She’d drifted in and out of consciousness, convinced the intruders were still lying in wait – they knew she was there and were waiting for her to venture out of the crawlspace. By morning she’d been half-delirious with pain and terror, and had thought Ellie and Bert were the creatures returning; when they’d pulled the crawlspace hatch back, all she could do was beg for a mercy she had no hope of receiving.

“I think that’s everything,” Kate said, at last. “Do you mind if I have a lie-down now? I feel quite tired.” The brittle composure had returned.

“Get your head down, love,” said Milly. “You’ve done great.”

Kate gave a gracious smile, then went back to the couch, lay down and curled up on it with her back to them. Almost at once, she began to snore.

“Sure she’s got a deviated septum or something,” Milly shut the consulting room door. “Sounds like a pig giving birth. Wanna brew?”

“Love one.”

They sipped their drinks in the waiting room. “So?” said Milly, finally.

“So what?”

“What do you think?”

“About what?”

“What the girl said.”

“What am I supposed to think? Monsters with no eyes and arms and legs like...” Ellie gestured helplessly. “Love to see their faces in Matlock when I sent this one in.”

“Could’ve been some kind of outfit. Masks, robes, that sort of thing. I mean, the poor kid’s in shock, hurt, just lost her whole family.”

“Still doesn’t tell us who.”

“Some sort of cult, maybe? Devil-worshippers or whatever?”

“Seriously?”

One of the few things Milly and Ellie disagreed on was religion; Ellie was agnostic on her very best days, while Milly, raised Baptist, was a committed Christian, albeit as down to earth and humane a one as Ellie could have asked to meet. There’d been maybe a handful of conversations over the years that’d made Ellie uncomfortable, highlighting as they had the gulf between their beliefs.

Milly sniffed. “Well, you tell me what kind of person does this. Eh?”

She had a point: people believed madder or stupider things and acted on them every day. “If some cult’s grabbing people to sacrifice to Satan, where are they? I mean, I get this is a great neck of the woods to move to if you wanna sacrifice goats and dance around bollock naked without anyone seeing, but I think we would’ve noticed if anyone new had moved in.”

“Why’s it gotta be someone new?”

“What?”

“Look.” Milly leant forward, sipping her tea. “I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking about a bunch of mad hippies turning up and buying an old house. Cults aren’t always like that though, are they? Sometimes they’re right under your nose, and no-one realises until they do something – like this.”

Ellie nearly burst out laughing. “You mean people here? Barsall?”

“Why not? Think about it.”