Present Day - Toronto

"Ms. Nelson please help me." Mrs. Red Cloud wrung her hands in worry as she spoke. "This is my granddaughter and son." Six days prior her son and granddaughter disappeared while hunting. Her son's body was found several hours later, picked cleaned by scavengers. Her granddaughter was still missing. Tribal authorities as well as state police had searched and found nothing. Tribal elders believed the child to be taken by a thunderbird, the Wakinyan in her native tongue. Lucy Red Cloud simply refused to believe her child had been taken by a mythological bird. Yet, something in her had to try Ms. Nelson's services. Peter Running Star had worked with her briefly before his death fighting a Windigo. Out of his memory, Mrs. Red Cloud was here. Out of desperation, she was hiring Ms. Nelson.

Vicki sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Mrs. Red Cloud, I understand your frustration but I don't have any jurisdiction in the states. The local authorities there will find your granddaughter." She hated turning down this woman, but these disappearances happened in Wyoming,

"Ms. Nelson, Peter Running Star was confident you'd help him kill the Windigo. He spoke highly of you." Mrs. Red Cloud was growing desperate. She had lost her son, she wasn't about to loose her granddaughter too.

Vicki turned away to face the window. Peter Running Star. She had failed him. The Windigo killed him and almost killed Henry. Henry. If she were going to take this case, would he go with her? She wasn't sure how he could travel. In a trunk of a car, she wondered. With her vision going, she didn't want to be alone in an unfamiliar location. She knew whom to ask.

"Alright Mrs. Red Cloud, I'll take the case, and if your granddaughter is out there, we'll find her." The look of relief on the woman's face was almost worth the hassle this case was going to bring.

1788 - France

"Marie what will Papa say?" Therese shrieked as her older sister, Kassandra Marie waded in the river, clad only in her chemise. Her gown lay carelessly thrown on the grass.

"He won't know because you won't tell him. Besides, would you rather be in Paris listening to the Comte du Barry complain about the smell and the heat? "Marie yelled back. Unlike her sister, she did exactly what she wanted, when she wanted and no one could tell her otherwise, not even her betrothed. Marie was indented for the nephew of the ruling king of Spain. Not that she cared. Therese wondered if her sister even realized she was engaged.

Marie wrung out the hem of her petticoat. The water felt good in the stifling heat of the summer. "Besides Therese, Papa won't know that we're not in Paris. He's too busy preparing for Monsieur Chevalier's arrival. The party is tomorrow. You might find a husband there." Marie good-naturedly teased her sister. Marie had been effectively sold off to a Spanish boor whom she'd never met, while Therese, only 15, was still un-betrothed.

"But Marie…"

Nyte smiled softly at that memory. She stood on the banks of the stream that ran through the property. Her pants were rolled up to her knees, not effective when the water was hip-deep on her. She had to go soon. Her charter flight was leaving soon for San Francisco. Butterfield and Butterfield were auctioning off pre-French Revolution artwork and assorted other stuff. Nyte was curious if anything was hers…or Terese's. Nyte hadn't thought of her sister in ages.

Toronto

Vicki looked around for her shoes, before throwing them into her suitcase. "Vicki?" Henry asked his voice distant over the phone. He was on a weeklong signing tour his publisher concocted. His books were selling good before, he didn't see how shuffling him through six different cities in a week would make them sell faster.

"Hmm? Oh as I was saying, her granddaughter is still missing. My flight leaves in the morning."
"Are you going alone?" Henry asked, with a hint of jealousy in his voice as if he already knew the answer.

"Mike's going with me."

"I see." Henry's fears were confirmed. "Will he be able to get the time off?"

"His captain was more then glad to get rid of him for a week or two. He's been driving them up the wall." Vicki said light heartily as she finished packing.

"I see." Henry's response was muffled for a moment. The bookstore owner was ready to start the signing. "I have to go. Call me Victoria."