“I don’t think there’s time to run into town.” Ian grimaced. “Besides, have you seen the snow coming down out there?”

Lila scoffed at what before had seemed horrifying amounts of snow to her. “That? The locals would consider that summer weather.”

“Hardly,” Ian said disagreeably. He pointed to the display panel next to the gate. “Does it say what time we’ll be leaving?”

Lila squinted at it. “Not yet, but I’m sure any minute there’ll be an update. If we hurry there’s probably time to make it into town.”

Ian shook his head. “No way. I’m not making it all the way to Russia, just to miss our flight because of tusks.”

“Mammoth tusks,” Lila reminded him, “And they’re only 600 dollars per kilogram. That’s a bargain! Where else can you find them available to buy like that?”

“Gee, I don’t know, but where would we store them?”

Lila appeared crestfallen.

Ian said consolingly, “Maybe we’ll have time to stop in town on our way back.”

“Do you think?” She cheered up. “I’m sure I’ll find a way to transport them… Wait, I can just ship them!” Her face fell. “Okay, and pay a ton of extra costs to make sure they arrive, but still it will be worth it.”

“What’s up with the interest in tusks?”

“I just think they’re a piece of forgotten history. You know, instead of having pillars or a Roman aqueduct in our living room, I think a set of tusks would be a nice touch,” Lila finished wistfully.

“Go great with the coffee table. Or even better you could have a coffee table made of tusks.”

Lila’s eyes lit up and then she looked sad. “I don’t know if the pieces are that big.”

“Something to look into,” Ian said encouragingly. “See? You still have more research to do.”

Suddenly the gate display flashed a new message:

Magadan plane now boarding.

A gate attendant propped open the door to the plane’s walkway and people converged from all corners of the small terminal.

Ian and Lila joined in the fray, entering the walkway. They pounced on their seats, stuffing their bags in the overhead across the aisle where they could keep an eye on them.

A man with a chicken in a wire cage walked past them.

“I love chickens!” Lila exclaimed.

Ian groaned. “So do I. For dinner.”

Lila gave him a disgusted look. “They’re so cute, and full of personality.”

“Yum, yum.”

Lila sniffed. “You have no appreciation for fowl.”

“Actually, I’m a friend of fowl: barbecued fowl, seasoned fowl, garlic and butter fowl, and of course, lightly roasted fowl. I’ll go with extra crispy, but I’m really more of an original recipe guy.”

Lila sighed. “If only I could get you to see the light: vegan, vegetarian.”

“I’ll eat that too, along with the fowl.”

Lila just shook her head and then leaned it against the window to watch the countryside flow underneath them after takeoff.

The flight took about four hours, and Lila was staring intently out the window as they circled over the mountainous landscape coming in for a landing. “Wow, this is rural. I mean really rural.”

“I take it you’re not a Farmer in the Dell kind of gal.”

“No, not at all. In fact, my father sent me to stay on a farm for a summer to gain some appreciation for down home living, but it didn’t work. I came back more determined than ever to stay in the city.”

“This is the same father that buried people in cement?”

“There’s no proof of that.” Lila grinned. “Let’s just say it’s a good reputation to have. Nobody messes with you.”

“I can imagine.” Ian laughed. “Hope he likes me.”

“Oh, he does, at least he’s said so,” Lila teased him.

They began deplaning at that point and they grabbed their luggage, walking from the plane onto the cold ground. Lila shivered as the frigid air engulfed them. She spotted a man holding up a sign with their names.

“It’s us,” Lila called out in Russian and waved to the man.

“Handy, you speaking Russian.” Ian murmured. They walked toward the man and Lila smiled in a friendly manner. “Здравствуйте!” [“Hello!”]

The man pointed to a building with red and cream siding that served as the airport terminal.

“Go in?” Lila asked as the man waved them away. She tugged Ian along with her to the structure and breathed a sigh of relief as they entered the slightly warmer interior.

“Ian and Lila!” A familiar voice called out to them.

“Joe?” Lila blurted out in astonishment.