Ella held back, not sure what he was doing, and that was when she noticed the things hanging in the trees and bushes all around. Skulls and bones, and weird bits of animals, birds’ wings, foxes’ tails, claws and teeth and ribs, all sort of tied together with wires into weird shapes. Like warnings. Ella didn’t like it. She went to find Scarface and found him huddled over an animal trap. There was a dead rabbit stuck in it and he freed it, then held it up and waved it at her triumphantly, his face pulled into its horrible, tooth-bared grin,

Ella wasn’t quite sure what she thought about the dead rabbit. It had been a long time since she’d tasted fresh meat, but she supposed it would make a good breakfast. Better than a cold potato.

Scarface stuffed the rabbit into one of the pockets in his big loose coat. It was made of some sort of waxy material that had felt uncomfortable when she’d rested her head on it. She realized now that all his clothes were good; he had on boots and black combat trousers with more bulging pockets. Two knives hung at his belt, plus a longer weapon, like a sword with a wide, hooked blade. He was a little bit muddy, but, if it wasn’t for his mutilated, deformed features, he would have looked like an ordinary farmer out to trim his hedges, or maybe a gamekeeper or a poacher, like the ones Ella used to read about in her Roald Dahl books. She certainly hadn’t seen a grown-up dressed in normal clothes for months. They mostly wore rags and filthy bits and pieces that they never changed.

Scarface checked some more traps around the edge of the farm and then led her, not over to the main farmhouse, but to the side door of a big barn built out of metal. There was a complicated series of locks and traps around the door that he patiently worked his way through, which gave Ella a chance to look at his hands. They were as mangled as his face, and he had at least one finger missing. Eventually he got the door open and they went inside.

The first thing that Ella noticed was that half of the roof was missing; she could see the open sky and stars far above. The next thing she noticed was that Scarface had made a camp down at the covered end, with a bed up on a platform. It was quite neat and tidy, with various other bits of furniture, and even pictures hanging on the walls.

Scarface took the rabbit out of his pocket and hung it up next to a couple more dead animals, another rabbit and a squirrel. Ella wondered if he ate squirrels and whether she’d be able to if he offered her one.