‘Listen,’ I said. Harriet turned her head away, as if resolving not to look in my direction. ‘I didn’t mean to get you into trouble when I altered your clothes. I was just trying to help you out.’ I pointed down at my ridiculous garb. ‘I paid the price. That woman definitely got her own back on me.’

Harriet sniffed. I supposed it was better than complete silence.

‘And about the putting you to sleep thing yesterday? I probably shouldn’t have done it but it worked out well in the end, right? We weren’t the last team to arrive because we didn’t receive any extra disadvantages. I know if we’d gone for the shelter that Mike wanted, it would have taken us hours.’

‘He is a bit of a knucklehead,’ she admitted. Hurray! I was getting somewhere. ‘But not as moronic as you for doing so much magic that you began seeing things.’

Arse. ‘That’s never happened to me before,’ I said, ‘but you’re right. Hopefully this challenge won’t involve much energy. I wonder what Trevor Bellows has devised for us.’

Her lip curled. ‘Assuming he has the time in between everything else.’ The disdain in her voice, not to mention her expression, immediately piqued my curiosity.

‘What do you mean?’

Harriet raised a sarcastic eyebrow as if it were patently obvious what she was talking about, but I was still drawing a blank. ‘Oh. I keep forgetting you weren’t here at the start,’ she dismissed, before turning away once more.

I ground my teeth. Bellows might not be my immediate focus but that didn’t mean I was going to forget about him. It was still possible that the bloody pentagram in his trailer was a warning designed solely for him. Winter hadn’t yet discovered any hidden meanings or the purpose behind the pentagram, but it remained pertinent.

‘Yeah,’ I said, doing my best to chivvy her along and encourage her to open up more. ‘I feel like I really missed out. I love a bit of gossip, though. What’s Bellows been up to?’

Harriet kept her eyes averted. ‘I’m no tattle-tale.’

Oh, for goodness’ sake. She’d already brought up this little titbit so pretending to be close-lipped now was pointless. But it was clear that she would refuse to say anything else about the matter. I’d just have to find someone else to fill me in.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t time to move to the back of the boat and question Lou. It was already pulling into the side and I could see crowds of people gathered in a grassy field to the right. We were ushered off before being directed towards our positions. I tried to edge back slightly to engage Lou in conversation but I received an angry hiss from Barry. I’d have ignored him but for the fact that one of the medics ambled over to check I wasn’t still going loopy from too much magic. This whole investigation would be a damn sight easier if people didn’t keep getting in my way.