Leon rolled down the window. ‘Hey. Where are you heading?’

‘Nowhere in particular. Just out for a walk.’

‘I’m going up to the park to drop off some gear. Want a lift?’

‘I’m not going that far.’

‘That’s okay. I can drop you wherever you want.’

Miki shook her head. Kurt would be incensed if she accepted a ride. ‘I’m fine,’ she said. ‘Have you heard anything from Dale? Have the devil’s test results come through?’

Leon’s smile faded. ‘Hang on. I’ll pull over.’ He drove past and drew up on the verge then walked back to her, hands in pockets, brow knitted in a frown.

From the look on his face, Miki knew the devil must have the disease. She felt herself sinking. This made a bad day even worse.

Leon had an air of awkwardness about him as he delivered the news. ‘Dale emailed the other day … The results aren’t good …’

She glanced away, looking to the mountains for strength. But then she remembered what was going on up there—the trucks and the machines—and her heart plummeted.

‘After we dropped you and Geraldine off, we went back to the tip and got a glimpse of the female,’ Leon was saying. ‘We couldn’t see any wounds.’

This was a relief, but a nod was all Miki could manage.

‘Dale reckons we should move her and her young to a safe place so they won’t catch the disease.’

Did that mean the male devil would be left behind? Miki couldn’t bear the thought of his loneliness—it was something she knew about. ‘What about the male?’

‘He would have to stay. There’s nothing Dale can do …’

Miki dodged Leon’s eyes. There was too much kindness in them. If she looked at him, she might cry. ‘Where will Dale take them?’ she asked.

‘He wants to shift them to a sanctuary where they breed devils in captivity. They can be part of a program to release clean devils back into the wild.’

Miki had imagined the devils in a coastal forest with other healthy animals, a tribe they could interact with. She looked at Leon, shocked by this solution. ‘So they’d be in a zoo?’

He paused. ‘Kind of. Dale says the enclosures have plenty of room. And the devils would be well looked after. They would have food and company and space. No disease.’

‘And no freedom.’ Miki didn’t want her devils locked in. If they were stuck in a zoo she would have betrayed them. Their wildness was what she loved most about them. They were strong and confident. Freedom was important. No fences. No locks.

‘It’s not freedom if they catch that disease,’ Leon said. ‘All it would take is one bite and the others could catch it.’