Grouse Thicket Hakkerskaldyr.

His response made her squint. Well, was he or wasn't he? Towhee opened her mouth to press the matter, when all the fight went out of her again. It was bad enough that she'd picked a fight—had a downright row, rather—with Niamh. She didn't need to start one with a stranger too. She suddenly thought of how disappointed Rave would be if she heard about any of this. They were supposed to be sister packs. The idea made the resentment simmer deep within her.

But she really needed to keep it in check, didn't she? Thinking about her Person was suddenly extremely sobering. Towhee blinked a few times, feeling moisture behind her eyes, and then forced herself to pay attention. She'd really made a dog's breakfast of things today. How could she fix things? Should she fix things? Niamh and Raven were now both tramping through her head...

"Yeah," Towhee said, massively delayed. Between her speech impediment and her slow response, he probably thought she was thick in the head. But what did she care? "How long did it take you to get from there to here, out of curiosity?"