Vana found no trace of a lie in his words, nor deception in his multi-colored eyes, and thus felt the beginnings of excitement roil in the pit of her stomach. In two days time she could be at the Ridge, walking amongst the same willows her father had in his youth. Perhaps there she would meet her aunt, her cousins. She would no longer have to imagine their faces, nor wonder at their lives.
She felt her excitement begin to falter as he continued, offering what little information he had been able to gather or remember from the situation. His words were not hopeful, and she would have to at least begin to expect the possibility that they might have moved on as well. "How strange. You would think that they would have prevailed..." Perhaps the coyotes had left the land barren. After all, they weren't quite so intelligent as to stop themselves from overhunting. "Thank you for your help, sir."
"I'm Vanadís, by the way. Vanadís Argyris-Archer."