I felt an idiot. It was my job to keep Kenny safe. I’d let him down. I should have thought ahead and planned for the worst. I unwrapped my scarf and yanked off the hat and gloves. Instantly the chill bit into me, like rats at cheese.

“Here,” I said, “put these on and don’t bloody moan about it.”

Kenny used to act like having to wear warm clothes was some terrible punishment, like being made to eat his vegetables. But this time he stared at the bundle in my hands for a moment and then took it. He put the hat and gloves on, and I helped him with the scarf.

“I can do it!” he snapped, and pulled away.

Tina looked from one to the other of us, not knowing what was going on.

Then Kenny said, “Ta.” And then, after another pause, “You’ll be cold now.”

I shrugged. “Nah,” I told him. “But let’s get moving. Can’t be far to go.”

Five

Five

I was wrong. Another twenty minutes of trudging and we were still in the middle of nowhere. All along, the footpath had been skirting the edge of the higher hills. I wondered for a moment if we’d just been going around in circles.

“Hang on, Kenny,” I said. “Let’s see if we can’t work this out from the map.”

I took the map out of my pocket. My hands were so cold I dropped it in the snow. Kenny picked it up for me, his hands warm but clumsy in the gloves. I found the path on the map and followed it with my finger, trying to work out how far we’d come. Then I remembered my phone. It had Google Maps on it, which would tell us where we were.

But, of course, when I checked, there was no signal. I went back to the paper map and tried to guess where we were.

“Can we go back to where we got off the bus?” Kenny said.

“Dunno,” I said. “Maybe. Yeah. At least we know the way.”

But I hated the thought of retracing our steps. It would be like we’d given in, letting the stupid moors and the stupid snow beat us.

I looked again at the printed‑out map. The path went in a big curve. The village we were heading for looked like it was exactly on the other side of the hill we were going around.

“I’ve got an idea, Kenny,” I said.

“What?”

“Shortcut. Up and over.” I pointed up the side of the hill and did a little whistle that went high then low. “What do you reckon?”

I thought Kenny would be all for it, but his face was strangely blank and his eyes were dull.

“Looks rotten up there,” Kenny said. “And there int a path. What if we get lost?”