‘I was in the library doing some research.’ He reached up to the tips of his ears; tiny flickers of flame were dancing around them. ‘Scorchio!’ he hissed.

‘Your ears are burning,’ Speck said in wonder.

Bob threw him a scathing look. ‘I already said that.’

We glanced at each other. ‘Ear we go,’ I grinned.

Everyone groaned. Bob settled down on the back of a chair and pulled off his shoes. He started to examine his toes, picking out miniscule bits of fluff.

Lexie turned away. ‘That’s disgusting.’

‘You’d probably like to know what I discovered in the library,’ he said, holding up a greenish ball to the light before chucking it over his shoulder with a shrug. Speck jumped back about a metre.

No-one said anything. ‘Oh come on,’ Bob complained. ‘Aren’t you going to ask me?’

I exchanged a look with Brochan. ‘Go on then,’ I said finally. ‘What did you find out?’

‘Well,’ he huffed, ‘if you don’t want to know…’

I rolled my eyes. ‘I do.’ It was probably some pointless fact about genies’ feet, which was why we were being subjected to this display of toe picking.

‘To all intents and purposes,’ Bob declared, ‘the Adair Clan doesn’t exist.’ He pulled his socks and shoes back on and stood up, looking around as if he were expecting applause.

‘We know that,’ I told him. ‘It’s hardly news.’

‘You misunderstand me. There’s no record of the Adairs. Some books have pages ripped out of them. Others just have a blank space. I am certain that you could scour every piece of paper in that place and you wouldn’t find a single mention of them. Isn’t that curious?’

I paused. ‘They’re being wiped from history.’ I licked my lips. ‘I’m being wiped from history.’

Brochan pursed his lips. ‘Very few cultures do that. Most prefer to remember their mistakes so they don’t repeat them.’ He gestured towards me. ‘And the Adair Clan is, in effect, still here. Erasing you doesn’t make sense.’

‘Why would someone do that?’

‘Because in a generation or two, it’ll be like they never existed,’ Speck answered.

‘I’ve seen it happen before,’ Bob said knowledgeably. ‘The Timentuns, for example.’

‘Who?’ Lexie asked.

He snapped his fingers. ‘Exactly!’

They all looked at me. ‘It does make it more likely that there’ll be another attempt on my life once the Foinse is sorted,’ I said thoughtfully. ‘Rubbing out the past is a big deal. I wonder what they’re all so scared of.’

‘More bad jokes,’ Bob said cheerfully.

I stuck out my tongue at him, then softened my expression. ‘Thank you,’ I told him. ‘You didn’t have to do that. Look around the library, I mean.’

He blushed. ‘Against my better judgment, I like you, Uh Integrity. This is the most fun I’ve had in a thousand years.’

‘So what’s the plan?’ Speck asked.