I do not know when I fell asleep but Tall bolts awake in a beam of sunlight and Vicious Set is stretching and grooming. Tall shrugs me off and goes to groom himself. He doesn’t need to tell me that I have neglected Pack. I know how I failed. I have made it worse. This horrible Damp-World. These confusing data we are collecting. The company of a dog who may not be of-Pack. And I made it worse. All I had to do was sniff^ for half the night. In training, we did several all-night sniffs. Anything could have happened. We are in unfamiliar territory, among who knows what and I just fell asleep.

I must provide. I slink out with my belly, tail and ears down. I glance at Tall. He is scent-masked, facing away from both of us with equal disgust. These lands are full of small prey, that is certain. I quickly collect some long-eared, small-bodied rodents^. None can outrun me. I return with them in my cache-pouch and disgorge the pile in front of Tall. I sit away from the provision, showing my submissiveness. Tall sniffs at them for a moment and there is a brief pause. He acknowledges the gesture, but he has not forgiven me. As this silent exchange occurs, Vicious Set jumps onto the pile of provision. He goes to take the best rodent – it was Wilderness-ready; it is fat and well-muscled.

My fury is absolute. I leap on Vicious Set and bite his mane, growling. Tall does not intervene but does scent surprised at my behaviour. Vicious Set wrestles the kill from me, swiping at my face and swelling. He lollops away to enjoy his prize. I am bleeding and sore, but I am still so angry. He took the only thing I did right. If he hadn’t gone straight into deep-sleep, then I would not have had to keep sniff for so long. I would have not let down Tall or Pack. I attack him again, snarling and ripping and tugging on anything I can reach. I do not notice the tears of his claws in my flesh. I want the provision back.

I finally give up when he has pulled a mouthful of flesh out of my shoulders. He takes what is left of the ruined provision and leaves. I return to Tall, who does not react but shows me the provision he has left for me. Not the best of what was left. But why would I deserve better?

“We will need to return to camp so a quarter-dog^ can give you something for those wounds. I will leave a scent-post for Vicious Set. If he has not re-joined us by Rise, I will send you back to HQ alone and return to find him.” Alone? I hadn’t realised how angry he was. It is shocking enough to leave Vicious Set alone for a day. Dogs can go where they choose, but they are not left behind. To leave me, injured, alone is another thing altogether. I turn away to clean the wounds that I can reach. It’ll have to do. We begin to walk back. We only have to cover 1.5 days^ to get to HQ. We did that in a day on the way out. I am sorer the longer I walk. Before we sleep, Tall grooms the wounds on my back. I can feel one of them is hot. There is no sign of Vicious Set when Tall takes first sniff.

When I am woken with a nudge, it is much later. I am woken by Vicious Set not Tall. We exchange nothing as he goes to sleep against Tall’s back. I must stand sentry and do it well. I must care for Pack.

I do not feel well. One of my wounds is hot and tight. It has the beginnings of an infection. I can smell the decay. I cannot clean it thoroughly since it is on my back. The pups inside me are slower. My body needs to fight off the infection, so they are lying still. I am feeling anxious. I pace.

The Rise hungting-degree^ comes. I wake the others and encourage them to press on. Something is wrong.