Mawei was almost to the creek when it began to rain fat cold raindrops that soaked her, matting her fur and bringing a chill to her bones. She found Helena high up in a tree, far from the clearing. There weren’t any yetis nearby, which was good because even in the downpour she was hard to miss. She was sitting with her legs through the straps of the backpack which had been attached to a broken branch to create a precarious cradle. Mawei was surprised to find the child completely naked.
With the rain Mawei had to use her claws to climb, digging into the wet wood and hauling her large body upwards much more slowly than she could’ve gone in dry weather. The child was slick with cold rainwater, eyes clenched shut, gripping the straps of the backpack with hands that had turned an odd pale blue color. Her legs looked like strangely shaped purple rocks to Mawei and her teeth were chattering. Mawei touched Helena’s shoulder and the child flinched violently and lost her grip. She almost fell but Mawei caught her by her frozen little arm and lifted her out of the straps. She was so cold that Mawei thought she probably couldn’t feel her arms or legs, so she pulled her into a tight little ball and sat on a thick branch, leaning back against the trunk and draping her leg over the edge for stability. She wrapped her arms around the child and leaned over her to protect her from the rain.
Mawei was so busy trying to warm the little human that she almost missed what was going on below her. Luckily a flash of white between two trees caught her eye and she looked down to see two snow-yetis making their way across the wet grass toward them. Mawei concentrated on darkening her fur so that it would match the wet tree trunk she was up against. The sensation of blood rushing to her skin made her shudder, but soon she was camouflaged. Darkening also had the effect of warming her, and Helena’s shivers and chattering began to subside.
Mawei recognized the two yetis. They were twins, Sinker and Sichil, rambunctious little males about fifteen years younger than herself. Twins are considered a good omen among yetis and are rare, so they were well known. With the rain coming down Mawei felt safe because as close as they were she couldn’t smell them, which meant they couldn’t smell her. The twins passed under the tree and continued toward the creek, moving quickly and looking all around them as they went. They were far from the Gather and she knew they were after her.
She thought the yetis watching her uncle must’ve seen them talking and sent the twins after her. There were important yetis who saw him as a threat because of his views on humans, and Mawei realized that she had become a threat too, just from having been seen talking with him.
She stayed in the tree for a long time, directing her breath downward at the child in an attempt to warm her. After a couple of hours had passed Mawei looked at little Helena and asked if she was feeling better. “I coulda died.” Helena said. “I hate you.”
“It wasn’t me little bird, it was Rei.” Mawei said. “Can you wiggle your toes?”
“My toes don’t wiggle for monsters.” She said. “If you’re not going to eat me why don’t you just let me go?”
“Go where?” Mawei asked.
“Home!” She said. “My mommy and daddy are going to be so mad.”
Mawei didn’t know what to say. She thought maybe she should use the opportunity to explain to the child what happened to her parents, but she didn’t know if she could bring herself to do it. “Little bird, do you remember when I took you out of the car?”
“Yes.” She said.
“Do you remember what happened just before that?”
“Yeah,” Helena said, “my daddy said a bad word and it woke me up. Then we had a car-smash and I was upside down.”
“If you couldn’t go back to your mommy and daddy where would you go?” She asked.
Helena thought about it. “Anywhere,” she said, “school, the library, the mall. I would go anywhere where it’s warm and they got regular food.”
“I understand.” Mawei said.
“But you have to take me home first,” she said, “so I can get some clothes on me.”
“Yes, your coverings. What happened to them?”
“The other monster took them off me and threw them on the ground. He put mud all over me because he said I smell.”