Sun Mote Copse the frumious bandersnatch!

It was Bronco who spoke and Sugar's black eyes swept away from her father's face to her fellow pup's as he explained about infections. She still wasn't entirely clear on what an infection entailed, exactly, but it sounded really bad. And her takeaway from his anecdote was to keep wounds clean. That, at least, was simple to both comprehend and execute.

She felt a jolt of fear pass through her when she realized what she'd done to Elwood, only to remember a heartbeat later that it was all made up. Sugar exhaled on a quiet giggle at herself, then wagged her little gray tail as she regarded Bronco with keen interest. She didn't know him as well as the other pups in the copse, having spent the least amount of time with him, but she naturally figured they would be friends.

"How do you know so much about infections?" Sugar wondered, careful to use Niamh's pronunciation. Only recently had she been truly mastering speech and, though she certainly didn't judge Bronco, she personally felt so much more grown up when she spoke more like an adult.