They reached a road and Malik stuck to it for a while. Every now and then he would stop and listen and sniff the air, and once he told Ella to hurry and darted off to the side to hide in the long grass. All Ella could see from their little flattened patch was grass and grey sky. They stayed there and laid low for what felt like ages, and in the end nothing happened.

They set off again, and a few minutes later Malik went through the same routine. He wasn’t happy being on the open road and he was walking slower the further they went. His injured leg was obviously giving him trouble. He was limping badly. Ella could see that he was in pain and trying not to show it. So that he didn’t feel too bad, she started to say that she was tired and asked for frequent rest stops. Malik would gratefully sit down for a while and rub his leg.

And so they plodded on – stop-start, stop-start – Ella anxious to get there, but also anxious not to get there. Not sure what they were going to find. If they’d be welcome, or if the kids would treat Malik like all the others had done. Well, not if she could help it. She’d protect him. She’d fight anyone who was mean to him.

They’d been going for some time when Malik suggested they stop and drink some water. Ella wasn’t particularly thirsty, but she realized that Malik needed another excuse to rest so she didn’t say anything. They moved off the road into some nearby trees and flopped down, Malik sitting back against a knobbly silver-grey trunk. He got his bottle out and took a small sip before passing it to Ella. She drank and offered it back to him, but he ignored her. He was staring straight ahead, but not seeing, just concentrating on listening. Listening and sniffing. She could see his nostrils twitching, going wide then narrow. His mangled, battered face started to work itself into a frown. Then he hopped up on to his feet and squatted there, head tilted to one side.

‘What is it?’ Ella asked and he shushed her. He was listening hard now, his head moving around like radar, trying to work out which direction the sound was coming from. And then he suddenly grabbed her forearm and gripped it painfully tight.

‘Run!’

He dragged her to her feet and pulled her along. Ella was fighting for breath, more frightened because she had no idea what it was they were running from. They pelted through the trees, Malik sort of skipping to keep the weight off his bad leg. Small branches whipped at Ella and scratched her face.

‘What is it?’ she gasped. ‘What’s happening?’

‘I’m not sure,’ Malik grunted and Ella risked looking back. She could see figures among the trees, moving fast.