Otter Creek memories

she was not even to be alone here, it seemed — relmyna lifted her dripping muzzle to regard the man with a flat look. he was affable, however, and so she made herself the same, softening the lines of her body and settling on her haunches with an answering thump of her own plume. for once, blackfeather's numbers did not plague her; she thought only of conversing with a stranger, and her ragged lips curved in a wan smile.