Sun Mote Copse Record scratch, freeze frame.

Hook, line and sinker. Towhee grinned at her friend's suspicious question. "I mean—" she began, mouth clapping shut at the second, more exclamatory query. "Yep, I do. They're called Fig and Fen," she reported with a wave of her tail. "They were born to Phox and his mate, Camilla. I don't remember if you two were around at the same time? But she died a little after they were born and I," she concluded, "am their mother, for all intents and purposes, though I wear many titles."

While she gave Niamh a moment to absorb all that, Towhee motioned for her companion to resume their aborted walk to the whelping den. Bronco and Nellie would be her children's playmates, so she needed to make sure they were up to snuff.