Redsand Canyon (M) The needle.

Yes, Towhee answered simply when asked if she missed her children. She missed each and every one of them: Figment, Fennec, Meerkat, Alyx, Primrose, Quetzal, Blackbird, Butterfly, Caracal, Marten, Sapsucker and Sphyrapicus. She even missed Vesper, Prevost, and Peregrine, though she’d barely known them (Prevost, not at all); so much lost potential. And, of course, she missed the hell out of Killdeer.

What makes you say that? she wondered genuinely in regards to canoodling before hopping back to address the prior question. Well, I feel like I wasn’t really built for relationships… but I gave it a whirl, despite that. And it came back to bite me in the ass. Actually—and literally—he grabbed our young son by the neck and shoved him into the dirt. Before that, he broke my sister-in-law’s leg. So I kicked his ass to the curb. So many had questioned her judgment on that but Towhee would never be swayed about it, not now.

That’s where Rue came in. Well, we knew each other before then, but that’s when she really stepped up to the plate for me. Which is why I want to return the favor now… She glanced off in the direction of the leaders’ sex hut palazzo, suddenly eager again to track down the Matrona.