They stumble between the trees, tripping over roots and uneven ground with increasing frequency as they leave behind the glow of the blaze. Anna is about to ask Mats to slow down because she and Lisa can’t keep up with him and Milo when there is a loud shout from Tabor.

‘Damn,’ Mats mutters. ‘They’ve seen the ladder – I should have taken it down. Hurry up – Marie will set the dogs on us, and they won’t obey me.’

He speeds up, and Anna does her best to stay with him. However, Mats is used to the forest, plus she has to help Lisa. After about fifty metres Anna crashes headlong, unable to save herself. There is mud in her mouth, and she has scraped her forehead on something hard and sharp.

‘Are you OK?’ Lisa says. Anna gets to her feet and nods.

‘We have to keep going.’

Mats and Milo have disappeared, and suddenly there is a cacophony of barking behind them. She turns and sees the beams of two torches among the trees. This time Lisa takes her hand, and they set off again.

Their eyes are becoming used to the darkness, and Anna recognises the little brook that she and Agnes once followed. It feels as if several years have passed since then, but in fact the incident with the badger was only a couple of weeks ago.

The barking is getting closer, and she can picture the two big German Shepherds racing along, catching them up metre by metre. She tries to run faster, but her body is sore and she has inhaled a considerable amount of smoke. The taste of blood is in her mouth, and she is beginning to panic. The dogs can’t be much more than a hundred metres away now. The track is steep, and she can feel the lactic acid burning her thighs.

‘Wait!’

Lisa slows down and Anna drags her over the top of the incline before allowing her to stop. Down on the left she can just make out a hollow, and on one of the nearby trees there is something that doesn’t fit in with the environment at all. She takes a couple of steps forward and sees that it’s a square sign. The handwriting is large, rounded and slightly childish.

DANGER! TRAPS!

It must have been Mats who put it up. She thinks for a fraction of a second, then tears down the sign and tosses it aside.

‘Come on – we have to keep going!’ She knows that Mats was hoping a wolf would be attracted by the protective terrain and had therefore set his horrible traps down at the bottom of the hollow. Wolf or dog, it doesn’t really matter; all she has to do is lure the animals to the right place.