Deepwood Weald Hello

With this permission granted, Easy swept forward to tuck her daughter gently against her plush chest. She smelled almost like a stranger without the cloak of Round Valley on her pelt, but underneath the smell of the wilds, the bright, rich scent of her girl was still present. She tried her hardest to pour all the love she felt into this embrace, holding on until she sensed that Dreama was done with it.

"I've been visiting with our cousin, Valiant," she told the girl, pointing out the jutting mountains of the spine for her to see. "But your brother and Katmai are just a little further out. I'm going to stop by and see them before I head back for the Valley."

She hoped that Dreamgirl would find their family out here, or at least a friend her age. In her heart of hearts, Easy wished that Dreamgirl would simply return to Round Valley at her side — but she would not ask this of any of her children. They were wanderers, each and every one of them.

"Are you traveling with anyone?" she asked, trying not to sound too pointed. She would never insist on them returning home, much less on them staying there! But she always begged them not to go it alone.

This was one of those "do as I say, not as I do" situations, of course, as much as she tried to lead by example.