Roxanne, who had remained cautiously seated in the front, came to join her werewolf to snuggle up in his arms. They were at the beginning of their effusions and Edward had already turned around and gone back to Mamougas.

The professor had returned to his place beside his son, and with a sigh of relief he became absorbed in observing the landscape. Birches and willows shared a flat immensity, crossed from time to time by high-voltage lines. The few rare villages encountered all resembled workers' estates.

Buildings with corrugated iron facades lined up at attention along the road. From time to time they could see the Pechenga River which accompanied...