Duskfire Glacier fly little bird

The woman seemed surprised by Veteran's assertion, which in turn surprised the boy. 

"Sounds like you don't know him very well." This only served to strengthen Veteran's suspicion. 

She started talking about leaving, and that made Veteran a little uncomfortable. As suspicious as he was, he also didn't want to make a mistake here. What if Issorartuyok never got a chance to reunite with his sister, and it was all his fault? Furthermore, his mom would kill him if she found out he'd been unwelcoming to Issorartuyok's kin. 

"Well.." Veteran started, trying to find a way to backpedal. "Your other brother--" 

Oh, well, speak of the devil. Your other brother is here too, is what Veteran had meant to say, but that fact was now made obvious by the man's appearance. 

Tuuluuwaq swiftly identified the woman, which did little to assuage Veteran's fears. Of course Tuuluuwaq would vouch for her, if they were in on the con together. Tuuluuwaq went on to assume-- rather brazenly in Veteran's opinion-- that Issorartuyok would have two siblings awaiting his return. 

"Well we still have to ask Mom!" Veteran insisted, doing his best not to sound whiny (but also sort of failing in that). Tuuluuwaq was probably correct in his assumption; since Lane had allowed Tuuluuwaq to stay, reasoning dictated that she would extend the same offer to Tanaraq. But still. There were rules for a reason, and these new people needed to get with the program.