Winter Prey

Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Kymbria helped Caleb onto the back of the snowmobile. She started to squeeze in front of Nodinens, then stopped.

"Get on, damn it," Caleb ordered.

Instead, she trod through snow to where the shotgun lay. When they finally started off, the shotgun lay across her chest, suspended by the strap.

Nodinens' weight was negligible, and the engine didn't appear to overly labor with its heavy load. The two most worrisome parts of the journey back would be the intensifying lack of visibility due to the storm's deepening fury and her anxiety over both Nodinens' and Caleb's injuries. The tiny woman had been out in the cold for nearly two days. Despite being ambulatory, she could be suffering frostbite. Kymbria had no idea how badly hurt Caleb was. His complaint about his head might mean he was concussed. Internal injuries were possible, which the ride back to the cabin might exacerbate. She had no choice. She couldn't treat them here and risk being imprisoned in the storm's fury, as her ancestors were.

There were even more dangerous risks: That the creature would return, undeterred by the lack of visibility due to its supernatural vision. That it would find some way to attack them from a distance and bypass the protections. Somehow thwart their journey to safety and isolate them in the ferociousness of the blizzard.

She gulped back her fear. As Caleb had mentioned once, the ability of their protections had as much to do with their faith in them as the powers they possessed. Still, she offered a prayer to Midé Manido for their safe journey, and added an entreaty for the Great Spirit to strengthen the gidimagiziwin she wore and the cross she had replaced on Caleb.

This is how it started for the windigo, she reflected as she negotiated the snowmobile through the wilderness in an attempt to reach Caleb's pickup before the blizzard descended in full force. She couldn't suppress the additional thoughts crowding her mind. Were the other members of the war party people it deeply cared about? Did it have to eat the people it knew and cared for to survive?

The absurd thought of turning into a windigo intruded for a brief instant. She couldn't help placing herself in the windigo's position. Could she even consider what would happen if she were caught out here with those two people behind her now? Starving to death? Knowing what she had to do in order to survive?

That would never happen, of course, given the huge rescue efforts that would be mobilized should she and Caleb get lost. They'd had the foresight to tell Hjak where they were, and they had survival gear with them. In the snowmobile luggage compartments, there were cans of sterno and a few flash-dried meals, even a survival tent. She would never find herself in dire straits in the Northwood.

But back then...centuries ago....

Forcing the things she couldn't do anything about out of her mind, Kymbria concentrated on the trail. The snowfall was obliterating their earlier tracks, and she sped through the wilderness as quickly as possible, at times faster than was safe. But she had to weigh the two dangers against each other: getting lost in a blizzard against the delay in treatment for the injured she carried behind her.

Forced to halt and try to get her bearings, Kymbria peered through the dense snow. It was nearing whiteout stage, but she thought she still knew where she was. Here, the trail forked, so she damned sure hoped she was right. If she took the wrong fork, she might end up deep in the wilderness instead of back at her warm, cozy cabin. She started to turn left, the direction she was positive led to her cabin -

She would have seen it even if it hadn't howled a shivery waver that cut through a person with almost physical force. It stood blocking the trail she had chosen. The huge, shadowy bulk could be nothing else but the creature. She braked so hard her passengers hit against her, forcing Kymbria into the handlebars. She straightened immediately, hoping against hope that the creature was only toying with them, that it had disappeared as quickly as it had back where Caleb had been injured.