Page 23 of Clan and Crave

“Hello, Guhof. How are you, old friend?” Hecurled his arms around the muscular neck of Clan Tuher’s prizedstud and rubbed his cheek along the beast’s face. Guhof droned areply, then he pulled his head back. His intelligent eyes inspectedConyod.

Kestarsh were among the rare animalsKalquorians had domesticated. The sure-footed mounts were requiredto search treacherous mountain slopes for missing climbers andexplorers. They were capable of going places men and their shuttlescouldn’t reach. They had many other uses as well, and the specieswas as prized as an able ranch hand…and often, family members. Alocal kestarsh’s passing was included in obituary notices alongsidetheir Kalquorian neighbors.

Apparently, Guhof approved of the changesConyod’s parents had noted. His tapered muzzle lit on the teen’sforehead where Tuher had kissed him.

“It’s great to see you too. And you, ladies.”Conyod grinned at the mares attempting to jostle Guhof for a turnto say hello. Elbmur, his favorite, was the most insistent. Aswhite as Guhof was black, she shimmered in the sweet-scented air.It was for her the stallion moved aside to allow a reunion.

“Even after so many months, you still havethe touch,” Lafec sighed. “They know a caring heart and rider onsight.”

“Thank you, Mother.” It was easy to ignorethe jab of accusation in her reminder he’d left home when Elbmurleaned her face against his. She fairly purred her joy.

“We’ve been thinking when you come back forgood, you should have your own kestarsh to keep. Perhaps a coltfrom Guhof and Elbmur would make an appropriate mount.”

Conyod gaped at Tuher. “Really?” The pair’spast offspring had commanded the greatest income for the ranch.

As a rule, the kestarsh belonged to theranch, not individual members of the family. Being offered one tocall his own was unheard of.

“You’ll have to train him as we do the rest.But yes…you’ll be the owner.” Tuher smiled.

“Thank you. Thank you all!” Elation filledConyod, though he recognized the gift for what it was…bait for himto hasten his recovery and return home. Nonetheless, to have one ofthe beasts he adored for a lifelong companion was a treasure beyondcompare. Only Sletran pledging himself as a clanmate could havetopped such a gesture.

“Did you have breakfast?” Lafec prompted. “Wewaited in case you hadn’t.”

He hadn’t. Even his medication hadn’t beenenough to calm him to eat prior to leaving the mental facility. Nowthat the future included a kestarsh of his own, Conyod wasravenous. “I don’t suppose swala and ronka pastries might be on themenu?”

She laughed. For a bright, shining moment shewas the mother Conyod had known before Hoslek’s disappearance. Thestrain disappeared, and she was the most beautiful woman he’d everseen. “Already prepared and waiting to go in the cooker.”

Sema slung an arm across Conyod’s shoulders.“Lead on, my Matara. I could eat a tray full.”

She chuckled and allowed Tuher to take herarm and playfully tug her to the home in pretended impatience. Veljoined in the fun, jogging ahead to trigger the door to open andgestured frantically for them to hurry.

Conyod grinned and wrapped his arm around hislaughing Imdiko father’s waist. They turned to go into thehome.

The breath left his body as the landscapeswept across his gaze. The mountains loomed over the plain, jagged,broken teeth of a monster. His eyes instantly went to the Pinnacle,a needle-like protuberance of rock in the lower reaches of MountEvar. It was where Hoslek’s injured kestarsh Ges had been found,the last place he might have been alive.

Conyod’s stomach dropped to his shoes. Hesuddenly wasn’t hungry.

Sema must have felt him pause, though it wasonly for an instant. He glanced at Conyod, then where the teengazed. His arm tightened on Conyod’s shoulders.

“Me too, my son. Look away and forwardinstead. There’s only hurt there and a past we can’t rewrite.”

The silent Dr. Onbal, who’d hung back withthe orderly to observe, must have overheard. Conyod noted himnodding approvingly as father and son walked past.

“Forward,” Conyod echoed. “Where kestarsh andespecially swala pastries wait.”

And a certain Nobek, if he’d wait long enoughfor Conyod to grow up. Conyod kept his gaze on the home, ignoringthe looming mountain he hated to his very soul.

* * * *

It was nearly a year before Conyod and hisparents were deemed emotionally ready for him to return home forgood. Therapy was ongoing, and biannual home visits by independentpsychiatrists were scheduled. Otherwise, life was to become a newnormal.

Conyod’s parents had achieved varying degreesof well-being. Tuher and Sema were at far better ease. Theyassigned independent chores to their son, which took him on solorides to the nearby town or the plains. At first, Vel ventured tooffer to accompany Conyod on those forays. Lafec insisted many ofthe errands required two people to accomplish them. They werefirmly overruled by Tuher. When Conyod returned from wherever he’dbeen, he didn’t miss Lafec and Vel were working where they couldanxiously watch for him.

He did ask a parent to join him when he wasto train a yearling or colt on the riskier tasks of mountain work.He wasn’t so much afraid of Hoslek’s fate befalling him as the darkthoughts that filled his head when he had no choice but to confrontthe crags he continued to despise. In every cranny, he imaginedcoming across his brother’s remains. Sometimes he thought he sawthe round dome of a skull or a rack of ribs, but it always resolvedto stones or sun-bleached branches dropped from trees.

He refused to go anywhere near the Pinnacleor the foothills of Mount Evar.

The chance of finding Hoslek, howeverunlikely to happen, was more than Conyod could bear the thought of.Since he found he was actually happy to be home again, he decidedhe wouldn’t tell Dr. Hupsan about these terrible fantasies andvisions, or his inability to go where the injured Ges had beendiscovered. Perhaps Lafec and Vel continued to be overprotective,but Tuher and Sema kept them in check so Conyod wouldn’t feelsuffocated.

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