Four people shuffled forward, circled by two more dogs. Two men and two women, each wrapped in a tarp or blanket. Their eyelids were heavy and their faces puffy from sleep. Archie could make out shapes behind them, and it took him a moment to realize that it was stuff—Hefty bags teeming with clothes, bicycles, folded-up tents, shopping carts holding all of someone’s worldly possessions.

All that stuff, you couldn’t take it to a shelter.

These four and Nick were staying put to keep an eye on what had been left behind.

They were all young. The four who had just appeared wore hooded sweatshirts layered under other clothing. The men had beards, one shaggy, one that had been divided into tiny braids. The women were small, the quilts they were wrapped in muddy and dragging on the ground.

“That’s everyone,” Nick said. He said it with confidence, like a captain who’d evacuated a boat, then walked every deck to make sure no hands were left behind.

He felt responsible for these people. Archie recognized the impulse.

It wasn’t about the stuff.

There had to be another reason. Archie tried to put himself in Nick’s shoes. What would keep him there? And then it occurred to Archie. “Are you waiting for someone?” he asked.

Something in Nick’s posture changed, and Archie knew that he was right. “This is where we’re supposed to meet,” Nick said. “We have this plan, for emergencies. If we get raided, whatever. We meet here. We wait for everyone.” He paused and his shoulders slumped. “I didn’t think about the river flooding when I was making the plan.”

“Otter’s not coming,” Archie said. “He’s safe. He’s at the Mission.”

Nick straightened up. “You’ve seen Otter?” he said. The other four exchanged looks.

“We had to question him,” Archie said. “A police detective was hurt earlier tonight. Otter had his cell phone.”

One of the young women protested. “Otter didn’t hurt him,” she said.

“No,” Archie said. “I don’t think he did. But we had to talk to him, to see if he’d seen anything. He’s at the Mission. He’s safe. We can take you over there.”

Nick glanced at his charges, and then gently placed his hand on the top of his dog’s head. “I’m not leaving Gigi or the other two,” he said.

“Other two what?” Heil said.

Archie wished Heil would stop talking. “Dogs,” Archie said.

He saw Heil look down at the dogs with the four river people, and then back at Nick and Gigi. “Oh,” he said.

“What if I can make arrangements for you and your friends and your dogs?” Archie said.

“What about the stuff?” one of the women asked.

Nick ignored her. “You think you can make that happen?” he asked Archie.