When the master grabbed me that morning, I was afraid of what he would do, and lashed out without thinking. I broke his glasses and he fell backwards over the bench and struck his head on the stone flagstones. There was a lot of blood on the floor. It was an accident, Mama, I swear it.

They were going to take me away and kill me, but Papa came to get me.

We came to Bird Rock, and now I have to be very quiet because no one can know I’m here. Daddy says he didn’t know there was going to be another keeper, but he arrived a little while after us, and he can’t know I’m here because he used to work as a warden in the workhouses, and he wouldn’t understand. He wouldn’t be on our side.

It’s so dark and cold here, Mama, and the storms are scary. I hope I can see you again soon. Your loving son…

I put the letters down. They made my chest ache, and I didn’t want to read any more. I quickly filled Will in before asking if he’d learned anything from 261the logbooks.

“Nothing about the boy, but look at this.” He was frowning down at a piece of paper. “I found it in one of the logbooks. It’s—”

But that was as far as he got before we heard a loud banging coming from downstairs. We both froze. It was past midnight. What could possibly be making that noise? We scrambled to our feet and Will thrust the piece of paper he’d been looking at into his pocket.

“You’d better stay here,” I said. “Dad and Kate will be awake by now too.”

But Will was already shaking his head. “There’s no way I’m letting you go down there by yourself.”

He followed me out of the door and back down the spiral staircase. We’d just reached the landing when I heard Dad’s bedroom door open downstairs, and then the light in the hall came on. Finally I realized what the banging was. Someone was knocking at the front door. For a wild moment of hope, I wondered whether it might be Rosie, and I hurried to the top of the stairs eagerly as Dad threw open the door. But it wasn’t Rosie. It was Will’s father. 262

“I’m looking for my son,” he said. “Is he here?”

“What?” Dad’s hair was sticking up everywhere, and he sounded still half asleep. “Of course he isn’t.”

“Well, he’s not at the camp,” Will’s dad said. “And I can’t think where else he’d be.”

Dad turned towards the stairs, and with a sinking feeling I knew there was nowhere to hide. His eyes fell on me and Will at once.

“Dad, I can explain…” I began.