“There it is!” shouts Win, leaning past me and pointing down at the huge waves.

At first I think that the shape rising out of the sea is a lump of twisted rock. But as we fly closer, the Crow’s Nest takes shape. I see twisting turrets, each topped with a tangle of branches, and stone walls studded with glowing windows. Two colossal wooden doors dominate the front of the castle.

Then I spot something new: a long drooping rope bridge runs from the jagged rocks at the base of the castle, all the way across the sea to the top of the cliffs. The bridge is huge and dips in the middle. It looks rickety, and slippery, and the last time we set foot on one of the Lost Girls’ bridges we almost died, but it’s got to be safer than flying the dragons into the sea cave or trying to land them on the sharp rocks.

But we do have to land them somewhere . . .

“Rose!” I shout. “Where are we landing the dragons?”

She turns to me and grins. “Where do you think? On the cliff!”

Chapter 15

And amazingly Rose and I do land two dragons on top of a cliff.

It’s not elegant, and Win nearly falls off, but somehow we get Vlad and Pickle to crash down on a strip of grassy rock.

“Gobood boboy,” I say, patting Vlad’s neck. “Thobank yobou.”

He turns to me and growls a puff of smoke in my direction. Quickly I slide off his back and go to join Rose and Win at the start of the Lost Girls’ bridge.

“Isn’t it cool?” says Win, giving the ropes a shake. “Remember, I built loads of this!”

Rose and I take in the uneven planks of wood and the rope handrails that stretch into the distance. I really hope Stella didn’t let Win do any of the rope knotting.

“It looks good,” says Rose, giving a plank an experimental poke with her foot.

“Wait until you’ve seen its bounce,” says Win, and then he’s off, running along the bridge, deliberately making it wobble up and down.

At first, Rose and I follow more cautiously, holding tight to the handrails and stepping from one plank to the next. But then we realize Win’s right, the bridge does have a good bounce, and we start running too, taking big leaps and trying to knock each other over.

A massive jump of Rose’s sends us all crashing down onto the planks.

We pick ourselves up, out of breath from laughing and running, and carry on along the bridge. And then, because I’m sure we’re all thinking about it, I say, “We need to talk about the Box.”

“The Box was fun!” says Win.

I shake my head. “Win, you’re only saying that because it was never your fear that came out.”

“It was scary and fun,” insists Rose.