He stood back to let Nat and Woody get closer to the bars. Despite Nat’s reluctance to have Scale behind them (he kept imagining Scale’s teeth folding into the back of his neck), his curiosity got the better of him. There was something lying on the floor of the cell; its sides heaving, its breathing harsh and irregular.

Nat moved forward until his nose was inside the bars, his pupils enlarging to accustom his eyes to the gloom. A large wolflike creature lay there, its eyes closed, seemingly asleep.

“A new recruit.” Scale grinned, his eyes glowing like embers. “He’s sleeping it off. The change comes about three or four hours after they’re … er … recruited. Then they learn to regulate like the others.”

Nat and Woody stared at Scale. Woody took a deep breath.

“How many others have you ‘recruited’?” he spat.

Scale turned to face them, his expression sorrowful once more.

“It’s a terrible compulsion I have,” he said.

Nat glanced at Scale. He did sound quite remorseful; maybe they had been too hard on him.

“So how many?” asked Woody again.

Scale’s eyes shimmered and gradually changed color from orange to molten red; they were quite beautiful. “Eleven,” he admitted. “Five are almost ready for conversion to our special forces.”

Nat began to feel a little dizzy; Scale’s gentle voice sounded so comforting.

He watched as the wolf creature inside the cell shifted its head toward the door; maybe it could hear them. Its pelt was so finely blond that Nat had mistakenly thought it bald at first. Its half-open eyes were almost pure orange, the pupils tiny black pinpricks. Nat thought he had seen eyes like that before, only then they had been blue.

“Look at its eyes,” he breathed. “They remind me of someone.”

“Never mind its eyes!” cried Woody in surprise, pointing to the wolf’s foreleg. “That’s your watch!”

CHAPTER 23
REDEMPTION

The moonlit marina was deserted. Mick ran across the rickety boardwalk to where the Diamond Lil bobbed gently on her mooring. He was doubtful that Nat would have taken Woody aboard, but he had promised Jude he would search everywhere they might have hidden. As he expected, it was empty; there was nowhere for a boy and a large animal to hide. He paused at the cabin door, felt around in the darkness, and found what he was looking for. He locked up despondently and jogged back to Camellia Lane.

It was almost dark when he got home, and for the first time that summer, Mick felt a chill. There was another strange car outside the house, and Mick groaned inwardly. What now?

He was greeted at the door by Apple, her eyes red from crying.

“Thank goodness!” she cried. “Hurry.”