Depositions
Although the old grandfather clock in the hall was indeed ticking, it wasn't nearly as ominous-sounding as it had been last night. Some unknown factors were now known, some uncertainties were set to rest, backs were firm and resolves stiffened....
Chapter Three: Tell Her
I woke up later that night noticing that Scarlet was sleeping on top of me. Sometimes it's hard to believe that me and her are brother and sister. I have blackish dark gray fur with black hair, and she has a red, a darker red, and a little bit of white...
Preparations
Barton's internal alarm clock was frequently more reliable than the one by his bed. This particular morning, he wasn't too worried about getting up with the proverbial chickens; Malik would open the salon at nine, the rest of the crew would shuffle...
Answers
Just as the lawyer seemed to be turning into a real furson, something in him shifted. Barton could almost hear the wheels and gears churning. "There may be some problems. My claim on the kits should supersede the wolves', based upon _nunc pro tunc_...
Questions
"All Saints Day," Barton said into the quiet. "Pardon?" "The day ye both came t' find me." Barton sat in his chair near the fire, while the twins sat on the sofa nearby. They wanted to be sitting in his lap, as they often had over the past week,...
Advocacy
Barton stood by the closed sauna door for a moment, feeling the doe's kiss on his cheek, feeling his continued hesitation about the young buck, feeling something deeply paternal toward both of them, and feeling Wallace's presence so much that he...
Waking
Lyris had slept soundly until she heard Lyal's cough, which woke her instantly. For just a moment, the doe felt a bit of panic; she was warm (which was unusual enough these days), and she was comfortable, and she smelled something other than herself...
Research
Technically, the night was still young, particularly for a Saturday, but Barton felt rather as if he'd already spent a whole week's worth of energy on the situation. Not unhappily, at least in terms of how things had ended up, but he was more tired...
Reparation
After the badger left, Lyal put an arm around Lyris' shoulders and squeezed her close, and she put an arm around his waist. He could feel her trembling slightly in the embrace, and it worried him. The stress of being on the run was bad enough, but she...
Delivery
Lyal still leaned against the wall of the shower, his breathing quick, feeling better both for the steam of the shower and the equally steamy treatment his sister had just finished providing. She knew exactly what to do to thrill him, to tease him, to...
Dinner
Lyal's keen hearing caught most of the conversation between the badger and the meerkat. _Truest words are spoken when thought unheard._ It was an old lapine saying that he hoped was true. It was also a saying brought out when one of his species began...
Regrets
The back door to the spa banged open sharply, and the old badger looked toward both ends of the alley before running to the dumpster to check all around it. Finding nothing, he looked up to the other end of the alley, where he saw the meerkat from the...