Lou looked like the last thing she wanted to do on our first day was to get into a fight. She gave a helpless smile. ‘I’ll go with the majority. I have no sense of direction anyway.’

When it was me against Mike, Harriet would choose Mike every time. She’d choose anyone who wasn’t me; I’d be on a constant losing streak. I considered my options, glanced at the map once more and made a decision. Reaching out so that one hand touched Mike’s arm and the other touched Harriet’s, I drew out runes on both their bodies. An almost immediate wave of exhaustion overtook me but it was nothing compared to what happened to them. They yawned in unison before collapsing to the ground.

‘Oh my goodness!’ Lou shrieked. ‘They’ve passed out! We need a doctor!’

‘They’re just sleeping,’ I said, feeling sour. I’d like to be sleeping too.

Her mouth dropped open. ‘Did you do that to them? Did you make them fall asleep?’

‘Trust me, it’s for their own good.’

Barry, hovering nearby with another producer, seemed concerned. He stepped forward but I held up my palm. ‘They’re absolutely fine. There’s nothing to worry about.’

I watched the cameraman swing his lens towards them. Mike looked kind of cute when he wasn’t conscious. I retrieved the map from under his arm. ‘Look,’ I said to Lou. ‘There’s a river just round the next bend.’

She still couldn’t get over what I’d done to Mike and Harriet. Her jaw worked but she couldn’t appear to find any words.

I shrugged. ‘All we need to do is to get these two to the river. Then we float all the way down to here.’ I pointed to one of the marked locations. ‘It’s right next to the river itself. Even though it’s further away, we can get there much easier than the place Mike wanted to aim for. It’ll take us no time.’ I fixed my eyes on her. ‘Are you with me?’

‘Uh…’

‘Lou! Come on. If you really think we should tramp up a mountain, I’ll wake them up straight away and we can tramp up a mountain together. Trust me though, this way is much better.’ Please, Lou. I wasn’t up to mountain climbing. Not today.

She swallowed. ‘The river seems the best course.’

Praise the heavens. ‘Great. I’ll take Mike, you take Harriet.’ I expended some more energy in spelling away their weight but, even so, I dragged Mike along the ground, scuffing his heels in the process.

Lou, bemused by how easily she could lift Harriet’s prone body, slung her over her shoulder fireman-style and caught up with me. ‘You really are a proper witch. You’re not like the rest of us at all.’

I grunted. I was aware of the camera following my every reaction. This would be easier if it didn’t keep getting in my damn way.

‘I really wanted to win,’ Lou whispered, more to herself than to me.

‘So win.’

She jumped, startled. ‘I can’t compete against you.’