‘Don’t do that,’ she said quickly. ‘Grint told you to stay there. And if you do come down here, they could block up the entrance and then we’d both be trapped.’

‘Who’s they?’

‘Anyone.’ Her voice was beginning to rise again, and all things considered, he didn’t blame her.

Striving to sound casual, so as not to alarm her, but at the same time concerned she would feel he was underplaying the fears of someone standing alone and abandoned in a possibly cursed tomb, he said, ‘Well, if you’re going to stay put, then my advice would be to check out the tomb again. The last thing you need is to be sitting there imagining all sorts of things in the dark. Or come out now. The choice is yours.’

There was a pause and then she said, ‘I’m going to look.’ Despite the brave words, her voice trembled.

‘Do you want me to keep talking to you? Will that help?’

‘No, I don’t think so. I need to be able to hear as well as to see.’

‘All right, if you say so, but keep your link open, just in case.’

‘All right.’ Luke heard the rustle of her clothing as she moved away.

He took a few paces to stretch his legs, stared for a while at the brilliant black and silver sky above him and then turned to survey the rest of the valley. Nothing moved. Other than the mournful wind there was silence. The immediate hills showed dark and jagged against the slightly lighter sky. The darkest things were the long, sharp, black shadows all pointing towards him. The landscape was still black and silver. The air was chilly. Dawn could not be far off. He wondered what was happening where Matthew was.

He turned back to face the tomb.

Luke Parrish was the son of a very rich man. His slightest wishes had been indulged since an early age. He had the means and the ability to engage in almost any pastime that had taken his fancy and dangerous sports had figured high on that list. He was a passable rock climber. He’d undertaken several parachute jumps, including free-fall. He drove fast cars. They hadn’t been particularly fast before they encountered Luke Parrish, but they’d certainly been fast during their relationship. Some of them not for very long. He’d white-water rafted. He’d even bungee-jumped, although that might have been the result of a too-convivial evening rather than a genuine desire to risk life and limb. In other words, he’d experienced situations that had made his heart race and his adrenalin pump.

He was experiencing another one now.