Heron Lake Plateau another five more short graybles

"No," he said, "he wasn't there..." Towhee didn't see anything else beyond that, since her eyes suddenly went blurry on her and she jerked her head away to glare out over the lake. She collected herself and slowly turned back to him. He looked a little disconcerted, whether because of the question itself, her reaction or maybe concern for Phox's whereabouts.

She hadn't caught his question but she managed to answer it anyway when she said, "He disappeared around the same time you did: right before we went to war. X thinks he spotted him, far away from here. And I just—I had to ask," she said haltingly, her entire expression shutting down as if she regretted having brought it up at all.

Truthfully, she didn't want to dwell on the subject. But Towhee wasn't much of one for small talk, especially around someone like Screech. A long pause stretched between them as she thought of what to say now, only to come up with, "You really suck at duck hunting."