Isabel, Kellan’s ninety-year-old mother, dabbed her eyes with a red, checkered handkerchief and cried openly. Kellan watched. He felt dead; as cold and dead as Gabe who lay in the cheap pine box he was displayed in. An hour from now, Gabe would go up in flames. He had always let it be known that he wanted to be cremated and his ashes spread across Insula Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.
Kellan and Jack, his brothers, would make it happen. The preparations had already been completed. Gear and food had been packed. Tomorrow morning the brothers would load Gabe’s ashes into a hefty bag and stuff them into their camp pack.
Jack stood next to Kellan, nudged his brother and nodded toward Mavis Telluride, an old girlfriend of Gabe’s.
“They’re coming from everywhere,” Jack said.
“Gabe had a lot of friends across the states. He was one of a kind.” Several seconds passed before Kellan added, “People remember someone like him, I guess. Friendly, but dangerous.”
Jack laughed, not out loud, but between the two of them as they stood in the receiving line.
“Billy Bobtail didn’t know how dangerous,” Jack said. And then, “At least Gabe took him down with him. I’m glad of that.”
Bobtail had been shot with Gabe’s revolver; blood and guts spread over Gabe’s chest, stomach and the tree hut he lived in. The sheriff said it appeared as if they had fought. Gabe died of a knife wound to his chest.
The authorities pieced together the likely scenario. Bobtail had recently been released from prison and tracked Gabe to his hut in the woods. They theorized his intention was to exact revenge over the incident in the Boundary Waters two years before. A fight ensued and both men died at the hands of the other. It was a neat and simple conclusion; one the surviving brothers had no reason to doubt.
Visitors finally approached them. They shuffled their feet and began shaking hands with the friends and family who were paying their last respects.
Tomorrow, the brothers would load Gabe’s ashes into Kellan’s Ford Escape and the three of them would head for Insula Lake.
