They realized that as they walked across the wide space in front of the hotel. There were two dogs, two different howls. The snow here was ice, packed solid by heavy boots. They slid a bit, and Tom fell. He wasn’t hurt. He laughed, and Johnny helped him up. They moved towards a high wire fence. There were lights here too, much higher than the streetlights in Dublin. But it was darker than the front of the hotel. They were moving nearer the trees too, and they could hear the wind in the branches, and the lights swayed. The wind made a singing, screeching noise and in it Johnny heard the howls of the dogs. And he knew: There were more than two dogs – lots more. They reached the fence. It was way up over them, like a fence around a prison. They were really cold for the first time. The snow had seeped through their gloves. They were nearer the howls now. “It’s just dog noise,” said Tom. “Yeah,”
