I can’t quite bring myself to look at him. “Sorry won’t get the map back, will it? Now Crowky can find the Box and you know what will happen next. Our fears will come out, and I’m not scared of clowns anymore, Win. I’m scared of much worse things!” I stop talking before I say something I regret. Crowky getting into Home is my fear. I don’t want it to become Rose’s too.

Rose puts a hand on my arm and I realize I’m shaking. “Win didn’t know that bird was there,” she says, “and he didn’t mean to let go of the map. It was an accident, Arthur. It was a dumb one, but it was still an accident.”

The fact that Rose is sticking up for Win tells me I’ve gone too far. I nod. “Sorry, Win. I’m just . . . scared.”

Win, as kind as ever, gives me a big hug. “That’s all right, mate.”

We make the long journey down the staircase and find Stella and the Lost Girls gathered in the great hall. The fight is forgotten and now they’re making bracelets and playing board games. This, along with the smell of buttery toast and the glowing fire, makes it a cozy scene. The only thing that ruins it is the half-completed scarecrows the girls are using as cushions.

“What’s up with you?” says Stella when she sees our faces.

“Crowky’s got the map,” says Rose. “At least he will have it very soon.”

Quickly, we tell the Lost Girls what happened. When we’ve finished Stella turns to Win and says, “You’re such a PEA-BRAIN, Win!”

He responds by whipping out his wand, pointing it at her face, and shouting, “Toe pipe!” A solitary moth flops from the end of his wand, then starts to flutter around the room.

“What was that supposed to be?” I ask.

“A laser beam,” he says with a frown.

Next Stella sends Audrey up to the tower, instructing her to sit on the balcony and keep her eyes peeled for Crowky’s “creepy old boat.” Then she plumps up a scarecrow’s stomach for us to sit on and tells us to grab some toast.

“So that’s it?” says Stella. “Crowky knows where the Box is hidden and you’re just going to wait for him to find it and bring it back?”

Win looks guiltily at me. “Well, if the crow does give Crowky the map, he’ll only know roughly where it’s hidden. I mean, the End looks huge, and Mitch’s map wasn’t a proper map. It was more a picture. I bet we couldn’t have worked it out.”

“But are we as clever as Crowky?” I say.