Beside him Sarah was rigid with fear, praying that they would not die, at the very moment when she had begun to hope again. She turned her head towards Camilla, prone and unmoving on the other side of her.

‘Are you all right? What about your head?’

‘It’s bleeding,’ Camilla whispered. ‘Don’t worry about it. Just pray for us all. Oh God, they’re back. Don’t let us die here, please.’

They heard the sound of footsteps in the room and then the rug was thrown back, leaving them blinking and exposed in the sudden light.

‘Get up.’ One of the men kicked Piet, turning him over on his back and then stooping down to drag him to his feet. ‘You come with us, open the place with the guns. And money. You have a safe with money. Untie his legs.’

‘No. No, he can give you the keys. Please, just take the keys,’ Hannah implored, unable to control her weeping.

They ignored her desperate plea, and she listened as her brother was pushed, stumbling, out into the night. For a long time a heavy silence blanketed the room so that they could hear only their own frightened, shallow breathing.

‘Oh God, no, please don’t take him.’ Sarah was rocking herself to and fro, her hands still tied behind her back, her head beating against the floorboards as the agonising fear spread through her body. ‘Please bring him back safe, dear God. Don’t take him away from us. Please, please, dear God, just let him be safe. Have mercy on us, I beg of You. And above all, let him somehow be safe.’

Beside her Camilla had begun to shiver, her body quivering with fear and shock as images of Piet, living and laughing and vibrant, flashed across her brain. She opened her mouth to pray for mercy, and tasted the blood that was still welling and trickling down her face and across her lips. Hannah was huddled on the floor, her elbows tucked in against her sides to keep her shaking form intact. Suddenly she made an exclamation, turning her head and trying to scramble to her feet.

‘I hear a car,’ she said tersely. ‘It could be Lars.’ The beam of headlights approaching gave them a flicker of hope, and they drew back together. ‘It must be him. But we have to warn him, somehow. They could—’

Then they heard a shot.

‘Oh God. If there’s shooting we’ll all be killed. Lars won’t realise there’s five of them here. Oh God, we’re all going to die now, for sure.’ Hannah was petrified, moaning in her despair.

From outside they heard further gun shots, followed by the sound of pounding feet and car engines revving. Doors slammed, gears crashed, and the noise of vehicles died away. For what seemed like an age there was a deathly stillness. Not an insect could be heard in the awful cavern of the night.