I try to be patient as Mitch mixes and stirs. I tighten my laces and pull up the hood on my onesie. Win does a few ninja moves, annoying Mitch by bumping into her and making her drop a handful of fish into her potion.

Rose just stares out of the window, her eyes fixed on the shadow that points to the island.

Chapter 35

Mitch swims ahead of us, pulling the rowboat through a blizzard of fat snowflakes. Her spell has worked brilliantly and snow is falling heavily.

She turns to look at us. “I can’t see a thing,” she whispers, scowling at Win. “Far too many herring went in the cauldron.” Then she slips back into the water and the boat starts moving again.

“I helped,” protests Win. “There’s no way Crowky will be able to see us in this.”

He’s right. The snow may be heavy and cold, but it totally hides us from view. I just hope Mitch’s spell lasts until we’ve found the Box and gotten back to the Alisha. Plus, dawn is coming. Through the swirling snow I can see that the sky is starting to lighten.

The boat bumps against ice. There were too many rocks around the island for us to land there, so Mitch has brought us as close as we can get. We’ll walk through the forest and get to the island that way. Hopefully Mitch will join us there.

Her head bobs back up. “Remember: when you get to the trees walk west.”

“Be careful,” says Rose.

Mitch laughs at the idea that something could happen to her. Frost is dusted across her eyelashes and hair. Her lips are blue from the cold. “It’s you three who need to be careful,” she says. “This is the End. I’ve not been sailing these waters long, but I can tell you it’s a strange place. And remember: Crowky is close.”

How could we forget? We climb out, then Mitch disappears under the water and starts pulling the boat back out to sea.

“This way,” says Rose, and she leads us across the slippery ice that hugs the shore. Once we get to land, Rose reaches into Mitch’s bag and pulls out a compass. We trudge forward. So this is the End, I think as my feet sink into the deep snow. I should want to explore, but right now all I want to do is get the Box and get out of here.

We reach the forest and walk between tall trees. Their branches are heavy with snow and occasionally a clump falls to the ground, making us jump. But except for this, and our crunching footsteps, the forest is eerily silent.

The trees start to thin and Rose comes to a sudden stop. “We’re here,” she whispers.