“Secure,” she said.
I started forward slowly to test her balance.
Her grip tightened slightly.
“Ready.”
We ran.
I followed the trail back toward the canal path, the forest passing quickly around us. Bobbi leaned forward slightly with the motion, adjusting naturally to the rhythm of my stride, her grip firm on me.
The scent of the canal grew stronger as we moved closer to the search area, and voices carried faintly through the trees ahead.
People were still calling her name.
We broke through the last line of brush, and the clearing opened ahead.
Zoey stood near the path entrance with several others. Her head snapped toward the trees the moment we appeared.
For a second, she didn’t move.
Then she saw Bobbi.
“Bobbi!”
The sound broke out of her with startling force.
Bobbi slid off my back before I had fully stopped running.
“I’m here,” she announced.
Zoey crossed the distance between them in seconds and dropped to her knees in the dirt. She wrapped her arms around Bobbi so tightly that the girl lifted slightly off the ground.
“Oh my god,” Zoey said, her voice shaking. “You scared the absolute hell out of me.”
Bobbi patted her shoulder. “I encountered dogs.”
“Wow, you’ll have to tell me about that,” Zoey said roughly.
Bobbi’s mother came running over, and the reunion became even louder.
Crying. Hands reaching for Bobbi from every direction.
While that unfolded, I shifted back to my human form.
Zoey watched Bobbi and her mother, then stood, her face wet with tears. She looked over at me, and the expression on her face changed immediately.
Gratitude.
Relief.
Something deeper underneath both.
She walked toward me slowly. “Thank you,” she said. “You found her.”
“Yes.”
For several seconds, she said nothing. Her gaze moved over my face carefully, as though confirming that I was real and standing in front of her, and not another piece of information arriving through a phone call.
