I was going to tell him not to worry about it and reassure him I would be fine on my own. But I also wanted to enjoy an extra moment in his company. Under that moon, on that night, there was something ethereal and otherworldly about him. It would not have surprised me to look down and see that he had furry legs and cloven hooves.

‘That would be nice,’ I said.

He nodded and we set off back towards the path. He looked for a moment as though he was going to offer me his hand as we crossed a particularly slippery area but he did not. He walked in silence and I followed behind.

‘Is Brian all right?’ I asked, as we reached the path.

‘Can’t say,’ said Heron, shrugging. ‘He’s nowt to fear from Pike. It’s just piss and wind.’

‘But he had a gun …’

‘Everybody has a gun. Difference is, most of us know how to use them. Pike’s a boy. He plays at being something else but he’s got a scared soul.’

‘Why did he want Brian?’

‘He said Brian had something that belonged to him.’

‘Like what?’

‘Didn’t matter to me,’ said Heron. ‘Brian gave him the slip a dozen times but Pike saw his footprints by the bridge. Caught up with him near the grove. It’s as well I was home.’

I smiled, enjoying the idea of the ramshackle cottage being ‘home’.

‘So where’s Brian now?’

‘Slipped out the back while Pike and me were having a chat. Can you smell the sulphur water? You’re not far from the true well.’

‘The true well?’

‘Not the one where the tourists drink. I mean the true spring, straight out of the earth. Stinks like gunpowder and rotten eggs and looks like day-old coffee but it’s the reason for this whole place existing. Romans blessed it, did you know that? And there hasn’t been a religious movement that hasn’t come up with some ritual or another based on the importance of the waters.’

‘You’re from here?’ I asked. ‘You seem to know a lot about the history.’

‘I were friends with Fairfax,’ said Heron, without looking at me. ‘Told me a lot.’

‘I’m sorry,’ I said.

‘Thanks. Sorry for your sadness too.’

We walked on in silence and it was with some disappointment that I saw the great white shape of the spa appear out of the woods. Two vans were standing in the car park and a sleek dark vehicle was parked in the shadow of the furthest trees. There were lights on at the spa but I couldn’t hear a sound.

‘Be a nice hotel,’ said Heron, nodding at it. ‘Be good for more people to see this place before it goes.’

‘Before what goes?’