“Will you stop?” Thom asked, gently tugging Dog’s attention back to front. In one gloved hand he had a clipboard, and with the other he was trying for the umpteenth time to get Dog going the right way. The air was unseasonably cold, and whether it was full of weird scents that only Dog could smell, or it was just inspiring all kinds of happy excitement, Dog was being a complete kook. He kept stopping, tail wagging, tongue lolling, and peering behind them. Or jumping and huffing, trying to pull Thom in the opposite direction. Or running around Thom’s feet and tangling the leash. The short walk to the market was more of a workout challenge than anything else, causing him more than once to remind Dog. “You’re lucky that I like you.”
The parking lot of the market was a wide, empty expanse of
