She bucked her head back again. One last desperate attempt to free herself. She didn’t believe it would work – he was simply too strong – but as she moved the coachman dropped his hand as though he had been scalded.

‘Gold!’ he cried, an agonising screech that set Cat’s teeth on edge. ‘You dare use gold against the Dullahan?’

Cat’s hand flew to her throat and tangled in her fine gold necklace. Then she understood.

He seeks silver, never gold.

The Clurichaun’s riddle! Cat hadn’t understood it at the time but now it made perfect sense.

When moonlight flees from darkest sky,

That’s when this spirit passes by.

A faceless rider you may see,

Who seeks to take thy life from thee.

Though his touch be cruel and cold,

He seeks silver, never gold.

Silver, like my soul, thought Cat, and gold, like my necklace.

The Dullahan still writhed in pain, clutching his hand to his chest. She knew what she had to do.

Cat pulled the necklace free, the thin chain snapping instantly, and held it up in front of her like a shield.

The coachman hissed and took a step back.

‘If you want me,’ Cat said, finding her voice. ‘You’ll have to go through this.’

Without thinking, she twirled the necklace over her head like a slingshot and threw it at the coachman. It hit him square in the chest and he wailed, an unnatural sound that shook the earth beneath her feet.

‘We will meet again before this night is through,’ cried the Dullahan, ‘and I will have both your souls. You can count on it.’

The sound of his anguished shrieks died away and, in the blink of an eye, he was gone. Where he had stood just seconds before was nothing but a pair of boot prints in the mud.

In the distance, Cat thought she heard the crack of a whip and the angry whinny of a horse and then … silence. She slumped into the mud and began to breathe heavily. He had almost stolen her soul. Suddenly the dangers of the night felt all the more real.

After a moment, she felt a hand grip her by the arm and help her to her feet. It was Shane.

‘Are you all right?’

She wasn’t, not really, but she nodded anyway.

‘When that … that thing appeared, I got scared and I just kept running. It took me a while to realise you weren’t right there behind me any more. I’m … I’m sorry.’

‘It’s OK,’ said Cat, and surprisingly, it was. ‘I’m glad you came back though.’

‘I can’t believe you kicked its head away. That was so …’

‘Gross?’

‘No, that was so cool!’

Cat smiled.

‘Come on,’ she said. ‘We should go.’

Shane nodded. ‘I’m not sure how to get back to the road.’

‘Neither am I, but we’re bound to come upon it eventually.’

Overhead, a pair of magpies screeched, and Cat thought it sounded like laughter.