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No matter how much I wanted to stay there with him.

“I’ll try my best. I have Papa’s phone and I will text you if I know when we’re coming back here.”

We got out of the truck and I grabbed my backpack from the backseat before letting Sitka jump out, immediately running after Jason who was walking to the cabin.

“I’m gonna give you two halves of a chicken and some beef patties for her to eat, but I don’t want her to stay up there for too long,” Jason called out as I followed him.

“If you run out of her food, come back down. With or without Fennec. Don’t want her to starve.”

“She won’t. Besides, I can shoot squirrels. I’m good at it, so in case it takes longer, I will make sure Sitka gets enough food.”

“Don’t cook the meat,” he then said while taking out Sitka’s food and putting it into a container to keep it fresh.

“I promise she’ll be okay,” I added, wanting him to know that I’d be taking good care of Sit.

Jason muttered something under his breath, and when he handed me the food, I put it into my backpack.

“She won’t run away, but make sure she’s locked inside the cabin at night. Don’t want another animal to attack her.”

There was nothing he had to worry about.

“Thank you, Jason. I’ll text you when I get there.”

He nodded, then said goodbye to his best friend before attaching the leash to Sitka’s collar and handing it to me.

“Come on, Sit,” I said, walking out of Jason’s cabin and then starting my short journey up to Papa’s camp.

*

When I was close enough to camp that I could see the cabin between the trees, I stopped and made Sitka sit next to me so I could warn Fennec about my arrival.

He surely wasn’t expecting me to be back so soon, and I didn’t want to accidentally get shot by him thinking I was an intruder, or Sitka being a bear.

She was big enough to be mistaken as a young one.

“Fennec?” I called out, scratching Sitka’s head as she panted next to me.

“It’s me. Are you there?”

I took a step forward and looked up to the treehouse, but there was no answer.

“I know you’re mad, but we need to talk. We’re worried about you. I’m worried.” My voice was shaky all of a sudden and my heart beating faster.

“Fennec?” I asked again, and this time, I heard a noise coming from inside the cabin.

I waited for the door to open, and when he finally showed, I couldn’t hold back a relieved sigh and smile. “Hi,” I said, meeting his emotionless gaze.

He watched me for a moment before moving his eyes to Sitka, then he looked around.

“It’s just her and me. Jason stayed at his cabin and Mama is home with Papa. He’ll be okay. He broke his ankle,” I told him.

“Why did you come back?”

His voice was hoarse, and as I had expected a few days ago, he’d soon not be able to make a sound.

“Because it wasn’t right to leave you behind, and it also wasn’t okay to not tell you goodbye. I feel horrible, and I want you to know that I’m not mad at you anymore. I just didn’t understand why you…”

“Why I wouldn’t help Papa?”

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