George pushed off from the tunnel wall near the entrance, where he and Charlie had been waiting. He sauntered toward Thomas. “And here I thought I was the rule-breaker of our merry band. I underestimated you, Tommy.” He scratched Max behind his ears. “How much did you pull today?”

“Pull?”

“Don’t play stupid with me. How much did you win?”

“I didn’t win anything.”

“That’s tough luck. It’ll probably take a few goes before you and Max work well together. Does Bagger know you borrowed his ratter?” George looked down at Thomas and smiled. “I thought about sneaking out too, but never considered taking Max.” He glanced back at Charlie. “Mouse, how come I didn’t think of that?”

Charlie shrugged.

Thomas shook his head. “I didn’t take Max anywhere. He followed me.”

George’s smile widened. “I like that. Sneak the dog some scraps, and you don’t have to take him anywhere. He’ll follow you wherever you go. Seriously, why didn’t I think of that?”

“I didn’t … it’s not like that.”

“You’re telling me you didn’t take Max to compete in rat hunts?”

Thomas adjusted his hold on Bagger’s dog. “No … I mean, yes, that is exactly what I’m telling you.”

George lit a cigarette. “You’re getting a little flustered, Tommy. What’re you hiding?”

“Nothing.”

“Then where have you been for the last four hours?”

“Nowhere.” Thomas turned to escape to the dugout, but George slung an arm over his shoulder and steered him back to the tunnel entrance. Charlie followed a few steps behind.

“Look,” George said. “I just want you to tell me next time you sneak out to the support trenches with Max, so I can come along and place a few bets of my own.”

“I wasn’t in the support trenches.”

“What? You went to the front-line trenches?” He smiled at Thomas. “I’m impressed, Tommy. I thought for sure I’d be the first of us to break one of Bagger’s rules. So, Mr. Rule-Breaker, when are we sneaking out with Bagger’s ratter again?”

Thomas sank against the wall of sandbags until he was seated on the duckboards lining the trench floor. “I’m not sneaking out again.”

Charlie’s shoulders dropped as he gave a relieved sigh and sat down beside Thomas.

“Why not?” George asked, sitting on Thomas’s other side. “We’ll be careful and make sure Bagger doesn’t find out. Mouse’ll be our lookout, won’t you Mouse?”

Charlie swallowed hard.

“As for the others,” George continued, ignoring Charlie’s obvious discomfort with his plan, “they won’t care where we go as long as we show up for our shifts and work hard. The only one we’ll have to worry about is Eton and his big mouth, but I can handle him.”

Thomas shook his head. “I’m not worried about Frederick.”

“Are you afraid of losing your earnings? Because with me at your side, you’re guaranteed to walk away with money.”

Charlie reached over and petted Max. The dog rolled onto his back in Thomas’s lap and offered up his tummy for a rub.