“Would you please just get back into bed and go to sleep?” I asked, trying not to sound too exasperated. This was way more than I wanted to be dealing with in the middle of the night.

Charlie obediently returned to his sleeping bag and snuggled into it. I hesitated in the doorway for a minute, wondering whether there was anything else I ought to do.

“Do you need anything?” I finally asked. “A glass of water from the kitchen?”

“Can I have a ham sandwich?”

I rolled my eyes. “No. It’s late. Almost breakfast time. You can have something then.”

“OK,” he replied in a small voice that immediately made me feel bad. 90

“Well … goodnight then.”

“Goodnight, Jess.”

I went back to use the bathroom before returning to the landing. I was just passing the staircase and probably would have walked right past, but I felt a cold draught trail across my skin, like fingers. I shivered slightly and glanced up, thinking there might be a window open nearby.

And that’s when I saw it.

The trapdoor leading up to the lighthouse tower was no longer chained up. It was wide open.

91

Chapter Seven

For a long moment, I just stood and stared at the yawning black hole leading to the top of the tower. What the hell? How had it come open? It had been locked with an actual chain. Then my eye fell on something propped against the wrought-iron bannister of the staircase – it was a pair of bolt cutters. And shining on the floor beside it was a little silver football badge – just like the one that had been pinned to Will’s jacket. Had he actually been stupid enough to break into the lighthouse tower? And how had he got into the cottage in the first place? Perhaps he was the person Charlie had seen in his bedroom? I hesitated, wondering whether I should go and wake Dad.

But then I remembered how he had specifically 92asked me to make sure I locked the door when I came in from stargazing, because of Charlie’s sleepwalking. My blood ran cold as I realized I’d forgotten. I hurried downstairs and sure enough, the kitchen door was unlocked. I turned the key in the lock and put it up on the hook before returning to the landing. All thoughts of telling Dad about Will disappeared as then I’d have to explain how he’d got inside the lighthouse in the first place. The easiest thing seemed to be to deal with Will and get him out as quickly and quietly as possible.