Rollo blushed red, something that Effie had not seen before. Clothilde had gone a little pink too. Had they all been discussing her? Had they actually decided that she might really be a galloglass? Effie couldn’t bear it any more. This was her favorite place, full of her wonderful new family that she was still getting to know, but with whom she felt safe and loved. But now it was all ruined.

Bertie entered the room carrying a mug of hot chocolate.

“Before you go back to the cold island,” she said to Effie.

But Effie hardly heard her. She turned and ran, out of the conservatory, down the long path to the gate, and out onto the Keepers’ Plains, where she hurled herself into the portal that took her home, tears streaming down her face. Effie never cried; it was true. But she was crying now.

Wolf looked at his watch. It was almost eight a.m. He had no idea how to get to the Borders, or how long it would take. In the olden days, apparently, people had computers that told them exactly how long a particular journey was going to take, by car, public transport or on foot. They could even book travel on their phone. Wolf had to rely on an old map he’d found at the back of Leonard Levar’s shop. Using a ruler and mental arithmetic he worked out that it was just under a hundred miles to the area he needed to get to. If he had a car, and drove at fifty miles per hour, it would take two hours to get close, which was plenty of time.

Except Wolf didn’t have a car. And he was too young to drive.

His older brother, Carl, had a car, but Wolf hadn’t seen Carl for a long time. Was it weeks, or even months now? Would Carl even care about Natasha? Carl had a different mother from Wolf, and Natasha had a different father. So in fact, she and Carl weren’t even related. And Carl always wanted something in return for the favors he did. No, there had to be some other way.

A train would be too expensive, and hitchhiking would be too unpredictable. Perhaps there was a bus? While he was still thinking about transport, Wolf began packing his knapsack for the day. What was he going to need? He didn’t know where he was going, or what was going to happen when he got there. He didn’t even know how long it was going to take. The voice on the phone had talked about “places” on a “program.” What on earth had that even meant?