She nodded, her eyes huge. The thought of stepping out on to that balcony appalled me, especially as I didn’t know how structurally sound the rest of it might be, but if there was any chance of helping Will – if he wasn’t already lying dead at the base of the tower – then I had to do it.

I climbed out through the broken window. The gap was only just about big enough, and I broke off 324more bits of glass as I pushed through. The balcony was slick with rainwater, and pieces of window crunched underfoot. My head spun at the sight of Bird Rock sprawled below us, especially as there were no railings between me and the unthinkable drop. I felt truly, utterly sick as I crept to the edge, fully expecting to see Will’s broken body lying at the base of the tower, just as Kenzie’s had been a year earlier.

But when I reached the edge, I saw him dangling just below me. Impossibly, incredibly, his jacket had become caught on one of the protruding nails attached to the bracket for the railings, allowing him time to find fingerholds on the exposed bricks. He was clinging to these like a limpet, but I could see he wouldn’t be able to stay there for long. Already, his fingertips were bleeding and turning white with the strain.

“Will,” I whispered, not daring to speak his name loudly in case it startled him and caused him to fall.

He looked up, his eyes widening when he saw me, and he swore under his breath. “Get away from the edge!” he snapped. “This whole thing could go at any moment.” 325

I dropped to my stomach and reached over to grab hold of his arm.

“If we’re going to be friends,” I said, “you’ve got to stop telling me what to do.”

“What’s the point of trying to tell you what to do?” he groaned. “You never listen.”

I looked for something to hook my foot into so that I could take Will’s weight without being dragged over the edge myself, but there was nothing on the balcony to grab hold of.

“You’ve got to leave,” he begged. “Please.”

The great drop spun dizzyingly below, and I could hardly breathe through my proximity to the edge. But if Will was stuck then I was too.

“I’m not leaving,” I said. “No way. Not without you.”

I was just wondering whether I could yell back at Rosie to go and look for some rope or something when she suddenly appeared behind me and gripped my ankle.

“It’s OK!” she called. “I’ve got my legs hooked through the railings. You can pull him up.”