Angua sighed. "Wait."
Gaspode, the unheeded spectator, watched as Gavin, without taking his eyes off Carrot, very slowly bit the wood in two.
"Carrot?" said Angua sweetly. "Don"t do that again. Gavin isn"t even in the same clan as these wolves, and he took over the pack without anyone even whining. He"s not a dog. And he"s a killer, Carrot. Oh, don"t look like that. I don"t mean he pounces on wandering kids or eats up the odd grandmother. I mean that if he thinks a human ought to die, that human is dead. He will always, always fight. He"s very uncomplicated like that."
"He"s an old friend?" said Carrot.
"Yes."
"A... friend."
"Yes." Angua rolled her eyes and said, in a voice of sing-song sarcasm, "I was out in the woods one day and I fell into some old pit trap under the snow and some wolves found me and would have killed me but Gavin turned up and faced them down. Don"t ask me why. People do things sometimes. So do wolves. End of story."
"Gaspode said wolves and werewolves don"t get on," said Carrot patiently.
"He"s right. If Gavin wasn"t here they"d have
torn me to pieces. I can look like a wolf but I"m not a wolf. I"m a werewolf! I"m not a human, either. I"m a werewolf! Get it? You know some of the remarks people make? Well, wolves don"t make remarks. They go for the throat. Wolves have got a very good sense of smell. You can"t fool it. I can pass for human, but I can"t pass for wolf."
"I never thought of it like that. I mean, you would just think that wolves and werewolves - "
"That"s how it is," sighed Angua.
"You said this was family," said Carrot, as if working down a mental checklist.
"I meant it"s personal. Gavin came all the way into Ankh-Morpork to warn me. He even slept on the timber wagons during the day so that he"d keep moving. Can you imagine how much nerve that took? It"s got nothing to do with the Watch. It"s got nothing to do with you."
Carrot looked around. The snow was falling again, turning into rain above the fire.
"I"m here now."
"Go away. Please. I can sort this out."
"And then you"ll come back to Ankh-Morpork? Afterwards?"
"I..." Angua hesitated.
"I think I should stay" said Carrot.
"Look, the city needs you," said Angua. "You know Vimes relies on - "
"I"ve resigned."
For a moment Gaspode thought he could hear the sound of every settling snowflake.
"Not really?"
"Yes."
"And what did old Stoneface say?"
"Er, nothing. He"d already left for Uberwald."
"Vimes is coming to Uberwald?"
"Yes. For the coronation."
"He"s got mixed up in this?" said Angua.