Inside the tent, the four little ones were still wide awake. As soon as Tarquin came in, Evan piped up,

"Did Mom and the baby fall asleep?"

“Yeah, they just nodded off,” Tarquin replied.

Before Tarquin could ask anything else, Evan said,

"Dad, you''re here to ask about what we saw today, right? Don''t ask me, I have no clue."

"Huh?" Tarquin looked surprised.

Evan exined, "Uncle Lucas and I followed White to theke, but as soon as we got there, White stopped us."

"White said there was something in theke—something dangerous. He wouldn''t let use any closer. He just dove in and swam across himself."

"I wanted to follow, but Uncle Lucas wouldn''t let me."

"It took ages for White toe back. I asked him what happened, but he wouldn''t say. He just mumbled something about ''family business.""

Tarquin frowned. "Family business? White has family?"

"No idea. He wouldn''t say."

"...So where''s White now?"

"Outside. Probably sleeping up in a tree.”

"Did he seem upset or anything?"

"Nope. I kept an eye on him. He acted like he always does got excited when he should, happy when he should. Nothing weird."

Tarquin fell silent, thinking it over, brows furrowed. He didn''t really get it, but he decided not to worry too much.

As long as White was okay, and whatever was out there wasn''t a threat, that was good enough.

"If it''s White''s personal stuff, we shouldn''t get involved. Let''s all get some sleep- we''ve got a long hike tomorrow."

The kids nodded, closed their eyes, and snuggled into their sleeping bags. After a day trekking through the hills, they were beat.

Once the little ones were all asleep, Tarquin slipped out of the tent.

He spotted the old man with the scarred face sitting by the campfire. Tarquin was surprised and walked over.

"Grandpa, howe you''re not resting?"

Before the old man could answer, Tarquin''s sharp gaze flicked to the left.

A pair of deep, mossy green eyes glinted in the grass, watching him intently.

It was

the eyes were visible,

his spine. Content bchillet

at him. It sent a chill down

Tarquin scanned the area. There were more pairs of eyes in the shadows all around them.

He tensed, instantly on alert.

But the old man just calmly tossed another dry branch onto the fire, totally unbothered, not even flinching.

Tarquin whispered, "What are those?"

The old man replied, "They''re here because of White-Evan''spanion."

Tarquin was surprised. He hadn''t noticed anything out of the ordinary until now. "Did they just show up?"

"Yeah."

"Are they dangerous?"

"Doesn''t look like it. As long as White''s here, they won''te close."

Tarquin hesitated. "Evan said it''s White''s ''family business."

The old man nodded, "So we don''t need to get involved."

For the next few nights, those eyes kept showing up. They never

attacked, never came too

close-they just followed the yel

at a distance.

Tarquin couldn''t talk to White, but he could read a bit of his mood.

Like Evan had said, White never seemed off. No sign anything was wrong. Until the night before they finally left the wilds...

After Evan fell asleep, White slipped out, heading deep into the mountains.

The eyes trailed behind him, vanishing into the darkness.

At dawn, White returned alone. The eyes were gone.

Tarquin had stayed up all night by the fire.

White padded over, tongue lolling, and looked up at him.

Tarquin held out his hand, palm up, right in front of White''s nose.

White looked at his hand, then up at him. After a moment''s hesitation, he nudged

up against it.

Tarquin gently ruffled his fur, voice soft and warm,

"We all care about you, you know. You''re part of this family. If something''s weighing on you, you can talk to Evan. Don''t keep it all

bottled up. We worry about yone

lot. Evan''s even lost sleep these past few nights because of you"