Tim started crying again, and this time he did hide his face. He placed both hands over his eyes and his body shook. After a while James came over from the fire and sat on the other side of him, and both boys put their hands on each of Tim’s shoulders.

The three of them sat in silence as the grey morning light filtered in through the trees. A gentle breeze picked up in the clearing and began to carry away the fire’s remains.

6

‘Tim, was that thing really your dad?’

It was James who broke the silence. The three of them had been walking along a footpath in a line for the last hour, without speaking. Endless fields of heather disappeared into the distance on either side of them. The plants trembled in the wind, giving the illusion that they were walking across a vast, purple ocean. A line of tors was visible on the horizon ahead, made hazy blue in the morning light.

The question hung in the empty air for a long time, and at first Matt didn’t think Tim would answer.

‘I don’t know,’ he said finally. ‘I honestly don’t know what he was. My mum always said he was my dad, but then she was just as scared of him as I was. Maybe more scared.’

They kept walking without breaking stride. Matt was in the middle, with James limping up front with the aid of a walking pole and Tim behind him.

‘But what was he?’ said James. ‘Where did he come from?’

This time the silence was even longer. When Tim next spoke, his voice shook ever so slightly.

‘I don’t think—’ he paused, and Matt had the impression he was choosing his words carefully. ‘—I don’t think he… I don’t think he came from here.’

The pace of James’ shambling walk slowed ever so slightly, but he didn’t stop.

‘Where did he come from then?’

Matt glanced back over his shoulder at Tim. The boy’s eyes were fixed on the path in front of him, large and unfocused. As Matt watched he blinked and looked up at the cloud-covered sky above them, then flicked his gaze back down to meet Matt’s.

‘Somewhere else.’

Matt suddenly found it hard to meet Tim’s eyes. He turned around and kept walking.

After a few moments, James’ voice floated back again.

‘You know, after Gary went missing and all his stuff was gone, a part of my mind kept telling me that the witch had got him. That Emily Brown woman he told us about. I knew it was stupid – I told myself witches aren’t real – but Gary must have spooked me on Friday and I couldn’t get it out of my head.’ He paused. ‘I even dreamed about her.’