Lake Rodney little boy blue and the man in the moon

After his call faded, they could only bide their time, probably by making more conversation. Caracal still wanted to suss out what was the matter with her. Why was she so dirty and thin? What had happened to her? What did Sarnai mean when she said she was “disgraced”?

He wanted to ask, though Sarnai made another attempt to pose her own question. Still he didn’t quite follow, although something clicked when she haltingly stated, “the one who had you…”

You mean my mom? What about her? Caracal replied, having lost the thread entirely in his confusion.

But before Sarnai could explain, someone arrived to answer the pup’s call. For a split second, he thought it was Fennec. Or maybe Meerkat, though he hadn’t seen her in a while. Her lavender eyes gave her away as a stranger. Caracal blinked, a little mesmerized.

“What’s going on?” was a fair question.

Oblivious to Sarnai’s reaction to the new arrival, Caracal said, Ummm, and then, something’s the matter with her. She said she’s disgraced. Maybe that was helpful, the name of a specific malady of some kind. She needs help.

Only then did his gaze slip sideways to ascertain Sarnai’s crouched and shuddering figure. His eyes almost immediately cut back to the new lady, eyebrows raised and shoulders shrugged. He really had no idea what was amiss here, though that urge was there, that desire to make sure someone assisted her, even if it wasn’t him.

Caracal swept a foreleg toward her, signing, -Be my guest,- without really realizing it. It was a pretty universal gesture, in any case. He then backpedaled to stay out of the way, though he didn’t go far, eyes lingering largely on the woman whose name he’d failed to ask.