Joe turns. He nods a vague greeting in my direction before answering the canid. I hardly register what he’s saying for a few moments, because I’m still adjusting to that momentary weight of his gaze on me. Now I know why Jack calls him Crazy Dog. I never saw eyes like that: part clown, part I don’t know what. Spooky and dark. I’ve seen my share of that kind of cousin, but never anybody like this.

“Jilly’s gone missing,” he tells Jack. “I was just asking the boys here to keep an eye out for her in their travels. You haven’t heard anything, have you?”

“No, but we weren’t looking for her. This connected to what happened the last time with that wanna-be canid?”

Joe shakes his head. “No. How many times do I have to tell you? Her sister’s cool now.”

“So what happened?”

“I don’t know. I’d laid a safeguard on her awhile back, and something sprung it, but it didn’t take her back to the Greatwood like it was supposed to.”

The corbae he’s been talking to begin to drift away. A couple who’d been playing a game rack their cues, then they all head for the door. The rook picks up a beer from one of the side benches, downs it, then pauses before he follows the others.

“We’ll get the word out,” he tells Joe.

“Thanks. I owe you.”

The tall, dark-haired rook flashes his teeth in a humourless smile and shakes his head.

“We don’t keep a tally for this kind of thing,” he says.

Joe nods. “Thanks.”

Jack leans against one of the wooden support pillars scattered throughout the pool hall and takes a sip of his own beer as he watches the corbae leave.

“You should’ve let that woman of yours set the spell on Jilly,” he says, turning back to Joe. “You always screw that kind of thing up.”

“I’m not really in the mood for jokes,” Joe tells him. “I’ve been in and out of the otherworld all night, trying to get a lead on either Jilly or the Old Woman, and I haven’t had much luck with either.”

“How’d Nokomis get involved?”

“I don’t know that either. She just came up in the cards Cassie drew for me.” He looks at me before returning his attention to Jack. “Can you give me a hand on this?”

“We’re on a hunt of our own,” Jack says. “Trying to track down some little bogan freaks that thought it’d be funny to use Walker’s daughter for target practice and a Happy Meal.”

“Aw, crap. Did she pull through?”

Jack shakes his head. “Tonight was the second night of her blessing ceremony. You know the cerva—they aren’t going to do anything—so we thought we’d bring a little justice to the problem.”