! "#$!%&#'(#)*!+,-!.(#/01! 2%345!2534672! Murder in the Arctic By: Taylor Butterbaugh “Um, excuse me, I asked you a question,” I was tired from traveling from France only a day ago, and now I was being interviewed by a big man with a short, stubby beard. “I’m sorry, what was the question?” I asked, still half asleep. “Where have you worked before?, was the question” the man said shortly. “At the NSSA,” I replied, uneasily. “Yes, that’s right. You are quite the traveler, aren’t you? France, Australia, Antarctica, Europe, South America, Asi–,” “Am I hired?” I quickly interrupted, without hesitation. “You have much experience, so I think you will make a great employee here at Inventors of Today! Allison, show Scott around.” I stared in amazement at the woman coming towards me who had blond waves bouncing up and down on top of a perfect figure. Her hair, her eyes, her smile, all perfect . If only she knew. “Please get Mr. Bilanto a drink Allison,” said the man. Allison, the perfect name, beautiful. “Right away sir,” replied Allison. “What would you like Mr. Bilanto?” asked Allison. “Just a glass of Seltzer water, and please, Allison, call me Scott,” I replied. “Okay, er, Scott is it? I’ll be back in just a minute,” Gulp. The Seltzer water tingled on my tongue as the cool water tickled down my throat. I was hungry for a burger, so I checked the time on my watch, it was almost lunchtime, and looked at myself in the window. Man, did I look bad. Well, it was a Monday, so you couldn’t blame me. My black suit all wrinkled from being in my suitcase, my hair frizzy from the plane, and my black dress shoes still covered in mud from Africa. I was thinking about how long I may have been here, maybe two hours, when the man interrupted my thoughts. “Mr. Bilanto, you can get started tomorrow. I’ll see you then. Good night Scott,” As I headed home I kept thinking about Allison–I shouldn't have, but I just couldn’t help it. That same night, she showed up in all my dreams, her eyes still. “Allison, I wanted to know if you would be interested in taking Scott along with you on your study. He has a lot of experience, he might be helpful,” I heard the man say as I came in the next morning. I hid behind the open door listening to the conversation. I’m pretty good at this, considering my background. “Uh, well, I guess I could. .but it might be better for just me to go, if you don’t mind sir, you know, a solo study? It just might work better that way–you have to remember, we are dealing with wolves,” Allison answered. “Please Allison,” said the man. I couldn’t believe it! I thought Allison was as interested in me as I was in her. I thought I could tell by the look in her eyes. I would never go on any study with her! Or maybe it would be the perfect opportunity. “Mr. Bilant–,” asked Allison as I was walking down the hall of the invention lab staring at all of the sparks flying and noises sounding. “Scott,” I interrupted “Yes, Scott, how would you like to join me on a study?” Allison asked unenthusiastically. “It’s about wolves. Well, here sit down while I explain,” said Allison as she pointed to a wing-back chair behind me. I plopped down onto the fluffy cushion and was curious about the study. Allison and the man had never really said anything about it in their talk this morning. “I am going to be in Antarctica for a few months studying how wolves react in the wild when the human species is around. It will be very cold, and I will be there for a long time. It will probably be very boring to you, and their are many dangers in this. Please do not think you have to go, because you really don’t. I just thought I might ask, and again you do not have to go,” explained Allison. “Hm, I would have to think about it. ,” I said. I knew Allison thought I was going to say no. I could tell by the expression on her face. “You know what? I think it will be fun in Antarctica! Why shouldn’t I go?” I threw her off. She stared at me like she had just found out I was her long-lost brother, then gave me the evil eye. “Great. I’ll be going then. Meet me at the airport tomorrow at 4:30 in the morning. I already have everything set up,” Allison shot back like a snake. And with that she left me looking blankly in her direction. I couldn’t believe I was going to have to spend a few months with her. Or maybe not. I could make it shorter. We got on the small plane to Antarctica, which had few people. The flight was pretty silent, considering what had happened yesterday with Allison and I. “What’s wrong?” I asked, not actually caring. I was just building her trust. “Look,” said Allison sharply, “I didn’t really want you to go on this trip anyways, so if you can just shut up and mind your own business, we won’t have a problem. Get it? Got it? Good.” She gave me the silent treatment the rest of the plane ride. When we got to Antarctica, it was cold. I didn’t imagine how cold it would be, although it was winter. I could tell Allison was cold too, but I didn’t try to keep her warm. I went on a walk, by myself,(Allison was still upset) so I could think of what to do. I thought Allison might want some cool-down time. I wanted to do the thing I came here to do, but I thought maybe I should get her in a better mood. I decided to look for some dry wood, which was almost impossible, and shelter. In a big hole I found some dry wood. While I was pulling on the wood, I touched something warm, fuzzy, and breathing. I took the knife out of my pocket, carefully and slowly, and cut into the thing. I dragged it out, and was looking into the eyes of a beautiful doe. It was huge, and such I prize. I would use the skin for shelter, the meat for food for many nights, and the bones to make arrows for Allison and I. She would be proud. She would think of me as a hero. “How could you kill the poor baby? The poor thing. He probably has a family to feed! I can’t believe you would do this!” Wow. I couldn’t believe it. Really? She was the hardest women to please. “I can’t believe you!”She screamed at me. I thought she must be a vegetarian. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” I told her. “Sure you didn’t.” Allison didn’t talk to me for the rest of the night. I made a shelter, but Allison didn’t want to sleep in it. Especially with me. She slept outside at first, but I dragged her into the shelter and covered her in a bunch of blankets. She was shivering from head to toe, but she was a super heavy sleeper which made it easy. The next morning I warmed up some water from the frozen lake by the fire, and added the instant coffee I brought. I woke Allison up and handed her a cup of it. “Thank you,”said Allison hoarsely. “You are very welcome,” I replied. Allison sneezed straight after. “Here, take my jacket,” I told her reluctantly, “and bless you.” “Thanks, Scott,”she said smiling. “You know you can sleep in our shelter, right?” I told her. Allison got up, went to the shelter and said, “I’ll be back.” With that, she walked towards the woods. She left me alone there for a while, and I tended to the fire. I didn’t know where she was going, most likely looking for wolves. That was the whole point of the trip. I began to get curious about the wolves myself, because we hadn’t seen any for the time we’d been there. Just at that moment, ironically, a few wolves came within 20 feet of our camp. I grabbed the journal out of Allison’s bag and jotted down a few notes. The sounds of Allison’s footsteps startled the wolves, but they still stayed close. Allison motioned me to get some food to sit out for the wolves. I had to giggle at her movements, which she even giggled at too. I had to be careful not to startle the wolves, and not to get too close to be in danger. I set the food out quietly and carefully. A few squirrels near the wolves ran loudly up a tree, and made the wolves run away. We were discouraged, but we kept the food out just in case. I hadn’t time to think about what Allison had or was doing during the wolf incident, I was too distracted by the whole thing. But now she was carrying a huge buck. It was huge! The biggest one I had ever seen!–I was interrupted by my own thought. I thought Allison was a vegetarian. Why would she do this? “You like what I brought tom our home for dinner?” she asked me.