Chance spent the rest of the day pacing from one place to another, first in the house, then outside, then back again, until Jamie got tired of letting him in and out and left him outside. Then he paced around the house, then around again, then lay down on the back porch, got up, and paced some more.

Shadow, for his part, stayed at the edge of the property, looking out at the woods. Each time there was a noise, his hackles went up, but it always turned out to be one of the usual suspects and nothing to get alarmed about. He only left his post when Peter called him to come play ball for awhile. But it was clear Shadow's heart was not in it for once and Peter soon gave up and left him alone, whereupon the dog immediately returned to his station out back.

"I don't understand what's gotten into him," Peter told Uncle Jim.

"He's probably just worried about your parents," Uncle Jim replied reasonably, "Old dogs don't like change."

"But he's looking out back. If he was waiting for Mom and Dad to come home, he would be standing at the mailbox. Besides, they've left before and he's never acted this way."

Jim tried a few more tactics to get Peter's mind off the dog, but eventually gave up. Peter and Shadow were so attuned to one another that they knew immediately when the other was worried about something in more than the usual way. Peter didn't know what was bothering his dog, but he knew it must be something. Unlike Chance, Shadow didn't make a big deal over nothing. Not ever.

There was something out in the woods, Peter was sure of it. Something which had his dog very concerned. He resolved to make sure everyone, kids and animals included, was inside by nightfall. He'd never been scared of the woods before, having lived his whole life here. But if Shadow thought there was something out there, who was he to ignore his dog's warning?

The setting sun only increased Chance's agitation. He added whining to his pacing, and frequently stopped to scent the air. He wasn't sure if it was just his own trepidation getting to him, or if it was Shadow's odd behavior. If Shadow was concerned, he should be too, that much he did know.

"Shadow! Chance!" Peter's voice in the dusk pulled both dogs from their activities.

They came without enthusiasm, knowing they were being called in for the night. They would spend the night inside, where scents and sounds were muffled, where walls blocked their view on every side. But they had a certain amount of confidence in the house. After all, it was able to keep them in or out, so they had sort of formed the belief that it could keep anything in or out, provided that it couldn't use the door. And the doors were locked at night, so anyone wanting in would need a key to open it. They knew this, and yet they still hesitated at the foot of the porch steps. Shadow looked over his shoulder, Chance whined low in his throat.

"Come on, guys," Peter ordered, "Time for bed."

Shadow climbed the steps obediently, and Chance followed, looking over his shoulder time and again, unhappy about leaving the outdoors unguarded overnight. He went at once up the stairs to Jamie's room to wait for his boy to finish brushing his teeth and climb into bed.

Chance had a bed of his own, but would invariably climb onto Jamie's bed as soon as all the lights in the house were out. Tonight, he did not wait for that. He leaped onto the bed immediately and was sitting there when Jamie came in.

"Chance, you're not supposed to be in my bed," Jamie said, "Get in your own."

His pointing finger was enough to send the large dog oozing off the mattress and onto the floor. Chance crawled his way to his own bed and looked over his shoulder miserably, hoping for a change of heart. But the boy knew the house rules. Dogs didn't belong on the bed. As soon as Tracy and Jim went to bed, he would call the dog onto the bed, but until then, Chance had to stay on the floor.

"In bed, Chance," Jamie insisted.

And Chance unwillingly obeyed. He curled up in his dog bed and looked out the window. Night had fallen all in an instant, and the black sky was lit by scores of stars and a bright, almost full moon. Jamie wouldn't need his nightlight tonight, there was enough light coming in through the window that he could get to sleep without it.

In the next room down, Sassy was making herself comfortable on Hope's bed. As a cat, she had certain privileges that the dogs didn't. She was allowed on all the furniture save the kitchen counters and the dining room table. Those two places were her only limitations. And so, the bed of her dearest Hope was also her own bed every night.

Down the hall, Shadow was lying next to Peter's bed. He didn't get into his own dog bed, because he had no intention of sleeping tonight. As soon as Peter was asleep, he was going to go downstairs and keep watch at the door. Something inside was telling him that the safety of the house was only an illusion. He had no reason to believe that. Nobody had broken into the house during his lifetime, nothing had ever breached the security of the doors and windows except for some bugs, maybe a lizard or two and a few mice over the years, which were Sassy's responsibility, not his.

But Shadow had never been one for ignoring his sixth sense. It had served him well and, with a lifetime of practice, he had become near-perfect at separating it from his own feelings, and listening to that sense instead of what he thought or even felt. And his sixth sense was telling him that the house was not the fortress he believed it to be. That something which was out there wasn't gone, and the house was small protection against it, whatever it was.

He lay quietly on the floor right next to the bed until Peter's even breathing said he was asleep, then arose and walked to the door, pushing his nose between the door and the jamb to pry it open. Shadow stepped out into the hall, and looked first up it, towards Jamie and Hope's rooms, then down it towards the master bedroom and guest bedroom. Something didn't seem quiet right, but as he couldn't pinpoint what it was, he attributed it to nerves and went down the stairs without investigating.

He was getting too old for this. His body was weary, he was used to napping most of the day away. His mind, so clear in his younger years, seemed barely able to wrap itself around the problem which had been presented to him. And his nerves weren't as steely as they'd once been. But Chance wasn't mature enough to take over burdens like this one. Not yet. No, for now, this was Shadow's duty.

Shadow lay down at the foot of the stairs, his eyes on the front door, but his ears turned to listen for sounds at the back, his head on his right forepaw. Moonlight stole its way through the curtained windows, reaching almost to where the shaggy dog lay, not quite touching him as he lay in the shadows, out of sight of anyone who might be looking in.

The soft, whispering patter of little cat feet alerted Shadow to the fact that Sassy was descending the stairs. The nonchalance she'd been feigning all day was gone as she slipped down the stairs. She hopped over Shadow and then up onto a chair next to the stairs and from there onto an end table.

She sat down and curled her tail around her paws primly, blinking her large eyes and yawning.

"Go to bed, Sassy," Shadow recommended, lifting his head so he could look at her, "You don't need to worry, I'll protect you."

"I'm not worried," Sassy lied, lifting one forepaw and beginning to wash it, "I just needed some air."

Shadow didn't call her on the lie, instead putting his head back on his paws with a sigh.

"Besides, a cat doesn't need a dog for protection," Sassy went on, as though Shadow were arguing with her, "I can take care of myself."

"Yes," Shadow said softly, "I know you can."

Before he could go on, there was a thump from upstairs, and the sound of nails on the floor. Before long, Chance appeared at the head of the stairs. He trotted down them and leaped over Shadow. This maneuver was less graceful than when Sassy did it, and Chance slid on the floor, nearly knocking into the wall. He avoided this only by splaying out his legs and flattening on his belly.

"Shh!," Shadow scolded, "There are people trying to sleep."

"Yeah well," Chance grunted, getting up, "What's more important: their sleep or their lives?"

"What do you think I'm down here for?" Shadow asked, "It's not because I like sleeping alone."

"You're not alone," Chance pointed out, "You've got us."

Shadow made a small moaning sound, but said nothing.

The animals settled in for the night. Sassy tucked her paws beneath her belly and lay down, resting her head on her chest. Chance crawled under the end table and lay on his side, stretching his legs out so that they stuck beyond the edge of the table. Shadow stayed where he was.

They all tried to stay awake but, one by one, they slowly succumbed to sleep. They were house pets, accustomed to eating, playing and sleeping at regular hours. Adventure was in their past, but it was not in their daily habits, however much some of them liked to pretend otherwise.

Chance was the first to go, and started snoring almost at once. Sassy had to jump down and slap him across the muzzle with a paw to get him to stop. He stretched, then tucked his legs to his body and rolled onto his back, his lips and ears flopping back absurdly. But he stopped snoring.

Satisfied by this, Sassy leaped back onto the end table. But then she had second thoughts and climbed down to the chair next to it and curled up on the cushion, piling up all her feet and using them for a head pillow. It wasn't long before she too was asleep.

Shadow lay awake longer than any of them, holding himself rigidly still, straining to listen for something outside of the house, scenting the air now and then, watching, and waiting, knowing that something was out there.

But as nothing happened, Shadow began to lose some of his vigilance. His body craved sleep, having sorely missed the naps he usually took throughout the day. The longer everything was quiet, the harder it was for the old dog to stay awake. The easy breathing of his companions was soothing, and his eye lids started to droop. Several times he shook sleep off but, as midnight approached, he either gave up the struggle or was defeated by his own need for sleep. In either case, he too fell asleep.

Outside, the wild animals were restless. Something in the dark made them uneasy. They broke from cover, scrambling out into the pale moonlight, fleeing from the unknown, the Unknowable. Non-migratory birds took flight, squirrels leaped from tree branch to tree branch, raccoons and possums scampered through the night. From the mighty fall stags to the insignificant ants, all the animals were trying to get out of the forest. Coming upon the house, a thing of man, the creatures of the wild cut right and left, as water when it meets a boulder, flooding and swarming around the house.

But the two dogs and cat knew none of this, for they were deeply asleep. In the morning, they would discover track and trail, all of which meant but one thing: the beast in the forest was here to stay.

It had chosen this as its killing ground.