Cat snorted, ‘From the stories Granny’s told me over the last few years, I think we were lucky to get anything at all out of him. It’s a good thing he likes her.’

‘I’ve been meaning to ask,’ said Shane. ‘Where is your granny? I know she’s old and all, but if she’s such an expert, couldn’t we have at least told her what’s going on?’

Cat thought about telling him it was none of his business, but after what they had already been through tonight, she felt she owed him some kind of explanation.

‘She’s in hospital,’ said Cat. ‘She had a heart attack. She … she’s still asleep.’

‘Oh,’ said Shane, and for a long moment there was no sound but the soft sigh of the wind and the crunch of fallen leaves beneath them. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Um, thanks,’ Cat mumbled, looking down at her feet.

‘I was always really jealous you had a granny. I never knew either of my mam’s parents and my Da– my other granny’s in an old folk’s home. She has Alzheimer’s and doesn’t know who we are.’

Cat hadn’t known that. She tried to imagine what it would be like to have Granny in her life, but for her not to remember Cat’s name.

‘That’s horrible,’ she whispered.

‘I don’t really know any different,’ said Shane with a shrug. ‘Can’t miss what you never had.’

But Cat knew that wasn’t true at all. She missed a lot of things that had never really been hers to begin with.

‘I remember some of your granny’s stories,’ Shane continued. ‘She always told the best scary stories. A few of them even gave me nightmares. Like the one about the haunted nursery, do you remember that?’

Cat shuddered. Oh she remembered that one all right. All too well. She hadn’t been able to go into Mikey’s room by herself for months after he was born.

‘No matter how much they scared me I still always wanted to hear more though,’ Shane said. ‘I really hope she gets better soon.’

‘Me too.’

After a time, Cat noticed a change in the wood. The trees began to grow thinner and more and more of the sky was visible. She was just starting to wonder when they would arrive when they turned a corner and came upon a clearing. Stepping out of the woods was like stepping into another world. The moon was high in the sky and cast its pale light downwards, illuminating the scene before them.

In the centre of the clearing wasn’t the ruin Cat had been expecting. The walls that had previously been tumbledown stone and bramble now stood tall and whole. The entrance to the fort was flanked by a pair of hawthorn trees that met in the middle to form an archway out of which poured a soft golden light and the sound of music and dancing. It was mesmerising.

‘What’s the plan?’ whispered Shane.

‘We do exactly what the Clurichaun said. We go in there and ask to speak to the queen – politely. Think you can manage that?’