Chapter 8 Cont.

Whenever there is a life-changing event, we as humans know that we must cope with it in our own private way. We also know that at some point another event has to happen for us to come to terms with it, and that is exactly what "The Burning of the Mutts" is for Fidelis. It happens when a pack of feral dogs tears to shreds the only living remnant of Eva's time on earth: the family of chinchillas that she purchased for the boys. Inspired by some deep feeling of revenge, Fidelis patiently sets a trap and waits for them in the dark, picking them off one by one with a former sniper's deadly skill. It is a perfectly appropriate symbolic end to something that had been gnawing at everyone for so long. As the dogs charred bodies smoldered in the fire Fidelis had lit, a peace seems to settle over the family, and tired, they all went to bed satisfied. It seems like a simple thing, but to them it must have been a pivotal move for Fidelis to make. Life had been sorely taking advantage of them, and now they experienced the power to take back control in their own lives. Delphine, however, appreciates the idea that one dog could escape Fidelis, because, unlike him at this point, she has the capacity to appreciate the untamed world. At the end of the chapter, we see their relationship taking on a new dimension as unspoken-but-known feelings linger between them, biding their time until they are ready to progress into unknown territory.