Otter Creek I pack up my things

she's a shadow behind him, cold and intent. at the creek, she pauses out of sight, nudging something long and sinuous by her side. there's a flicker of movement up the spindly fir by her side, and then she strides forward, hackles pricked slightly. 

"why'd you come back?" she'd expected him and his family to vanish, along with the boy. Venamis, no matter how much of a dick he was, belonged here more than the boy did, in her mind.