‘May blessings be upon thee,

From the merry olden time,

When the fairies roamed the world,

And the land was in its prime.’

‘What do we do?’ hissed Shane.

The girl cast around her, looking for somewhere to hide. Behind them was an unremarkable wooden door with a perfectly ordinary door handle.

‘Quick, in here,’ said the girl twisting open the handle and ushering them into a small, cramped room filled with all manner of brushes and rags. Cat realised with surprise that they were in a broom cupboard. The girl pulled the door softly behind them and Cat had just enough time to wonder why magical beings would ever need to sweep anything up when the voices seemed to pass right by them, still singing as loud as they could.

‘When spirits danced by moonlight,

And the Green Rath had its fae,

Before the world did change,

And chase us far away.’

They waited by the door with bated breath until the voices faded away into nothing and they were sure they were alone once again.

‘Now,’ said the girl, turning on them with her hands on her hips. ‘Have the two of your completely lost your senses?’

Cat was taken aback. She hadn’t expected this.

‘Well?’ said the girl, tapping her foot impatiently. ‘Are you stupid? Because that’s the only reason I can think of why someone would willingly wander into a fairy fort on Halloween of all nights.’

‘We’re looking for–’ said Shane, but either the girl didn’t hear him, or she chose to ignore him entirely because she didn’t pause for an answer.

‘You’re not even here ten minutes and one of you was about to eat their food– ’ she pointed an accusing finger at Cat.

‘I wasn’t actually going to–’

‘And the other was flirting with a whole group of fairies!’ she said, rounding on Shane.

Shane blushed again. ‘I wouldn’t call it flirting exactly,’ he mumbled.

‘And to top it all off, you’ve allowed yourselves to be seen by every last person in the Great Hall. So come now, tell me, what on earth were you thinking?’

Cat was struck dumb. She thought the girl was here to help them, not give out to them.

‘Luckily for you, the king and queen haven’t arrived yet so there might still be time,’ said the girl, who still didn’t seem to care what either of them had to say. ‘I’ll show you the way out of the Rath. But we’ve got to be quick. If any of them notice I’m gone …’

She was at the door before Cat finally managed to get a word in edgeways. ‘Wait a second! We’re not going anywhere. Not until we get Mikey and Jenny back.’

The girl stalled, hand still gripping the door handle.

‘Who?’ asked the girl in a voice that was oddly high. Cat knew that voice. It was the exact same voice she herself made when she was lying. The girl knew something, and Cat meant find out what.