Lake Bismuth I’m shipping up to Boston.

Her son slowed, glancing over his shoulder to follow Towhee’s eye line. She watched out of the corner of her eye as he pivoted to stand slightly perpendicular to her. He panted, totally out of breath, but that didn’t stop Bushtit from signing.

-Who’s that? He said there’s no Alyx here.-

By now, she’d realized her mistake. The resemblance was there, for sure, but the markings weren’t quite right. And even from a distance, Towhee could tell the supine figure was much larger than her adopted daughter’s. She let out a breath.

I don’t know who he is, she told Bushtit, but he momentarily reminded me of one of your older sisters—two, actually. They were twins: Alyx and Quetzal. I haven’t seen either of them in years.

-Do you want to go find out? Who he is, I mean,- Bushtit asked, eyeing the stranger surreptitiously.

Sure, why not? Just in case, you don’t mind translating a bit, do you? Towhee asked.

-Nah,- he assured with a quick nuzzle.

Two seconds later, the pair loped in tandem toward the man basking on the desert rock. Towhee bet it was pretty warm up there, especially with this harsh glare. She practically had to close her eyes to navigate through the maze of shining lakes to reach the stranger’s location.

You look right at home, Towhee observed aloud when they came to a stop at the foot of his perch. I assume you live somewhere around here?