Page 35 of The Witch & the Hound
But she didn't move. Just pressed herself smaller against the hull.
I understood immediately. She was wedged in there, probably squeezed through a gap to hide, but now she was too scared or too cold to move. Or maybe the gap that let her in wouldn't let her out again.
"Lily, are you stuck?" I asked gently.
A pause. Then, very small: "I can't get out."
Ethan's breath caught. Bram was already assessing the space, too small for him to fit through, too narrow for me in this dress.
But maybe...
"Ethan," I said. "Can you fit under there?"
He looked at the gap, then nodded. "I think so."
"Okay. I need you to go slow. Tell your sister you're coming to help her. Keep talking so she knows where you are. Can you do that?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Smart kid. Brave kid.
He got on his stomach, already talking in a steady stream: "It's okay, Lily. I'm coming. You're not in trouble. Mom's not mad. Nobody's mad. We just want you to come home. Can you see me? I'm coming through now..."
He wormed his way under the tarp, into the narrow space between the boat and the dock. I could hear him talking, his voice muffled, reassuring his sister in the darkness.
Bram stayed crouched beside me, watching intently. His tail was perfectly still, the way it got when he was focused.
"Good call," he said quietly. "Using the brother."
"She trusts him. That's worth more than any authority I could claim."
A moment later, Ethan's voice carried back: "I've got her hand! She's coming!"
"Slow," I called. "Nice and easy. No rush."
The tarp shifted. Movement in the shadows. Then Ethan's head appeared, backing out carefully, towing his sister behind him.
Lily emerged, filthy, tear-stained, and shaking, but whole. Alive. Safe.
The second she was clear, Bram handed over the jacket he'd used to track her.
"You're okay," I told her. "You're safe now. We're going to take you back to your mom."
She looked up at me with huge, scared eyes. Then at Bram, and her expression shifted to awe and terror combined.
"He's the dog man Ethan met," she whispered.
"I am," Bram confirmed, his voice gentle. "And I'm very glad we found you."
"Are you going to eat me?"
"No," he said seriously. "I only eat steak. And microgreens, apparently."
She blinked, confusion cutting through the fear. "What's microgreens?"
"No one knows," I said. "Come on. Let's get you home."
I stood, holding out my hand. She took it, her small fingers cold in mine.
