He was strong-looking, like Papa. Not gigantic or bulky, but strong in the simple essence of the word. But his might didn't strike fear inside the bright-eyed puppy, only because of his manner. He was gentle and not in the least overbearing, and this made his strength seem good to her. For a girl so young, she was uncannily intuitive about these things. When she stepped back to invite him in, she was in full confidence that he was safe and would not hurt her or the wolves she lived among. This could have been extremely dangerous if her sense of the goodness in others was lacking. It wasn't. She liked his voice, his face, the pretty color of his fur; most of all, she liked his smell. It reminded her of her mother, and Rio adored her mother.
"...Okay!" she cheeped when he told her to blame their prospective mischief on him. But she really didn't think anyone would get mad. Why would they? They should be able to tell that Sir Haven was perfectly capable of being a visitor of Phoenix Valley, that he wasn't there to wreak havoc. Rio fell into step beside him, buzzing with energy. He spoke so kindly that she couldn't help but feel ever so happy! She loved it when others were so nice to her without having any reason to be. "Oh, lots of fun! We's dance in the cold." She twirled quickly in a circle to show him, trying to mirror the spinning dance of the snowflakes. "D'you wanna try pwaying? Wiff me and them?" Small black nose pointed up toward the falling snow, a delighted, hopeful grin on her face. If he didn't play, maybe he would try it. "We has fun! And I wanna pway wiff you; you smell like Mama."
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