‘Kraaa.’ The crow swooped down the shaft to land on her shoulder, sudden and heavy. A warning, clear and urgent. Move. Now. Quick. And another sound, a hissing, a muttering, a movement across the dark space. Whatever they were, they had lost patience. They were coming for her.

Cara let go of the oak root, turned, stumbled forward with arms outstretched, found and seized the rope. The crow flew upward, and as the cavern filled with strange sounds, growling, baying, scampering, whistling, she began to haul herself up after it. No time to think. No time to be afraid. Only breathe and climb. Hand over hand; leg twisted through the rope. Strange fingers reached up to rip at her skirt, to claw at her leg, to pull at her shoes. A sound of feet trampling the earthen floor, many feet. A smell of bodies crowded into the space, musky and choking. Their voices raised in a din of shouting, screeching, taunting. She hauled again, and now she was out of their reach. The crow screamed, for a moment drowning their mockery. Cara climbed.

From the top, now, came the calls of other birds; it sounded as if there was a whole flock of them waiting for her. It became lighter. Not daylight, but an unsteady flickering. Her arms were burning with effort. Every part of her hurt. But she was nearly there. Gormán’s face was as white as a ghost’s as he leaned over the opening.

‘Careful, Gormán,’ Cara called, and her voice came out with no trouble this time, just like anyone else’s. A bit breathless, that was all. ‘Step back from the edge.’

Then she was close enough for him to reach her and help her up the last bit onto the level ground at the top. Her legs would hardly hold her. Her arms ached so much she couldn’t bear to move them. Her palms felt as if they’d been scorched. The other man was saying, ‘Move right away from the drop. Out into the open.’ A big man. A very big man, with a grey dog beside him. He was undoing the rope, which had been tied around a massive stone. Coiling it neatly and putting it over his shoulder. ‘The plan was that we’d come down for you,’ he said mildly. ‘Didn’t expect you to do all the work yourself.’

Gormán drew her away, out into the clearing. The big man picked up the lantern and followed. The light caught his face, a plain, honest sort of face, looking surprised and smiling at the same time.

‘Thank all the gods you’re safe, Cara.’ Gormán’s voice was shaking. Big, strong Gormán who had an answer to every problem. ‘Why didn’t you call out and let us know you were there? If it hadn’t been for those birds we might never have found you!’