The night sky is soft, stars flicker between scattered clouds over the moors, and the wind is singing through the silver wire. Peg has taken his true form for the night: a gleaming bronze imp with tiny red horns just above his ears, and curling, nimble hands and feet.

I love it when he’s just being an imp; I could watch him for hours. Only he doesn’t like it too much, being peered at. He bounds up now and sits on my shoulder and folds his arms and scowls, when suddenly the charms begin to ring.

‘What’re they doing in there?’ he mutters.

‘What they always do, I suppose,’ I say.

‘No. Nothing stays the same in there for long.’

‘I thought you went back in sometimes. You know, as our watch-bird?’

‘Watch-bird,’ he scoffs. ‘Well as to that, I did,’ he says. ‘For a long time. But it’s changed in the last weeks. It’s darker now, and I am not welcome. The shadows are everywhere. Most of the good folk spend their lives fighting or plotting escape.’

‘There’s a boy at school . . . I think maybe he lives in the forest.’

‘Don’t tell Nan,’ he says, but he doesn’t sound surprised. ‘She’ll worry. It’s one of the things I discovered, last time I was in there. Some families send their children to the school so that they get a human education and live in the human world, away from the forest. They started when the shadows took over, but only some are able: those who can pass for human, and those who are good at glamouring. I guess your boy is one of them, and Nan’s glamour does the job for you. For now . . .’ He looks me up and down, as if to check it’s still working.

‘I didn’t realize that was happening. Why didn’t you say anything?’

‘These things are for you to discover. You made your choice when you started at the school.’

‘And you were cross, so you thought you wouldn’t tell me something so important?’

‘Nobody ever said the school would be a safe place, Stella. Nobody said it would be a good idea. You decided to go anyway. And now you are discovering things for yourself. Isn’t that what you wanted?’

‘I always thought you’d tell me if something important happened in there. I know you like your secrets, but—’

‘But nothing. You need to use your own eyes, and your own judgement. If I truly thought you were in danger, I would tell you. It was always a tricksy sort of place; now, even the skies are darker for it.’

I look at the sky over Winterspell and notice for the first time that the stars above are glowing red.

‘Shouldn’t we do something?’

‘You and I?’ He grins, his sharp teeth glinting. ‘And Nan? Against all the king’s army of shadows? We tried that, Stella. Your presence in Winterspell only made them fiercer. You’re doing what you can, with all your learning.’