I looked up at Graham, half expecting him to be repulsed by the fact I’d picked up a rodent. Instead he looked … well, it was hard to describe. There was an element of surprise there, but the word didn’t do it justice. Maybe it was a mixture of several feelings. He looked from the mouse to me and back, and didn’t say anything at all.

“Um … so, I can tame wild animals?”

He kept staring at me and the mouse, apparently at a loss for words.

Finally he said, “That’s really unusual. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen someone do that.” He paused. “It’s definitely a good ability. Very good.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” he said firmly. “Definitely. Just think how useful it could be.”

I was dubious. I mean, what was I going to do, sic a hoard of mice on Williams the next time he came to kidnap me? Maybe Graham was trying to make me feel better about a not-very-useful gift. Come to think of it, maybe the mouse wasn’t wild at all. Sometimes people dumped their unwanted pets in places like this.

He got up and opened his back pack to put his trash bag back in.

“You’d best let Mickey there go back to what he was doing.”

“Okay.” I set my hands down in the leaves, expecting the mouse to hop off, but instead he ran up my arm and into my hair. Like I said, I wasn’t afraid of creepy-crawlies, but a mouse in my hair was a surprise, even for me. I reached up, then hesitated. If I dug around in there, he might bite me.

“Graham …”

The mouse wiggled his way inside the collar of my coat and curled up against my neck. He was so warm and soft. Suddenly, I really wanted to keep him. He just had to be someone’s pet — he was so friendly.

“What? Did it take off?”

“Yeah.”

I just didn’t say where. I got up and handed him my trash bag, and we headed back to the car. The mouse seemed content to sleep all the way home.

When we got back to my house, Graham walked me up to the door and gave me a kiss on the cheek. When he started bending over to do it, I was a bit worried he’d touch my neck and squash the mouse, but he touched my shoulders instead.

It turned out to be sort of lingering, for a kiss on the cheek. I felt my body sit up and take notice, against my better judgment.