‘Of course I disappeared! It’s because I’m NOT STUPID! You might not care if people think you’re trash, but why would I want a loser’s reputation? You don’t seem bothered about that, but it’s a real thing, and just you wait till it actually happens.’

‘Hey, Sam, look around. You do know we’re completely alone here, don’t you? It’s all OK. There’s no need to liquidise yourself completely.’ Although I did feel a bit sorry for him – his mum’s much stricter than mine.

His mouth twitched a bit – almost a smile.

‘We’ll be really, really careful. You escaped last time like a total pro!’

‘Huh – it was almost a disaster. He’s got an old Bentley, so it made hardly any noise,’ he said. ‘Didn’t hear it till nearly too late.’

I nodded. I don’t know cars like Sam does. ‘Hide the bikes in the hedge this time,’ I said. ‘We’ll be experts. Gladiators. We’ll be so slick …’

I scraped the tarmac with my trainer, holding my breath, pretending I wasn’t really all squirmed up with hope.

Sam sighed. ‘In, quick look, then out again,’ he said, jabbing his thumb towards the garden and back to the road. ‘Right?’

We found a gap, shoved our bikes away, then darted into the garden. Sam’s eyes were as wide as fried eggs, but we were in. I couldn’t believe he was actually doing it, and it felt fantastic.

We made for the trees. At the edge of Mr Clemm’s broken path, the wind found us and blasted into our faces. A pile of tiny, delicate bones lay deep in the grass, all white and clean. Sam blinked at them, bending closer.

‘Those weren’t there before,’ I told him, feeling excited in a shivery way. ‘Watch out for nettles.’

‘You can see where you went last time,’ he said. ‘You’ve squashed the weeds.’

He was right. A trail of squashed undergrowth led from the path to the biggest tree. I’d murdered my cover.

I started kicking up the nettles. ‘Push them back to normal.’

‘Too late – he’s probably seen it by now. Come on.’

A carpet of moss covered the main path and, above it, the wires hung, slack and strange. When we found the box, Sam’s eyes were everywhere at once: on the wires, over his shoulder, through the trees, back to the box.

‘Did you actually get an actual electric shock?’

I nodded. ‘My feet buzzed. Even my teeth fizzed.’ I pointed to my forehead. ‘Still tingling from where the creature brushed past.’ This was only partly true. The feeling disappeared when I wasn’t concentrating on it.

The wind above us sounded wispy now, like breath, as if it was caught on something.