Winter Prey

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

After she hung up from a phone call to her sister-in-law and a brief nonsense chat with Risa, Kymbria started yet another pot of coffee in the small kitchen at the rear of the tribal headquarters building. Then she looked around for her mother. Niona had been helping prepare sandwiches for the search parties, but she wasn't anywhere in sight. There were still a dozen other women in the kitchen, all busy with some task or the other. Contradictory to the usual gatherings when women chatted and gossiped while they worked, conversation here was severely subdued.

Delicious odors permeated the air, the most prevalent from the huge pot of simmering soup. An industrial-sized coffeepot gurgled, and the smell of brewing coffee tickled her nose. Stomach already roiling with acid from caffeine, she refused to give in to the desire to slip a cup under the spout.

She walked out into the deserted hallway and the silence deepened. Someone had turned off most of the lights, and the distance lengthened ahead of her, a shadowy tunnel-like opening leading to the entrance. Her hands trembled, and she stuck them in her jeans pockets. The yearning to leave had grown the past few hours. The talk with Nodinens, while liberating in some ways, had also festered things she didn't want to remember. Didn't want to face.

More to the point, wasn't sure she was ready to face.

Sharing her thoughts with the elderly woman had helped her begin to gain some understanding, something all her hours with the inept psychiatrist hadn't accomplished. Was that enough, though, for what lay ahead of her? She still needed to work with Keoman, as she had done with his father, Adam. Turn her burdens over to higher powers and not let her own guilt ruin what she wanted to build for her and Risa's future. She had to face it now, the fact that her own part in the failure of her marriage helped send her plummeting downward into the depths of personal tragedy.

One she had a hand in creating.

She never should have disallowed Marie her final goodbye with the father of her child. The man Marie loved. Never prevented Risa's mother from saying goodbye to her father.

Funny - not really - but Rick and Marie were together again, if one truly believed.

And Kymbria had another decision - another right one - to come to grips with. She needed to bury her own pride and prejudices and make sure Risa knew she came from two people who were worthy of respect. Two good people, despite the fact that both had hurt Kymbria deeply.

Distancing herself from the fact she wouldn't have Risa without Rick and Marie hadn't helped. Instead, it had landed her in the middle of a horrible situation that effected an entire tribe, not just her own sanity and personal life.

But was she ready? Somewhere inside her lingered a reluctance to leave just yet. Even the thought of holding that warm, chunky little girl close in her arms couldn't banish that lack of enthusiasm. She still felt uncomfortable with her mental stability.

What if she lost it while she was with Risa?

Maybe she could beg Keoman to at least spend one more evening with her before she left. Give her something to hold onto that would strengthen her solidity until she could work with him again.

After her talk with Nodinens, she inwardly felt she was closer to the road to recovery. But her own training told her in no uncertain terms that she would need reinforcement to gain the top of the mental health mountain.

And how could she even think about her own problems when this monster was killing her people? People she had grown up with, cared about. People who welcomed her back whenever she visited. People who had helped her overcome the trauma of guilt once before.