Page 12 of Kian

Without giving herself time to change her mind, she broke into the Terra-17 global anthem, capitalizing on the brisk rhythm and making sure to lean left to right with the cadence, which was customary.

The mammoth pair froze up again, and she took advantage by sliding her hands up to the baby’s head, and moving it left and right with hers as she sang.

When she got to the first chorus, she lifted his head up further than before, and grasped the net, pulling for all she was worth.

It slipped off his head so easily that she almost fell backward.

Somehow, she managed to continue her song, as her fingers worked quickly to release his foot.

When both head and foot were out, the little one sensed his freedom was near and began flailing.

“Easy does it,” she said briskly, hopping to her feet and hoping the baby did the same. “Upsy daisy.”

The baby jumped up, and the net fell into a pool around his little feet. Well, little compared to his mom’s anyway. Even this baby was bigger than any person Kinsley knew.

He did a sort of happy jig in place for just a moment, as Kinsley staggered back out of his way, looking on in pride.

Before she had time for anything else, his mother hustled him away from Kinsley, and across the tundra toward the rest of the herd.

Kinsley watched after them for a moment, her heart lightened by the sight of the two enormous creatures scampering off so happily together.

“Kinsley,” a deep voice bellowed.

She turned back to Kian and saw that the entire convoy had stopped, and every single member was staring at her openly.

One of the big women with the fiery hair gave her a respectful nod and Kinsley felt a flash of pride, though all she had done was what any preschool teacher could.

“What were you thinking?” Kian’s furious demand broke the silence.

It felt like ice water being dumped on her warm happiness.

“The baby was in trouble,” she told him. “I took care of it.”

“You have your own baby to protect,” he retorted. “And you put her in danger just to help an animal.”

That stung. He wasn’t wrong. Her instinct to help a little one in trouble had her moving before she knew what she was doing.

But that didn’t give him the right to humiliate her.

“She’s fine,” she said, turning back to the tundra. “We both are.”

“Get back in this sled, right now,” he yelled.

She ignored him and gathered up the net. It wasn’t right to leave it out here for another animal to get stuck in. And besides, he had made a good point before, when he said things out here shouldn’t be wasted. Surely, an extra net might come in very handy for a fishing operation.

But mostly she just needed a minute before she got back in that sled with someone who would dress her down in front of all the others.

Her hands were shaking with rage, and from the adrenaline draining out of her after the frightening encounter with the mammoth, so it took her a bit longer than she liked to gather up the netting and fold it into something small enough to tuck into the sled.

Once it was managed, she strode back without even looking at Kian, placed the net in the sled, and scrambled in beside him.

He shouted out another Invicta command to the dogs immediately.

The sheriff had to quickly whistle to his own team so that Kian’s wouldn’t crash into them.

Kinsley glanced up at Kian, but his face was an impassive mask.

Sighing, she turned to look out over the tundra again, snuggling her daughter closer to her. Somehow, the tiny one had slept through everything, including Kian’s shouting.

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