He’d heard the chapel door slam shut, meaning Ben was already outside. But Isaac would catch him. He would make him admit what he had done. And then Father Steiner would see that Isaac had been right about Ben all along, and it would go back to the way it was before, when Isaac had the chaplain all to himself.

He threw open the door Ben had fled through, and immediately had to brace himself against the weather. It was raining just as heavily as it had been when he’d crossed from the school, but now the wind had picked up, too, making the trees buckle and writhe. And although it shouldn’t have been getting dark for hours yet, it was as gloomy as dusk in mid-November.

At first, he thought he’d lost Ben already. But … there. A figure had reached the tree line further down the hill. Isaac yelled Ben’s name, but his shout was doused by the rain. Ben kept moving, and Isaac set off after him.

The ground was boggy underfoot. The going was easier once Isaac reached the woods, but then it became even harder to see, and more than once he lost sight of Ben amid the trees. But then Ben abruptly veered left, and it became obvious to Isaac what he was doing. He was only pretending to head into the woods, when really he meant to double back, and leave Isaac floundering in the forest.

Well, Isaac was smarter than that. He veered left himself, knowing that – if he was quick enough – he could cut Ben off in the clearing.

Yet Isaac struggled to keep up. They were moving parallel, Ben about thirty metres deeper into the woods. The trees were thicker where he was, but somehow he was managing to pull ahead. By the time Isaac reached the clearing, Ben was already past the graves and near the tree line on the opposite side. If Isaac wasn’t careful, he would lose him completely.

He called out again, and to his ear he sounded like an angry parent chasing an errant child. This time he thought maybe Ben had heard him, because he came to a halt just before he reached the trees. But then, suddenly, he vanished.

One moment he’d been standing there, the next he was gone.

Isaac stopped in his tracks. He wiped the rain from his eyes, and squinted through the gloom to try to see.

‘Ben?’ he said, but his voice wouldn’t have carried even if there’d been anyone there to hear it.