Memoirs of a traveler

Son of Mine

I and Little My hop from our seats and investigate. Just as I open the front door a crack Stinky bursts inside and makes a dive for my baby.
"Stinky what are you doing?!"
I lunge forward to grab him by the fur but i am too late. He takes Kiviä and holds him tightly while huddling in the corner.
"I have plans for this thing. It is going to help me pull off a big scam! No one will try to harm someone with a baby."
Everyone gets up and circles the smelly criminal as to dissuade him from this foolishness.
"That is my child! He will have no part in any of your fiendish plans!"
Stinky grips the cradleboard harder still. All of the commotion woke Kiviä so he begins to scream and cry.
"You didn't seem to be using him. Anyway, what would a simple girl like you want with this loud thing?"
My fists clench in anger, turning my knuckles white. Suddenly there is a knock at the door before Officer Hemulin pokes his head around, baton in hand. While some of our guard was dropped at his arrival, Stinky takes the moment to dash into the kitchen and out the back door, baby in arm.
"Kiviä!!"
I Gather my skirts and take off after him, Everyone in the house in tow. With all that i have in me, i run till my chest begins to burn like fire. The burning in my chest like my lungs are likely to bleed. my stomach flipping out of fear, rage and the fact that my supper is yet to settle. all i can see is my child helplessly being carried away by a criminal. All i can hear is his cries fading into the distance, disappearing into the forest.
"Come back! Com-"
The unsettled dinner gets the best of me and i spew my contents onto the dead grass.
*kof *kof*
Hot tears build up and spill down my cheeks and nose while I brace myself on all fours.
"Back.."
I sob loudly and wipe my mouth with my apron. Multiple hands place on my back to console me but all i know is i am in pain. The physical exertion is in no comparison to the ache my heart feels. Out of my teary blurred vision, Papa stands next to me and helps me to my feet.
"I am ready to track him down, if you are, my child."
Mama produces a hanky from her purse and begins to wipe my tears. She takes my paw in hers and closes my hand around it.
"Yes Papa, I'm ready."
He gives me his arm to help me stay on my feet and we take off into the forest.

not five minutes into our trek, I break once more. There is a poor attempt at crying quietly, I don't want to slow us down for my feelings getting in the way. Wiping my face again i catch up a few paces to be next to papa, He is focused on tracking the messy escape Stinky had made.

We walk and search for many hours more. Papa finds a clearing and begins setting up camp.
"Papa, will he be okay? Can we just stop while he is still in need of a safe return??"
"Kestret, i am sure he will be okay tonight, Stinky intends to use him alive. Please go get kindling and build up a fire pit."
I feel a partial sense of relief at Papas words and do as im asked.

While of in the woods gathering kindling, i find some footprints in the mud. They are Stinky sized. I mark the spot with a piece of twine in my apron pocket and return the wood to camp.
"Papa i found a clue in the mud, a footprint!"
There is only about an hour left of sunlight so i set out quickly and coldly down the path. Under my breath i mumble.
"When i find you, i will be the one locked up..."

Somewhere along the way, my focus causes me to neglect the real world around me. I trip on a rock and fall into a hole, sliding down belly first.
"Unf!!"
In the end i land with a thump in what seems to be some hidden lair. Corridors going in every direction. The cave network is hastily dug. Many of the walls are muddy or crumbling, haphazard scrapes where it was dug out with a stick possibly. In the entrance room, there is a earthen table covered in half melted candles. Only a few are lit. I take one in my paw and listen closely to the tunnels around. four being directly to the right of the table. My ears perk toward the third from the left. What i hear is a baby crying softly.
"Kiviä.."
It had only been a few months but i would know that cry anywhere. Ignoring the hot wax dripping into my fur, i carefully march onward dragging mt heal every so many feet to keep track of where i came from.

Far beyond the lonely mountains, about three days travel, I find myself at the coast looking out at the endless waters before me. So far gone from Moomin house I am all alone and still without my son. 
Suddenly I hear a coo nearby- I run to the cliff nearby and find there is a cave! I struggle to climb down and inside before the coos get louder. 
"Kiviä? Darling boy?"
The cooing becomes wines of want.
"Mamamamama"
Once my eyes adjust i find my baby son tucked away behind a rock which i find quite ironic due to his name. Kiviä reaches out to me with grabby hands and raised eyebrows.
I lift him from his place and examine him all over, he is fine. We can now begin the trek back home..