He had only been renting the house for a few hours, but it felt a bit like it was his. The simple fact that he was staying there had already made it his land, his territory. This was his home, and the commotion below outraged him, particularly as he couldn’t understand it. He felt like a fool with the long meat knife in one hand, his phone in the other, and was getting ready to turn back when he saw a black shape about ten metres away from him. He could make out the silhouette of a tall animal keeping watch; it could be a dog – a big dog – or a wolf. He froze at the sight of this beast, which seemed to have come out of nowhere, not to mention the fact that the animal must have seen him long before he had noticed it, might have been following him for hours. And yet the animal did not move, engrossed in the sight and smell of the spectacle below. Franck searched its gaze. When you come face to face with a large dog, the only way to work out its intentions is to read them in its eyes. But in the middle of the dark night, they were like two fluorescent dots, two startling little beacons. Could dogs see in the dark? Yes, probably. The animal had that advantage over him.

Franck felt totally powerless. And the knife, could the dog smell that too? Would it think it was part of him? All Franck knew was that the animal was staring at the foot of the hill; it too had come to watch the night-time scene, but, unlike Franck, it knew what was going on. The most surprising thing was that the dog wasn’t bothered by him being there. It hadn’t barked or growled. In fact, the dog was his only ally. Despite himself Franck clicked his tongue to establish contact. The dog responded straight away by coming closer, suddenly panting heavily as if it had been holding its breath. Franck watched the huge mass approach. The dog sniffed his calves, and then the knife. Franck immediately dropped it, horrified by the idea that the animal might think it was aimed at it. The dog sniffed vaguely at the knife on the ground. Then it lifted its head and looked over towards the hill. Franck lowered himself to the dog’s level; kneeling down, his head was at the same height as the dog’s. He wanted to see its expression, and sensed that it wouldn’t bite or attack him.

‘Who are you, eh? What are you up to over here?’