Blacktail Deer Plateau lemme hear you say way ho!

Her accent grew more difficult to understand in her distress, and the male hardly understood half of what she said. But the gist of it was not lost on him, and he looked down on the tiny food creature with unaccountable pity in his eyes. He had no business feeling sorry for strange chipmunks, but then again, he'd never been very good at leaving well enough alone.

"I'll protect you until you heal," he offered, thinking of his daughter, who had recently healed from similar injuries. "Here - climb aboard. No one will hurt you if you hang out with me. Once you're better, you'll just have to learn to live with a twisted leg. It's better than no legs, isn't it?"