She was still thinking when they came to the stream. It was wide, but shallow, the water rippling over gravel and chuckling between big rocks. She scanned up and down both banks for other footprints as they picked their way across. She didn’t see any, and she let herself relax a little.
“You’re awfully quiet,” Barbara said as they finished off their lunch. “Are you okay? Are we okay?”
“Huh?” had been so deep in thought that she forgot her own rule about whispering for a moment. She caught herself and went on. “Oh…yeah, sure, we’re all fine. Why?”
“You seem kind of distracted. What were you thinking about?”
“Ah…” hesitated. She certainly couldn’t tell Barbara the truth. “I was just…thinking about last year.”
Barbara grinned. “Alpha?” she asked teasingly.
“Uh…yeah.” nodded. “C’mon,
