Chapter 37 - Found in the Woods [https://cdn.midjourney.com/a138084c-3fa4-40e4-b9a7-4ee0822dda16/0_2.png]

Nana’s lips tightened. “And which was my son, the goose or the ferret?”

Without hesitation, her mom answered, “Whichever one is nicer.”

That made Nana go quiet. “I know you loved him.”

“I did, and I do.”

Flexing her hands on the steering wheel, Nana said, “He loved you too.”

As the road blurred past, they talked civilly, a miracle. Kennedy poked her finger through a gap in Mr. Pibble’s carrier and rubbed the spot just above his nose.

Nana sighed. “My son tried to explain to me how your people see themselves as being apart. Why do you call us sheep?”

“That’s an old story. And not one my family believes in. Others in town do.”

Mr. Pibble pushed his head into her fingertips, purring. “Mom, why didn’t we ever go to the mountains? Didn’t you miss your family?”

“There ain’t no going back, Kendie. When I left, I left for good. There are prejudices about our kind marrying outside of the culture, like how I married your father. It’s forbidden to marry them. Fooling around is one thing, but running off and getting serious is completely out. It’s a religious abomination.”

Nana turned the car North, picking up speed on the ramp. “Is that why he never met your family?”

“Oh, he did. They tried to keep him from leaving with me. They beat him up the day before we left.”

“I thought he broke his arm climbing a tree to help a child who had gotten too high.” Nana shook her head. “Unbelievable.”

Kennedy’s mom shrugged. “He thought that was the better story to tell. My Uncle hit him with a bat. The violence he experienced made him afraid of my family. He stayed home when I went to get Kendie from my brother.”

“I have an uncle?”

“You used to. He died when you were little. Ray was too brave for his own good. He’s the one that saved you. After your mom lost herself in skin, he tracked her for days. You have no idea how dangerous that is. No one could believe it when he came back with a baby, pink and perfect, unscathed. Against our parents’ wishes, he called me. He didn’t know what to do with you, and I’d always wanted to have a family.”

The story of Kennedy’s life kept changing and re-shifting into new patterns. Her history had become as changeable and unstable as a kaleidoscope in a child’s hands. Each piece of her story acted on her sense of self like a hard twist. Her whole life she had wanted to know more, and now, hearing stories, she felt dizzy and nauseous instead of grounded. After a lifetime of silence, she couldn’t stop asking questions. “Are your parents dead? Do I have more family?” Pibble reached out one paw and caught her shirt with a fine claw.

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“I don’t know.”

It was hard to imagine how lonely her mother’s life must have been. She’d lived decades away from her sheltered and eccentric culture. Her new family had viewed her as crazy and barely tolerated her. No wonder her Mom only trusted her cats.

Kennedy unhooked Mr. Pibble’s sharp nail so he could have his paw back. Golden eyes glittering, he retracted his paw briefly and then batted her wrist. Kennedy dabbed his foot, and he bumped his head against the bars. She whispered to him. “I’ve missed you too, Buddy.”

*

Four hours in Nana’s car, with two old ladies and three grumpy cats, was exhausting. Kennedy was more than ready to get out when they pulled up to the hotel.

As Nana set the break, she asked, “Are you sure that the hotel will accept cats? Did you call?” Kennedy slipped out of the car.

“Yes, I called.” Her Mom looped her arm into Kennedy’s, her hip after four hours in a car was in complete rebellion. After she helped her Mother out of the car, Kennedy offered her the cane, but she pushed it away. Her Mom didn’t like to use assistive devices in front of strangers. Disgruntled, Nana remained in the car with the cats so they would have air conditioning while her mother checked them in.

Gripping her arm, her mom took her first hopping step. “We aren’t telling them about the cats.”

“It’s the only hotel in town, Mom. And they already said that pets were okay. If we don’t tell them, they might throw us out.”

“They won’t. We are kin.”

“Are we related to them?”

Leveling her gaze in Kennedy’s direction, her mom’s face pulled tight with pain. “Don’t be slow. We aren’t sheep, and that is kin enough. Sheep don’t stay in this town long. It’s not a healthy place for them.” Kennedy looked back at her Nana, stoic in the front seat.

“And Nan? Is she safe?”

Her Mom snorted. “She will be fine. We are only here long enough to get our business done and get you some proper medicine. We will put this behind us.” She squeezed Kennedy’s arm as she took another difficult step.

*

Her Mom and her Nan agreed for the first time, but Kennedy wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. She’d never been pregnant before. And who expects to discover the ability to change into a bear? It felt too soon to close the strange new door that had opened. She liked the wild, free feeling of being a bear. Rolling in the grass, powerful and full of dried fish, had felt natural and comfortable. Her time with Doc Terry had been closer to a proper relationship than anything she’d experienced before.

On the trip here, she’d sent him a text. The man hadn’t responded yet, but she wasn’t surprised. After ignoring his texts for over a month, he’d stopped trying to communicate with her, like any sane person would. Terry had probably blocked her number. The heat inside the hotel hit them in the face as Kennedy maneuvered her limping mother through the hotel door. When her phone vibrated, she touched it with her fingertips through her pocket.

The redhead from before sat behind the hotel counter. Her painted smile was brittle when she saw Kennedy. “Well, surprise, surprise. She’s back as the moon disappears again.” Kennedy helped her mom sit down in one of the worn chairs.

Commanding, her Mother’s voice left no room for arguing. “You got that room with two beds ready for us, Shirleen?”

The woman blinked. “Do I know you?”

“I know your mother. She chased my brother for close to two seasons, up and down the hills like a hound with a ripe scent.” Eyes shiny from the pain meds, she added, “The girl was persistent.” She raised her nose. “Not successful, but persistent. She quit roaming, sure enough, when you caught in her belly.” Kennedy stared at her Mother. stiff and imperious in the faded chair, unflinching. “Each generation’s oldest daughter has run this place in your family since it opened. It’s the way. What other name would you have?”

The red-lipsticked Shirleen lost her bite. “My Mom was a good woman.”

Kennedy’s Mom shifted her pocketbook primly onto her lap. “Well, it’s good to know she grew into one. She was a hot mess when we were girls.” Kennedy had never seen her mother be so assertive and mean to strangers. “We’d like that key now.”