Stephanie shot to her feet. She was halfway to the door when she turned and blurted out impulsively. “Thank you, sir. I hope I can be half as good a ranger as you.”
Chief Ranger Shelton smiled. “Go. We’ve got a job to do.”
* * *
Keen Eyes had expected the strange sense of dislocation he had felt since he had been wounded by Swimmer’s Scourge to fade once he was home again with his clan, but he found that it persisted. Even when he learned that he had not been abandoned, that his hopelessly calling mind-voice had been heard and a group had been on their way to get him when the flying thing had landed, he still felt isolated. He had spent time with the mind healers and that always helped, but when he was alone, he found himself remembering the twisted violence that had been Swimmer’s Scourge. And the violence it had evoked within him, as well.
He reassured himself that all would be well when they moved to their new territory. That the two-legs planned to help the clan was certain now. For the last few days, the clan had been visited by those People who had bonded with two-legs and their partners. Each of the People had carried with him a scout’s report of places the two-legs hoped would serve the clan’s need. Even Sour Belly’s attitude had softened when he realized how hard the two-legs were working to assure the Landless Clan would be landless no more.
The two-legs had also shown the clan images of all those places—images that moved and made sounds. Marvelous though they were, they told less than the mind pictures of the People who had also seen them, but Keen Eyes and his clan mates had realized the reason the two-legs had shown the images to them. They had tasted the question and the desire in the two-leg mind-glows and known the two-legs wanted them to choose from among all the possible ranges and indicate which they preferred.
In the end, the clan had chosen a place where swaying fronds grew tall in the shade of the netwood trees, for this reminded them of their former home. The area was well watered, and possessed both flint for tools and some hard red clay that shaped well. The new land was less high in the mountains than their former range had been, and untouched by the ravages of the past fire season. Storing supplies away for winter would not be impossible.
Keen Eyes was sitting high in a golden-leaf when he heard Nimble Fingers calling out to him. <I would like to come and say farewell. Also, my clan has a gift for yours. May I bring it to your central nesting place?>
<Come and welcome.>
When Nimble Fingers arrived, Keen Eyes saw the other had recovered well from his wounds. Except for some patchiness to his fur and the tattered state of his damaged ear, he looked much as he had when Keen Eyes had first met him. Nimble Fingers had with them a female Person of considerable presence. For a moment, Keen Eyes thought Nimble Fingers had brought his mate, but the female’s mind-glow was so powerful that he immediately knew her for what she was.
<This is Perfect Recollection,> Nimble Fingers said. <She is the first junior to our senior memory singer, Pleasant Singer.>
Perfect Recollection spoke to all the clan. <I would very much like to come with you to your new home. Since our clans shared a border, I know some of your lore. I could also teach your promising young so that your clan would not be without future memory singers.>
Her mind-glow was so vibrant and her passion to provide help was so strong that there was no need for discussion. Tiny Choir scampered forward and embraced Perfect Recollection, twining her tail around the other’s in spontaneous joy.
Keen Eyes found himself purring. A clan needed a memory singer to be truly a clan. He groomed his whiskers and reached to pat Nimble Fingers in thanks.
The sound of one of the two-legs’ flying things broke into the celebration. Perfect Recollection announced, <I taste Climbs Quickly. He is chuckling over something.>
<That one is a prankster,> Sour Belly said indulgently. <But there is no harm in him. It will be good to learn what has him so pleased.>
When the flying thing touched down a few moments later, they discovered that Climbs Quickly was not the only Person it had carried to them.
<This is my sister, Sings Truly, senior memory singer of the Bright Water Clan. With her is Song Spinner, who was her teacher.>
Song Spinner, a dignified female of some years, spoke for herself. <Since Sings Truly proved herself the best senior memory singer for our clan, I have been hoping to make myself useful. May I join your clan in its journeys? I know a great deal about the two-legs. Also, the songs of our clan may not be too strange to yours, since we are all mountain Peoples. I would be very happy to teach them to you.>
Perfect Recollection spoke for the clan. <Accepting not just one new memory singer but two is an enormous change. When we take your songs and make them our own, we will become a new clan. Yet, with all we have been through, perhaps this is the best choice. There is a time to hold onto the past, but there is also a time to move forward.>
A ripple of understanding flowed among the clan members, but there could be no doubt that all the Swaying Fronds Clan were thrilled by this second promising omen for their future.
<We are happy to have you,> Perfect Recollection said to Song Spinner. <Let neither of us be senior or junior, for what we have to share differs in substance but not in value.>
Song Spinner flirted her tail in happy acceptance. <Yes. Let us be sisters, bonded by our desire to make our new clan strong.>
Joy washed over the gathered People. Tiny Choir bounced, her mind-glow alight with pleasure mingled with brilliant streaks of relief. Keen Eyes knew the kitten would have tried her best to serve as memory singer, but that role was a huge responsibility even for an adult, which was why most clans had more than one. Now she could grow and learn as a kitten should. Keen Eyes had no doubt that someday Tiny Choir would be a legend among the People.
Looking over his rejoicing clan, Keen Eyes noticed that Death Fang’s Bane stood near the flying thing. The darkness of tension that had shadowed her mind-glow was fading away as it became very obvious that the people of Swaying Fronds were welcoming their new members. Behind her stood Shadowed Sunlight. The tall, dark young male always seemed to vanish behind the brilliance of Death Fang’s Bane’s powerful mind-glow, but today—
Keen Eyes shook his head so hard his ears flapped. Nimble Fingers said something to him, but though they stood close enough to touch, Keen Eyes felt as if a sudden, unexpected brilliance was making him blind to the other’s contact.
He raced forward, leaping from limb to limb until he stood in the netwood closest to Shadowed Sunlight. But this was a Shadowed Sunlight he had never seen, never tasted before. His mind-glow held subtle hues that reached and touched Keen Eyes, fitting into place as to pieces of a broken pot fit together.
Shadowed Sunlight was turning, turning, his mind-glow brightening as he realized the source of the feelings flooding into him. Again Keen Eyes was impressed by the strength of this young two-leg. Death Fang’s Bane was the flash of light on water, of sunlight blazing against the sky, unmistakably brilliant, but Shadowed Sunlight was the force that held the trees tall, the rock that carried the weight of all the land.
Keen Eyes dropped from the netwood branch and landed, carefully keeping his claws sheathed, trusting the other to catch him. He laid a true-hand on his new partner’s cheek.