Crowky yanks my face back, forcing our eyes to meet. “What’s in the box, Arthur?” he hisses.

“Arthur?” Win’s voice drifts through the mist. In a flash Crowky lets go of me, beats his wings, and shoots up in the air. He grabs a rope, swings over the side of the ship, and then he’s gone.

The next thing I know Win is throwing his arms around my middle and squeezing me tight. “It was Crowky, wasn’t it?” he says as my head and then my arms flop down. Win’s hands push away the coldness and I feel my heart beat faster. My knees buckle under me and Win catches me before I fall. “Rose!” he shouts. “ROSE!”

I hear more footsteps, then Rose is pressing her hands down on me too. “He was here,” says Win. “Crowky was here. I saw him!”

“Arthur?” Rose shakes me hard. “Arthur? Are you OK?”

I flop back on the deck and lift a shaking arm. I point at the shore, at the tall tree that’s still lit up by the moon. “Found it,” I whisper before darkness falls over me.

Chapter 34

I come to in Mitch’s cabin. Rose and Win must have dragged me here and now they’re trying to warm me up with blankets, extra logs on the fire, and their own hands.

“Come on, Arthur!” Rose is clutching my wrist while Win rubs my fingers between his hands. Mitch is by her cauldron, sprinkling something black into a bubbling mixture.

“He’s awake!” says Win.

Rose squeezes my wrist even tighter. “What did Crowky want, Arthur? And what did you mean when you said found it?”

I try to talk, but no words come out. My throat feels as dry as straw.

“He’s still half stuffed,” says Mitch, pressing a glass of hot fizzing liquid into my hands. “Give him a minute.”

They watch as I sip at the drink. Slowly heat returns to my body: the tips of my toes, my ears, my nose. The middle of my chest still feels like a cold rock, but the pain has begun to melt away.

“If feels rough, doesn’t it?” says Mitch. “It happened to me once when Crowky kidnapped me. It felt like I’d been emptied out and filled with prickly ice.”

I take another sip of the drink, then I manage to say, “I know where it is.”

“You know where what is?” says Rose.

“The Box!”

“Really?” Rose exchanges a look with Mitch and Win. Clearly they think my mind’s still stuffed and that I’m not thinking straight.

“Yes!” I struggle to sit up. “I’ll show you. Win, open the windows.”

He throws them open, letting in the icy air. The mist has almost gone and the moon lights up the whole bay; the snow-topped trees, the mountains and the sea are all bathed in yellow light.

“Show us the map, Mitch.”