Don and Mack followed a little behind them, craning their necks, trying to see. Riley held her breath as the men approached the dense foliage. She didn't want any of them seeing her mother that way. She wanted to scream at them to get away from the body, especially the two engineers. She knew the moment they all spotted the body.
The porters stepped back, backs and shoulders stiffening. They looked from Capa's body to what was left of Annabel. There could be no doubt what had transpired.
Don leaned over and was sick again and again. Mack gagged and turned away, pressing his hand to his mouth. Riley felt the exact moment they both turned their horrified gazes on her. She refused to look at them. If she held herself very still, her mind wouldn't fly apart and her shattered heart would remain inside her body. The screams in her head would stay there, locked away forever.
Don stood up slowly, glanced once more into the brush and hastily turned his head away. He made his way slowly over to Riley. He stood there for a moment in silence before clearing his throat.
"I'm sorry about your mother, Riley."
She couldn't look at him. She nodded her head, pressing her hands deeper into the dirt. She was so numb that the only thing she could feel on her skin was the sensation of the earth.
Mack shuffled over, just as awkward, but well meaning. "I'm so sorry, Riley. There are no words. This is terrible."
Again she nodded, unable to answer them. Life was pulling her back from the brink of disaster. She couldn't completely lose control. She had to find a way for her brain to function, to think of what to do next.
The four porters picked up the body of their cousin and carried it off into deeper brush.
"What are they doing?" Jubal asked Miguel.
"They will bury him properly," Miguel said. "In our way. We will take care of ..."
As the three guides stepped closer to Annabel, Riley's entire body rebelled. Even the earth beneath her seemed to violently protest, shuddering in a wave of protest. The ground shivered, rose up in two-inch waves and sent vibrations through her body. She "felt" the instant protest and with it came a need to act, to move quickly, to do something-she just wasn't quite certain what.
"Don't let them touch her," Riley pleaded. "Jubal, they can't touch her."
Miguel turned to her, his eyes filled with sorrow. "We didn't wish for this to happen, Riley. We would never want your mother dead. Capa was not himself. He was a gentle man with a wife and son. He would never harm someone if he wasn't out of his mind. We need to give your mother a proper burial in the way of your people."
She knew the guide was sincere. She heard it in his voice and saw it on his face, but a deeper force drove her. Her mother's body could not be touched. Riley forced herself to her feet, shaking her head. Her body felt weak, her legs rubbery, but she had to get up. Beneath her feet, the earth pushed at her, driving her out of her shock.
"Don't let anyone touch her," she repeated, looking past Miguel to Jubal. She forced herself to meet the guide's eyes. "We have our own ways, Miguel, and I must attend to her."
She found it a little terrifying to approach that horrible site of blood and death in front of all of them, but it had to be done, even if she had a complete breakdown. She had no idea what she needed to do, but the drive was powerful in her now, pushing her to move.
Weston and Shelton stepped back silently to allow her to walk slowly toward her mother's body. Riley was aware of the hush descending once more on the group. The two students, busy disinfecting the wounds on themselves and their professor, halted to watch her approach the brush, marred with bloodstains.
"Tell us what you need, Riley," Gary said, coming up beside her. "We'll help you."
She wasn't altogether certain what she needed, but she nodded slightly, waiting a moment before she looked at her mother. She approached cautiously, steeling herself for the sight of Annabel's mangled body. It wasn't her mother, she reminded herself, only the shell left behind. Her mother was long gone and once again with the man she loved so much for so many years.
The wind touched her face as she neared the dense underbrush, fingers of comfort tugging the tears from her eyes. She held her head high, chin up, took a deep breath and then allowed her gaze to move very slowly, one inch at a time, into the darkened brush. Her stomach lurched, and she caught her breath, a lump in her throat threatening to choke her. The ground moved again, gently urging her forward.
Deep beneath the thick vegetation, Riley felt the thrum of the earth's heartbeat. Her pulse jumped-matched that steady, comforting rhythm. She felt her veins tingle, a network running through her body, connected to the very planet she lived on. The flora and fauna around her breathed life into the air, and she took it into her lungs. Inside, she felt something stir, awaken, become aware. With each tentative step she took toward that place of murder and death, she became more certain of what she needed to do.
Her veins throbbed and burned, an electrical current flashing through her body until she felt her blood ran with the very sap in the leaves of the trees, connecting her to all of nature. Like a sleeping dragon awakening for the first time, the energy arced and spread until it consumed every cell in its wake. Her mind filled with images from a life not lived or previously known, but so familiar she recognized everything as if the knowledge had always been there, imprinted in her brain just waiting for this moment when she woke.
Riley paused, everything in her going still, the better to absorb the monumental changes happening so fast in her body and mind. Around her, the others faded far into the background as her every sense seemed to heighten. Moisture hung heavy in the air. She could feel the individual droplets on her skin, breathe them into her lungs. Beneath her feet, the earth moved again, urging her forward. She knew exactly what she had to do-cleanse her mother's body and consecrate her, preparing for her return to Mother Earth. Annabel was a daughter of the earth, lent for a short time and she needed to be returned with reverence and thanks.
She would have to set the four corners and call in the elements and directions that would bind the energies, but first she would honor her mother by purifying and cleansing her body. The blood seeping into the ground no longer sickened her. Everywhere that dark liquid of life touched, the soil reached for the richness, her mother's life, refueling and enriching in the cycle of rebirth.
Riley raised her hands to the sky, calling to the moisture, drawing all those heavy drops to her. Rain answered, a fine shower, falling across the remains of her mother's body, mixing with her blood so that it seemed to come alive, moving in droplets off the leaves and branches to roll to the ground and slowly begin to seep deep into the earth. When the last of the blood had disappeared into the ground, Riley called to the currents of air swirling in the canopy, waiting all along for her to utilize the element. The rain ceased as the wind circled the body, acting as a fan, drying Annabel's remains.
Deep inside, Riley felt a burning through her body, that electrical current leaping to light, and her hands stretched toward her mother, weaving an intricate pattern in the air. She was absolutely certain of every movement, no hesitation, the weave leaping to life until a low blue ethereal flame burned over the remains and was instantly gone.
She reached down and took soil into her hands. "Mother Earth, I'm returning your daughter to you. I thank you for the gift of life. The years of happiness. The service to humanity." As she murmured the words, she allowed the rich soil to drift over Annabel's remains.
Riley looked to the north and called in the power of Air. As the currents once again began to swirl around her, she faced south, calling on the power of Earth. The ground answered, trembling, coming alive. She turned toward the east and called Fire, until the area around her mother's body was etched in low-burning flame. She faced west and called to the power of Water to purify and renew.
Riley's hands again began to weave a pattern, a conductor of an orchestra, as she murmured soft, powerful words. "Air, Earth, Fire, Water, hear my prayer. See your daughter look upon her child this night. Aid her healing through this plight. Let fire fuel a savage cleansing. Let air sweep away negative endings. Water clears the cleansing pyre as Earth brings forth renewed desire. Air, Earth, Fire, Water, design a ring of natural power. Circle round and thrice be bound, take your daughter into the ground. Accept your daughter back this night and always hold her close and tight. Let none disturb this place of peace and within this circle may my mother find peace. As above, so below."