Chapter 70 - The Council Gathers [https://cdn.midjourney.com/4e413ac5-dd62-406c-8dba-ad791ae69b68/0_2.png]

Weeping and rejoicing exploded in the cluster of parents. The mother stumbled forward as soon as they released her. “Please…” She dampened her lips. “Let her go.”

Kennedy realized she was holding the little girl too tightly. She released her, but the girl didn’t flee. Her small hands came up and cupped her cheeks, still damp from their change. They touched foreheads, and Kennedy realized their breathing was in sink. The child smiled at her. Her two adult teeth were oversized and charming.

Kennedy returned her smile. Her heart tender in her chest, she gave her a nod. “Go on.” Her voice came out as a croak. When she looked up, the girl’s mother had stalled a few feet from them, eyes wide, afraid of her. A shiver ran across Kennedy’s shoulders.

The little girl followed Kennedy’s line of sight and saw her parents. She leapt from Kennedy’s lap and ran to her mother, who collapsed to her knees in relief. Joe crouched down beside Kennedy. “Doing good can scare others as greatly as doing bad.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “That was fine work.”

Kennedy drew away from his touch. Sympathy wasn’t what she wanted. “How do you know? You can’t see anything.” He tapped his nose with his fingertip. “Not with these old eyes, but like you, it’s not the only way I can see. Tell me what you think. Is she whole? Did she return complete?”

Snow approached her with a red sheet and Kennedy accepted it because her skin was cooling. The girl started to say something, but Kennedy turned her face back to Old Joe. Around them, the people’s voices sounded like bees. With a shrug, Kennedy answered, “I don’t know. She has scar tissue, and in her first attempt to return to human shape, part of it twisted around the two halves of her and halted the process. I stretched it until it came free.”

“The scar?”

Kennedy nodded, then realized he couldn’t see her answer, so she said, “Yes.”

The mother guided her daughter forward toward Joe, “Is she… oh please… is she.. Will she be able to?”

“Ask her.” He tilted his head toward Kennedy.

The woman’s lips worked. Kennedy could smell her fear, gratitude, and relief, a strange mix that made her nose tickle.

The little minx piped up, “I’m fine. Ask me.”

Kennedy smiled. “I think so, but I don’t know.”

Irritated that her mother wasn’t listening to her, the little girl threw off her blanket and split before anyone could stop her. The horror on her mother’s face almost made Kennedy laugh as the feisty little bear waddled backward. Kennedy nodded to the girl. “Go on. Fierce one. Try.”

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Her mother screamed out, “No,” but the little girl was no coward. Once it began, there was nothing the mother could do. Kennedy sang to her as the little girl stretched her bear shape, gathered her courage, and split. Two of her father’s joined the song, and bit by bit, the community joined, supporting the tiny fire ball of a bear. She rolled into her human shape.

Stunned to be complete, she flopped back into the grass and spread her arms wide, smiling up at the cascade of stars above her. The start of a meteor shower shot streaks of light across the edge of the sky. Kennedy turned her face upward as well, as the girl’s mother scooped her from the ground. Her heart swelled at the bright streaks of light. She might never see another starry night. But the little girl would, and that was something. She put her hand on her belly, ignoring everything around her, and lay back in the grass to watch the sky.

As the electric chemistry of change faded, she felt the cold and her teeth chattered. Kennedy wrapped her arms around herself. Pulling free of his jacket, David approached her, concern and caution on his face. His scent and warmth enfolded her as he knelt and placed the jacket over her. Voice pitched low and urgent, he said, “Snow tricked me. I didn’t know. I swear it.”

Kennedy refused to look at him. “Isn’t that what anyone would say if they were telling a lie? Strange, you don’t seem to be bound. Were you always a lier? Were you their spy?”

His shoulders slumped. “Ba wanted me to learn about you.” He swallowed. “And to take the chance to be a father, because there are no guarantees that I will have another opportunity.” He opened his hands. “What do I offer?”

The defeat in his voice softened her. “And what did you learn about me?”

“That it wasn’t in you to hurt others. That you love your family. No matter what the council believes, you were never trying to hurt us.”

“I hurt people. I ate someone’s arm today.”

“Just one bite, and he was trying to contain you and hurting your family.”

“Were you there?”

“They showed me the video. There are cameras outside that entrance.”

“Your people are going to kill me.”

David looked over at the wriggling little girl in her parents’ arms. “I’m not so sure about that.”

*

Two hours later…

The old man sat with the gathered leaders. Old Joe steepled his fingers and said, “I would not lie to you. You are our guest, Amana.” He sat next to Ba at the council’s table, speaking calmly to the mother of the girl who had needed help changing. Almost asleep, her daughter rested on her lap. Sullen, Kennedy waited for them to decide her fate, chained to her chair. Of her men, only David was allowed to be present. He was the only one healthy enough to stand.

Hugging her daughter fiercely, Amana said, “I thought Misha was dying. We could have lost her today.” The woman had refused to send her daughter away to bed after the ceremony. Even though the girl was exhausted, she remained on her mother’s lap in her pajamas.

Joe nodded. “These days, I’m not so good at helping others complete a shift in crisis.” He looked over at Kennedy. “And I was never as good at it as she is. She helped someone become whole, years after their damage was done. That’s unheard of.” He shook his head. “Right after her first change, too. Her gift is profound, even if she did come to us as one of the Lost.”

The dark-haired man next to Amana was one of her husbands, and also on the council. He stared at Kennedy. “So, this is the girl we are voting on?”

“It is indeed.” Joe flattened his hands on the top of the table. “The choice is more complicated that it might seem at first seem. I won’t live forever, and our community in these blue hills has not produced another healer in my lifetime. Well, except for this strange half wild creature, who was Lost to us until she found her way back into this world.” He smiled at Kennedy. “She is home now.”