“Jackie, will you kindly tell me what the hell you’re talking about? Since when am I going to the Yukon Territory?”

“I’m just trying to help you out, Alex. I thought you’d appreciate it.”

“By sending me to the Yukon? That’s helping me?”

“Think of it, Alex. The guy who told me about this place, he says you could set up camp there. Fish the rivers for food, maybe shoot some small game once in a while. There’s a little town a few miles away if you really need it, but aside from that, no human contact at all, Alex. You could go a whole year and never see another person’s face.”

“You’re trying to be funny, right? This is a joke.”

“I’ll look after the cabins,” he said. “I promise. Now get your stuff together.”

“Okay, I get it,” I said. “This is your cute little way of telling me I haven’t been coming around much lately.”

“Yeah, it’s been killing me,” he said. “Nobody to tell me I’m doing everything wrong. Nobody to make dinner for whenever he snaps his fingers. It’s been a real nightmare.”

“I was gonna stop by tonight,” I said. “Really.”

“The hell you were,” he said. “Look at you. Look at this crap you’re reading. ‘A heart-stopping tale of murder and revenge.’” He picked up another book and then plunked it back down. “‘A true story of deception and naked greed.’ If this is what you’d rather do than come harass me all night, so be it. It doesn’t bother me one bit, believe me. Not until everybody starts asking me questions. ‘Where’s Alex, Jackie?’ ‘How come Alex doesn’t come in anymore?’ ‘What the hell’s wrong with Alex, Jackie? I said hello to him at the post office and he walked right by me like he didn’t know me.’”

“Who was that?” I said. “Who said hello at the post office?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “You don’t care. You don’t need us anymore. Any of us. This is the goddamned loneliest town in the whole country, and you still have to hide in your cabin. So I figured, what the hell, there’s only one thing to do with him. Send him north! Let him live with the bears!”