CHAPTER 2
THE TRADITION

　
TODAY　
　

　　THE SUN WAS SHINING behind some clouds that had begun spitting out a morning dusting of snow as Sheriff Eben Oleson pulled the 4x4 to a stop near the town sign on the outskirts of Barrow. He put the vehicle in park and shook his head at the excitement both his son and best friend were beaming with.

　　Billy chuckled with anticipation from the passenger seat, and Eben couldn't help but feel a little envious of his best friend for getting excited and finding humor in such things. Because while Billy laughed last year, and the year before that, and would certainly laugh again next year, Eben never did and most likely never would.

　　With a glance over his shoulder into the backseat, Billy asked if Ben was ready, receiving an eager nod in response from the ten-year-old boy. "Okay, let's go," he said, opening the passenger door and jumping out into the cold morning.

　　After making sure that his winter coat was zipped all the way up to the top and that the navy blue hat patterned with grey snowflakes that his grandmother had knitted for him a couple years ago was covering his ears, Ben followed in pursuit, opening the car door and stepping out into the cold.

　　"Don't take too long," Eben told them. "Freya will kill me if he gets sick."

　　"Yeah, yeah," Billy waved him off, closing the passenger door and then turning around and guiding young Ben Oleson up the small slope toward the town sign.

　　When the two of them reached the town sign, Billy reached into his coat pocket and grabbed the tags. He handed them to Ben, who took them with an eager smile, and then he lifted the ten-year-old by the waist so that the boy could reach the sign.

　　Ben stared at the town sign for a moment, brown eyes lingering on the polar bear warning written in bold font. He had personally never seen one before, but he really wanted to one day. He knew they could be dangerous, but he thought they were cool.

　　Looking away from the polar bear warning on the town sign, Ben reached out, grabbing hold of the tags currently on display and removing them. He then reduced the number from 563 to 152 for the coming thirty days, before Billy placed him back on his feet and patted his shoulders.

　　"Never gets old, huh?" Billy said.

　　"Never," Ben laughed.

　　They stood there for a moment, just peering up at the town sign and the new population numbers, before Billy let out a small sigh. "Alright, c'mon, we better head back to your ol' man before your momma gets mad at me for keeping you out in the cold."

　　Ben let out a groan, wishing to stay a little longer. "Mom worries about me too much."

　　"That's her job, man," Billy said. "Besides, she's got a right to worry about you."

　　"Dad is allowed to be outside and she never gets mad at him," Ben huffed.

　　"Well, buddy, your asthma is a little different than your dad's," Billy explained as he guided the boy toward the slope, one arm draped around the ten-year-old's shoulders. "He still gets affected by the cold as easily as you do, but you had problems breathing as a baby, so your momma just wants to make sure you don't get sick."

　　Before any more words could be exchanged between them, Billy spotted something up ahead and paused in the snow. His brows came together in confusion and he started walking toward it, Ben silently following in pursuit.

　　"Are those . . . phones?" Ben asked, looking down at the small pile of burnt electronics in the snow, which Billy had knelt down to examine.

　　"Yeah," Billy confirmed with a nod. He dug into his pocket, fishing out his radio. "I better get your dad up here."

　　At the bottom of the slope, Eben was seated on the hood of the 4x4 and looking out at the horizon. There was a ridge up ahead a couple dozen yards or so from the town sign, and it was the perfect place to watch the sun rise and fall. It was a special place for him. His favourite place in the entire world.

　　Every year since they started dating, Eben would take Freya to the ridge and they would curl up underneath a warm blanket while eating a dinner he packed for them and they would watch the last sunset together before they would become plunged into darkness for a month. It was his favourite tradition.

　　"Eben? You there, Eben? Come on," Billy said through the radio, emitting a sigh from the Sheriff. He could hear the urgency in his friend's voice, but Eben remained in his own world for another moment.

　　"Eben? Come in, Eben, you there?"

　　With a sigh, Eben pulled out his radio and responded while sliding off the hood of the vehicle. "I'm here, Billy. You two almost finished up there?"

　　"Yeah, we finished the sign," Billy replied. "But we really have to show you this, Eben."

　　"On my way."

　　Eben put his radio in the car and started trekking up the slope. Halfway up, Billy came to the edge, looking both excited and perturbed, and it left Eben wondering what his best friend had discovered while changing the population tags on the town sign.

　　Billy motioned for him to follow, and when they came to a stop at the hole in the snow, Eben didn't look down. The first thing he did was look at his son, taking notice of the redness of his cheeks and how he was blowing into his hands to keep them warm.

　　"Ben, why don't you head back to the truck?" Eben suggested, hands on his hips. The very last thing he needed was for his son to get sick. Especially not on one of his busiest days of the entire year and when he wouldn't be able to be at Ben's side and help Freya take care of him.

　　The boy frowned. "But⎯⎯"

　　"Go wait in the car, buddy," Eben cut him off. Noticing his son getting ready to argue, he continued. "Please. For your mom."

　　With a loud groan, Ben turned on his heel, kicked some snow up into the air, and started trekking down the slope to sit in the car. He didn't want to leave, but he also didn't want to disobey his dad or upset his mom.

　　"Well, that went well," Billy commented once the ten-year-old had disappeared down the slope and they heard the car door slam.

　　Eben shook his head. "He's getting more stubborn these days, I swear."

　　A smirk speared on Billy's face. "I wonder where he gets it from."

　　"Shut the fuck up, Billy," Eben murmured, erupting a laugh from the man.

　　With a shake of his head, Eben turned away and looked down into the hole. There was a mess of burnt cell phones, their plastic casings melted and warped into weird shapes. A rush of wind blew a sprinkle of snow onto the pile and it melted, indicating the cell phones were still warm.

　　"Strange," he said.

　　Billy grabbed his flashlight and shined it inside the small hole. "Ain't it? Who'd do a thing like this?"

　　Eben knelt down, removed his gloves, picked up the remains of a phone and then shrugged. "Still warm."

　　"Someone got a little upset about roaming charges?"

　　Ignoring the crack, Eben stood and shook his head. "Stealing satellite phones'd make sense, you could hock them, maybe run up charges on someone's account. But burning them?"

　　"Kids? Pulling some prank?"

　　"Nah. There would be a message. 'Fuck you' to their parents or the world or whatever. Not a bad thought⎯⎯" Eben broke off, distracted by the sight of the horizon and the snowflakes dancing from the sky that made the landscape look like something you'd find inside of a snow globe.

　　He left Billy standing by the hole and crossed the slope so he stood at the ridge. A light smile touched his lips as memories flashed before his eyes. He saw himself bringing Freya here for the first time. She had worn a dress, and even though she was freezing the entire time, she had just wanted to look beautiful for him on their first date. Or maybe she did that because she wanted to be close to him, huddled underneath a blanket, practically sitting on his lap. He remembered thinking that she was already the one for him when she had picked her head up from his shoulder and smiled at him before they had shared their first kiss.

　　"I remember bringing Peggy here on our first date," Billy said, coming to his side. The fortyish deputy smiled briefly at the memory, remembering how his charming wife had looked that day.

　　"We all did," Eben said. A beat passed before he realized what he had said and he quickly corrected himself. "Hey, not Peggy. I mean, just . . ."

　　Billy chuckled. "I gotcha. Last sunset for the month always works, don't it?"

　　"Best damn date I ever had."

　　"Hey, wasn't Ben conceived because you two⎯⎯"

　　Eben nudged his friend with a disapproving shake of his head, and yet, he couldn't help the small smile that graced his face as he recalled teasing Freya about that earlier this morning.

　　"What?" Billy said, an innocent smile spreading across his face. "Oh, c'mon, Eben, it's a little funny. I mean, I'm actually kinda surprised you two only have one kid considering you bring her here every year."

　　Eben rolled his eyes. "C'mon, we should go. Got a long day ahead of us. And we still have to drop Ben off with my in-laws."

　　Silence washed over the pair as they made their way toward the slope. Eben briefly pause by the town sign, shaking his head at the work his son and best friend had done. He turned to look at Billy, saying, "You know, nobody's gonna see that sign for the next thirty days."

　　"You tell me that every year," Billy said. "But it's tradition!"

　　They moved away from the sign and headed down the slope toward the parked 4x4. Ben glanced at them through the back window before looking away, obviously still disappointed he hadn't been able to stay longer. They climbed inside, buckled up, and Eben drove down the snowy road in silence.

　　At some point, Billy reached out and turned the radio on while Ben pulled out an Incredible Hulk comic book from his backpack (which he and Eben found sitting by the backdoor this morning) to read since it would be a few minutes before they made it back into town.

　　Not even five minutes down the road, they came across the snowplow. It was swerved off the road and practically buried in a drift. The hood was up and they could see even from the inside of the truck that it was Beau Bennett working beneath it.

　　Eben pulled the 4x4 to a stop about a dozen paces away from the snowplow and let out a small sigh when Beau didn't even move to acknowledge their presence. He knew why, of course, and he knew that he shouldn't have expected anything else from the man.

　　"Woah," Ben said from the backseat, shifting around to get a better look. "What do you think happened?"

　　"Not sure," Eben replied, unbuckling his seatbelt. "I'll be right back."

　　"You know he's goin' to be pissy," Billy warned, making a move for the door handle, only for his best friend to stop him with a shake of his head.

　　"Stay here with Ben⎯⎯no need for the two of us getting cold again."

　　Billy acknowledged his words with a simple nod and then he settled back against the passenger seat once more, briefly glancing at Ben in the backseat.

　　Eben climbed out of the 4x4, embracing the cold again, and slowly approached the broken down snowplow. He paused to watch Beau work for a moment and even tried to get a peek at what was underneath the tarp that was blowing in the breeze, but he couldn't see anything from where he stood. He did, however, see the stain of spilled oil peeking out from under Beau's truck parked nearby.

　　"Little problem?" Eben asked.

　　Beau didn't even look up. "Nothin' I can't handle my fuckin' self."

　　The Sheriff sighed again and the words not now kept repeating in his head like a broken record. Beau Bennett was an ox of a man with a temper to match and he had never given him any trouble⎯⎯at least not physically⎯⎯but he could be an argumentative son of bitch when the mood struck him. Which was often.

　　Eben moved toward the back of Beau's truck and lifted the tarp to see what was underneath as the man continued working on the snowplow. What he found were several oil canisters, rolled together in a jumble. "This for generators?"

　　"Mostly."

　　"I can't have it leaking all over the road, Beau. You know I'll have to cite you for that." Eben took out his citation book and began writing the man up, just as Beau's expected outburst began.

　　"Fuck's sake, Sheriff. You don't have to cite me. You don't have to do anything. That's why we live up here, ain't it? So we've got a little freedom?"

　　When Eben glanced up from the citation book, he expected to find Beau glaring daggers at him, but instead found the man staring over his shoulder at the watchful gazes of Billy Kitka and young Ben Oleson.

　　"Your boy is startin' to look just like you. Let's hope he doesn't start acting like his old man. This town doesn't need another Oleson that sticks his nose into places it doesn't belong." The big man grinned.

　　Eben didn't let what Beau said bother him, knowing that the man was just trying to get under his skin and get some kind of a reaction out of him. But he had spent years on the job and had learned to not let his emotions get in the way. So, he simply stepped forward, ripped off the ticket, and casually stuffed it inside Beau's pocket before turning his back on the man. "Happy motoring."

　　"Yeah. Fuck you very much. I'll add this to my collection."

　　Eben couldn't help but smile as he climbed back inside the 4x4. It didn't go as bad as he thought it would and he was honestly relieved about that. He knew that Beau's temper was going to get the better of him one of these days and that he would most likely end up with his back in the snow from a right hook. Thankfully, today wasn't that day.

　　As Eben buckled his seatbelt, he felt a sudden tightness in his chest and fought the urge to reach for his inhaler. He didn't like using it in front of other people. Not even Billy, his best friend since high school, who knew that he had asthma. His only expectation was his family. But he ignored that feeling and started up the motor, driving away from Beau and his burning gaze.

　　"Beau's not that bad," Billy said. "Why do you bother writing him up?"

　　Eben shivered and reached out to turn up the heater. "He lives all by himself in that cabin on the south ridge, y'know? A little citation now and then reminds Beau he's part of this town. Good for him, and when it snows, good for us."

　　Billy nodded. "I guess."

a/n: i know that eben and billy drove up to the outskirts of barrow to change the tags on the sign around sunset, but for plot reasons involving freya, i had them do the sign in the morning and with ben! anyways, hope you all liked the chapter!