After a few moments, a small shadow crept out from under an overhang and hesitantly approached her. The little black dog hung his head and had his tail tucked between his legs, but he closed the distance between them step by step.

“I don’t like this,” Jack said, his voice pitched low. “We don’t know anything about that dog. How do we know he’s not putting on the submissive act? If he goes for her throat, there’s no way we can get to her in time.

Joe lifted his arm when Jack started forward.

“Cassie knows what she’s doing,” he said. “She doesn’t just read cards. She reads people, too.”

Cassie had one knee down in the sand and her hand stretched out, palm down. The dog sniffed the back of her hand cautiously, then let her pat him.

“You can come now,” she called over her shoulder.

“They’re not going to hurt you,” Joe heard her tell the dog as they approached. “I know they look scary, but they’re here to help you.”

“Yeah,” Joe said. “Anwatan sent us.”

The dog’s head lifted at the sound of her name. Joe didn’t have to be part canid to read the hope in the dog’s eyes.

“She’s gone on now,” he said.

Beside him, Jack stood with his arms folded, studying the dog.

“Let’s see what you really look like,” he said.

I . . . I don’t think I should, sir, the dog said. Anwatan told me not to. It’s part of my . . . punishment, I think.

“You don’t like being a dog?”

I like it much more than being a bogan.

“Well, we’re saying it’s okay,” Jack told him.

The dog hesitated a moment, then a shiver ran across his skin, from tail to head, and a bogan crouched there in the sand on his hands and knees. He sat up, his neck drawn close to his shoulders as though expecting a blow.

Jack continued to study him, then finally gave a slow nod.

“Anwatan was right,” he said. “This kid’s not a killer.”

Rabedy cleared his throat. “What . . . what are you going to do to me?”

Joe sat on the sand beside Cassie.

“What do you think we should do to you?” he asked.

“You should punish me, sir.”

Joe’s brows went up. “What for? Anwatan said you weren’t in on the kills for any of those hunts.”

“But I was there. I didn’t try to stop them.”

“Why not?”

“I . . . was too scared.”

Joe nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been there. Not a good feeling, is it, standing by when someone’s being hurt?”

Rabedy’s eyes went wide. “You’ve been scared?”