Clara greeted them cheerfully. She was thrilled at the way they behaved—like dogs, just eager for affection. Being there, with the two huskies all but crying with excitement, suddenly made the world seem good again.
“They’re not great as far as being watchdogs goes—they love everyone,” Thor said. “My grandfather started breeding them for special friends. Now the family is known to breed some of the finest huskies anywhere. And my sister...my sister has a contract with buyers to make sure that our dogs are never mistreated in any way. We take back any animal we’ve sold or given away if there’s any problem whatsoever. Astrid and Colin have a number of special charity situations in which we give dogs away. As far as my pets here, they kind of chose me. Boris is a little too big to be show quality—though he is a hell of a sled dog. Natasha is his sister. They were inseparable from the time they were puppies, so when I decided to take Boris, I took Natasha, as well. They’re my pets, and I don’t get to see them often enough, so they live here on the property. The stable manager and her husband live in a place just behind this one, and they look after Boris and Natasha and everything else around here.”
“They’re beautiful!” Clara said. “I love them!”
She’d been so involved with the dogs that she hadn’t seen the house; she looked up at a sound and realized that from the front, she could see down a hallway all way to the back. While the “log cabin” look was still in effect, the back room had huge plated windows. There was a set of double doors between the windows, and a tall, very blonde woman could be seen through the glass, tapping at the door.
Thor strode through the house to let her in, greeting her with a kiss on the cheek. Clara heard them murmur something to each other and then they came down the hallway. “Clara, this is my sister, Astrid. Astrid, Clara Avery.”
Astrid was quick to smile and offer Clara a hand. “Nice to meet you, Clara. So sorry to hear that you’re involved in all this trouble.”
Astrid was elegantly light and had an almost ethereal look to her; her handshake, however, was like steel.
“A pleasure to meet you,” Clara said. “The dogs are magnificent!”
“Huskies are pure personality,” Astrid said. “These two—they are loyal to Thor to a fault. Boris is as strong as an ox, and Natasha...well, Natasha is the mediator. Most of our dogs are sled dogs, which means there’s a lead dog, and when Natasha is on a sled, she’s kind of like the mom, putting everyone in his or her place.” She smiled. “You’ll have to come when we’re preparing for a race and it’s just crazy, dogs everywhere, excited, barking, set to go!”
The back door opened and closed again and a tall man with dark hair came walking down the hallway. “Thor, hey, glad you’re here, sure you’re in a hurry, but—oh!”
He stopped speaking, seeing Clara there.
“Hello,” she said.
The man glanced curiously at Thor and then smiled, giving Clara his hand.
“Hello.”
“Clara, Colin, my brother-in-law,” Thor said quickly. “Colin, this is Clara Avery.”
“How do you do, Clara? Lovely to meet you!” Colin said.
Clara wondered if Thor was afraid that his sister and brother-in-law thought that she was there because she was someone special in his life, because he very quickly explained who she was.
“Clara was there, on Black Bear Island, to be interviewed when all this happened. She actually found Amelia Carson.”
“My God,” Colin murmured, looking at Clara. “We’ve been keeping up with the news,” he said, slipping an arm around Astrid’s shoulders. “That’s why I was surprised to see Thor here—figured he’d be tied into twenty-four-hour-a-day work right now. Just wanted to see if there’s anything we can do to help, seeing as how you will be busy.”
“And careful, of course,” Astrid said, looking at her brother anxiously.
“Always careful,” he said. He hesitated. “I hate to say this, but in this particular case—”
“You’re worried about your family, too,” Astrid said. “Yeah, Dad called and said that you would be. We’re alert, wary, and we’re good.” She turned to Clara with a small smile. “My brother thinks that our dogs are big babies, but they’re not. I know when anyone is anywhere near the property, and whether they belong here or not. They were back in the stables with me until a few minutes ago. We knew that Thor was here—they made a beeline for their dog door into the house.”
“She trusts the dogs,” Colin said to Thor, shaking his head. “I’m a crack shot, and Astrid grew up knowing how to handle a gun, as well. We’re okay here,” he told Thor. “You go out and find the son of a bitch.”
“I just need to clean up, get a few things,” Thor said. He started to walk and then paused, turning back to speak to his sister and brother-in-law. “Thanks for taking good care of Boris and Natasha.”
“Hey, it’s what we do!” Astrid said. “And don’t worry about Clara—I’ll make tea and we can get to know her.”