1.  Describe Robin's relationship with her mother.  If her mother is dead and Robin has no memory of her, describe her relationship with her foster-mother or another strong maternal figure in her life.

---

Robin's natural mother is indeed dead.  And her father, Julian, seems loath to talk about her.  The only conversation they have had regarding Robin's mother took place shortly before the young woman walked the Pattern.  From that, Robin gathered that her natural mother was, in Julian's words, 'a bit wild.'  And Julian has never mentioned the lady's name -- if she had one -- to Robin. 

Given her father's tendency to understatement, Robin has come to believe that her mother was a savage.  The young Ranger carries a mental image of a feral human, covered in dirt with wild untamed hair and broken claw-like nails, dressed in skins and living in a cave somewhere.  True or not, that's what Robin thinks of as her 'mother.'

Julian had also indicated that Robin's mother died in childbirth.  But something about the way he said it has led Robin to believe that the strain of giving birth to the strong impulsive spirit that is Robin was what killed her mother, not natural 'complications.'  That the infant of Amber may have kicked her way to freedom or some such.

Robin holds no regrets or self-recrimination about it.  Nature is just like that sometimes.

When Julian brought the newborn infant back to the Arden, he was probably a little disconcerted by the need to raise a girl within the structure of the Rangers *and* hide her presence from the rest of his family.  What he settled on was Rattle, at that time the keeper of the mews at The Mews -- later Post 4.

Rattle was a tough old Ranger and one of the few women on the forces.  While not particularly given to the raising of human children, Rattle did know how to raise, train and care for the Storm Hawks of Arden.  Julian figured that his little girl couldn't be that much harder.  Thus, Rattle was placed in charge of the 'foundling' that Julian had brought back from his latest courses into shadow.

Rattle was never under any illusions as to what Julian was asking of her, being as Julian was so given to bringing home stray infants, even though the Warder of Arden never spoke it aloud.  When the Prince handed over the little fur-wrapped bundle to his mew's keeper, Rattle just looked at him with her hawk-quick eyes, nodded and took the bundle into her arms.

And proceeded to raise the girl like Julian's other prizes, the hawks.  It was Rattle's tacit and unspoken understanding that eventually spread throughout the Rangers, leading them all to the quiet acceptance as to the nature of Julian's 'foundling.'

Robin's earliest memories are of the smell of hawk fewmets mixed with fresh straw.  The sunlight filtering through the rough boards of the aerie, the rustle of feathers, the screech and call of the birds to one another.  And the shadowy figure of Rattle, moving among the boxes clucking to herself as she examined a wing here, a claw there.

For a while, the little girl thought that the Storm Hawks were actually her siblings and that she had somehow been born sick -- without feathers or wings.  Though not much of a talker, Rattle put Robin to rights on that issue as soon as she discovered the little girl was harboring it.

Almost from the beginning, Robin was much wilder than the Hawks given to Rattle's care.  And the practical old Ranger's only advice to Julian was "You can't jess that one, sir.  She'll do herself a harm fightin' the hood."

It was Rattle who encourage Robin's unabashed enjoyment of life.  The Ranger started with the hawks, of course, not saying much but letting the little girl learn from observation and experience -- the joy of wind under wing, the thrill of the stoop, the miracle of hatching, the exultation of mid-air mating.

It was also Rattle, backed by the strong though intermittent presence of Julian, that taught the lessons of responsibility -- how to care for wing and body, what should be eaten and what shouldn't, how to see through the hawk's eyes.  Once Rattle was sure the young child knew those things, she began to 'apprentice' the girl out to other Rangers that Rattle knew and trusted.

Time in the kennels, time on the paths, time in the post, Rattle made sure that Robin had the time she needed to absorb everything that was Arden.  Though not a slow learner, Robin learned better from hands-on disasters than any 'book-learnin.'  And Rattle always felt that letting natural consequences drive the lesson home was better than a whipping any time.

For Robin's part, Rattle was a strong quiet presence in the background.  Much like Julian or Arden itself.  Though Rattle was always there to splint an arm broken in a fall from a tree, or to pull her out of a bramble after Robin had gotten herself thoroughly stuck.  Rattle's questioning eyes and nod also always made sure that Robin had gotten the point.

Rattle was also always there -- her eyes glinting with pride -- whenever Robin soared, discovered a new path or figured out why that Ranger was acting so very strangely.  As Robin grew older and began to fly farther and farther from The Mews, Rattle refocused on her tasks with the Storm Hawks.  Though the times that Robin returned to the Post were always happy occasions, Robin laughing and wild, Rattle calm and proud, around campfires or in the quiet coziness of the mews.

However, Rattle was no fledgling when Julian entrusted Robin into her care and time soon began to show heavily on the graying woman.  Arthritis curled her hands even more, her eyesight was failing and she began training her replacement -- a middle-aged Ranger named Stoke.

When Robin was in her forties, Rattle was knocked down twice in one season by the Hawks.  And the elderly Ranger figured it was time for her to retire.  Of course, for a practical woman like Rattle, whose whole life had been the Hawks, something she could no longer do -- 'retire' was a euphemism.

Robin still remembers that tearful last night -- herself a whirlwind of rage and denial, Rattle as implacable as the seasons -- the Ranger's steady ancient voice explaining about selfishness and a body's right to chose their own way.  Though never happy about it, Robin did at last settle herself, and with a few other close friends bid Rattle farewell as she set off on 'the Longest Path.'

It was the strongest temptation of Robin's life -- and perhaps the only one she has successfully resisted -- that she did not follow that gnarled old figure into the green of Arden for once last attempt at convincing Rattle to stay.

After Rattle's death, Robin gradually switched her affection from the old Ranger to a sort of embodiment of the forest itself.  Robin felt a personal touch in the trees' proud strength, the streams' laughing dance, the parade of the seasons, the hidden moods of the marked places.  She heard Arden's voice in the whisper of the meadow grasses, the swaying hush of the pine boughs, the chirps, cries and rustles of her creatures.  She saw the lessons of Rattle taught in the strike of predator and the escape of prey.  She tasted the forest's life on the green blowing winds.  These were the things that found their way deep into the young woman's soul.

 So much so that were any to ask, Robin would say that her mother is Arden.  Not so much denying Rattle's hand in her upraising as thinking of the old Ranger as part of the natural power that is Arden.