‘Yeah. Well. I’ll admit, she changed her mind. She liked being the boss. She wanted to do it alone. She didn’t trust me enough to just ask me. Or maybe . . . I think she just wanted to prove that she could. It must get boring, being that old, with all the money you could want . . .’ He cocked his head. ‘I suppose I should thank you. If not for you, I might never have found out.’

‘She clearly didn’t want you to know! Can’t you see she’s playing you?’ He could smell the ocean now, hear the lapping of waves. The ground was sloping down. He grabbed at a tree, but Davey wrenched him, hard, and he was being dragged again.

‘You’re wrong. The moment we were alone, Mum told me. Everything.’ He swiped at his eyes. He took a few breaths to calm himself, then continued. ‘I should’ve trusted her. Should’ve told her I was alive. But I didn’t want to break her heart twice if Blackbeard ended up finding me.’

They came to a steep bank that descended to a rocky beach. Hidden under a spreading willow was a small aluminium boat with an outboard motor on the back.

Davey hauled Forest down the bank and tossed him in. With an ear-splitting scrape of hull against rock, he pushed the boat into the water. His legs splashing through the murky, leaf-covered water, he followed and hopped in.

‘I used this boat that first day, when I put the body in Devils Kitchen. I’ve always had it hidden here in case I ever needed to flee up the coast. Lucky for me that I kept it aside – much easier than rowing.’

He’s gonna take me out on the ocean and throw me in, Forest realised with grim certainty. Panic was settling over him again. ‘Help! Help!’

Davey heaved on the starter cord a few times and the engine spluttered into life. They set out onto the water.

As they left shore, Forest could see that they were in a small bay lined with sea cliffs so high he had to strain his neck trying to spot the top of them. The boat cut through the rolling sea, land far behind, and with it Forest’s last hope of rescue. ‘Help! Help!’

‘Please stop,’ said Davey. ‘You don’t want to spend your last moments like this, begging for help. Take it like a man.’

As they got further out, Davey cranked up the motor, making Forest’s hair blow around wildly and the air sting his eyes. Davey steered expertly up and down, cresting blue waves. More panic settled like a suffocating hand across Forest’s mouth. And with it came grief.

He thought of the Witch. She’d taken him in when he was scared for his life. She’d given so much for him.