The Bracken Woods Over rock and under tree

He immediately feels guilty, and his grip slackens enough for the flailing boy to slip free. Hey — come on, you know you're not old enough to leave the territory, Actually he's not entirely sure he knows that; he tries not to pay too much attention to Delight's parenting, far from eager to add to their issues. Assuming Mali hasn't bolted at the first opportunity, he adds: Well, not by yourself. Maybe we could search the woods together? Some part of him hopes the boy is naive enough to take the bait, search the forest with him, and hopefully be satisfied that his mother isn't anywhere near when they inevitably don't find her. Maybe he's too used to loss by now, or just too selfish to acknowledge someone else's, because the probable trauma of the whole thing doesn't strike him just yet; there's no dead body, no horrible story, and he can't bring himself to see Queenie as someone to miss anyway, mother or not. To him, she's just another used-to-know — and good riddance, honestly.