He let out a heavy sigh and hurried back through the streets, making his way toward their home. As he neared it, a figure behind the home caught his attention.
Jason swore under his breath.
He raced inside, setting his mother down in the chair, motioning to Kayla and ignoring her objection, and then ran outside.
A section of snow had been dug up.
Where was that figure?
He looked around. All he needed was to find movement. With his dragon sight, he should have enough of an advantage, but he didn’t see anything.
Someone had been out here.
Who would steal from them? It was such a terrible thing for anyone to do, to take from those who had so little, who had suffered so much, and yet now he had proof that someone was there.
Jason glanced along the street in either direction but found nothing.
Back in his home, he stood in the doorway. “Keep an eye on her. I found her passed out in the street.”
“You found her where?”
“In the street. And when I was carrying her here, I saw someone digging behind our house.”
Kayla’s breath caught and she glanced toward the back of the house. “Who would do such a thing?”
“I don’t know. But when I find them…”
He grabbed for his bow, strapping on the quiver, and stepped back outside.
Kayla followed. “Jason, you don’t need to do this. We can figure it out another time.”
“Someone has been stealing from us.”
“Does it matter?”
“It matters if we starve.”
“Does it matter right now?”
He took a deep breath, forcing down the irritation rolling within him. She was right. It didn’t matter right now. The thief could have returned to their home, hiding from him.
There was no way to know who it was. The only way he thought he might be able to uncover the culprit would be to watch, and he had no idea what that would take. He certainly couldn’t do it tonight. Whoever was responsible for stealing from them now knew he was on to them.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, he returned to their home, taking a seat at the table next to his mother. Kayla sat across from him and chewed slowly at her meat. She sipped at her tea, saying nothing. When she was done, she sighed, carrying her dishes back to the washbasin and setting them inside.
“Will you help me carry her back to the room?”
Jason nodded and, between the two of them, they guided their mother back into her room and onto the bed. She looked no different than she had every day over the last year.
How could she be so vibrant for most of the day, and then crash like this?
“I wish she would have stayed awake a little bit longer,” Kayla said. She stood at the edge of the bed, looking down at their mother, twisting the fabric of her dress and her fingers.
“At least we know that she can come around,” Jason said.
“I’ve always known she could come around,” Kayla said. She didn’t look up. “This has always been her choice.”
“I think it’s been too hard,” Jason said.
“Hard for her? How has it been any easier on us? For you? You nearly died—twice.”
He didn’t look up and meet her eyes. She didn’t know what he’d gone through, not yet. He needed to share more, but he didn’t know whether there was anything he could say to her. How could she understand the dragons weren’t what she believed? How could she understand the dragons weren’t responsible for what had happened to their father?
Unless he showed her.
If anyone needed to know, it was Kayla.
If they could find someone to watch their mother, Jason knew he needed to bring Kayla down to the cave, and once there, he needed to introduce her to the dragon.
“At least she woke up for a little while today,” he said.
“You think she’ll come around tomorrow, like she said?”
He watched his mother as she breathed, each one coming slowly, steadily, and yet a bit raggedly. “I don’t know.”
Kayla stood there for another moment before heading out of the back room. She returned a moment later with the chair and rested it against the wall, taking a seat.
“You don’t have to stay with her,” Jason said.
“We both agreed we need to keep an eye on her. I’ll do this.”
“You could sleep next to her.”
She shot him a darkened look. “Last time I did that, she wet all over me.”
He resisted the urge to gag. They’d been through enough with their mother that both of them knew she didn’t have the same control over her bodily functions as she once did—or should. It wasn’t that she wanted to do the things that she did; it was just that she had changed, had reached a state where she could no longer function. Both of them believed it was intentional, and yet he couldn’t help but hope that she might find some way beyond it.
If she didn’t, what would become of Kayla?
Without any way of making a living, she would probably have to marry. That meant leaving the village. And perhaps that wasn’t the worst thing that could happen for her. Everything in the village would serve as a reminder of what they’d lost, of their mother, their father, and his inability to provide for them.
In another year—if they made it another year—they might not have much of a choice. At least they could look into marrying her off to someone who might be able to provide for her.
If Kayla were married off, that would only leave Jason, and though he didn’t have any intention of marrying at this time, eventually, the village would expect it of him.
What would he do then?
“You should get some sleep.”
“So should you.”
“I’ve learned how to sleep in the chair,” Kayla said.
She rested her head back, staring at their mother, and Jason remained there for another moment. There wasn’t anything he could do. If she was sleeping, then Kayla was right and he needed to take the opportunity to get more rest for himself. He needed to hunt, and he needed to be successful. Not only did his mother need it, but his sister did, too.
He’d thought Kayla was hopeless before, but he hadn’t paid as much attention to what she was going through as he should have. In the time since he’d returned from his dragon hunt, he’d thought he understood, but it didn’t seem as if he did. They might have been better fed, but even their full bellies didn’t change the fact of what they were going through. It was nothing more than continuing the motions of living.
Now that he’d found the dragon, and now that he had a possibility of trying to understand something more, he’d begun to find hope.
His sister didn’t share that hope.
More than anything, that troubled him. She deserved more. As her big brother, it was his responsibility to help her find more. Especially if their mother wasn’t going to be able to help.
Jason took a seat at the table, lifting his mug of spiced tea and inhaling the steam. He breathed it in, thinking.
Somehow, they would have to do something else.
And perhaps it was time for a more drastic answer.
He’d been to the base of the mountain where there were others. Life wasn’t nearly as hard as it was here, and though it would be a long and arduous journey, he couldn’t help but think that for his sister and mother, it was a journey that needed to be taken.
It would mean leaving behind everything and everyone they knew, but if they reached it, then they could start a new life. Maybe there would be someone there who could provide help for their mother, a healer who had knowledge that could bring her back permanently.