Catherine stayed still, barely breathing. The cub chirped again, softer this time, that same plaintive sound she’d heard at her door. The mother answered with a low, guttural sound that was half-warning, half-relief.
Slowly, impossibly, the tension broke. The mother lowered her head, sniffing the cub, pressing her nose gently to its fur. Catherine swallowed hard, watching as realization dawned on her. The cub hadn’t been lost at all. It had been trying to find her.