Meadowlark Prairie i'm getting older

She made a scrunched-up, mocking face at Qiao when the woman remarked upon her audible belly, then straightened up. Wait, which way is that? she asked, because she was the worst wild animal ever, apparently not knowing her cardinal directions and all that.

Why? Blueberry asked, but she was already doing as she was told, taking the pelt from the still-strange-not-so-stranger and waving it wildly to and fro. She let it fall, and it cascaded—in an almost-beautiful tawny ruffle—to the earth.

She looked down for a moment, then back up to Qiao. And?

Her pale countenance was expectant, impatient.