"A walk would be nice," Greta says, because it would - and because she doesn't like to think about what saltwater and sand would do to Angus. The odds of him staying on the beach and behaving himself seem slim, and he has so much fur he'd probably never dry out. As if reading her mind, he grins up at her innocuously from beneath his Aqil hat. "Besides," she says, looking at him sidelong, "if Angus got wet, he'd be a mess."

"Maybe I'll jump in anyway," he says, ambling toward the path. He probably won't make any sudden moves with Aqil as a passenger, though.