“No one’s supposed to know about him,” Charlie went on. “Except I’m allowed cos we’re friends. He 249hides in the basement during the day. Then at night he goes up into the lighthouse. I think he’s looking for his daddy, only he’s afraid of the birds.”

“Birds?” I thought of the letters. “Charlie, is this the same friend who gave you those old letters?”

Charlie nodded slowly, his eyes huge.

“He says he found where his daddy had been keeping them inside the secret hole in the wall upstairs. It’s where he found the tin soldier too. He brought the letters back and draws pictures for me on them. But I don’t like the pictures. They’re scary.”

“All right, but Charlie, who is this boy? What do you know about him?”

“Nothing,” Charlie replied. “Just that his name is Conall. And sometimes he wants me to go into the basement with him, but I won’t.”

“What does he look like?”

“I don’t know.”

“But if you’re friends with him then surely—?”

“He won’t let me see his face!” Charlie cried. “He never lets me see it. And I don’t know if we are friends. I thought we were at first, but now … sometimes he scares me. He wants me to do something bad.”

Before I could ask what, Kate came upstairs to 250check on Charlie and tuck him in. As soon as she and Dad went to bed, I sneaked some more food in to my brother, like I’d promised. He refused to talk any more about his secret friend, so once I was sure everyone was asleep, I tiptoed back downstairs to unlock the kitchen door. The fog had swept in again. It wasn’t as bad as before and I hoped Will would still come. I hated the thought of going into the basement alone. To my relief, he arrived soon afterwards. I ushered him into the kitchen and closed the door.

“Is everything OK?” I asked. “Have there been any more bird attacks?”

Will shook his head. “No. Nothing out of the ordinary. How about here?”

I closed my eyes for a minute. Where did I even start?

“There … there were hands reaching through the bathroom mirror for me,” I said, shivering as I recalled the sight of them. “And an eel in my bath.”

He stared at me. “What?”

I told him what had happened.

“Dad thinks it must have got into the pipes and squeezed out through a tap. I didn’t see it until I got in because of all the bubble bath.” 251

Will looked appalled. “But … you don’t mean that you were in the bath with it?”

I nodded. “It bit my leg before I scrambled out.”

“Jesus, Jess! That’s … how are you even still in the building after that?”

I swallowed. “I can’t leave. Not without Ro—Without Ros—”