“And would you still love him if he was any different?” Jack asked.

Cassie punched him in the shoulder. “No. That’s not it and you know it. I just worry.”

“You and me both, Cassie.”

Joe looked from one to the other.

“If you two are done,” he said, “maybe we can finish this and put it all behind us.”

He reached for Cassie’s hand.

“You want in on this?” he asked.

She smiled. “Sure. I’ve never seen a bogan before.”

“Not much to see,” Jack told her. “Ugly little buggers who—”

He broke when they stepped away, crossing back into the otherworld, and hurried along after them.

“A little warning would be nice,” he told Joe when they arrived at the lakeshore.

He stopped and looked around. It was dusk back in Raven’s world, but here, night had already fallen. A three-quarter moon sat in the sky above cliffs topped with tall pine and spruce. The moonlight gleamed on the lake water and made the sandy shore seem almost white.

“Hey, I know this place,” he said. “This is where the cerva held Anwatan’s blessing ceremony.”

Joe gave him a curious look. “I don’t remember you telling me you attended that.”

“I didn’t. I was watching from above.” He indicated the cliffs. “It’s where I ran into Grey.”

Joe nodded. “Well, the kid should be around here somewhere. Let’s start at the base of the cliffs, there in the middle, and work our way along both sides to see if we can pick up a scent.”

“Is it part of your helping him to scare the crap out of the kid?” Cassie asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, what’s he going to think? He’s on the run from cousins, and here’s a couple of tough old canids trying to track him down.”

“Wouldn’t hurt to give him a scare,” Jack said. “Might help him remember the kind of trouble you can get into if you’re not more careful about picking your friends.”

But Joe was smiling.

“I’m guessing you’ve got a better idea,” he said to Cassie.

“Does he have a name?” she asked.

“Rabedy Collins.”

“What are you going to do with him anyway?” Jack asked.

“He can take dog shape.”

“Really? I didn’t know bogans could shapeshift.”

Joe nodded. “Apparently Odawa was teaching them, but it only took with the kid.”

“Well, he’s got that much in his favour, then.”

Cassie had already walked away from them, heading for the cliffs, so the two of them caught up with her.

“Give me a little space here,” she said.

She walked on alone, softly calling the bogan’s name, a coaxing tone in her voice.