Winter Prey

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

On her second day at the cabin, dressed in a down-filled snowsuit and snow boots, Kymbria stood on the edge of the bank above the lake and welcomed the sunrise, as her ancestors had done for generations. The golden orb inched up through brilliant magenta, dark violet and orange, and she murmured as much as she could recall of one of the Old Prayers that Keoman's father, Adam, had taught her. The Old Prayer that began each first day of the rest of one's life. Each day that would - hopefully - now offer true healing in her life.

Northwood sunrises and sunsets were unique times for her people. Though their beauty rivaled the infrequent Aurora Borealis, they were also one of the many bridges to the nature they honored and the spirit world they respected. After the gold winter sun fully broke the horizon, Kymbria finished her prayer and strode back to the cabin to retrieve Scarlet, then stopped at the garage/storage shed for her snowshoes.

"Let's go, sweetie," she said a moment later, snowshoes in place. "We're here to let the spirit world heal us, and we won't find that inside four walls or on the traveled roadways."

She took several preliminary steps to test her balance on the snowshoes, webbed circles she had actually made herself one year in summer camp.

Summer camp. Another memory I'll have to take out and brush off at some point...

Satisfied she recalled the right walking tempo to maintain her balance, she headed up the road in the opposite direction of the previous day's walks. New snow stretched ahead of her, not deep enough to hamper the setter's shorter legs, since at different points in time it had been plowed. Now, though, the flawlessness was unbroken by vehicle tire treads and, surprisingly, unmarred by any animal tracks like she had seen in the other direction. Weird, she acknowledged. She'd seen no sign of any other inhabitants on this side of the lake, so the animals shouldn't fear roaming close to the winterized cabins. Perhaps her wood smoke had given them pause and they'd return soon.

At first, Scarlet raced ahead, enjoying her own exercise, a flash of silky red fur in the pristine whiteness beneath black hardwood and gray-white birch tree trunks. They passed the next cabin up the lake, dark and lonely despite the picturesque, wavering drifts piled here and there. Kymbria knew the neighbor, and he also contracted with Len. The maintenance man wouldn't bother preparing the neighbor's cabin unless notified he was going to use it, so the untended driveway and walkway were explainable here. It didn't account for why he hadn't shown up at her cabin or answered her messages.

Moments later, Scarlet returned to Kymbria and trotted silently at her side.

"You can go on, sweetie," Kymbria urged, swinging a hand wide to indicate the woods around them as she left the snow-covered roadway and headed into the forest. "I'm right behind you."

Scarlet ignored her, ears on alert and her gaze ahead of them as she struggled through the deeper snow. Kymbria slowed her steps, then stopped. The setter stayed right beside her.

This wasn't like her dog. Scarlet pranced eagerly whenever she even heard the word walk. At times, Kymbria had to sternly order her to stand so she could get the leash snapped, if they were exercising in an inhabited area.

"Shit," she whispered. She'd come here to heal herself, not worsen her emotional problems. It was safe here, even with the isolation. Yet she couldn't ignore the two decades of training she'd had prior to deployment to erupting hotspots.

Maintain vigilance. Stay alert and focus on the essentials. Don't take anything at face value.

She'd asked the spirits this morning to take away this stress, this constant on-edge feeling. She'd been so sure that things were calming. Then....