Handsome looked annoyed, his eyes half closed. But Kate could be misreading a simple warning signal. Lots of animals changed their features to look more intimidating or threatening. She’d seen a video on social media of a northern white-faced owl who could change its facial appearance entirely by slanting its eyebrows and flattening its ears, which made it look more fierce when facing a predator.
“Don’t tell Sandra or Dad, okay?” She kept her voice low as she spoke. “I’m only keeping him until the rehab center opens after Christmas, but they may force me to take him back to the vet, and they’re pretty full right now.”
Caden met her gaze in confusion. “Isn’t rehab for people with addiction?”
She smiled at her brother. “It’s a different kind of rehab. This place works with injured wild animals. When the animal is healed, they can release it back into the wild.”
“So cool,” Caden said, grinning.
“You can’t tell. Promise me.”
“I won’t,” he vowed.
“Good. Now go back to bed. It’s late. I’ll let you see him tomorrow. Our little secret, right?” She rubbed her free hand in his blond hair and he grinned.
“I’m glad you came back,” he said.
“So am I.” She was only glad to see Caden, though. Not her father or Sandra. And that thought only made the ache in her chest widen to a vast chasm of pain.
Once inside her room, Kate settled Handsome on the floor near the edge of her bed, where she made the towel into a nest. The owl’s eyes were shut as it settled deeper into the towel. She was a little surprised he didn’t try to escape. It wasn’t normal to see a wild animal be so cautious and docile, especially injured. But then, she didn’t exactly have a lot of experience with wild animals. Maybe this was normal for owls, or maybe it was still in shock.
She left him alone to change out of her wet clothes and into her favorite pajamas and hide the bloody sweater in her laundry hamper to deal with later. Then she pulled back the covers of her bed and climbed in to sleep, but she was too anxious to settle.
After a few frustrated minutes, she got up and went to her desk, opening a little music box that held her jewelry. The box had a pair of dancers in the center who spun to the musical notes. She turned the silver crank on the bottom to wind it up and then watched the dancers move. A simple melancholic melody filled the room, reminding her of the day her mother had given it to her. She’d been only five years old, but the memory was still so vivid. She’d just seenThe Nutcrackerwith her parents that afternoon, and they’d come home to open presents on Christmas Eve. A rare snowfall had turned the whole world white. Kate remembered pressing her face to the windows of the family room to watch the gentle snowstorm sweep over the landscape.
Her mother had sat beside her and held Kate’s hand. She had felt safe and loved. That little girl hadn’t known that her mother would be gone two months later.
Will I ever feel that way again?
Possessed by a wild longing for the childhood that she’d loved so dearly, she searched her bookshelves for one of her mother’s old books. A collection of fairy tales from England and Scotland.
When she found it, she settled on the bed again, turning the pages and taking in that old-book smell, reliving the memories of her mother that she’d buried so many years ago.
“Do you know what your prince will say?”her mother teased.
“What?”
“Kiss me, Kate.” Her mother placed a kiss on Kate’s brow. “That’s how you’ll know he’s yours.”
Kiss me, Kate.It was silly, but those words had clung to her deepest dreams. None of the boys she’d dated had ever felt like “the one.” They’d been nice and fun to hang out with. But when her mother had talked about love, she’d said it was something that changed you forever.
But how would Kate really know? She couldn’t imagine feeling changed forever by anyone.
Her mother’s words echoed in her mind once more.“Love is like a path in the woods. Once you begin, once your foot touches the earth, you must move forward until you reach its end, whatever it may be. And you will find yourself in a very different place than when you started.”
Kate set the music box down on her desk, its music winding slowly to a stop. The owl’s gaze followed her as she turned out the light and returned to bed, pulling the covers up around her. After a moment, tears escaped from her eyes. Her body quaked with sobs that she didn’t try to fight. A soft chitter came from the owl; it sounded almost a question. She wiped her eyes and sat up to check on her feathered companion.
“You okay, Handsome?”
The dark eyes of the barn owl stared at her as if peering into her very soul. Kate left the bed and knelt in front of the owl.
“I hope the vet was right and that you’ll be all right after a rest. You’re too beautiful not to be flying out in the night.” She smiled as he nibbled gently on her finger.
“You’d never hurt me, would you?” she asked Handsome. “I wish I knew what you were thinking. It must be quite serious, because you look like you’re frowning.”
Handsome shuffled closer, and she brushed her fingers on the top of his soft head.
“Are you hungry? Thirsty?” The owl chittered in response, and she grinned. “Very well. I’ll be right back.”
