Stone Circle Don't worry, he shall return

Her tail wagged when her mother confirmed she was right. Her expression turned thoughtful when Valette asked if she remember what they were called. It didn't come to her until Valette mentioned the burrows. Ribbits! she announced excitedly, not realizing she could have been saying frogs or rabbits. Who knew?

Well, she did. The fluffy creatures that hopped all around and dove into their holes before she could get them. She had never paused to see what came out of their butts, but she realized now it could help lead her to where they were.

Valette grinned when Steph guessed the right animal. The mother wagged her tail proudly and nodded to confirm her right answer. "Exactly!," she smiled. "Though they are officially called Rabbits and the bigger versions that live out on the fields are hares," she explained to her daughter. Valette quirked up her lips.

"Do you think you can track this animal?," she then asked. She wanted to let Steph to most of it herself. Perhaps she could find the burrow of this animal.

Valette, knowing exactly what she was trying to say, corrected her. Steph remember seeing small ones and large ones, but didn't realize they were different. I thought the small ones were babies, she commented. It didn't make much difference to her now, since she viewed them all as food.

Her mother challenged her to track them, and with a wag of her tail, Steph put her nose to the ground, trying to find the strongest trail of the rabbit. She went in circles a few times before finding it, and then headed through the brush. She lost the trail a few times, but was quick to pick it back up. Eventually, it led them to a small clearing, and the entrance of a hole in the ground. Excitedly, Steph wagged her tail, and looked up to Valette. It's in there! she claimed, hoping she was right.

Valette shook her head in reply to her daughter. "No. Rabbits are very different from hares. Rabbits live in warrens or burrows while hares live mainly above ground," she explained with a gentle smile. "You won't see a rabbit baby because they keep them underground until they are big enough," she explained also. She never really seen one either. They were almost the same size once they came above ground. She figured they would keep their babies safe like wolves did.

Valette watched as Steph was trying to track where the animal came from. When it eventually lead to a burrow it meant that Steph had been tracking a rabbit. Valette wagged her tail and watched Steph proudly. "Very good!," she praised. Of course the bunnies were hiding now but Valette sat down either way. "So what did we learn today?," she recapped.

She took in the information that her mother fed her. It was interesting that there were two different kinds of hares, and in the future, she would look at them differently, too. Where do hares live? she asked. If rabbits could run into holes, where did hares run to and hide?

Her tail wagged at her mother's praise, happy to have earned it. She sat down on her haunches, mimicking Valette. Her gaze went to the hole, hoping a rabbit's head would pop out. Of course, it wouldn't while they were sitting there. Her eyes turned back to her mom, thinking about her question before answering. Well, I learned that rabbits and hares are different, she began. Rabbits are smaller and live in holes, hares are bigger and live above ground. And they both make small round poop, she finished. She waited to see what Valette thought about her answer.

Valette smiled. "They live above ground, in the fields, they are very well camouflaged. They can run even faster than rabbits," she spoke with a firm nod. The female looked proudly at her daughter as she started to recite what they learned today. She slowly nodded. "Very good! And let's not forget that you learn the foot shapes of a deer as well. We did that before you tracked us to this rabbit hole," she added.

Then Valette just moved forward and showered her with kisses. She was so proud of Steph. Plus, she really liked that her daughter was as much into hunting as she was. She couldn't wait till Steph was bigger and they could take down their first prey together. Two shadows moving as one.

Her tail wagged when her mother confirmed she was right, and reminded her about the deer. Oh yeah! The big guy! she said. How could she have forgotten him? It was a lesson that should stay with her for life. It would do her well to remember not to mess with them.

She gleefully returned her mother's kisses. She really looked up to Valette, and would most likely follow in her hunting footsteps if she didn't find anything else that interested her. But, for now, the pup with unending energy wasn't ready to settle down. Can I go play now? she asked, looking up to Valette with a smile.

Valette chuckled and nodded. "Of course you can go play now," she smiled at her daughter. She hoped Steph had fun. By the looks of it she had. Valette liked to spend some quality time with her children like this. She got to know them better individually. Valette walked after her daughter back to the forest to check how the caches were doing. That was something Steph would need to learn during their next lesson. How to clean caches.

- end-