“So do we reckon she came?”
“She should have…”
“Please, sir?” Paula begged.
“Yes?”
“I did come, sir, but I couldn’t ask permission because… he was in my mouth and I couldn’t speak. Sir.”
More laughter.
Jonathan spoke again. “Well, that’s as good an excuse as any. But in future if your mouth is full, wait until you can ask and receive permission before you come. Understood?”
Exhausted, Paula nodded consent.
“Time to take these two home, I think.”
The two girls were pulled upright. But instead of marching them off, Jonathan attached their collar leashes to a pair of the hounds.
“They know the way,” he observed, “and they’ll take you home. People may walk dogs, but dogs can walk slaves…” And with a whistle to the dogs and a slap on Amy’s rump, he set them off.
It wasn’t simply a
