I looked back at the girl on the spillway. With a jolt I realised it was Frankie, Kirsty’s daughter, producer of impressive drawings, including of this place. She started shifting downwards, into the spillway.

‘Frankie!’ I shouted. ‘No!’

She was holding her phone in front of her, presumably videoing what she was doing. The steps were mossy. Slippery. And they got narrower as they descended. One hand was on the phone. If she slipped, she’d fall into the hole, just like Daniel Twigg’s little brother had.

Jai appeared at the base of the pile of stones. He looked up at me.

‘Go up,’ I shouted, while trying to call Daniel again. ‘But carefully.’

Jai scrambled up the stones and stood with his hands reaching up to the edge of the spillway. He twisted his head towards me and yelled, ‘The rim’s curved. I’m trying, but I can’t get any purchase.’

‘I think she knocked the top stone off the pile,’ I shouted.

I looked again at Frankie. She’d shifted lower in the spillway, still videoing. ‘Frankie, come on out!’ I shouted. ‘You’ve got your video.’

Jai was scrabbling with a stone, heaving it to the top of the pile, climbing again. He bounced up onto one leg and dragged himself onto the spillway rim. He said something to Frankie, but his words were carried away by the wind..

I stood frozen. What if she slipped now? Would it be our fault for going after her?

Frankie dropped her arm and looked at Jai. He shifted closer.

She hesitated and then shifted one foot upwards. A scraping on stone and she fell back a step. I felt a spike of adrenaline.

She righted herself and crawled up out of the hole. Jai took Frankie’s hand and led her away.

We walked back across the dam towards the car, Frankie beside us. She’d taken the mask off.

‘I need to phone the station,’ I said. ‘Daniel called me.’

Jai’s head whipped round. ‘Daniel? What did he say?’

‘He said we should talk to Kirsty and that he was sorry, but then he got cut off. I’ve got the number he called on. Go on ahead.’

I tried Daniel again. No answer. I called Fiona and gave her the number he’d called from, then ended the call and ran as fast as I could to catch up with Jai and Frankie.

Frankie was talking. I slowed and slipped in beside Jai.

‘I know what you’re thinking.’ Frankie projected her voice away from us, in the direction of the water.

Jai’s voice was soft. ‘What’s that?’

‘Why am I dressed like this?’

‘You can dress however you want,’ Jai said. ‘But I suppose we are wondering if people might mistake you for the Pale Child.’