Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (72 page)

I
t wasn’t easy telling the story while omitting certain details. She
said that
her and Mark
were at
her b
rother’s
cottage
when he got the call and
the
n
went on to explain how they
met up with Sarah’s sister and her father
while
on the way to the truck. How
t
hey
had a police escort to the log house
was fun to explain because of Connor’s driving
. What
Connor
found by the three blades of grass and telling the older gentleman how incompetent he was
proved be the most
humorous
. Both of
her
grandparents laughed at that.
She
told him how
her brother
ran with his arms full and how he directed every
one to obey everything he said.

David
said with quiet pride “He’s become a good
and natural
leader.”

After spending another tw
o hours going over everything, Kara
left and drove towards
Jenny’
s.

As she put the jeep in park
,
Kara saw Jillian walking her
way.
What is she up to now?
Jillian wore a low cut red blouse with a miniskirt and very classy heels.
She always looked ready to go out
for a night on the town
, even when she would simply stay home. Kara
stepped out of the
jeep and waived. Jillian
walked up with a big gri
n. “Did you see the news today
?”

She
smiled
back
. “Yeah, that
buxom
blonde is in
for some trouble.” The two of them
laughed for a moment. “Did you tell Sarah?”

Jillian shook her almost b
l
ack hair while wearing a tight lipped smile. “Nope, she watched it
when she came over
.” Her grin widened. “Sarah’s green eye
d
monster
finally
surfaced. She took Jack out to the training fiel
d to blow off some steam.
Several times I could feel the earth tremble all the way out here.
” In her
mind
Kara
saw Sarah covered in water and boil
ing it off her skin
in anger
. Kara
smiled knowing that she could do that with her abilities. Jillian cocked her head
as she studied
the new Changer
. “Oh, those must be your new contacts. They look like your original color, but your silver eyes look much better.”

“I like my
new
silver eyes too
, but..
.” Kara
looked at
her
house for a moment. “Listen, I haven’t seen my mom in a week. She must be looking forward to
finally
seeing me.”

Jillian leaned to the side to see around
her
. “Enough said.” She turned and
walked back to her house. And Kara
did the same.

Kara
opened the blue front door and took
her
shoes off.
She
walked silently into the living room and saw
her m
om asleep on the sofa with a book atop her belly.
Jenny
wore a brown t-shirt and white pants. Her
golden
hair
was tied back in a loose bun.
Kara smiled when she
heard her
mom
snoring.
Jenny
looked so very peaceful.
Now what kind of child
of hers
would I be if I didn’t spoil her nap…?

She
silently walked into the kitchen and started cooking grilled ham and cheese sa
n
dwiches. Cooking
the
fifth one
she
heard
her m
om jump out of the sofa. “Who’s in my house?
” Jenny
yelled and ran into the kitchen. As she rounded the corner her hand came up to her heart. “Oh thank goodness.”
Jenny
sighed and
started smiling.

“Good afternoon, Mom.” Kara
said
while
turning off the stove and putting the skillet into the
sink. As she
took the plate of food to the table
her m
om brought out some iced tea. Sitting down
she
asked “Did you miss me?”

“Of course I did. It’s been almost a week since I saw you. Tell me what you and Mark have been up to
this week
?
Did you enjoy yourself?
And tell me what happened last night. Daddy called me this morning and
told me to watch the news.” Jenny
smiled softly after taking a bite out of her sandwich.

Kara
then told
her
m
om
everything
that she
told
her
grandparents just hours before.
It would be foolish to make up a different story and get trapped
between
a lie.
When
Kara
finished
speaking
Jenny
want
ed
to know what she
di
d this week and was
told “I really don’t have a reasonable excuse for you.”
Jenny
smiled at
such
honesty.
Sometimes lying is too much of a hassle.

Then
her m
om said “I’ve got something for you
. Follow me.” All of the food
had been
consumed as
they
stood from the dining table.
Jenny
started walking from the kitchen and
Kara
faked trying to keep up with her.
This new strength rocked.
Kara
never get tired anymore, but
she
still
felt the call
to
sleep
even if she didn’t need it
.
They
walked down the hall and then
her m
om opened the door to
her
bed
room. “I found these in the
closet
a few days ago
.
It was hidden
way
in the back. Without having the two of you in the house has given me a lot of free time to clean the house.
I thought you might like to have them
since they were yours to begin with
?”

On her bed w
ere
a pair of small figurines. They were small wooden horses that
her b
rother made.
Three years ago w
hen
her
brother went off for six months
,
trying to survive alone
;
he
crafted
them.
Connor
said that during the night by the fire he would
whittle something special for Kara
. These horses were what he
created
during his time in solitude
. Each of the figurines were as long as
her
forearm and as tall as
an
outstretched hand. They were running stallions with their manes billo
wed out from the wind,
unsaddled and
running
free.
N
o animal should be controlled for
one’s
enjoyment
or else it’s no more than slavery
. The animals should want to work with you for a mutual benefit.

When
Connor
finally returned home from his trip, he handed them to
Kara
and said “Paint these the way you think
they want to be treated.” When she
f
inished examining them she
decided
what color they should be.
She
painted each the bodies of the horses black. The larger horse
had
a
painted mane
of
a golden brown and
its eyes a
turned out to be colored a
bluish brown. The other horse’s mane was as black its body, but the eyes were made th
e color of silver. At the time she
thought they should be the symbols of
her b
rother and Mark.
Kara
wish
ed her
brother would have made a wolf and a falcon
instead
.
Her b
rother would be the falcon where as Mark would be the wolf.

Kara
walked to
Jenny’s
bed and carefully picked them up. “I had completely forgotten about these. I’ll take great care of them.”
I know
just
what to do with one of them though.

“That’s why I’m giving them back, Sweetheart.”

For the next two hours
Jenny and Kara
sat on the sofa and
her mom told her
some of the
exciting
trauma stories she saw this week at the hospital.
As
the head trauma nurse at the hospital
Jenny
has some explicit
and gory
stories.

Kara
love
s
them.

Kara
glanced out the window and saw how dark it
became
. “Mom, it was good to see you again, but I need to go see Sarah
before it gets any later
.”

She
grabbed the two figurines and walked outside.
Jenny began watching TV so Kara
took
her
contacts out and put them into their cases and added the solution. Before shutting the jeep door
,
she
placed
black mane
stallion
with silver eyes
in the passenger seat
to leave behind
.

On
her
way to Sarah’s cottage
,
Kara
changed
her
eyes so that
she
could see in the
failing light
of the woods.
And her
sense of smell was height
ened. It was easier to follow her
scent
rather
than retracing
her steps.

She
made
her
eyes return to normal when
the
cottage
came into view
.

The living
room lights were still on when she knocked on the door.

Sarah’s voice
alone
could bend steel. “Who is it?
!
”

Kara
spoke casually
, not understanding what was going on
. “Your sister-in-law.” She
took a deep breath
and asked
“May I come in?”

The bolt on the door clicked and opened a crack
. Sarah’s green eye looked at her
for a moment before
opening the door completely. Sarah
spoke evenly
while they
studied each other
. Sarah
was dressed in a way that said ‘
I’m ready for bed.
’
She was wearing one of
her br
other’s
large
shirts.
Her long brown hair was pulled back and expos
ed
her neck. “It
’
s late
,
Kara. What
do you want
?”

S
he
smiled
in habit
, but it w
asn’t returned. “Can we talk?” Kara
hid the stallion behind
her
back
until she would calm down.