He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the mattress to rest his feet on the ground. He looked up at all of them. ‘Now, what do we do to find Theo?’

‘Albert,’ Father said, looking unhappy, ‘I really cannot advise—’

‘Then don’t advise. But at least tell me where Theo—’

‘We are still looking.’

He could hear the worry, clouding the usually clear voice. For some reason, it made him angry. ‘Still looking? Where is she?’

‘If we knew that we would not be looking,’ said Father dryly.

‘Well, somebody’s got to know! And you can’t just give up on her like this!’

‘I have certainly not given up on anything, least of all Theo.’

‘Then what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be out there looking? Shouldn’t we all?’

‘Most of Ucho’s men are out looking. We are also conducting a tent-by-tent search of the entire valley. We will find her. But now, Albert, is there anything you can remember at all of what happened, anything that might give us a clue to who these men were?’

‘It was dark,’ said Albert. ‘And it all happened so fast. I just remember there was this arm, with a red band around it, and this voice saying I couldn’t come, and I saw them forcing her into this sack. Then they hit me again and I blacked out.’

‘Is that all? Can you remember anything else? Did he say anything else?’

‘Only that she was special, and I wasn’t.’

Ucho made an explosive noise, as if he had sneezed with his mouth shut. ‘It’s them,’ he said, his voice thick.

Father looked at him. ‘Ucho, we must redouble our efforts immediately.’

Ucho nodded grimly. ‘This means it could be anyone, though. Still, at least it’s not as bad as we feared, Father. It’s not like somebody found—’

‘It is bad enough, Ucho. These people pose as much of a threat to her. We must find her, and fast.’

‘What?’ said Albert. ‘What’s happened? What are you talking about? What’s everyone talking about?

‘Seekers,’ said Ucho.

‘Seekers?’ said Albert weakly.

‘Aye,’ said Ucho.

Albert looked down at the ground, feeling suddenly dizzy, what little strength he had left slowly ebbing away. Seekers? What? And what did Theo have to do with them? What had Father and Ucho feared people finding out? What was it about her? He tried to speak but couldn’t quite manage, and looked down, gathering his strength. When he looked up again, Ucho and Father had moved to the corner of the tent, talking to each other in low voices, and Colby was back in the tent, standing next to him.

Albert looked at him, then at June, still sitting next to him with a concerned look on her face. ‘Rest, Albert,’ she said softly.