A second clap of thunder barrelled above us. A thick drop of rain hit the blade. I wiped it off.

“Where d’you get that?” she said.

Another raindrop. I wiped it again.

“From the wanderer, like I said. What if he comes – Mr Opal – what if he comes and starts setting fire to our houses?”

Another drop. And another. And another. Splashing off the metal.

She took the knife. Ran her fingers over the butterflies, just like I’d done. The rain fell harder and harder, on to our heads, on to her fingers, on to the blade.

She stared at the knife. Turned it round.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in Fennis Wick,” she said.

“That’s because it’s not from Fennis Wick. I got it from the wanderers, like I told you.”

The rain bolted down.

She took a quarter step round, so Neel couldn’t see. He carried on unloading the crates as if it wasn’t even raining at all.

“You reckon you can show me where these wanderers are?” she said.

“Yes!” She believed me. “I can, I really can.” Rain ran into my eyes. “But the girl, Una, she’s not like normal wanderers. She’s good. You can leave her alone. It’s her dad that’s dirty and dangerous and deceitful, so you should really just be—”

“Quiet, Cruise.” She held a finger up in front of my face. “Listen to me.”

“But—”

“Listen. To. Me.” She looked me right in the eye, rain pelting between us. “This is how it’s going to be. You help me find this pair and I’ll not tell anyone you’ve been associating with the enemy. All right?”

My throat went tight.

“All right, Cruise?”

“Yes. OK. Yes, Mayor Anderson.”

She slid the knife into its sheath and tucked it into her back pocket. Her hair clung to her neck in wet clumps. “Right now I want you to gather up the other Parker boys for me. All three of them, if you can find them. Tell ’em the mayor requires their assistance.”

Lightning flashed again.

I raced across the square, crashing through the puddles and the pummelling rain.

“Robbie! Grif! Lyle!”

A third bellow of thunder galloped after me.

CHAPTER 20

The rain was gone. The cemetery was damp and dripping.

Grif looked at the thinnest part of the hawthorn. He gave a long, low whistle. “Came in through there, did they? Well I never.”

Lyle stuck his hands in his pockets and kicked at the hedge, spraying rainwater over Grif and Robbie.

“Oi! Watch out!”

“What’s the fuss? We’re already as wet as we can possibly get. Bit more’s not going to make any difference.”

“So, you want us to go through, Mayor Anderson?” Robbie rubbed his top lip.

“That’s exactly what I want. Which way did you say it was, Maggie?”

I pulled back some of the wet, spiky branches. Pointed towards the trees.