1150. But for Otis it was not alright to start liking the Boy, liking any persons was an invitation to damnation. The job, the entire job, consisted of appearing to like people, appearing to be friendly. But to actually like people was the most dangerous thing that can happen to an undercover wolf. The best situation is to fall in with angry old farmers who are stupid and abusive, this it the safe way to carry out ones' job.
1151. Making friends with thirteen year-olds was a mistake, and Otis only persisted in his error by telling himself that the job the Boy had was the perfect foil for his examination of almost every farmstead in a wide area free of any suspicion. So what if he happened to like the boy a little, and what did it matter if he might be called upon to defend him some time, life was full of dangers and trials, might as well make the best of the given situation.
1152. The one thing Otis kept trying to insist on was the necessity of not using the roads when traveling from place to place, he kept on suggesting over and over again how pleasant it might be to go through the wild woods by hardly perceptible pathways, rather than out in the open in full view of the Gods knows whom or what, but to no avail.
1153. It was just a matter of time before some dangerous situation arose. When the evil day did arrive Otis saw it coming about half a mile off. He didn't actually see it coming, first he sensed it and then he caught its odor on the evening air drifting their way. Hidden in the evening mist was a group of transients, headed South, unsavory persons smelling of blood, human blood no less.
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