‘I think there are six kriks,’ I whispered to the others. Behind me, I could now hear the slow dragging of more furniture being moved by James and Lana. Kate came and crept in beside me, kneeling down so that she could stare through the curtain too.

‘Why didn’t we think of escaping into the water?’ I asked.

‘I’d never have got back into the water,’ whispered Kate. ‘I’d rather have been eaten.’

‘Some people are missing,’ I said.

Kate didn’t reply. Because, I suppose, we were missing too.

The kriks in the water had now turned away from Stinky’s boat towards Soldier John’s, and were heading for it fast. The men were pushing the boat away with all their might, and you could see them really straining with every push, but for each burst forward, the waves pulled the boat backwards, against the rocks, and against the walls of the old submerged houses.

The kriks, unaffected by the heaving water, moved steadily forward, four of them, converging on the boat from two different sides. There were two dark orange, smaller kriks, maybe females? One of the kriks was larger, more clawed, its eyes concealed in shadow within the shelled exoskeleton. We couldn’t see properly from this angle, but they were big. So much bigger and more powerful than the humans, their muscular exoskeletons pronounced and armoured.

They moved easily through the water, almost gliding over the rocks concealed amongst the sea weed, their pincers raised in attack. Soldier John was shouting desperately, and he and Old Albert pushed forward, through the breaking waves. They made one final lunge, and then turned to face their attackers.

One of the orange ones reached them first, its claws bared and ready to grab. Old Albert smashed it clean in the face, and it fell backwards, disappearing for a minute beneath the water before emerging again, to attack once more. Old Albert smashed at it again, and this time chunks of the shell encasing it went flying to either side of the water. It fell this time, seeping red into the water around them.

Underneath me, Kate flinched, and I feel like maybe I did too. But she said nothing, and we kept watching.

The men gave another mighty push against the sea bed, and the boat went further out, away from the kriks and suddenly deeper, so that the monsters were now having to reach up higher to attack.

Soldier John smashed the darker, larger one straight in the face. It paused in its attack, but didn’t fall backwards. It reached up and placed its claws on the deck. Soldier John smashed at it again, and again, and then once more. It fell backwards, and sunk beneath the waves. The two remaining kriks watched, still, as the men rowed the boat away. Then, slowly, and simultaneously, they turned towards us.

I took a deep breath and faced Lana and James. ‘What have we got?’