"When Briar Rose was three and entering into faunthood, her first brother was born. Raz was also a happy babe, but as he grew older, he was much more difficult to manage.

He was often into mischief and had frequent mishaps caused by his insatiable curiousity. He would pepper his father with questions that he was hard put to answer. His grandmother found this quite amusing, for she said she was being revenged for Tûk's own childhood.

Tûk's mother spoiled her grandchildren, but though she loved them all the same, little Raz could shamelessly wheedle her out of anything with the pleading expression of his green eyes, something his older sister had never been given to doing.

One day when he was about four, he toddled into the kitchen where his grandmother was baking sweet biscuits on the hearth. He saw the treats there, and I suppose the smell of them was too enticing. When his gammer's back was turned, he tried to reach for them. His shrieks caught her attention at once. She snatched him away from the fire and quickly ministered to his poor little burned fingers.

By the time I discovered what happened—for I had been busy with his older sister—she had consoled him for his mishap with as many biscuits as he could eat. That evening, he had not only the injuries to his fingers to deal with, but an upset tummy as well!

Yet he remained a cheerful and affectionate child, in spite of the spoiling. He never failed to share with his siblings, often without even having to be asked. And as soon as he was old enough, he followed his father everywhere—in fact, many of our friends and kin began to call him 'Little Tûk' instead of his given name."