm around her and drew her close. “I’m so glad you moved here.”
“Me, too.”
“Before you, Matthew had a religious aversion to deodorant. Now he wears clean clothes. It’s a dream come true for those of us who live with him.”
Leni had no idea what to say to that.
They marched down to the harbor in a herd, like the elephants in the Jungle Book movie. Leni felt Matthew’s gaze on her. Twice she caught him staring at her with a confused expression on his face.
When they reached the guest dock in the harbor, with fishing boats creaking and bobbing all around them, Mrs. Walker paired the students up and assigned them to the canoes. “Matthew. Leni. The green one is yours. Put on your life vests. Matthew, make sure Leni is safe.”
Leni did as she was told and climbed down into the back end of the canoe, facing the bow.
Matthew stepped down after her. The canoe rattled and creaked as he dropped into it.
He sat down facing her.
Leni didn’t know much about canoeing, but she knew that was wrong. “You’re supposed to face the other way.”
“Matthew Denali Walker. What in the hell are you doing?” his mother said, gliding past him, with Moppet in her canoe. “Have you had a seizure or something? What’s my name?”
“I wanted to talk to Leni for a sec, Mom. We’ll catch up.”
Mrs. Walker gave her son a knowing look. “Don’t be long. It’s school, not your first date.”
Matthew groaned. “Oh, my God. You are so weird.”
“I love you, too,” Mrs. Walker said. Laughing, she paddled away. “Come on, kids,” she yelled to the other canoes. “Head for Eaglet Cove.”
“You’re staring at me,” Leni said to Matthew when they were alone.
Matthew laid his paddle across his lap. Waves slapped at their canoe, made a hollow, thunking sound as they drifted away from the dock.
She knew he was waiting for her to say something. There was only one thing to say. Wind combed through her hair, pulled corkscrew curls free of the elastic band that bound them. Red strands fluttered across her face. “I’m sorry about last night.”
“Sorry for what?”
“Come on, Matthew. You don’t have to be so nice.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“My dad was drunk,” she said cautiously. The admission was more than she’d ever said aloud before and it felt disloyal. Maybe even dangerous. She’d seen some ABC Afterschool Specials. She knew that kids sometimes got taken away from unstable parents. The Man could break up any family for anything. She would never want to make waves or get her dad in trouble.
Matthew laughed. “They all were. Big whoop. Last year Mad Earl was so drunk he peed in the smokehouse.”
“My dad gets … drunk sometimes … and mad. He says stuff he doesn’t mean. I know you heard what he said about your dad.”
“I hear that all the time. Especially from Mad Earl. Crazy Pete isn’t too fond of Dad, either, and Billy Horchow tried to kill him once. No one ever found out why. Alaska’s like that. Long winters and too much drinking can make a man do weird things. I didn’t take it personally. My dad wouldn’t, either.”
“Wait. You mean you don’t care?”
“This is Alaska. We live and let live. I don’t care if your dad hates my dad. You’re the one who matters, Leni.”
“I matter?”
“To me you do.”
Leni felt light enough to float right out of the canoe. She had told him one of her darkest, most terrible secrets, and he liked her anyway. “You’re crazy.”