Morningside Cuesta Drive slow

She watched, mildly amused as Freyja savaged her dinner, waiting until she was through before continuing the conversation. Naturally, the child wanted to know what she meant. There were a lot of subtle signs prey animals left behind, whether they were large or small, aside from the more obvious ones.

"The way a blade of grass is bent or whether bark is chewed off a tree—these can be the less obvious things other animals leave behind, signs you can track just like scents or footprints. Here, let me show you," the Bandrona said, nodding to Gavriel before leading Freyja toward a stream she had crossed while bringing back their supper.

"Okay," she said, coming to stand beside the trickling water. "See these paw prints?" She nosed at some shallow imprints in the soil beside the small brook. They belonged to a rabbit, squirrel or other small mammal. "Now we could follow these or try to catch a scent. But if you look closer, there are other signs too, to tell which direction it went." She bent down low, waiting for Freyja to do the same. "See?"

Where the silt gave way to the grass of the cuesta, there was a very slight swatch that was bent to the ground. It vanished as the grass grew longer and thus less malleable. But hopefully it illustrated what Wildfire meant about more understated signs of prey. Freyja was a quick study; doubtless she would not only grasp the concept but quickly use it to expand her tracking repertoire.