"Good," she says loftily, warm with lingering excitement about the dog and, beneath that, relief that they're back to teasing each other again. "I'd better be."

Molly lets out a rather pointed yawn, and Daine glances down at the dog with a faint, guilty smile. "I suppose we'd best be getting back to bed. D'you want to head back, too? Elsewise Sarge knows the way, if you wanted to keep walking."