Chapter 22: Making Fresh Tracks

After walking for most of the day in silence and entering various parts of the forest Aria had not been before, Absalom finally spoke again. 

We should find a place to sleep for the night.  He spoke into the open air and did not look at her when he made the statement.  She wondered if he was worried.

You know better than I where we’ll be safe.  She did look at him and studied his body language.  He was alert but not ridged.  His fur was loose and not bristled.  It didn’t seem that there was an urgent need to hide, but simply understood that there was a risk being out after dark.  She also wondered if he saw her as extra baggage and if he’d be seeking shelter if she were not with him.

This way.  Absalom sniffed the air and then turned away from her toward a dense area that was crowded with bushes, boulders, and some trees that had grown close together.  He walked throug