Her mother touched Tess’s shoulder, must have felt the deep shiver that started at Tess’s knees and vibrated all the way up to Tess’s head. But her mother relented, stayed out with Tess another half hour anyway, shouting over the sounds of cars and Rollers and madly barking dogs until both their voices went dry and hoarse. And even after she forced Tess inside to warm up, she let Tess roam the building, let her search the basement and the elevator and the halls and the roof one more time.

When Tess got back to her apartment, she found her father cooking dinner, Theo doing homework, and her mother folding laundry in front of the TV. Then, it was the rage rather than the radiators that warmed her.

“What are you doing?” she’d shouted at them.

They all stopped, staring.

“She’s out there, and you’re just . . . making stew and folding underwear as if nothing’s wrong!”

“Tess,” her mother began, but Tess roared, “NO!” as loud as she could. With renewed determination, she turned and ran back into the hallway, calling Nine’s name. She knocked on every apartment door, explored every nook and cranny of the building she could think of, including every inch of Grandpa Ben’s place, while Grandpa and Lance watched her, both of them wringing their hands. When she got down to the lobby, she pressed her face to the glass, tears turning to frost on her cheeks, stinging there. Through the glass, she could still hear the incessant barking and whining of the dogs. Why? Why did they keep barking? What were they barking at?

What were they barking at?

She burst from the building, followed the sound of the barks. It led her down the alley along one side, where rows of now-empty cans and dumpsters squatted in the darkness. A lone man pulled at the leashes of a half dozen dogs who were frantically sniffing and barking at one of the dumpsters.

“Will you guys cut it out! LEAVE IT!”

Tess ran up to the man. “What are they barking at?”

“What else? Dog pee, table scraps, garbage. I don’t know! What do you expect from animals with brains the size of baseballs.” He tugged at the leashes again. “I SAID, LEAVE IT!”

The dogs, who ranged in size from teacup to pony, were trying to stick their heads under the dumpster. Tess pushed the pony aside and peered underneath.

“Nine?” she said.

The answer was a frighteningly weak “Mrrow.”