They hadn't gone far when Kra'vi heard the song in his head. He looked quizzically at the Ooman, who nodded to show he heard it too.

'Stop!' he yelled.

'What's up, Brian?' the driver asked, pulling over and turning in his seat.

'Someone's singing in my head.'

'You're hearing voices now? You should get your head checked,' he joked.

'Just turn the van around.'

Kra'vi growled at him. 'I go. You return to office.'

'But...'

Kra'vi growled again, silencing his protest. 'I not be seen. Observe only. Report back later.' He opened the door without waiting for an answer and disappeared into a paddock.

Tarni turned as her mother's voice joined her own in singing the chorus. They sang along in harmony as her mother stroked Rosy's nose affectionately. As they finished the song, Tarni smiled at her mother.

'Not really a calming song, is it?' Diane asked as her daughter finished spreading hay for the horses and closed the paddock gate.

Tarni chuckled. 'No, but it works. Maybe because Dad used to whistle it all the time.'

'He never stopped whistling it. Used to drive me crazy,' her mother agreed, smiling at the memory. 'Anyway, I'm taking a load of boxes into the new house, wanna come along for the ride?'

'Nah, gotta check the calves again, can't afford any mishaps with them.'

'Alright. I won't be too long.'

'You've moved nearly everything in there now, haven't you?'

'Yep. Not much longer now and you'll have this place all to yourself.'

'Yes! I'll be throwing parties every night,' Tarni exclaimed.

Diane laughed. 'I'll believe that when I see it. See you later.'

'Bye, Mum. Drive safe.' Tarni watched her mother walk away, then turned back to the horses as Rusty started acting skittish. He was prancing around, snorting anxiously while Rosy leaned against the fence. She looked around, wondering if there was a snake she hadn't sensed spooking them. She couldn't see anything that would cause their behaviour. Cautiously, she let down the light mental shield she usually kept up to prevent the thoughts and feelings of the animals around her from overwhelming her own senses. There. Just a hint of a mind that she didn't recognise. It wasn't an animal that she knew, but it also wasn't human. She raised the shield again, frowning.

'Hush. Calm down, it's okay,' she said soothingly, climbing the fence and walking over to Rusty. Gently, she stroked his nose, muttering nonsense words to calm him down. After a few minutes he did settle down, warily eyeing a clump of trees growing close to the border of the paddock. Making sure Rosy was alright, Tarni walked cautiously over to the trees, studying every inch of the copse in an attempt to see what had so spooked the horses. Whatever it had been, it was gone now, she couldn't see it. With a shrug, she headed back to the barn to muck out the stalls.

Kra'vi was standing well away from the paddock. He waited until the Ooman had disappeared into the building before typing a command into his wrist computer. Elder Nar'ry-te responded quickly, his voice coming out of the small device.

'It's an adult female. I don't know which one, their voices are too similar. Orders?' Kra'vi reported.

'Observe until further notice.'

'Order received.' Kra'vi switched off the communicator and sighed. Following Ooman's around was not on his list of fun things to do.

Tarni threw herself onto her bed, exhausted. Yawning, she picked up the remote from the floor at the end of the bed and switched on the television. She knew there was already a horror movie in the DVD player, so she put the movie on and snuggled under the blankets to watch before she fell asleep. The volume was down low so as not to disturb her mother and step-father, so she had the subtitles switched on, not that she needed them, she knew the movie off by heart.

She'd just started getting into the movie when she realised she needed to pee. 'Damnit,' she muttered, pausing the movie and getting up. She padded down the hallway to the bathroom. Light snores were coming from the master bedroom as she passed it on her way back to her own room. She grinned and shut her door quietly. Slipping back into bed, she pushed play on the remote. A creaking sound caused her to pause the movie again.

She looked around her room, lit only by the television, and spotted her closet door partly open. 'Hello?' Something landed on her bed with a light thump, rocking the mattress. 'Moggie! Stupid cat, what're you doing in here?' she whispered, petting the orange cat on the head. He purred happily, lying down beside her. She shook her head and turned back to the movie, absently scratching him behind the ears.

Kra'vi had tensed up when the cat sniffed around his feet. He hoped it wouldn't alert the Ooman to his presence. Then he'd done it himself, trying to push the animal away he had inadvertently brushed the door to the clothes-cupboard with his foot. Luckily the cat didn't seem to think of him as any danger and had gone seeking affection from the Ooman. He had followed her around the whole day. She was one busy Ooman. He was used to being on the move for days at a time during a hunt, but if she did this every day she was crazy. He was starting to suspect that she was the Powered he was looking for, every time she was in contact with animals he felt a slight touch on his mind. He had quickly learned to stay a good distance from the animals, as his presence tended to cause them discomfort which she noticed. He had followed her into the house when it got dark, expecting that she would remain indoors for the rest of the night. She had proved him wrong, only stopping inside long enough to eat before returning to the fields to bale the hay by torchlight. Finally she had gone inside, showered and gone to bed. He tried to make himself comfortable for the night, moving aside a pair of her shoes so he could sit on the soft carpet. He was glad she had subtitles on the movie. He had learned some English, but he had picked up the written language much faster, so he used subtitles whenever he watched movies. Luckily, this happened to be one of his personal favourites due to the creativity of the main character when it came to killing his prey. Maybe watching this Ooman wouldn't be so bad if she watched one of these movies every night after her work was complete.