“It’s not Alice,” the reflection said calmly. “It’s your mother. She was mugged this afternoon.”

Valkyrie went cold. “Mugged? By who? By a mortal?”

“Yes. It happened on Main Street. Everyone’s saying it was a stupid place to mug someone. No one ever gets mugged in Haggard. It’s too small. He hit her. She’s fine, but she was brought to hospital to make sure. So we’re all in here.”

“Is she hurt?”

“She has a bruise on her cheek.”

Valkyrie stood in the middle of her room, trying to make sense of this. “Who did it?” she asked. She was surprised at how soft her voice sounded.

“I only heard his last name. Moore. He’s not from Haggard. His car broke down, the Guards said. Dad was in the pharmacy paying, and Mum was standing outside with Alice in the pram and Moore ran up, grabbed her handbag. She pulled it back, he hit her in the face, took the bag and ran right into Dad. Dad threw him through the pharmacy window. The ambulance people put on a few bandages and handed him over to the Guards.”

“He’s still here, then? In Haggard?”

“As far as I know. They rang Dad—”

“Stop calling him that.”

“Sorry. They rang your father and told him they were charging Moore with assault and battery. They still have him in the police station.”

Valkyrie stood very still, the phone to her ear. Her body was numb.

“Are you still there?” the reflection asked. “I have to go. Your father’s waiting.”

“You should have called me.”

“They tell you to turn your phone off when you’re in the hospital building.”

“The moment you heard about it, you should have called me.”

“I was never given those instructions.”

“You should have assumed.”

“It’s not for me to assume anything. As you keep reminding me, I’m not real. I have no thoughts of my own. I only do what I’m told.”

“Then do what you’re told. From this moment on, tell me immediately if anything bad ever happens to my family.”

“Very well. What are you going to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“Now. What are you going to do now?”

“What do you think I’m going to do?”

“I think you’re very, very angry. I think you’re going to break into the police station and hurt the man who hurt your mother.”

Valkyrie didn’t say anything. She hung up the phone, and left the house.

Running was an odd sensation. It was like she was hovering above, watching her body move of its own accord. She watched herself run through the narrow lanes of Haggard, keeping away from the bigger streets and roads, keeping away from people. She passed in and out of shadows, in and out of sight, a wraith in black with murder in mind.