Trickster s Girl - By Hilari Bell Page 0,36

it.

Raven stood on the shore, waiting for her, a disapproving frown on his face. "I didn't know you were going to do that. You should have consulted me."

"Th-that's what makes it a valid test." Kelsa's teeth had begun to chatter.

"I intended for you to call on water somewhere in Canada. There are plenty of lakes there."

"Not like th-th-this one," Kelsa told him. The morning air on her cold wet skin was warmer than the lake, though not by much. She squeezed some of the water out of her dripping hair and glared back at him.

The scowl vanished, and a searching look took its place. "For you, was this the lake that holds the spirit of all lakes? The perfect, ideal lake?"

"I guess." But it was. She'd known that from the moment she saw it, even if she wouldn't have put it in quite those words.

"Then that's why you could ... Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"If I don't, it's because you never tell me anything. I came to heal the ley. Did I heal it?"

"Heal ... You did more than just heal it. You dragged the main current of the ley into a new channel! You opened a brand-new nexus where none had ever existed! Every shifter on the planet will have felt that, and my enemies - "

"Your so-called enemies," Kelsa scoffed.

" - will be on our trail like a wolf pack. You were in danger before, but now - "

"Now they'll know that humans can heal your precious leys, so they'll have no reason to stop me!"

"Ahh!" Raven buried both hands in his thick black hair and pulled. Kelsa had heard of people tearing at their hair in exasperation, but she'd never seen anyone do it. Another habit from the time when people said "tarnation"?

"If you don't believe anything I tell you," Raven said, "then why have you come this far? Why are you doing this? And if you do believe me about the leys, then why - "

"I didn't come because of you," Kelsa told him. "I came because of my father. Because we didn't try everything."

For the first time since their argument began, Raven actually looked at her. "What do you mean, you didn't try everything?"

Kelsa's eyes burned. It wasn't any of his business, but the words spilled over anyway. "My mother wanted my father to go to a retreat. To try faith healing. That's where - "

"I know what faith healing is," Raven said.

"Dad didn't believe in it. He wanted to stay home. To spend whatever time he had left with us." The tears were falling again. Kelsa didn't care. "I sided with him. But now ... All this..." She gestured to the sun-drenched lake, the magic it implied. "Would it have worked?" she whispered. "Could that kind of magic have cured him?"

She hoped Raven would deny it. Instead he frowned thoughtfully. "Where was this retreat?"

"In Minnesota. Not far from Minneapolis."

"Then no," said Raven. "It wouldn't have worked."

"How can you be sure?" Kelsa demanded. Was he lying to her again?

"Because Minnesota is too far from a major ley for any human to tap it," Raven said. "That's what your faith healing is. Humans, however clumsily, tapping into the power of a major ley. Even if the leys weren't so damaged ... No. Going to this faith retreat in Minnesota wouldn't have saved him. I'm certain of that."

The rush of relief was so great, Kelsa's knees weakened. She'd been right. Her father had been right. She hadn't prevented him from trying something that might have worked.

She scrubbed a hand across her cheeks, though the water dripping from her hair was enough to conceal her tears. "Anyway, that's why I'm going on. I couldn't save him. So I have to save what I can."

"I suppose that'll do."

Raven stepped forward and laid a hand on Kelsa's head. She was about to pull away when she felt the water retreat from his touch, as if repelled by some antiwater magnetic charge. Drops fell faster from the hem of her shirt as dryness crept down from the top of her head. At last it poured out of her shoes, leaving her with puddles around her feet and completely dry clothing, though the flesh beneath it was still chilled.

"Thanks." It was the only word her stunned brain could produce.

"It's nothing. Or at least, it didn't take much. We'd better get on the road. Our enemies certainly know where we are, and the road from Glacier connects with ours up