Timothy by Bailey Bradford

Otto hugged him and vigorously rubbed Tim’s arms. “Let’s look and see if maybe Ochir is here. There are several caves he could be in.”
    Since Tim and Otto had superior senses, they split into two groups, Steve accompanying Tim and Dane for some reason choosing to go off with Otto and Naran. “Behave yourself,” Tim warned him. Dane winked and trotted over to his search mates.
    “They’ll be all right,” Steve said. “Otto will smack their heads together if they bicker too much.”
    Tim snorted but didn’t argue. Steve turned on the flashlight. “I know you don’t need it, but for appearances sake we should have it out.” Steve tipped his head up and squinted. “The moonlight is pretty bright. Eh, I’m still turning it on.” He did so and shone the beam of light away from them. “Have you ever considered telling Dane?”
    Tim whipped his head up. He’d been watching where he walked since there were loose rocks all over the place. “What? No, why would I do that? If it were just myself, well I think I would trust Dane enough, but it’s not just me. There’s my family to consider.” Was he a bad friend?
    “Down this way, okay? If you can check for anything suspicious, like you were doing today. You are certain the avalanche was man-made?” Steve stumbled and Tim grabbed his forearm to steady him. “And for what it’s worth, I do think Dane is trustworthy. There are a few regular humans—people not mated to shifters, in other words—who know about them. It’s a matter of trusting yourself, your judgement as well as your senses, as much as it is about trusting who you confide in. We do need friends and allies in all walks of life.”
    Tim was trying to process all of that and still keep his senses alert for a hidden boy. He settled for answering the easiest part of Steve’s questions, though he supposed Steve hadn’t really been asking about the trusting others piece of the speech.
    “Yes, I do, and Otto said the scent I described smelling, the rank odour I’ve never encountered before, sounds exactly like the one he was following the other night.” Something moved off to the left and Tim stopped, holding up a hand to signal for silence. Even though it was only a rodent, Tim watched it then tracked back the direction it had likely come from. Deciding it must have been lurking in a small brushy area, Tim discounted it as being a hiding spot for Ochir and continued talking and walking.
    “With my abilities, I should have been able to find more of the camera, but I think that’s a no-go since someone stole it. I don’t even believe what we found belonged to the camera left here.” Steve had mentioned trusting his senses, and Tim was trying to do just that. “I believe someone took the camera, for whatever reasons. Maybe there was proof on it of their wrongdoing,” gods he hoped not. He feared for the snow leopard cubs and their mama. “Or maybe it was sold for cash, I don’t know. I have a really bad feeling about it, though, and from what Otto told me about Ochir hiding, I think he needs to be found and kept safe.”
    Steve hummed as he moved the flashlight back and forth over the area they were searching. “I agree. Do you think Ochir is here?”
    Tim sniffed in every direction before answering. “I don’t think so, but I don’t know the kid, either. Seems like a weird place to hang out, or hide out.”
    “There’s always the chance whoever took the camera also took Ochir. What if…”
    Steve didn’t finish the sentence and he didn’t need to. Tim’s mind spun with a dozen horrifying scenarios. What if Ochir was being kept somewhere out here, bound or hurt or dead?
    “Don’t think that,” Otto’s voice rumbled in his head. “The rotten scent wasn’t Ochir’s. The boy was seen after this camera was taken down. I can tell because of how weak the lingering odour is. Got to be closer to a month than not since the poacher was here.”
    Tim felt a wave of relief so great he