Page 33 of Searching for Thanksgiving

“Run, Leo, run. You’ve really made her mad this time!” James called out with a laugh.

Leo didn’t need to be told twice. He twisted and took off for the tree line with Morah racing after him. Morah released a fine line of dragon fire that licked at Leo’s tail as he scrambled up the closest tree. Morah’s dragon clawed at the bark. She circled the tree, shaking off the water still clinging to her as she eyed Leo with a menacing growl.

Leo shifted and clung to the trunk of the tree. He warily watched her as she huffed out a puff of smoke. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

We show him sorry! her dragon snorted.

She shifted on her third pass and placed her hands on her hips as she continued to glare up at him. She lifted one hand and waggled a finger at him, opening and closing her mouth before she shook her head. She huffed and puffed before she tossed her wet hair back over her shoulder, turned, and stomped back to the edge of the river.

The others watched her walk by them. Tears of frustration burned through her, and she sniffed. She shook her head at Hope and Sacha. She continued down along the bank of the river until she rounded a curve in it where the others couldn’t see her. Only then did she sink down onto a rock and begin to sob.

She wrapped her arms around her waist and rocked back and forth. She was a bad Priestess-in-training. She shouldn’t have charged Leo. He didn’t know any better. She was older than he was! Only by a few months, but… she was supposed to be a leader.

She lifted her arm and rubbed it against her damp cheek. Her mommy and daddy never got mad when she did something wrong. They always talked to her and helped her understand. Why did Leo make her so mad all the time?

She started when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. Twisting on the rock, she released a cry of surprise and relief when she saw her sister standing there. She fell into Trisha’s outstretched arms and breathlessly, between sobs, shared all her doubts and fears.

“It’s okay, Morah. I’m so proud of you,” Trisha murmured.

She tilted her head back and looked at Trisha. Her lips quivered, and fresh tears streamed down her face. She gulped several times before she finally spoke.

“I tried to roast Leo’s tail again,” she wailed.

Trisha held her little sister as she sobbed out how she was trying to keep everyone safe and that she wasn’t doing a very good job, and how she almost roasted Leo’s tail for a second time after Alice told her that she shouldn’t, but that he made her so mad, and about how they crashed their balloon and because of Leo they ended up sleeping in a tree but that Arilla came and gave them a magic knapsack….

A chuckled threatened to escape Trisha as Morah breathlessly recounted the exploits of the group of explorers as they tried to find and help Thanksgiving. When Morah finally stopped crying, Trisha released her and guided her back to the rock where they both sat down. She held Morah’s hand as her sister drew in deep, calming breaths.

“Dad is going to be so proud of you,” Trisha said.

“Even though I tried to toast Leo?” Morah sniffed.

Trisha laughed and nodded. “I saw you. You gave Leo a good head start. If you had really wanted to toast his tail, you could have.”

Morah giggled. “Did you see his face? His eyes were huge.”

Trisha laughed again and nodded. “He knew he was in big trouble. What did he do this time?”

Morah sighed and shook her head. “He poked holes in our raft after I tolds him to be careful.”

“How did you guys manage to get this far?” Trisha asked, curious.

“We made a balloon out of Buttercup and Rainbow, and Prime mades a basket. Hope, James, and me blew hot airs into it and we floated. It was fun, but tiring… and the basket was squishy because Prime is little.”

Surprise and pride swept through Trisha. She didn’t think she would have been that creative when she was Morah’s age. She also didn’t think she would have had the patience to deal with so many kids, especially out in the wilds.

“You are pretty amazing,” Trisha murmured.

Morah looked up at her with shining eyes. She leaned down and kissed Morah on the top of her head before she stood up. She looked in the direction where the other kids were waiting.

“Do you want to finish your adventure, or are you ready to go home?” she asked.

Morah stood up and looked at her before setting her jaw in a determined thrust. Amusement swept through Trisha. Their dad got the same look when he was confronted with a group of cocky service men thinking they knew more about surviving the wilds than he did.

“We gots to help Thanksgiving. I promised Hope that we would,” Morah declared.

Trisha knelt and held Morah’s hands gently in hers. “Then, you’ve got to finish this.”

Uncertainty tainted Morah’s expression. “Is Daddy going to be upset that we wents on an adventure?”

Trisha shook her head. “No one is upset. We were just worried. Maybe next time, give us a little notice. I’ll let everybody know you are okay.”

Morah threw her arms around Trisha’s neck and clung to her for a moment in a huge hug before she released her and stepped back. With a brilliant smile, she turned, shifted into her dragon, and took off down along the river bank where the others were waiting.

Is everything alright?

Trisha smiled at her mate’s concerned inquiry. Everything is perfect.

---