Firefly Glen Why won't you chase after me?

Kindle blinked at her, surprised. Her name had captured his attention so fully that he did not, at first, hear the next question she asked.

"The Cortens are kin of mine," he said, though he knew he had no Corten blood himself. Still, he had it in two separate branches of his family — nieces and nephews from Dutch, and uncles, one aunt, and some cousins from The Spiritwalker. Like any good young man that Round Valley turned out, he could recite his genealogy for at least three generations back — his maternal side, at least — and he knew quite a bit of the cadet and down lines as well.

He did not dare ask who her parents were. Perhaps it was a sad tale. But if she showed signs of wanting to compare family trees, he was all for it!

"Oh!" he said, looking around. "I was heading for that mountain, next," he said, pointing to the high peak to the west. "I don't know what's best, but there's a beautiful terrace back the way I came. I haven't been here very long."