“Three is sacred to fairy,” she said, “but among the cousins the sacred number is four, because there are four directions. When cousins share smoke, they are offering it to the spirits of the four directions, which ensures that no spirit is forgotten, and they are asking the spirits to make note of the bond of peace and friendship that the smoke represents. If that bond is broken, it makes the spirits angry.”

“And you don’t want to see those old spirits angry,” Jack put in.

“So . . . you want me to smoke with you?” Rabedy asked.

Cassie and the two canids all nodded.

The bogan couldn’t seem to believe this.

“You would make a bond with me? But I’m just a useless bogan.”

“You’re not,” Cassie said. “And we’re none of us special. I’m human, Joe’s a mongrel, and Jack . . . “ She smiled. “Well, Jack’s Jack. Individually, no one’s really special. It’s how we connect to each other that’s special. How we can make something good come of that. So the smoke binds that promise and reminds us that we’re not alone, even when we feel we are.”

“I . . . I’m honoured,” Rabedy said.

Jack responded for Joe, Cassie, and himself.

“So are we,” he said.

He lit the cigarette with that old Zippo of his. He offered smoke to the four directions, then passed the cigarette to Rabedy.

It was closing in on midnight in the arroyo by Honey’s den, but her pups were still playing down in the riverbed. Among them was a new foster brother, a black dog that was a little clumsy but his barks were the most joyful.

Cassie and Jack sat on stones close to the riverbed, tossing twigs for the pups, laughing to see the way they’d chase and have mock battles over the little lengths of wood. Higher up on the slope, Joe sat cross-legged in the dirt with Honey beside him.

“Thanks for this,” Joe said.

Honey shook her head. I would have done it anyway. He’s a Child of the Secret, just like Jilly and me.

“Yeah, I kind of figured that was the case. There was too much unhappiness in him for it just to have been caused by these hunts he was forced to go on.”

The Secret pushes us into ourselves, closing us off from the world. The hardest lesson we learn is that it doesn’t have to be that way.

“Not an easy thing to trust in when you’ve had a lifetime to teach you otherwise.”

No. It’s not easy, but it’s worth the effort. Unfortunately, we don’t learn that until after we’ve had the courage to reach out to accept the helping hand.

They were quiet for a moment, watching the pups playing. When Joe sighed, Honey turned to him.

What is it? she asked.