‘I take it you’ve figured it out, then?’ he asked, a glint of hope in his eyes.

‘I have. If you don’t mind, I’m already a good ten minutes behind Calvin and Lincoln.’

He stepped to the side to allow me past, but five steps down the corridor I came skidding back. ‘Wait, have you?’

Henry pulled a face as he tugged his coat on. ‘Why would we bother finding out the clues when we can simply follow everyone else?’

‘You can’t win that way.’

‘We can come second. And then trip up or otherwise delay the team we’re following so that we pip them to the post.’

‘That’s horrible.’

‘It is.’ He put on his hat and shook his head. ‘She’s lurking in the hallway waiting to skulk after whoever sets off first.’

‘You’re going to do your best to sabotage her sabotage, aren’t you?’

Henry grinned. It was so rare to see that it sent a rush of warmth through my chest.

‘That may depend on who’s in front.’

‘Well, may the best team win.’ I couldn’t help but grin back. If Summer was fixated on another team, I might just slip past them both.

‘You won’t win standing in the doorway talking to me.’

Without another word, I turned and raced to the stairs.

13

Stepping outside was like walking into a freezer. The snow had stopped but the wind was fierce, whipping up drifts and whistling into every centimetre of exposed skin. Despite being the middle of the morning the sky was gloomy with the gunmetal grey that signalled more snow.

A quick check on my phone map showed the loch half a mile away behind the house. Trying to keep to where there might be paths hiding beneath the snow, I dodged past a trio of elves and trudged towards a row of trees.

The snow was shallower beneath the pines, but that was about the only thing that made it less of a slog than the open ground. Having found no obvious way in, I had started pushing between the trunks, crouching low and ducking to avoid the low-slung branches. It felt as though the wind had rubbed the top layer of skin off my face, and despite thick boots my feet were completely numb. A couple of times I thought I glanced the flash of bright coats up ahead and to the left of me, but in the shadows of the wood it was impossible to be sure. More than once I felt the sting of a twig scratching my cheek, and I was starting to seriously reconsider how much I wanted to work for Baxter Bigwood.