Shane pointed. ‘That way, I think.’

‘Right. So, if that’s north and that’s south … wait, which direction is Clonbridge in?’

‘It sort of depends on where we’re standing.’

Cat’s shoulders slumped. ‘Never mind,’ she muttered.

‘Can’t you just … you know … hone in on the fort?’ asked Shane wiggling his fingers as though he were casting a magic spell.

Cat blinked at him. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I’ve seen your Book of Secrets, remember? I know you have a kind of spidey-sense for weird stuff. There’s got to be hundreds of fairies up at the Green Rath tonight, surely they must give out some kind of signal that’ll lead us right to them?’

‘I don’t think it works like that,’ said Cat.

‘Have you ever tried?’

Cat went quiet. Up until that night she had always thought of the Sight as just another sense like taste or hearing. She never actively tried to use any of them, they just happened. But what if Shane was right? What if the Sight was different? Could she use it to find the fairy fort? It was worth a shot.

‘All right, I’ll try. But I can’t guarantee it’ll work so don’t get your hopes up!’

Cat rolled her shoulders and cracked her knuckles as though she was warming up for a fight. Then she took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes. She didn’t know what she should be doing. How do you use a tool you don’t really understand? She tried to remember what it felt like when she sensed the Dullahan. What had she been doing? Minutes passed and still nothing happened.

‘Well? Is it working?’ asked Shane.

‘Shh! I’m concentrating.’

She began to feel stupid. Maybe Granny was wrong, maybe she didn’t have the Sight after all. Why did she ever think she was capable of saving Mikey? Cat felt a lump in her throat and she worried she was about to cry. Suddenly, she felt it. A tugging on her awareness like a magnet against iron filings. Cat opened her eyes. The pull was weak, and she might never have noticed it if Shane hadn’t encouraged her to search, but it was there and it was the best shot they had of finding their way again.

‘I’ve got it!’ she said, grinning with triumph. ‘It’s this way. Let’s go!’

They jogged through fields and hopped over stone walls, Shane following Cat’s lead the entire way. It wasn’t long before they came upon a metal gate, beyond which lay the road. They clambered over the gate and found themselves standing only a few metres away from the entrance to Cullane Wood.

‘We weren’t that far off course after all,’ said Shane, with surprise. ‘We must have been going in circles this whole time.’

‘Almost as though someone or something was trying to delay us,’ Cat said, scanning the treeline for signs of the magpies, but finding nothing there.

With a last look behind them, Cat and Shane stepped off the road and into the shadows of the trees.