The day was pulling the brightness from the sky and by the time they reached Thurles it was beginning to get legitimately dark. The streets were quiet. Empty. No cars passed them. No one was out walking.

Valkyrie’s dad slowed their car to a crawl. “I don’t like this,” he said. “It feels like a trap.”

“How would you know what a trap feels like?” her mum said.

“I just know. Steph?”

Valkyrie nodded. “It feels like a trap. Pull over somewhere. I’ll look around and come back.”

“No chance,” her mum said, turning in her seat. “We all go.”

“And what will you do if there’s trouble? These people will be trying to kill us.”

“Then I’ll fight,” said her mum. “Anyone comes after me, I’ll kick them between the legs.”

Valkyrie sighed. “Mum …”

“I’m not staying behind, Steph. I’ve made my decision.”

“Fine,” Valkyrie said, biting back her frustration. She looked to the residential street ahead. After a few seconds, her scowl softened. “But don’t kick them there.”

“Why not? Isn’t that the best place to kick them? Des, you don’t like being kicked there, do you?”

He frowned. “I don’t like being kicked anywhere.”

“First of all,” Valkyrie said, “kicking anyone is a bad idea when you’re in danger. You’re panicking, you’ve got adrenaline shooting through you, you’ve got all these new instincts screaming at you. Your body wants to flee or fight – it needs to make itself lighter, so it wants to empty its bowels and its bladder. You’re going to want to pee yourself. That’s perfectly normal. But your legs are jelly. You’re suddenly trembling so much your teeth are chattering. You really want to kick someone when you don’t even know if your other leg will support you?”

“I suppose not,” her mother said, frowning.

“And if you do kick, there’s no guarantee you’re going to hit what you’re aiming for. And if you do hit what you’re aiming for, the pain could take seconds to travel to his brain. He can do an awful lot of damage in those few seconds. Then there’s also the risk that kicking him there will just make him mad.”

“OK,” her mum said, “fine, I won’t kick them between the legs. But … is there anywhere I can hit them? I don’t think I’d be able to punch very hard, and if they’re all as strong as Dai Maybury was …”

“You can’t build muscle on your throat,” said Valkyrie. “The throat’s vulnerable. And I don’t care how many push-ups you can do, your eyelids aren’t going to get any tougher. Everyone has eyes. Well, almost everyone.”

“Throats and eyes,” said her mum. “OK. That sounds straightforward enough.”