“Nice doggies,” Nick said again. “I’m going to try something here, and I’d appreciate it if you’d just bear with me.”

He took a single step forward and nothing happened. “Good doggies,” he said with a sigh of relief.

Then he took a second step.

Nick caught a glimpse of black fur streaking in from the left; the dog reached him in a single bound, turning its massive head sideways in midair and seizing Nick by the throat as it sent him crashing to the ground.

He lay on his back, stunned, with the dog standing over him, still gripping his throat in its jaws. Nick’s first instinct was to grab at the dog’s head and try to push it away, but he knew that could be a fatal mistake; it would only encourage a tug-of-war with Nick’s throat as the prize—and that was a contest he couldn’t afford to lose. Instead he lay perfectly still, waiting for the dog to make its next move—but the dog did nothing more. It just stood motionless, pinning Nick’s neck to the ground like a giant slobbering clothespin.

Nick heard footsteps approaching, but there was nothing he could do. He just stared up into the starry sky, unable to turn his head even to look.

The witch leaned over and glared down at Nick; she cocked her head to one side and pulled her hair back to get a better look at his face.

“You’re persistent,” she said. “I’ll give you that.”

“It’s one of my better qualities,” Nick said.

“Really. I’d hate to see your bad ones.”

Nick pointed to the dog’s head. “Would you mind?”

“Not just yet.”

He frowned. “I don’t really care for this view.”

“That makes two of us.”

Nick twisted a little; when he did, he felt the dog tighten its grip.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the witch said. “He won’t purposely harm you, but he will not release your throat—under any circumstances— until I tell him to do so. When you twist like that he thinks you’re trying to escape, and he won’t let that happen. The harder you try, the harder he’ll bite—and believe me when I say, he doesn’t know his own strength.”

Nick tried his best to relax—which wasn’t easy given the circumstances.

“Why did you come back here?” she asked.

“Because I need your help.”

“I thought we covered this last night.”

“No, we didn’t—you were rude and told me to go away.”

“I was not rude,” she said. “You were trespassing on my land.”

“I had no choice. You don’t have a phone.”

“I don’t want to be interrupted—especially by you.”