"Yes!"
"Good. You want to get out of here alive?"
"I"ll kill them all!"
"Right, right, but there"s dozens of "em, see. You won"t stand a chance. They"ll tear you to bits. Dogs"re a lot nastier than wolves."
In the shade the eyes narrowed.
"Why"re you telling me, dog?"
"Cos I"m here to help you, see? You do what I tell you, you could be out of here in half an hour. Otherwise you"re a rug on someone"s floor tomorrow. Your choice. O"course, there might not be enough of you left to make a rug."
The wolf listened to the baying of the dogs. There was no mistaking their intent.
"What did you have in mind?" it said.
A few minutes later the crowd was gently nudged aside as Carrot edged his horse towards the pen. The hubbub died. A sword on a horse always commands respect; the rider is often a mere courtesy detail, but in this case it was not so. The Watch had put the final swell and polish on Carrot"s muscles.
And there was that faint smile. It was the sort you backed away from.
"Good day. Who is in charge here?" he said.
There was a certain amount of comparison of status, and a man cautiously raised his hand.
"I"m the deputy mayor, y"honour," he said.
"And what is this event?"
"We"m about to bait a wolf, y"honour."
"Really? I myself own a wolfhound of unusual strength and prowess. May I test it against the creature?"
There was more mumbling among the bystanders, the general consensus being: why not? Anyway, there was that smile...
"Go ahead, y"honour," said the deputy mayor. Carrot stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled. The townspeople watched in astonishment as Gaspode walked out from between their legs and sat down. Then the laughter started.
It died away after a while, because the faint smile didn"t.
"Is there a problem?" said Carrot.
"It"ll get torn limb from limb!"
"Well? Do you care what happens to a wolf?"
Laughter broke out again. The deputy mayor had a feeling he was being got at.
"It"s your dog, mister," he said, shrugging.
The little dog barked.
"And to make it interesting we"ll wager a pound of steak," said Carrot.
The dog barked again.
"Two pounds of steak," Carrot corrected himself.
"Oh, I reckon it"s going to be interesting enough as it is," said the deputy mayor. The smile was beginning to prey on his nerves. "All right, boys, fetch the wolf!"