A dog stopped nearby and eyed her with the desperation of a hungry belly. She held out her hand. His nose was damp and cold. ‘You’re a friendly thing.’ She bent down and ran her palm along the ridge of his hard back. ‘I don’t have anything to give you.’ She ruffled his ears. The dog let her pat him and it revived her spirits. ‘You are not afeared of me, are you?’ she said softly but then he shied suddenly. She reached out to stop him but he scampered away. A group of men in the recognisable white robes sauntered into view, pulling a drunkard from a doorway and kicking him into a puddle of stagnant sewer water. The wretch didn’t move but others did as the group passed and even the stray dog skulked into an alley.

‘Heh!’ one of the young men shouted at the dog and it stopped and turned, its ears pricked. The same man held out his hand and Luna observed something disconcerting in his wide-set eyes. He kept his arm extended as the dog approached. When the stray was within range, the man grabbed it by the scruff. The dog scrabbled to free itself but the man was big and strong and held him fast. His friends bellowed encouragement as he dragged the dog back into the alley from whence it had appeared. To Luna’s horror, she heard one sharp, high-pitched yelp then nothing. The man ambled back to his friends, wiping clean the blade of his knife. They continued along the street, past Luna, who had frozen to the spot.

‘Those strays have rabies, you know,’ the man said to her in passing.

Luna didn’t move for quite some time. Her hands shook, so she couldn’t hold her stick and easily walk. It was horrible to be so near to where the dead animal lay. Her body grew cold at the thought.

When she did eventually turn for home, she went more carefully; she couldn’t afford to lose her concentration, whether it be on something as simple as walking or the more complicated task of keeping out of the path of bullies like those young men.

*