‘I don’t think anyone asked your opinion,’ said Sarah, shooting Shane an angry look. ‘Go on, Karol, how else can you stop the Nocnica?’

‘Well,’ said Karol, eyeing Shane warily, ‘a stone with a hole in it can make them disappear. I don’t know why …’

Shane snorted again, ‘So what, you just carry a stone with a hole in it around with you all the time? That’s so dumb.’

‘Oh, shut up, Shane!’ snapped Ebele. ‘I want to hear what Karol’s saying.’

Ebele was the daughter of the town’s doctor. She was the smartest kid in class by far, as well as one of the kindest. She rarely got mad, but when she did, everyone tended to listen. Shane opened his mouth as if to say something else, but finding four angry girls glaring back at him, he thought better of it and leaned back against the fence in a huff.

‘Have you ever seen one?’ Ebele asked, leaning forward in excitement.

‘I think they’re only in Poland,’ said Karol with a shrug.

‘I’ve seen a Banshee,’ said Cat and almost immediately regretted it. She hadn’t meant to tell anyone that.

They all turned to stare at her, even Shane.

‘Did you really?’ asked Jess. ‘No messing?’

Cat nodded. ‘Last year, on the night my granddad died. Me and Mam and Mikey had been staying over at Granny and Granddad’s house at the time because he was really sick and the doctors said he probably wouldn’t, you know …’

Cat trailed off. She didn’t like thinking about that time when everyone was so sad and she hadn’t known how to help.

‘Anyway, it was the middle of the night and this weird screeching sound woke me up. It was coming from outside and it was the worst noise I’ve ever heard, like a fork scraping on a plate or …’

‘Or Mrs Quinn’s singing!’ said Sarah, causing them all to erupt into gales of laughter. Mrs Quinn was the teacher in charge of the school choir and her enthusiasm for singing was as great as her voice was terrible.

Cat smiled and continued. ‘When I heard the noise, I ran to the window and saw a woman outside the house. There was something strange about her, almost like she wasn’t fully there. She was just sort of floating there above the ground. And her eyes …’ Cat shuddered. What could she say about her eyes? They were totally empty and darker than the sky on a starless night. Looking into them was like staring into a bottomless pit. ‘When she looked up at me, I thought I was going to die.’

‘What happened next?’ asked Ebele in an almost-whisper.

‘I thought I was having a nightmare at first, but then the door banged open and Granny was standing there with a face like thunder. She ran to the window and yelled at the Banshee.’

‘She didn’t!’ said Jess.

Cat nodded. ‘She did. She said, “You’ve already got him, you old crone, now away with you!” but that’s my Granny for you.’