The children's appearance spooked Dawn more than the sheep, who ignored them in favour of the tall and juicy grass around. Clarissa, in turn, ignored Dawn for the favour of sheep. Oh, she did ask him if she could please play with them, and inspect them, and take measurements (like a real adult scientist!), but Clarissa took his constrained "Ugh" as agreement.
Robert stayed behind to talk with Dawn while Clarissa tested the fluffiness of the sheep's fur and their eagerness to eat grass from her hands. She still caught the happenings around her with the corner of her eye. Her younger brother eyed sheep warily and appeared to be shy of them, just like he was shy of strangers. Instead, he concentrated on someone much more familiar. On the Dawn.
