Sun Mote Copse thick water

Dad seemed to think that there was no way that Towhee would make Elfie look poorly on him, even accidentally or indirectly. Eljay frowned, thinking that maybe dad didn't know just how Towhee thought of him. It wasn't that Eljay thought Towhee would do something like that on purpose; it was mostly just that he was afraid she would do it without realising it herself.

But there wasn't a lot of use arguing with dad about it, because neither of them knew the truth of it. Eljay sighed and said, You're probably right. Even though he didn't really think so at all. But he didn't want to argue, and he didn't want dad to think that his council was unappreciated.

Dad's sort-of jokey comment was received with a half-hearted smile. Eljay knew he meant well, but he had imagined this all to be a lot more... Well, good-feeling. More like when he was raising the other pups in the pack and his siblings and Raven's pups, except a lot more so. He hadn't expected the worries to be a lot more so, too, somehow. And then there was the fact that he was doing it alone...

Dad, I — Eljay said, his voice quivering, I just miss Wiffle so much... He looked up at Elwood with tears shining in his eyes, his gaze pleading even though Eljay knew there wasn't a thing anyone in the world could do about his heartache.