‘You are very brave, Bramble,’ I said. ‘Calm girl, good girl. Let’s sit and talk awhile before I take you home.’ Just as well I had come out alone. If I’d had Donagan with me, or a guard, I could not have coaxed my lady’s dog this way without being viewed as ridiculous. My mother would certainly have thought me foolish to address a creature as if it could understand me. But this was not just any creature; it was Flidais’s beloved pet. ‘Your mistress once told me she thought you were a fey dog, strayed into this world from another,’ I told Bramble, who had moved to sit right beside my leg, her tiny form warm against me. I stroked her back, gently teasing out the worst of the burrs, and she endured my ministrations with patience. ‘I do not think that can be true, or you would surely not get in so much trouble. Come, show me that front paw. Is it hurting?’

A slow process, but I got all the prickles out and ascertained that apart from a cut or two the dog was uninjured. When that was done she climbed onto my knee and settled there, curled up in a ball with one eye open. It was plain to me why Flidais loved her. I allowed myself to sit awhile, and eventually the eye closed, and I felt the small form relax into sleep. The sun rose higher; the cows conducted a lowing conversation as they went in and out from milking; the stream babbled and a small wind stirred the grasses. Contentment stole over me, and for a brief while I was at peace.

I could not stay here long; Flidais would be frantic with worry over her missing pet. Besides, it must be nearly breakfast time, and I had not told Donagan where I was going. I woke Bramble with gentle words, then wrapped her in my cloak and headed for the house.

‘Of course,’ I said to her as I walked, ‘you have provided me with a perfect excuse to visit your mistress early without seeming over-eager or intrusive. But I am a little ashamed that I thought of that, so please don’t bring it to her attention.’

What Bramble thought was a mystery, though as we approached the house she tensed in my arms, and I regretted that I had not troubled myself to contrive a leash of some kind. ‘Don’t run off now, please,’ I told her. ‘Remember the warm fire, the bone, the kind words? We’re nearly there.’ She did not seem convinced; I struggled to keep her still without hurting her, for every part of her was delicately made.