“Well done.” A gentle female voice whispered from above. Peep flicked an ear, but otherwise did not have the energy to respond. She lay on her side, chest rising and falling with each deep, desperate breath. It was over, finally. “They’re beautiful.” The voice said and Peep half opened one eye to watch the Kimeti doe move around to where a wriggling pile of Totoma young were getting used to be being out in the open. “Four Totoma and one Acha.” Peep managed a weak smile. “Are the herbs working?” Concern. “Will your mate arrive soon?”
Peep finally managed to lift her head, looking around at her sweet little lambs and beyond to the single Acha egg. Her head dropped back, but even her exhaustion couldn't wipe the smile off her face. She was alive and she was a mother.
Spellbound finished cleaning the lambs, nuzzled them towards their mother’s side and then stepped back. The fragile, almost emaciated doe, watched on with a wistful smile. Her arrival had been a fortuitous one. Her knowledge of herbs, a by-product of living with her mother (though Witch Hunt had certainly never used them to heal) had helped ease the Acha’s pain.
But she needed to leave soon, before Bloodhound came searching.
