Swiftcurrent Creek boys

For @Tuwawi

With Jace's help, the deerskin came away from its owner quicker and cleaner than Bazi could ever have hoped. She left it to dry by the creek, gnawing and scratching at the stubborn flecks of flesh that refused to accept that they no longer belonged there.

After a few days of work, the present was ready. The skin was clean, the fur was washed, and Bazi had worked out how to carry it alone by wriggling beneath the supple pelt and wearing it like a cape. The end result looked like a hairy, sagging pancake with white legs.

Tuwawi and Njal's den was only a short walk away from the one she shared with Ferdie. Bazi timed her visit with early morning, hoping that pregnancy kept the red woman in bed beyond the crack of dawn. She shrugged the skin onto the ground, folded it in half as best she could, and woofed gently into the mouth of the den. "Tuwawi?"