Then his eyes rolled up and he dropped to the ground in a heap. Ucho nodded, a grim smile on his face and the men moved in swiftly, picking up the unconscious Marcus, trussing him up and carrying him away.

‘Ucho, I will want to talk to him myself,’ said Father sharply.

‘Aye,’ said Ucho, all smiles now. ‘I’ll just make sure he’s locked up good and proper, and we can grill him in the morning. Not that there’s much left to know, if you ask me.’

‘There is a great deal left to know,’ said Father. ‘But I think you have forced my hand enough for one evening.’ The note of admonishment in his voice was clear.

Ucho either didn’t hear it, or didn’t care, because his grin was undiminished. ‘All right, Father. Tomorrow it is then. And now …’

Without completing the sentence, he walked off, behind the soldiers bearing their prisoner. Around them, the crowd was thinning too, people drifting slowly back into their homes now that the excitement was over.

Albert, Colby and June walked up to Father as he stood there, shaking his head. ‘This could have been handled better,’ he said. ‘I hope Ucho has not given us all cause to regret his actions today.’

‘What else could he have done?’ asked June.

‘Exercised some tact, perhaps.’

‘But if he is guilty, isn’t it better we have him?’

‘The operative part being if. And if he is not, when he wakes up, he will feel himself betrayed, and there is no man I would wish less to have as an enemy than Marcus.’

A pall of silence fell over them, like an invisible blanket, as they considered his statement. June was the first to find her voice. ‘But he’s locked up now, isn’t he? And—’

‘The question is, for how long?’ asked Father.

‘Well, the commander’s going to have him trussed up and watched and double-watched,’ said Colby. ‘No getting out. Will he be tried, Father?’

‘We will see,’ said Father. ‘But as the evidence stands, it very much looks like we’ll have to. Perhaps as soon as the morning.’

‘He’ll get the Pit if he’s guilty, won’t he?’

‘There is no point in speculating about anything,’ said Father. ‘He has not yet been found guilty.’

‘I’m just saying that if I know the commander, he’ll want the Pit for him, and after a bit in there, Marcus won’t have the strength to do much.’

‘I would not be so certain. Marcus is no ordinary man. He has survived things that defy belief more times than I can tell you.’

‘What do you mean?’ asked Albert, curious.

Father shook his head, looking at the ground. ‘This is not the time,’ he said. ‘I have much to think about.’