There were people from town in the lobby, mostly the family and friends of those being treated at the hospital. One person who seemed out of place there was Ernie Ilson, sitting in a chair by the vending machine in the waiting area. An RCMP officer was sitting in the seat next to him.

Noble poked his head into Argus’s room and saw Sergeant Martin on a chair next to the bed.

“Hello, Noble,” he said. “Where’s your father?”

“Right behind me,” Noble replied.

“Good,” said the sergeant. “I want to talk to him.” He got up from his chair. “Do me a favor and watch your brother for a minute. Your father doesn’t want him to be alone.”

“No problem,” Noble said, smiling.

Noble watched the sergeant leave the room, then rushed to Argus’s bedside. With any luck, the ranger and Phyllis would be tied up for a few minutes by people outside Argus’s room.

“How are you?” Noble asked.

“I got shot,” Argus said.

“What were you thinking…” Noble asked, with a slight shake of his head, “running through the forest like that?”

Argus sighed.

“The ranger allowed you to go running along the main roads. What were you doing in the woods?”

Another sigh. “It felt good to run—even as a human on the side of the road—so I just kept running. I didn’t care where I was, or how far I’d gone. Before I knew it, I was halfway around the mountain and it was getting dark. If I came back on the road, who knows what time I would have returned. So I took a shortcut—”

“Through the woods?”

“Through the woods. Right by Ernie Ilson’s place.” Argus shook his head as if he knew it was a stupid thing to do.

“The ranger’s pretty angry. I think he’s disappointed in you, too.”

“I can imagine,” replied Argus. “I’m more worried about facing him and what he’s going to say than I am about being shot.”

“Does it hurt?”

“A little.” Argus shifted on the bed. “The sergeant’s been with me the whole time, so I haven’t had a chance to heal yet. If you watch the door for me, I could change form a few times and be able to leave the hospital tonight.”

“No way,” Noble said. “I’m not going to help you do that.”

“Why not?” Argus said, his eyes wide.

“Because I told him not to…” the ranger said, entering the room, followed by Phyllis, Tora, and Harlan.

Argus’s body sank back into the bed and he pulled the covers up tight over his shoulders.

“And unlike you,” the ranger continued, “Noble has no problem following my instructions.”