I knew from my previous visit that there were many places to hide out, not least in the cubicles of the western latrine tower. But those had only one entrance/exit and I didn’t much fancy being cornered in one by Asquith with his mark four Webley. Hence, I kept on the move through the ruins down the western side, trying to work out what Asquith and Valance might do next.

I soon found out.

Just as my eyes were beginning to adjust to the deepening darkness, my night vision was destroyed by a dazzling high-intensity flashlight beam that caught me unawares in the open space of the apron between the keep and the outer ranges of the south-west corner.

There was a shout and a second flashlight beam appeared from where I had just come from, down the western side.

Casting any remaining caution he might have had to the wind, Asquith loosed off another shot at me. For an instant, I thought that he had missed me again, but my right hand suddenly started hurting as if it had been stung by a large hornet.

I ran fast for the opening into the bottom floor of the keep, jumping through the space into the former state kitchens and nearly tripping straight into one of the wells in the floor.

Once inside, I reached down with my new transplanted left hand and was amazed that I could actually feel the warmth of flowing blood. The bullet had just clipped the fleshy part of my palm, beneath my little finger. It was sore but not life-threatening.

So now where?

I tried desperately to remember the castle layout from my brief visit in the daylight the previous week. I did not want to get trapped and, as Asquith had arrived with a key to the gate, he would almost certainly know the castle layout better than I did.

Maybe I should have run straight to the castle exit when I escaped from the wooden building, but that would have given Asquith a clear shot at me. Now, getting well away from here alive had become my main priority.

My right hand started hurting like hell, but it seemed still to be working okay, even if I was dripping my lifeblood onto the earth beneath my feet. But it wouldn’t kill me, and it was the least of my worries for the moment.

I could recall from my previous visit that the north, west and south outer walls were intact at ground level, meaning there was no way out except either through the main gatehouse in the north-east corner, or through the missing sections of the east wall, and that would involve crossing the dry moat and scaling the boundary wall beyond. And all in the dark, with a bad and bleeding right hand and a transplanted left one.