The sheep let out a throaty bleat, but the lamb had calmed down. It eyed Daniel sceptically as he inched his way slowly towards it. Finally his feet touched the ledge. The lamb stood frozen. The ledge was so narrow, I couldn’t see how Daniel was going to reach down without risking falling. I could grab one of his hands, but he’d need both to pick up the lamb.

‘Hang on, I’m coming forward.’ Heart pounding, I shuffled right to the edge, stretched out, and grabbed his collar. ‘Right. I’ve got you.’

Daniel squatted slowly, talking softly to the lamb. I allowed myself to go a little lower, so I could keep hold of him. He reached around the lamb, lifted it smoothly into his arms, and then stood tall again. It struggled briefly and then gave up. ‘Got it. You can let go of me and move back a bit, then take the lamb from me.’

I let go of his collar, shifted back and stabilised myself, reached and took the warm, squirming thing from Daniel’s outstretched arms. It was surprisingly heavy, and softer than I’d expected. As I took it, I caught sight of a white object snagged on a root that protruded from the cliff below the ledge Daniel was on. I twisted around to let the lamb go, and looked back down. ‘What’s that, Daniel?’

The sheep let out a bellow. The lamb’s four legs straightened and it stood blinking and looking baffled. Finally it let out a bleat and charged to its mother without so much as a thank you.

Daniel reached below him, towards the thing I’d seen. ‘I can’t get it,’ he said.

I shuffled nearer to the edge and peered down. It was a doll’s face mask. ‘It’s what the girl was wearing,’ I said. ‘The Pale Child.’

‘Just a kid’s toy,’ Daniel said. ‘Could be anyone’s.’

‘Can you reach it? It might be important.’

‘Er … not without risking falling off the cliff.’

‘Don’t do that.’

He sighed and moved into a squatting position and then onto his stomach on the ledge.

‘No, it’s okay … Daniel, don’t kill yourself.’

He reached down and managed to grab the mask. Then stood and passed it to me, before scrambling up from the ledge and brushing himself down.

‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘I didn’t mean you to put yourself in danger.’

The mask was thin plastic with a stretchy cord to go round the back of the head, like the one the girl in Hannah’s video had been wearing. Presumably the girl we’d followed up here had been wearing it. Was she the Pale Child that Violet and Gary had seen?