Winter Prey

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

After a morning walk, keeping for now to the roadway she'd travelled in on, then a vigorous shoveling session, Kymbria had spent some of the day settling in. She stored away her supplies and cleaned the dusty cabin. She even moved a pile of wood from the garage to beside the back door and built a blazing fire in the immense stone fireplace in the living room, something her family had always done even on cool summer nights.

She also attempted to call Len Skinaway twice, shaking her head in frustration when his voice mail picked up the second time and she had to resort to leaving another message. She didn't know much about the maintenance man, but from the little she recalled, he lived alone, his family grown, his marriage a divorce casualty. If he didn't return her call soon, she'd call Amber to see if she could give her the name of someone to at least start the snowmobiles for her.

Or maybe Keoman could help her out, whenever they decided to meet. Her call to him had gone to voice mail, too, and she hadn't left a message. He wasn't expecting her for a day or so yet, and she was enjoying the healing solitude right now. Enjoying what she hoped was a chance to allow her emotions to ready themselves for the next phase of restoration.

She hadn't mentioned Len's negligence to her mother when she called to check in - again. When the conversation started to veer toward the shape things were in, Kymbria asked to "speak" to Risa. No sense adding to her mother's worries. She could handle things like this herself.

Late that afternoon, Kymbria bundled up, and she and Scarlet ambled down the road once more, a somewhat boring trek this time despite the beauty of the snow-covered landscape. In the morning, she would dig out a pair of snowshoes and take to the woods. The setter might wallow in the drifts, but maybe she could find a game trail that wouldn't be so hard on her dog.

As she and the setter reached the end of the private road that led off the county road to the cabin, Kymbria frowned. Even with Scarlet along, she should have seen another animal or two, maybe even a few deer this time of day. On the walk back, she made a point of watching for tracks in the snow. She recognized plenty of bird tracks, and now that she was looking closer, saw a deer trail cross the road. A large buck, according to the tracks, and it appeared to be moving at a run, given the length between the prints.

Then snow showered her, followed by a chittering sound high up in the trees. Kymbria stared upward and laughed at a squirrel traveling through the treetops. She grabbed a handful of snow, packed it tight, and threw it, with no hope of actually hitting the furry gray squirrel. When the snowball fell, it never touched the ground. Scarlet jumped high and snatched it, then stared at Kymbria with as much a look of puzzlement on her face as a dog could have.

"Silly," Kymbria said around her giggles. "That's not the same as the ball we play catch with at home. No wonder it fell apart in your mouth. Here."

She packed another snowball and tossed it ahead of her, laughing in joy as the setter raced after it, trying to catch it before it fell. They alternated between walking and racing each other back to the cabin. Once there, she lingered outside on the high bank beside the lake to watch the sunset, her favorite part of Northwood days. Shots of brilliant orange, magenta and yellow peppered the western sky with a fiery show that matched Kymbria's mood of contentment. Already the wilderness was starting to heal her. Her body was pleasantly tired after a day of physical labor and isolation far from civilization's stress.

She desperately missed Risa, though. But she kept reminding herself that what she was doing was even more for her daughter than herself. She needed to be a mother that Risa could count on, look up to, hopefully pattern her own life after. Yet she'd already decided that she could in no way stay here the entire two weeks Keoman had told her to plan. She'd have to return home for at least an overnight trip during that time.