Heron Lake Plateau last night i had a dream that i was brushing a horse.

Finley's response jogged Wildfire's memory a tad. Tegan's words from the prior spring slowly surfaced in her mind: "We moved 'cause of Blackfeather Woods. They returned to the forest and Towhee just didn't want to deal with another war, especially since mom had Tywyll and Cinder." She remembered feeling a little sick to her stomach but glad her family was safe.

"And if memory serves," Wildfire said, as if Finley could've heard her own son's voice in her head, "Tegan mentioned you handed the reigns to Towhee because you felt like the caldera rightfully belonged to the Redhawks." She shot her godmother a look that pretty clearly illustrated how she felt about that silly notion. "I'm guessing the hip had something to do with it too," she added to let her aunt off the hook.

"If you made the trip here," she thought aloud in the next breath, "then you could make it back. How about we table the idea for now and revisit in the spring?" Wildfire suggested again. Leaving so soon after arriving here—and uprooting the girls again—seemed like very poor timing. And so did making any whimsical journeys at the onset of winter, particularly with Finley's hip in mind. But once the weather warmed up, then Wildfire really would love to visit the caldera with her godparents... and possibly keep traveling after that, though she didn't mention that now.

She did say, "I think you should stay there and make a glorious comeback. But that's just my opinion." Eyes sparkling, Wildfire said no more and, in fact, folded her forelegs out in front of her, gave a great, contented sigh and let her chin fall onto her crossed limbs.