He should really be asking them what they were up to; they were the intruders. He tried to persuade himself to stand up to them. He had to. When he got to the bottom, they looked at one another; he didn’t know whether to shake hands or not. The men didn’t move, the older guy still holding the gun with the barrel pointing down.

Franck sensed that they were a little uncomfortable. They were obviously in their element, but maybe not on their own land.

‘What are you doing here?’

‘What are you doing here?’

‘What are you doing with those ropes?’

‘This is my property, isn’t it? I’m renting it, it’s my land.’

At that, the older man lost his temper, and he raised his gun and pointed it at Franck.

‘It’s nobody’s property, understand? Nobody’s …’

Julien grabbed the weapon and pulled it unceremoniously from the old man’s hands. The dog began to bark and instinctively rushed at the young guy who was now holding the weapon, baring his teeth, ready to bite.

‘Control your dog, damn it!’

‘Alpha, heel, heel …’

Franck had to throw himself at the dog, who had already got the bottom of the guy’s jeans in his mouth. The guy lost his balance, still holding the loaded gun.

‘Control your dog or I’ll shoot it!’

Franck grabbed the dog by the scruff of his neck and pulled him towards him, gripping him so tightly that it might have hurt him, but the dog calmed down and didn’t even react. The four of them remained where they were.

‘Look, guys, I’m not trying to make trouble.’

Julien picked himself up, inspecting the hem of his trousers and found that Alpha had torn them badly.

‘Shit, what’s with this dog?’

Franck didn’t dare say it was his, especially since it wasn’t true and, at the end of the day, the dog was free, he was wild. Now Franck felt like the aggressor, even though the men were armed and could easily have turned their weapon on him. Alpha had just flipped the balance of power. Franck thought he might owe them an apology, or an explanation at least.

‘Don’t worry, I don’t care about your hunting. I’m not going to ask you about it, I assure you.’

‘Just as well,’ replied the old man. ‘Just because you’re renting that place doesn’t mean you’ve got any rights. The woods are ours. These ten thousand hectares are ours, get it?’

‘Look, I don’t give a shit about whose land it is. I just need the cage for a few days, that’s all.’