*Danny called. About ten minutes ago,' he said, his gaze sliding past me. *This must be Sergio,' he added, removing his sunglasses. *Hi, Sergio. I'm Reuben.'

I cut in before Sergio had a chance to respond.

*Whaddaya mean, Danny called you? How did Danny call you, when he doesn't even have a mobile phone?'

Reuben raised his eyebrows. *Danny's got a satellite phone. Ordinary mobiles don't work out here,' he explained, before turning to gesture at his van. *I've got one too.'

Speechless with shock, I stared at him. I couldn't believe my ears. Reuben, however, was more interested in Sergio than he was in me. Fixing Sergio with a sombre look, he said, *How long were you down in the tanks?'

*I dunno,' Sergio mumbled. *A long time.'

*Danny's got a phone? ' I interjected. *Are you kidding? '

*It's the twentieth now. The twentieth of January,' Reuben told Sergio, ignoring me. Sergio's eyes immediately glazed over as he began to run some calculations.

*The bastard! ' Boy, was I mad! If Danny had been there, I would have decked him. *He wouldn't call my mother! He lied to me!'

*I've been down there ten months,' Sergio finally revealed. He was talking to Reuben. *Ten months and seven days.'

*Yeah?' Reuben nodded slowly. *I was down there for five years,' he went on, *so I know how you feel.'

He grabbed my arm when I tried to brush past him. *Where are you going?'

*To get your phone.' I couldn't shake him off, no matter how fiercely I tugged and twisted. He was a very strong guy. *I need to call my mum.'

*Wait,' he said.

*Buta"'

*In a minute. When we've worked things out.' Before I could protest, he jerked the rifle away from me. *Where's Danny?'

*He went to get his dog,' Sergio replied.

*Is that his truck, over there?' asked Reuben, squinting off to his left. Turning, I saw that Danny's motionless truck was now clearly visible in the distance.

So was the figure striding towards it.

*That's Danny,' I said. He was carrying the shotgun, and a black dog was bounding along behind him. *Is he leaving?'

*Hell, no. He must be bringing the ute back here,' Reuben deduced, then scowled. *So who's on guard duty?'

*The dogs,' Sergio and I both chorused.

*The dogs ?'

*And we chained those guys to the floor,' I added. *Both of 'em.'

*There are two?'

*Yeah,' I said.

*But there might be another one,' Sergio piped up. *I saw another one a few days ago, only he's not here now.'

*Right.' Reuben shouldered the rifle. When he took a deep breath, bracing himself, I realised that he didn't want to enter the house. Perhaps it held too many bad memories. *So they're down in the tanks?' he asked.

*Uh-huh.' I nodded. As he marched through the front door and down the hallway, I suddenly remembered the question that had been bugging me since I'd first woken up. *Hang on. Wait,' I said, scampering after him. *How did you find out I was here? Who told you?'

*No one told me, ' he rejoined. *But I know the guys who own this place. The McKinnons. And someone told them .' Hesitating on the kitchen threshold, Reuben pocketed his sunglasses. Then he proceeded towards the stairs. *The McKinnons used to get tips about werewolf activity from a dogger. I told you about him, back at Sanford's place. Well, last night this dogger called up outta the blue. Said he'd been talking to some other dogger in Broken Hill, who musta been talking to your third guy. The Third Man. The one who's not here.'

*Buta"'

*Apparently, the Third Man was babysitting Sergio while his mates were in Sydney, tracking you down. And the babysitter boasted about it in a pub somewhere. Told his dogger friend that there was gunna be some kinda fight pretty soon. Dumb jerk.' Reuben stared down into the basement. Then he discarded his crowbar and unslung his rifle. *So Dogger Number One heard about all this from Dogger Number Two,' he went on in a distracted tone, *and called the McKinnons just to make sure they knew what was happening on their property. Which they didn't, of course. Christ, I can't stand the smell around here. Makes me sick.'

*So the owners told you? About the men in this house?' I demanded.

*Yeah.'

*Why?'

*Because we're all on the same side now a" us and the McKinnons.' Before I could interrogate him further, Reuben went on to say, *When I found out there was someone in the tanks, I figured it had to be you. I knew you were missing, see, because your mother decided to sic the cops on Father Ramon.'

*She did? '

*Bloody right she did. And she gave them my name, too. It was lucky we all had alibis.'

*But . . .' I was amazed. *You mean she thought you'd kidnapped me?'

*Sure,' Reuben confirmed. *It makes sense. Me and Father Ramon had been sniffing around, so she told the police all about us. I had to pretend I was a total flake a" weird but harmless. I had to talk about crystals and poltergeists, so they'd figure I was the kinda nut who always goes around telling people they're shapeshifters or water diviners, or whatever.' With a sigh, Reuben wrenched his gaze from the yawning hole in front of him so he could look at me. *Thank God you've been in trouble lately. I reckon those cops think you ran away, because of that dingo-pen business.'

*And Mum? What does she think?'

Reuben shrugged. *Don't ask me. I haven't talked to her. I've been too busy organising a rescue squad a" it's a good job Danny lives so close to Cobar.' Suddenly he addressed Sergio. *Danny says one of 'em's a Yank, is that right?'

*Lincoln,' Sergio agreed. *The older one.'

*Figures.' Reuben gave a nod. Then he clattered downstairs, tucking the rifle under his arm. *Let's see what Lincoln's got to say about Forrest bloody Darwell . . .'

I didn't try to follow him. I didn't even wait to see what Sergio would do. Instead I charged straight back into the hallway and out the front door, knowing that Reuben had left his phone somewhere in the cabin of his van.

I had decided that, come hell or high water, I was going to call my mum.

When I reached the van, I discovered that it was locked. But the driver's-side window was open about ten centimetres a" and I figured that I was skinny enough to wriggle my arm through the hole, once I'd found something to stand on. So I searched the junk-strewn yard until I uncovered a rusty petrol drum, which I placed beside the door that I was trying to open.

Meanwhile, Danny's truck was bouncing towards me over the tussocks and salt-pans. It was a kind of race, I guess. By the time I'd groped my way down to the inside lock, Danny had parked nearby. And I'd only just gained entry to the van when a black dog sprang from the open door of his truck, barking and snapping, its lips curled back in a ferocious snarl.

*What the . . .?' I froze. The dog kept barking, but didn't bite. It just sat at my feet, threatening to bite.

I hardly dared move my lips. *What's going on?' I croaked.

Danny jumped down from his truck.

*I dunno,' he retorted, pulling the shotgun out after him. There was a sardonic glint in his eye. *You tell me.'

*I'm getting something for Reuben,' was all I could think of to say.

Danny didn't buy this story, though. *Whyn't he give you the keys?'

*He forgot.'

*Oh, yeah?'

*He did!' I insisted. When I saw Danny sneer, however, I lost it. *You lied to me!' I bleated. *You do have a mobile phone!'

*The hell I do.' He was grinning. *I've got a satellite phone. It's a whole different gadget.'

*Arsehole!'

*Brat.'

*I've gotta call my mother !'

*Aww. Boo-hoo.' Danny's toddler imitation was like a slap in the face. *Izza poor liddle boy missing his mummy?'

I was suddenly so mad, I stopped caring about the dog. I think I might have wanted it to attack me, so I could kick its leathery butt clear across the International Date Line. But when I reached for Reuben's phone, which was sitting beside the gearstick, it was Danny who pounced. He lunged forward and caught my wrist.

*Nuh,' he said. *No way. You wanna use someone's phone, you ask 'em. Nicely.'

*Screw you!'

*See, that's not the magic word. That won't get yiz anywhere.' Yanking me out of the van, he nearly dislocated my elbow. *You're supposed to say, "Please Mr Ruiz, sir, can I use your phone?"'

*Ow! Ow! Let go!'

*" Please , Mr Ruiz, will you let go?"' He was putting on a high-pitched whine that I probably would have found insulting, if I hadn't been in so much pain.

*Ow! Ouch! Okay! Please!'

Whoomp! He kicked the door shut.

*We'll have a talk, we'll decide what to do, and then we'll start making phone calls,' he announced. *We're not calling no one till we figure out what we're gunna say to 'em. All right?'

*All right! Jeez!'

*Where's me rifle?'

I explained that Reuben had it.

*Good.' He began to pull me towards the house. *And the other kid? Where's he?'

*Sergio? I'm not sure.'

*That kid's about to blow. I know the signs. You better watch that kid, he's a mad dog.' Danny seemed to find this amusing; he snickered to himself as he shoved me ahead of him, through the front door and down the central passage. I didn't put up any sort of fight. Conscious of the fact that he was armed with a deadly weapon, I let him hustle me back into the kitchen a" where Sergio was yanking open drawers and cupboards.

*I can't find a single one,' he told Danny.

*Huh?'

*I can't find any padlocks! You wanted padlocks!'

*Oh. Right.' Danny shrugged. *It's no big deal. I might have something in the ute. Or Reuben might be able to help. Where is he, anyway?'

*Down there,' Sergio replied, pointing.

Danny raised his eyebrows. Then he dragged me over to the top of the stairs. * Reuben! Oi! ' he yelled. * You okay? '

During the pause that followed, I could feel Danny's grip tightening on my T-shirt. At last, however, Reuben responded with a *Yeah! I'm good!'

Danny's grip relaxed. *Need help?' he queried, adjusting his volume a little.

*Nah. I'm fine,' came Reuben's muffled answer. *This gate down here isn't locked, y'know.'

*I know. You got a padlock?'

This time the silence was so long that even I started to worry. Had Reuben been ambushed? Was he being held at gunpoint?

At last he said *Yeah,' very reluctantly.

*You wanna get it, then?' Hearing no reply, Danny continued a" with a distinct edge to his voice. *Once those bloody cells are secured, we can siddown and work out what we're gunna do next, eh? Before this kid calls his mum.'

*Yeah, yeah. Okay.' All at once Reuben appeared at the foot of the stairs. He was looking ruffled and tense. *That American in there works for Forrest Darwell,' he revealed, jerking his chin at one of the cell doors.

But Danny wasn't enlightened. With a frown, he said, *Who's Forrest Darwell?'

*Jesus, Danny, I told you about him!' Reuben snapped. *He runs werewolf fights in the us! He tried to buy me from the McKinnons! Don't you remember?' Appeased by a grunt from Danny, Reuben added, *I'm gunna kill Forrest Darwell. I'm gunna get 'im down in a pit and rip his goddamn throat out.'

This didn't impress me at all. In my opinion, Reuben's priorities were skewed. Why the hell should we be worrying about someone living in America, when we had so many more immediate concerns?

*First we should warn the police!' I exclaimed.

*No.' Danny's tone was flat and hard. *First we get the padlock,' he said. *Then we secure the gate. Then we siddown with a cuppa tea and work out our next move.' He narrowed his eyes at Reuben. *You good with that?'

*Yeah,' Reuben replied. *I'm good with that.'

*Okay.' Danny released me at last, before slapping me on the back. *Let's get this show on the road, then.'

R euben's padlock was attached to the rear door of his van, which he wouldn't let anyone touch. *That van is borrowed,' he said. *If you guys lay a finger on it, I'll tear you apart.'

He then went off to retrieve the padlock, taking his crowbar with him. He also parked the van in a shed that stood near the house. *I don't want it getting too hot,' was the explanation he gave, when asked why he'd even bothered. Danny muttered something about mollycoddling perfectly healthy vehicles, before wondering aloud why Reuben had brought a van in the first place. *Why not a four-wheel drive?' Danny wanted to know.