King Elk Forest the sweet relief of knowing nothing comes for free

the thing had been around her neck long enough that mona had become accustomed to it. the foreign object, however, remained an annoyance in her day to day life, from sleeping to eating. indeed, the urge to roam had gone out of the girl almost completely; she skulked around the packland, a rather forlorn little red ghost.
despite her feelings of other, mona welcomed the chance to make conversation with those she knew in tindome — which, she realized balefully, weren't many. just delight — and nathaniel.
ignoring the shiver that climbed her spine, the girl caught the trail of the boy-leader's scent and followed it until she caught sight of his slight frame and pretty fur. "hey, delight," mona murmured, approaching him deferentially, nerves causing a swallow that caught uncomfortably under her new 'decoration.'