Firefly Ravine there in the smoke

The moment the woman moves even an inch closer, Sulukinak steps back and back again, so she stands over the hidden Ghenaya; but by now it was obvious where the girl had been put down, and she squirmed, her star-touched face briefly visible to the open sky. Sulukinak thought quickly - if necessary, she could kick the thing free. It would be like a pebble gamboling down the side of the ravine. A shrewd look in her eye threatened the other woman as if they shared a mind.

Is she safe with you?

She needs a mother.

Wild-eyed, Sulukinak flashes her teeth but there is little heart in it. She needs to be away. It was what the shadow girl felt deep in her spirit, repeating from her own trauma. Nobody needed their mother - not really, not when it mattered. She was rescuing Ghenaya from a horrible fate of being used, abused, abandoned and devoured.

Bristling and unsteady, borderline manic, her eyes flit between the woman who drew a step too close, and the ledge which could be climbed — or ignored utterly. There was a choice here and time was running out.

The look on her face said it all: Try to take this child and you won't like what happens.