Childermass can only offer yet another shrug, as he can't exactly read the little beast's mind. All he can do is set off after him, slowly but surely. It's true that Strange is the worst off since Childermass at least knows how to walk on ice. It just takes a very, very long time versus what Baker can do.

Four legs are definitely better than two in this case. Every time the pair of magicians manage to catch up, the Growlithe takes off again, then stops and waits. This will happens at least twice until they've reached the dead center of the lake (or close enough to it, anyway). The ice out here isn't much thinner, creaking under their weight, but not willing to give out just yet. It's at that point Baker stops and sits and doesn't move again once they reach him.

"Out here?" Childermass looks around them. There's nothing else out on the ice. "I see no faerie, that's for sure."