Chapter 9
Zul stepped into the sheltered courtyard then paused in confusion.
The youngling leaned his head against his forearm which was pressed against the base of a statue.
He counted slowly, uttering a whispered bit of nonsense between each number: “four Mississippi … five Mississippi …” After reaching “ten Mississippi,” the child raised his head, blinked against the bright sunshine from Uribern’s two suns, and called out, “Ready or not, here I come!”
Standing in the doorway, Zul watched as the child looked about, obviously searching for something or someone.
The boy decided upon a direction and began prowling, searching beneath shrubs and behind statuary and under benches.
He watched as young Crow dashed here and there, occasionally calling in a sing-song voice, “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”
A flutter of pale green caught Zul’s attention.
He took a sniff and caught her scent. Hiding in the branches of a well-pruned tree was the boy’s mother.
He met her eyes, and she grinned at him.
Although he was taken aback—not for the first time—by the friendly intent of her bared teeth, he felt no animosity or fear or anger in her, but rather an indulgent amusement.
What are you doing? he asked, initiating mind-to-mind conversation with her for the first time and hoping she would not repudiate him for it.
Playing hide-and-go-seek with Crow.
Is this an… an Earth game?
It is. Children love this game.
Is this game used to teach human children how to hunt? He felt her mental pause of surprise as she considered his question.
Her response came slowly. No, we don’t use it like that—at least my childhood friends and I never did. It was simply fun.
The idea of play for its own sake puzzled him. Rather than risk the danger of disapproval, Zul decided to pursue his questioning to learn more about her alien customs. What happens when he catches you?
Her silent chuckle rippled across the mental connection and tickled his mind. If he catches me, then I owe him a kiss, and it’s his turn to hide while I seek. If I deliberately reveal myself to him, then I get to tickle him, and again it’s his turn to hide.
Zul decided he, too, would like to play this hunting game that wasn’t training to hunt. He, too, would enjoy the stakes of capturing his quarry. I would like to join you in this play.
“Mama, where are you? I can’t find you,” Crow cried out and stomped a foot in frustration.
Leaves rustled as Ursula climbed down, showing an unseemly amount of leg.
The sight made Zul exhale slowly in a self-reminder that they were in an enclosed courtyard which, although large, was private.
Not even a single castratus was present, although he was certain they were monitoring the activity just in case either the Prima or the youngling managed to injure themselves.
“Here I am,” Ursula called out as she landed on the ground.
“Mama!” Crow shouted and ran toward her, small, pointed teeth bared in a happy smile. He launched himself into her open arms. When she wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled his head, he whimpered, “I thought maybe you left me.”
“Oh, my darling, I would never do such a thing to you,” she assured him then pressed a kiss to his pate. “When you are old enough, we will take our game outside. Until then, we’ll play in the courtyard where you can keep me safe.”
Listening, Zul approved of her words and the way the youngling puffed his chest at the thought of being considered strong and fierce enough to protect his beloved mama.
“Are you ready to pay the penalty?” she asked, rubbing her nose against her son’s.
“Yes, Mama!”
Zul watched in astonishment as Ursula wriggled her fingers against the child’s sides. As she counted to five with the same use of nonsense syllables between each number, the boy wiggled and laughed. Then she stopped and said, “Done!”
“Your turn!” Crow announced, still giggling.
“Zul would like to play. Will you let him join us, Crow?”
Crow’s eyes brightened at the idea of another playmate. “Does he know how to play?”
Approaching them at a slow walk, Zul paused and suggested, “Why don’t you teach me?”
“Okay,” the child agreed, pleased to be the one teaching rather than the one being taught.
Drawing himself up to his full, if diminutive, height, the child took hold of Zul’s hand and led him to the statue.
“You have to cover your eyes, so you can’t see where she’s hiding, and count to ten.
You have to count slowly. Mama says saying ‘Mississippi’ after each number is proper. ”
“And then?” Zul asked.
“And then you have to find her. She says I only get three minutes ’cause the courtyard is small. If you find her, that means she’s it.”
“It?”
“Uh-huh. Then it’s her turn to find me!”
“Shall we begin?”
“Cover your eyes, Master Zul. I’ll cover mine, too, to make it fair.”
Copying the boy’s actions from earlier, Zul leaned against the statue and covered his eyes. He counted aloud as the boy instructed and listened to the light patter of Ursula’s feet and the rustle of leaves.
When he reached ten, Crow took his hand again. He peered, squinting his golden eyes as though to pierce through the foliage and other items behind or under which Ursula could hide.
“Shall I show you a different method to hunt… er… find your mother?” Zul whispered.
Crow’s eyes widened. “Yes!”
“Sniff the air,” Zul instructed. Crow inhaled, more a snort than a sniff. “Try again.” He demonstrated. Crow sniffed the air. “What do you smell?”
Taking another, deeper inhale, Crow’s nostrils flared. He squinted again as he tried to discern the different scents. Slowly, he replied, “I smell the ponds. They smell cool and wet.”
“Very good. What else?” Zul prompted.
“I smell the flowers, especially the sunfloss. It smells like candy.” Crow’s eyes opened wide. “I love candy, don’t you?”
Zul gave him a close-mouthed smile of indulgence. “I do. What else do you smell?”
Crow took another breath then shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“All right,” Zul said. “I will find your mother. When we find her, sniff her. Memorize her scent, and you will always be able to find her.”
Crow nodded and watched in amazement as Zul took an ostentatious sniff, nostrils flaring. He again caught her scent and felt his groin tighten. Ruthlessly quelling his lust, he took the boy’s hand and said, “Follow me.”
Zul slowly followed the scent trail with unerring accuracy to the hidden bench where Ursula waited for them.
“You found me!” she cried out and opened her arms. Crow ran to her embrace.
“Now Zul has to kiss you,” Crow said.
She tilted her head back, the finely scaled skin over her cheekbones flushing a darker pink. Her expression turned sultry and her voice thickened as she said, “Yes, now he must kiss me.”
Zul chuckled, enjoying the fascinating play of color. “I caught you. I believe it is you who owes me a kiss.”
Ursula smiled. “I do believe you’re correct.” She extended a hand. He captured it in his big paw to help her stand. “Bend down, Zul.”
He bent down and stared into her eyes. She gave him a mischievous grin and darted to the side to give him a peck on the cheek.
It was less than he wanted and more than he hoped for—and the quickly delivered, light touch of her lips made him feel as though he were going to catch fire. After a long moment during which he took several deep breaths to calm his libido, he said, “Crow, take your mother’s scent. Memorize it.”
The child wrapped his arms around his mother’s legs and buried his nose in her skirts. When he lifted his head, he asked, “Can we try again?”
“Yes,” Zul said. “Your mama shall hide again, and this time you shall find her.”
You’re teaching him to hunt.
It’s never too early for a Urib warrior breed to learn basic hunting skills.
Ursula gave him a small smile then said, “Yes, let’s try again. This is how people on Earth train scent hounds to track.”
“What’s a scent hound?” Crow asked.
“It’s a dog that finds things by their sense of smell,” she explained.
What’s a dog?
I’ll tell you later. Aloud she said, “The three-minute rule is still in effect.”
“Okay, Mama.”
Crow retreated to the statue, pressed his forearm against the base and head head against his forearm, and began the laborious process of counting to ten. That time, Zul did not bother covering his eyes.
“Did you cover your eyes?” the boy asked.
“No.”
“You have to cover your eyes,” Crow insisted. “It’s the rules. Now I have to count again.”
“All right,” Zul replied. He covered his eyes and Crow did the same, repeating the count to ten.
“Ready or not, here I come!” the child called out.
Before the child could take a step, Zul crouched beside him and laid his hand on his shoulder. “Do you remember your mother’s scent?”
Crow nodded. “Uh-huh.”
“Now sniff the air like I taught you.”
His eyes closed and his face twisted in concentration, Crow took a slow sniff.
“Think about the smells in the air. Do you smell your mother?”
The boy took another long sniff, concentrated, exhaled, and inhaled again. His eyes popped wide open. “I got it!”
“Good. Now follow where the scent leads you.”
The boy sniffed again while turning in a slow circle. Watching him, Zul saw the moment Crow locked on to his mother’s scent.
“This way,” Crow whispered loudly and began to tiptoe down the sandy path.
The child paused four times in his search, sniffing. He altered his direction twice. As the three-minute deadline drew close with only a few seconds to spare, he called out, “I found you, Mama! I found you!”
Ursula smiled and welcomed her son into her embrace. “Well done, Crow. Well done.”
“You have to kiss me now, Mama.”
She grinned at him. “Of course, I do.” Then she bussed him on the nose. Before Crow could demand that she kiss Zul, too, she rose to her full height, dusted off her skirts, and said, “I think it’s time to head back indoors. It’s getting rather too hot out here for comfort.”
Zul shot her a knowing look that made her feel even hotter.