‘Put your arm along here, like this.’ I show her, laying my forearm along the bench. ‘And hold as still as you can. Just a little tap with the hammer and this’ll be off. Promise.’

She’s scared but she does it. I break open the shackles, first the wrist, then the ankle, and she’s free. Arm must hurt a lot after being held up like that. Leg can’t take her weight. Who knows what else he’s done to her? But she smiles at me with tears dripping down her face and her nose running, and it’s the best thing I’ve seen in a while.

‘What’s your name?’ she asks.

‘Grim. Hop up, we’ll get you straight home.’ I pick her up again, thinking I shouldn’t have said that, seeing as her dad’s dead and the mill’s a ruin, but too late now. ‘Down to the village first. My friend’s a healer, she’ll fix you up. Hush now.’

I kick the shackles and chains out of the way. Go over to the door, open it a bit. She squeezes her eyes shut when the light comes in though it’s not a bright day. Next part of the plan’s tricky. Need to get her to the horses, wait for Blackthorn to walk down, then put Ness up in the saddle and take her to the settlement without Branoc noticing that someone’s been in the barn or that his prisoner’s not there anymore. He’s hardly going to come racing after us once we’re down there telling the story of what he’s done, with the girl to prove it’s not lies.

I’m holding Ness up with one arm and closing the barn door with the other when I hear him. ‘You! What are you doing?’

There’s a warmth against my leg, a smell I recognise. Ness is so terrified she’s wet herself. Branoc’s striding out his front door, red in the face, and there’s Blackthorn coming after him with her bag in her hand.

‘Done you a favour,’ I call out. ‘Cleared those rats out of your barn.’

‘You bastard!’ He’s heading straight for me, rolling up his sleeves. ‘You thieving bastard, you can’t take her! She’s mine! She’s my wife, you bonehead!’

I take a step forward and he stops walking. ‘You scum,’ I say. ‘You filth. I’m taking her away. Now. Unless you fancy a fight.’

Branoc looks me up and down, then he turns real quick, and before I can do anything he’s got Blackthorn pinned in front of him with her back to his chest and her arm twisted up behind her. She hasn’t had time to grab her knife.

‘Try anything and I break your woman’s arm,’ Branoc says. ‘Now let my wife go and back off slowly.’