I sighed and waited. It took him a moment or two. He blinked and dropped his arms. ‘Wait a minute. You just about died?’

‘Stoor worm.’

Bob’s puzzlement grew. ‘We’re still at the Cruaich.’

‘I know.’

‘How stupid do you think I am, Uh Integrity?’ he said, affecting hurt. ‘Stoor worms live in the bottom of the ocean.’

‘I know.’

He leaned forward and sniffed. ‘Soap,’ he declared. ‘Definitely not stoor worm. Soap and,’ he paused, ‘sex.’ He lifted his eyebrows admiringly. ‘Fast work.’

I gazed at him, exasperated. ‘I’m not lying. There really was a stoor worm. Someone must have conjured it to try and get rid of me.’

Bob shrugged. ‘So they failed. Better luck next time!’

I narrowed my eyes. ‘You want me dead?’

He threw up his hands. ‘My raison d’être, Uh Integrity, is wishes. First there was the banker who was too stupid to realise what he had right in front of him, and now there’s you who’s a stubborn as a mule and refuses to ask for anything in case I’m trying to cheat her. The best thing I can hope for is that you drop dead as quickly as possible so I can move on.’ His expression was defiant but also slightly nervous.

‘That’s my point, Bob,’ I told him. ‘I wanted to ask for a wish. I would have made a wish. But you were thrown out of the window so I couldn’t.’

‘Why did you throw me out of the window?’

‘I didn’t.’

‘Because you know if you want to make a wish, I have to be in the room to hear it,’ he said. ‘I have unbelievable magical powers which you can only dream of but they don’t work if I can’t hear you.’

I folded my arms. ‘Bob,’ I said, in the sternest tone imaginable, ‘I need you to pay attention. You told me you will find your way back to me if I try and throw you away.’

‘Yes, it’s true. Because I am a supreme being with powers that…’

‘…that I can only dream of. Yes, I got that part. Well, listen, Bob. I’m not going to throw you away. In fact, I’m going to make sure you stay very, very close to me.’

‘Ooh! Uh Integrity, I had no idea! You’re rather large and lumbering compared to me but you’re not bad looking, I suppose. We could work something out.’ He waggled his eyebrows.

Good grief. ‘I’m going to keep you very close because it appears that someone is trying to kill me,’ I said with patience that was wearing thin. ‘And, despite my best intentions, I might be forced to make a wish to survive. Which means that until I say otherwise, you need to pay attention at all times. If we get separated, you need to jump back to me as soon as you can.’