Grouse Thicket started from the bottom

He might've cared more about her commitment if he was a leadership kinda guy, or if he really thought they'd make it big here in the great unknown. Screech wasn't like that at all - he just wanted the safety afforded by multiple bodies; bodies he would selectively choose to keep around. Whether Niamh would be one of those bodies remained to be seen (and he wasn't desperate enough to beg her). So he just shrugged again and murmured, Sure, whatever.

What was more important in the immediate future was food. She'd mentioned partridges as if she knew what they were, and maybe how to hunt them. The boy zeroed in on that part of their conversation and backtracked a little: So where did you see these birds, and how many do you think we can take down? I'm tired of waiting - lets go eat something. He didn't worry about how to get them because he was a wolf and they were (supposedly) small birds with no brains. Without waiting for her answer, he was already leading the way through the grasses with his nose low, searching for bird scent.