‘Hey, Digger!’ I hear a voice call from the entrance. ‘MakKarnage is back in the game!’ Mak waves his radio in the air, and gives Ade a chance to duck and roll away from Digger’s arms. Digger skids across the floor, sending glass flying in every direction.

‘Remember me?’ Kat’s voice shouts from above me. I look up to see her leap from the frame of the roof, onto the tree. ‘KittyGrime. I glued you to the climbing wall at Crater Lake.’

Digger looks from Ade, to Mak, to Kat and then scuttles across the floor towards where I’m standing at the base of the tree. I dive behind the 294 pile of presents and he roars in frustration. Then he starts to climb the tree.

‘Do it, Lance!’ Kat calls down. ‘We’ll distract him.’

And I want to help my friends, who are fighting the most horrifying creature I’ve ever seen and in more danger than they’ve ever been before. But I know we need to finish the job, so I push the boxes up against the trunk and the lower branches, and place the firelighters among the ribbon stuff they have around them.

‘You need to get clear, Kat!’ I yell.

‘On it,’ she calls back. ‘Don’t wait!’

I do wait, just for a second, to watch her make an impossible jump from the tree to the second-floor balcony. She falls for half a second, and my heart lurches in my chest, but then she grips the edge with her fingers and pulls herself over the barrier. And then I take the power lighter out of my pocket, and I light up the tree.

Nothing happens, and for a moment I think the flames aren’t catching. I look around for something to help the fire to stick, but as a breeze blows in through the shattered ceiling, I see wisps of smoke start to rise, and then orange flames licking over the shiny gift wrap. 295

‘It’s working!’ I shout, watching as the flames grow and start to tickle the lower branches of the tree. It’s been so hot in here, that even with its root ball feeding it moisture, the tree has dried out like my mum’s chicken, and the fire takes hold fast.