“No, of course not,” Dad replied. He kneeled in front of her. “Sweetheart, it’s really appalling that he showed you something like that. I’m so sorry. I hope you can try to put it behind you, and we can still have a nice summer together, but if you really feel you can’t forget what you saw and that you don’t want to stay here any more then I understand and 154I’ll radio for a boat to come and fetch you, all right? But please, let’s just sleep on it. It’s too late to get a boat here today anyway. Let’s just get a good night’s rest, and if you still feel this way tomorrow then I’ll call for a boat first thing in the morning.”

A look of relief washed over Rosie’s face. “You’ll come too, won’t you, Jess?”

“Of course,” I replied, squeezing her hand. “Anywhere you go, I go too. You know that.”

“You might feel better about things tomorrow,” Dad said, a little pleadingly.

“I won’t,” Rosie said forcefully. “I’ll stay here tonight if I have to, but tomorrow I want to leave as soon as I can.” She gave a little shudder. “And I don’t ever want to come back to Bird Rock again.”

That evening Rosie packed up all her stuff so she’d be ready to go in the morning. It seemed she was determined that we’d both be leaving Bird Rock as soon as possible, and I was more than happy to go along with her. It was a boring, gross, horrible place with nothing to do. And … for those few moments back in the Strangers’ Room it really had felt as if 155there was someone in there with me. I didn’t know what was going on in this weird place, and I didn’t care. I was just keen to get off the island as quickly as possible.

“I left some of my crystals on the mantelpiece in the Strangers’ Room,” Rosie said. “I’ll just go and fetch them.”

“OK. And when you’re back we need to tell Dad about the trapdoor so he can lock it again. I don’t think Charlie should be playing up there on his own.”

Rosie went off and I started to pack my own bag. She still hadn’t come back by the time I finished, and in the end I decided to go and look for her. As soon as I stepped out of our bedroom, I spotted another one of Charlie’s drawings on the floor outside our room. I bent to pick it up and a shiver ran over me. He’d drawn a stick-figure girl in the Strangers’ Room, looking into the mirror there.