Lise and Franck knew the high rusted bars of the large round cage would protect them from the big dog that was barking furiously, ready to bite. The worst thing was the way it stared at them, howling unrelentingly. They hadn’t been scared of it before, but now, seeing it yowl with such fury, its blood-red gums foaming with drool, they were worried it might attack. They kept away from the bars but the dog could easily have slipped in through the opening. Yet it remained on the other side of the cage, as if something was stopping it from coming in. Franck had a hunch. He took Lise’s arm and told her to follow him. They quietly bent down and crept along the curve of the circular cage towards the opening, and the dog calmed down. Once they got outside the immense birdcage, they carefully stood up again. The dog was still staring fiercely at them, but then it relaxed and came towards them. It became so mellow that it rubbed itself up against them, wagging its tail and offering its side for them to stroke. It was calm and affectionate again. Lise stroked its soft coat, crouching down to put her arms around its neck, as you might do with a friend or a child after a fit of rage. Franck was happy that they had found the dog again, especially there, at the bottom of a pit where he felt so out of place. He could tell that the animal was the master of a world that he and Lise knew nothing about. He wanted to find out why it had barked like that, so he stepped back towards the cage, bent down and pretended to go back inside. The dog immediately stiffened and got to its feet so abruptly that it knocked Lise to the ground, then it started barking again and rushed at Franck, ready to bite him. Franck moved away from the cage, and the dog eased off again. It didn’t want them to go near the cage or inside it or even to touch it.

‘Hey, dog, what happened with the cage, eh, and what’s it doing here?’

‘You know, Franck, we should give it a name.’

‘Maybe it doesn’t have one.’

‘Exactly.’

Lise started to lay the picnic out on a rock a little way off. Meanwhile, Franck inspected the round cage that was more than fifteen metres long and four metres high. This metal hemisphere must have been here for years and probably couldn’t be taken apart any more as the rivets were now welded together by rust. He didn’t dare go inside because of the dog, but there were two wooden barrels right in the middle. From where he was standing, he couldn’t tell if there was anything inside them.