6

It's just as you press enter—already starting to think back to the developments and wondering if today might bring any new information—that you hear another soft mew—and you realize that Arctus still hasn't eaten anything. Instead, you see her sitting by the door to the back porch, looking almost forlornly in the direction of the yard.

"What's the matter, girl? You want to go outside? You know you can go out any time you want."

She looks at you questioningly—and then she gives a quiet little meow. It's almost as if she's trying to ask you something else.

You get up and go over to her, and almost at once she starts nudging the door with her head. She still seems to want to go outside—so of course you find the key and head out into the yard with her, expecting her to launch away from you in excitement. But she doesn't. She just sits by the edge of the lawn and looks up at you with wide, uncertain eyes.

"Mrow?"

As you watch her in confusion, she blinks—and then takes off towards the evergreens at the back of the yard. When you reach her, she's circling the trunk of one of the trees, and she stops briefly to nuzzle against the bark.

"Mew!"

She's very insistent now, looking at you expectantly. Suddenly, you think you have an idea what she's trying to say.

"Are you—saying you want to go back to the forest?"

Arctus starts mewing frantically, rubbing up against your legs at the sound of the word she obviously wanted to hear.

You have to wait for her excitement to die down before you look at her with dawning sadness and say:

"Arctus—we live here now, remember? Grandma told us we had to stay here. We can't go back to the forest."

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