HMS Leviathan must have been a monster in its day. Almost as long as the pier, and twice as wide, it was probably an awesome sight as it crested the waves. Now, though, it’s the waves that crest it. Most of the ship’s hull is submerged in the silt and sands of the bay. The deck is partly exposed, however, from the middle section forward, sweeping up at a drunken angle, bristling with gun turrets, twisted metal railings and barnacle-encrusted structures. All of it dripping with seaweed and slime. The prow – the pointy end, that is – rises up to be almost the highest part of the wreck, and is still wrapped around the spur of rock that tore open the hull and sank the mighty warship. The wind gusts over it all with a high metallic wail.

“There must be a way in through there,” says Vi, pointing to the split metal of the prow.

“There is,” I tell her.

“You’ve been inside?” Vi looks surprised. “Why didn’t you say so?”

“I haven’t been inside,” I say. “I’ve just been out to look at it a few times. Have you any idea how dangerous this wreck is?”

“My dad’s been inside,” says Vi. “And Eels. And goodness knows how many others. And we’ll have to too, if we’re going to do what we came to do.”

“Yeah, I know,” I say quickly. “But the tide, Vi. When it comes back in…”

“We’ll just have to be careful,” Violet replies firmly, and I can tell that nothing is going to stop her. “Eels will be here in a moment. Come on!”

“Wait,” I say. “If we go in now, Eels will be between us and the way out.”

“Well – what, then?”

“Let’s see if we can get up on the deck,” I say. “I want to watch what Eels does. And if he goes in, we’ll have the advantage when we follow.”

So we run, splashing in the swirling shallows, till we reach the monstrous black hull. I put my hand on it and feel the faint warmth of my body sucked out into its freezing metal skin.

“We can get up here,” says Vi, and I see her silhouetted figure rise ahead of me. I wonder for a moment how she’s doing this, till I spot in the moonlight a series of holes corroded through the hull, acting like a ladder.

But the moonlight worries me. Can we be seen already? I look round, and the light on the beach is surprisingly close now. I can even see the shape of a man behind it. It’s Eels, there’s no mistake. And lumbering behind him is the hulking form of someone else I recognize.

Boathook Man.