He started toward the men but stopped when Charlie grabbed his arm. George’s eyes narrowed on Charlie’s hand clutching his sleeve.

Charlie let go and tucked his hands in his pockets. “Sorry,” he mumbled, backing away.

“Charlie’s right,” Thomas said. “If Bagger catches you, he may never let us out of the tunnels again.”

With a frustrated groan, George shoved the coins back in his pocket. “What good is finally having money if I can’t enjoy it?”

Up ahead, Johnny plucked the rat from his bayonet and tossed it to Dan. “You ready to surrender, tunnel rat?”

“Clay kickers never surrender,” Bagger replied.

In the excitement, Thomas had forgotten the crew leader was still standing at the end of the trench.

“How much time left, Richard?” Bagger asked.

A soldier holding a pocket watch answered. “Twenty seconds.”

Bagger smiled and turned his attention back to his partner. “Plenty of time.”

“Best you can do is tie us,” Dan said as he strung the rat up by its neck next to the other dead rats. “Might as well give up now.”

Bagger ignored him. “Come on, Max! You’ve got this! That’s it!”

“Ten … nine … eight…” Richard’s voice grew louder with each second.

Bagger knelt on the trench floor and pounded his fists on his thick thighs. “Come on, Max! Get ’im!”

Thomas tried to catch a glimpse of Bagger’s partner, but the trench wall blocked his view.

“Seven … six … five…”

“Yes!” Bagger yelled.

“Four … three … two…”

“Come on, Max!”

“One.”

Bagger reached out his hands, and a small blur of white-and-brown fur flew into his arms. Bagger had told the boys that the rats in the trenches could grow as large as cats. By the size of the animal squirming in his arms, not only had the clay kicker not been exaggerating, but Max also had not killed the rat. Bagger’s rule about keeping any food stored as high as possible moved up Thomas’s list of warnings to heed in the tunnels.

“Time!” Richard yelled.

“Good boy, Max!” Bagger said. He turned around, but it wasn’t a large rat squirming in his arms. It was a small dog. The white terrier, with brown spots encircling its eyes and covering its small, floppy ears, wagged its tail with pride over Bagger’s praise. Clamped in its teeth was a dead rat. Bagger patted the dog’s head, and Max dropped the rat into Bagger’s hand. The clay kickers cheered.

“Settle down,” Johnny said, re-counting Bagger and Max’s haul, including the new rat. “You’re still down by one.”

Bagger smiled and held up two more dead rats. “Make that up by one.”

As the clay kickers and soldiers settled their wagers, Johnny spotted the boys watching. He turned, seeming about to say something to Bagger, but just at that moment Dan handed him his rifle and pulled him into a conversation about their hunting strategy.

“We better go before anyone else sees us,” Charlie whispered to George.

“Fine,” George said. With a disappointed groan, he followed Charlie toward the tunnel entrance, but Thomas stayed behind. He still hadn’t asked anyone about James and hoped an infantryman would break off from the group before the rest of the crowd disbanded.