Sun Mote Copse worry never dies

Towhee seemed taken aback, which wasn't entirely unimaginable, but for a change it didn't stop Eljay. Of course he knew that Towhee had been wounded and that she'd taken time to recover, but now she was well enough to check, right? So she must've checked? Why hadn't she checked? Alright, so she did check. Wasn't that weird a question then after all, was it? She did check, and she happened to find her own children, but not Elfie. In Towhee-fashion, she stated the facts as if Elfie was just a number and her own children were numbers but she'd found those numbers but not the most important number -- a number she'd been put in charge of, a young number that couldn't fend for himself yet. Not a number at all, but a child, a child that was gone now. Squashed between rocks for all Eljay knew!

Don't say it like that, he said with gritted teeth. The first time he ever talked back to Towhee in his life. Don't say it like you tried but you just didn't find him. Like he was just a number, just another wolf. You were responsible for him. He was a child! He isn't just something that you forgot or that you lost. He was my son. Eljay stared at Towhee with eyes shining with held back emotion that threatened to spill over. She had nothing more helpful to offer perhaps, but what he was looking for wasn't just the news that Elfie was safe -- he knew that Elfie wasn't safe, of course he wasn't safe, if he was safe he'd be here! -- but he was looking for some sort of something, something that showed that she cared, something that showed that she rued that she hadn't been able to save him.