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“If you get your scent on him too, we’ll never get him back where he belongs,” Ratha said.

“I think you’re fooling yourself about that, clan leader,” Fessran answered softly.

Ratha became aware that Khushi was watching the interchange between her and Fessran with unabashed curiosity. “Herder,” she said, “go back to the three-horns. Fessran and I have some thinking to do. And if you are tempted to nurse any more Un-Named litterlings, tell me first.”

When she looked back at Fessran, the Firekeeper lay on her side, the cub curled up against her belly. “I wish I could feed him,” she said wistfully.

“I wish Khushi had never found him,” Ratha growled. “Soft as dung indeed! Fessran, if you must play mother, ask Bira if you will be able to help with her litter. She came into heat early, and I can tell by her scent that the mating’s taken.”

“At least you’re sure Bira’s will have that cursed light in the eyes you’re always looking for.” Fessran looked up, her paw resting lightly on the orphan. “You bullied me into giving up Shongshar’s cubs. Were you really that convinced that they were witless? If the Un-Named one that Khushi saw is the female I fostered, maybe she has more wits about her than you think. Perhaps we should trail her and find out.”

Ratha said nothing, wondering if she should make Fessran remember the blank stare of Shongshar’s daughter on the morning she had taken both young ones from Fessran’s fostering.

“We can’t get distracted by this,” she said. “At least until the drought breaks. I’m not going to waste effort trailing an Un-Named female.” Ratha paused. “And even if I was mistaken and her eyes show the gift we value, she is of Shongshar’s blood and breed. Khushi said she had the long teeth. Would you want another like Shongshar to rise again in the clan?”

She saw the Firekeeper close her eyes and then lick the scars on her chest and upper foreleg. Fessran trembled for a minute, remembering. Then she withdrew herself from around the cub.

“What are you going to do with him?” she said gruffly.

“Khushi is to return him to the place he was found. If we leave him alone, his mother might reclaim him.”

Mournfully Fessran said, “If I could just give him a good bellyful of milk...

Ratha sighed. “All right. I’ll let Khushi feed him the way he did before.” She sent Fessran to get Khushi. When the young herder arrived, she told him to bring the litterling to her once it was fed. She and Fessran went back to the herd and waited until Khushi returned with the orphan.

Ratha looked at the cub and wished that the young of the clan and of the Un-Named didn’t look so much alike. It is not only that their cubs resemble ours. They are so close to us, it makes me tremble. The only difference is behind the eyes. I have asked so many times why it is so, but no one can answer.

Khushi put the youngster down, stretched his jaws, and complained. “He already feels heavy. And I’ll be traveling with a dry tongue and a half-empty belly.”

“Which is small punishment for sharing clan meat with one outside the clan and not telling me,” said Ratha firmly. “Even if the meat came from your own belly and if the other is a cub.”

Khushi sighed and agreed. He picked up the cub, started to trot away.

“Wait.” The voice was Fessran’s. Ratha narrowed her eyes at the Firekeeper.

“Let me go with him, clan leader,” Fessran said. “You can spare me from tending the Red Tongue for a few days. I want to be sure we do the best we can for this cub. When Khushi’s jaws start aching, he’ll be tempted to leave the litterling anywhere.”

Ratha was tempted to argue. In truth, she did need Fessran at her post, especially if there was an attack or an emergency. Other Firekeepers were good, but Fessran had the most experience with the Red Tongue.

“There’s something else, clan leader,” Fessran added. “I hate the thought of leaving my lost treeling behind. Maybe I can take one last look before we get too far from clan ground.”

Ratha considered this. If Fessran did by chance find her treeling, that might cheer her up and take her mind off Un-Named cubs. But letting Fessran go with Khushi might not be the best idea. The Firekeeper clearly wanted to adopt the foundling, and letting her stay near the cub would only encourage her to disobey.

She knew Fessran had caught the look in her eyes, for the other’s tail shivered, and she stared away. Ratha felt ashamed for doubting her friend. Her gaze rested on the fading scars that parted the Firekeeper’s sandy coat. Shongshar’s slash had been intended for Ratha. Fessran had taken it.

Yet Ratha knew she would be faltering in her role as clan leader if she didn’t admit her suspicions. What was it in the wretched litterling that touched Fessran so? She couldn’t see anything promising about him, and the thought of his possible parentage made her shudder.

“Go look for your treeling, Fessran,” she said. “Help Khushi if he needs it, but remember, this is his responsibility, not yours.”

She knew from the slight twitch that narrowed one of Fessran’s eyes that her words had done no good. She could feel the rift between them deepening. She wanted to reach across, somehow draw Fessran back, but it was not the right moment or place. The animals waited, dusty and stamping. The herders started to stare.

“Both of you go before the day gets too hot,” Ratha said roughly, and turned back to the herd, not wanting to look as Khushi trotted away carrying the cub and Fessran followed.

Chapter Six

Thakur’s return journey to the coast went more quickly because he knew the trail. Again he emerged from the coastal forest onto meadows crowning high cliffs and traveled north along bluffs and ridges until late one evening, when he came to the beach and the jetty. In the scrub behind a bluff overlooking the ocean, he discovered a hollow between two boulders, made himself a nest, and slept.

In the morning, he awoke and took Aree up to a wooded area in the foothills behind the bluff, where the treeling could forage for leaves and insects. When she had eaten her fill, he started back to the beach, intending to seek out the young stranger who lived among the seamares.

The late morning sun warmed his back, making him feel loose limbed and lazy. Aree was snoozing in the hollow behind his shoulders; he could hear her gentle snoring and feel her wobble as he padded along. He grinned to himself, enjoying the feeling of her fingers gripping his fur and her small but comforting weight on his back.

Then the treeling tensed. He felt her fingers clench just as a warning rattle of brush made him flatten his ears. In the next instant a rust-and-black form sprang at him from the side, landing half across his back. He heard teeth click as jaws snapped at Aree. The treeling scrambled onto his head, her hindquarters hanging over his muzzle, blinding him. But the strong tang of seamare mixed with female cat-scent told him who the attacker was.

With a shake of his head, he jolted Aree sideways so he could see again and at the same time flung himself onto his back, bringing his rear claws into play against his opponent’s belly. He felt her scrabble on top of him, lunging for the treeling. With a screech, Aree bounded away and up the nearest sapling, where she clung, swaying as the slender tree bent.

Now Thakur could concentrate on subduing his attacker. She leaped over him, but just as she landed he rolled over and snagged her hindquarters with his foreclaws, knocking her to the ground. He grabbed her around the middle, hauling himself onto her. Angrily she twisted herself back on him, but she had only one front paw to strike out with. He caught the flailing foreleg in his jaws, biting only hard enough to hold it still.

Tangled up and twisted around as she was, she could only wriggle and heave beneath him. He loosed one front paw to fend off her attempt to bite him, catching her under the jaw and shoving her head to the side.