“Come down, Emrallie,” Caroni shouted.

“Not yet. Send Rashelope up with more rope! We can tie the rope onto rocks the whole way up. I dunno, maybe we can even stay here. It’s underground, but high. And the walls drip, so there’s water.”

“Wait. Where does the path we’re on lead to, Sorrel?” Caroni asked. “Around the corner.”

“I didn’t look. I was just taking a break when I saw it.”

“Go and look now.”

The path curved around the mountain and became steadily narrower, until it stopped at a circular breakaway. Sorrel swayed on her feet and put her hand on the cliff at her left to steady herself. She was the wrong person to explore a narrow, precipitous path and she felt angry with Caroni. Look up, she thought. The cliff above her head was sheer – she could see no way up. Then a slice of rock flaked away her under her hand and shattered at her feet. The geology had changed – these rocks wouldn’t hold the ropes or their weight. She pressed her back to the rock face and turned slowly to retrace her steps, wanting to flee, but forcing herself to test every footstep before transferring her weight.

“Well?” Caroni said when she returned.

“We don’t have a choice. The path ends in a breakaway not far away and it’s treacherous. And the cliff’s made of a different kind of rock, breaks up in your hand.”

“That’s it, then,” Caroni said.

Rashelope wrapped herself in rope until she looked like an old-time turtle. She used the first stretch Emrallie had already secured to climb up to the ledge and then they began cutting handholds into the path to the overhang, looping the rope around crags and outcroppings. Even looking up made Sorrel’s head swim.

By the time the ropes were fixed, it was dusk. “Lichen!” Rashelope shouted. “You come up first. You can do it!”

The Zorah stepped forward, her hand on Lichen’s elbow. “We’ll go together,” she said to the girl. “I’ll be right behind you. Sorrel, you bring up the rear – make sure everyone is up before you leave.”

Despite what she’d said earlier, Lichen didn’t hesitate. Her eyes shone with unshed tears and her small hands trembled, but she grasped the rope and began climbing, hesitating at every step. Sorrel wanted to bawl at her to get on with it. The sense of vulnerability and threat she had felt since leaving Jiba was growing.

She heard the rattle of dislodged stones again. “Did you hear that?” she said to Caroni, who had just begun her climb behind Lichen. The Zorah stopped half a metre off the ground.

“Hear what?”

“Stones falling. I think someone – something is coming.”

“Take two of the girls and stay at the rear. Keep a good watch.”

They jostled each other as Caroni gained height, all desperate now to be off the ground.