"Well? What do you think? Humid and warm isn't it?" Wolf said as his gaze followed Vixen, who was sniffing about the edges of a pond brimming with white lilies and violet hyacinth.
She looked up. "Yes, he would certainly like this place."
"Good," Wolf said then nonchalantly added, "The frogs are doing a very bad job of keeping the vegetation in check. Stefolous will be a better tenant."
Vixen sniffed as her eyes ran over the thick leaves crowding over the surface of the pond. "I doubt if he could manage it alone."
"Don't worry. Once news gets out that he is here, more tortoises and turtles will come."
"Isn't this meant to be a hiding place."
"Yes, it is. But I do not plan to keep Stefolous silent if he wishes to speak."
Vixen eyed him and received an equally brazen gaze in respond. "I shall tell him about this place."
"And recommend it highly, I hope."
"The decision is his," Vixen said as she turned to leave. "Thank you for the offer."
"You are welcome."
Vixen ran to a mud-hole two miles away from Wolf's territory. There she rolled herself in the muck before running about the jungle in a haphazard direction until the dirt dried. When she reached a shallow pool, she washed herself clean and rubbed her fur vigorously against the leaves and ferns in the vicinity. After eating a family of mice that night, she returned to the cave to tell Stefolous about Wolf's pond.
Stefolous swallowed the last of a ripe banana that Wilma had brought him. "It sounds very comfortable."
"He also promises to protect you and keep you safe."
Winnie asked, "Can we trust him?"
Nobody ventured to answer the question. Finally Stefolous said, "I need more information. I looked outside this morning while Winnie was keeping watch. I saw some herons flying to the other side of that rock face outside the cave."
Wanda said, "They come here often. There is a rock pool there that traps small fish when the tide recedes."
Stefolous stretched his neck out. "There is a journalist in every heron group, and they share information with one another each time they meet. Their news network is the best in the region. Maybe I can talk with one of them and find out more about Wolf."
Vixen disagreed. "We already know enough about Wolf to know not to trust him."
"That is for sure," Stefolous concurred. "However, we must not forget, after Fox won the presidency, Wolf disappeared for over a year. Maybe the herons know what he did during that time."
"But how will that affect your decision?" Winnie asked.
"It will help me understand his agenda."
"But Stefolous," Vixen reached out a paw to touch his foreleg. "We can't trust him."
"The information will help me decide if I could trust him for the time being."
Wilma said, "I will go talk to the herons tomorrow morning."
"No, it is best that I go," Stefolous said. "They will not trust you. I, on the other hand, am not their natural predator so they will not be anxious when I am there."
"What if they reveal your whereabouts?" Winnie said.
Before Stefolous could reply, Vixen said, "That will not happen. Herons worship information and ideas. They will never give him up for anything."
"I hear different," Wilma said. "Pilfry disappeared after he was seen talking to a heron."
"It was never verified," Stefolous said. "Anyway these birds keep to themselves. There was no reason for them to harm Pilfry. On the contrary, they admired him for covering the news from the frontlines." A pause. "I must talk with them."
The females finally agreed to let him leave the cave, because most of the things they knew about Wolf was hearsay and it was almost certain that a heron could give Stefolous a definite fact to help him decide.
Winnie slept fitfully that night, raising her head a little to look at Stefolous's silhouette each time a nightmare woke her. A scratching at the entrance roused her with a start, and she jumped to her feet. Stefolous was no longer in the cave.
