Now that would be a good day. If all went well, if there were enough of them, then maybe that day would come.

Ed had spent a lot of the previous night catching up with Malik. Still couldn’t quite believe that he was alive and they’d met up again after all this time. At first Ed had been scared that Malik would hate him for abandoning him back at Rowhurst, but there had been none of that. Malik had said he understood; that as far as Ed knew Malik had been killed. So Malik had told his story and Ed in turn had told him what had happened to all their friends, the sad list of death and horror and madness. There was still a lot of catching up to do. But there would be time. Ed really hoped there would be time.

The one thing Ed was still finding hard was his old schoolfriend’s voice coming out of that face. One more thing he was just going to have to get used to. His own injuries seemed trivial compared with Malik’s. The two of them were sitting in the back of the Chrysler with Ella, who seemed to have an incredibly strong bond with Malik. Kyle and Lewis were up front. Brooke and Ebenezer in the middle seats. Everyone talking. Excited. Nervous.

When they got to The Beeches driveway, Ed told Lewis to stop and he got out. The rest of the convoy stopped behind them, spread out all down the road. Ed walked over to the lead Sandhurst vehicle, a battered old pick-up truck with about fifteen kids crammed in the back.

Ed indicated for the driver to wind his window down. ‘You lot all stay out here, we’ll go on in. We won’t be long. But if we all rock up together they’ll be seriously freaked out.’

‘No worries,’ said Dara. ‘I’ll tell the others. See you soon.’

Ed got back in the Chrysler and they turned into the driveway. Everything looked fine. There were some signs of disruption, what you might find after a storm, leaves and branches strewn about the place. So it was possible that the sickos had come through.

Wait and see, Ed. Wait and see. Could just be the wind.

They pulled up on the parking area in front of the house and Ed cautiously got out, remembering the last time they’d arrived here with an unwelcome hitchhiker on the roof. He superstitiously checked the roof rack, although he knew it was stupid. There was nothing up there.

‘Well?’ Lewis had got out and was staring at the house, checking the windows. There didn’t seem to be any signs of damage. No broken glass, or splintered wood. Ed looked at the garden wall. It was surely too high for any sickos to climb.

‘Let’s not stand around here all day, yeah?’ said Brooke. ‘We need to keep moving. Let’s knock.’