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life is so interesting,” she said, unfurling an umbrella against the storm.
    “Go straight there, Mazy, and don’t tarry.”

Chapter 4
    Finally her house was at rest. Lilly rubbed tired eyes as she went for one last check on Armina.
    The night nurse, Hannah, sat under a dim light. Her fingers worked a skein of blue yarn with two needles. “She’s resting well, Dr. Still,” she whispered. “The aspirin and the alcohol bath did the trick.”
    “Temp?”
    “It was 99.6 fifteen minutes ago.”
    “Very good. I’m going to catch some sleep, then.”
    Hannah laid her knitting aside and followed Lilly to the bedroom door. “So what’s wrong with her, Doctor?”
    “There’s a history of severe sore throat   —now with thefever and the odd movements, I suspect Saint Vitus’ dance brought on by untreated rheumatic fever.”
    “Oh, poor thing.” The nurse shook her head sympathetically. “So we’re in for the long haul.”
    “I’ll go over her treatment plan more thoroughly in the morning, Hannah.” Lilly covered her mouth against a yawn. “You know she must be kept quiet to avoid agitation.”
    “Yes, ma’am, Dr. Still. My sister had the very same thing. I’ll take good care.”
    Lilly’s head had barely dented the pillow before Kip started whining. “Lie down, Kip. You’ve had your walk already.”
    Kip moved to the end of the bed. Taking a guarding stance with ears alert and tail straight out, he growled low in his throat.
    Lilly sighed as her feet sought her bedroom slippers. “I give up,” she said, tightening the sash of her robe. “This had better be important.”
    At the front door she fished a dog lead from the four-gallon crock that held Kip’s things: leashes, brush, worn towels for feet wiping, and such. She kept a carbide lantern sitting on a shelf there as well, and now she switched it on.
    Kip’s little body trembled in anticipation, and he cast a hurry-up look over his shoulder at her. She fastened the lead to a ring on his collar even though the bad weather had passed. Despite Tern’s opinion, the dog was well-behaved and would not stray far from her unless it was storming. Thunder and lightning released something primal in the animal, as if he were in charge of chasing the tempest away.
    Now it was she giving hurry-up looks as Kip strained against the lead, wanting to cross the road instead of using his favorite spot under the lilac bush. Lilly released the lead   —maybe he needed a bit of privacy. As soon as he was free, Kip shot across the road to Armina’s house, traversing two mud puddles on the way. He pushed his nose against the front door, his whole body wagging. When she caught up with him, he rewarded her with a shake of dirty water.
    Lilly positioned the light from the lantern on the doorknob. What could be in the house that had Kip in such a state?
    There was only one way to find out. She turned the knob.
    The door creaked open. The inside of the house was pitch-dark and smelled faintly of spoiled milk. Lilly trained the light on Kip. Along the ridge of his backbone, a line of fur stood stiff as the bristles on a boar’s-hair brush. He whined again, urgently this time.
    Then Lilly heard it   —the weak, almost-ineffectual cry of an infant. Lilly could hardly believe her ears. How very strange. “Good boy, Kip.”
    Armina’s house was small   —just the living room with a kitchen to one side and a bedroom in back. Kip led Lilly to the bedroom.
    She found the baby lying in a basket made of rush that sat in the middle of Armina’s perfectly made bed. Beside the basket she saw a stack of folded diapers and a tin of Cashmere Bouquet talc.
    Kip jumped up on the bed and peered into the basket.“Are you this baby’s mother?” Lilly asked as she scooted him aside and unfastened the diaper pin. A cloud of talc wafted her way. A girl, clean and dry   —Armina must have changed her before her own befuddling incident occurred. Lilly would have much preferred to find