“Then it is true,” she whispered, her hand an icy grip on my arm. “Always I have wondered but never been sure.”

She continued to stare at the place where a minute ago Wilfred had stood.

“Oh, Sina,” I said. “What are we going to do? The three of them have gone to join their father. If the plane is shot down, they’re all going to be killed.”

At that moment we saw Old Tom coming out of the woods on his way back from the hermit’s and we ran to tell him what had happened.

“They’ve gone there? To the plane?” he said. “Are you sure?”

“Where else?” I asked. “Did you talk to the hermit?”

“He remembers nothing,” said Old Tom, panting, as we raced back to the night garden. “That’s the trouble. Things float in and out of his head. He doesn’t deny telling Zebediah about the access code, but he doesn’t remember it either. I could see he was going to be no help. Well, I didn’t like to say so before, but this man, their father, must be mentally unhinged. No sane person would steal a plane in times of war without understanding the consequences. And those three children are at his mercy now.”

“Oh, Tom, you don’t really think?” said Sina.

“Of course, I think so! And now I’m going to have to go!” said Old Tom.

“I’ll go, too!” I said.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Franny. If anything happens to me, you’re all Sina’s got. Besides which, you’d only be underfoot!” barked Old Tom.

We had reached the night garden. Before anyone could say anything else, Old Tom climbed up and over the fence and the last thing he yelled, in tones of supreme irritation, before disappearing was, “Never, ever, ever have houseguests!”

And then it was only me and Sina, a sky full of stars, and the night garden.

We stood staring, our mouths agape. And if you think UFOs and ghosts are sufficient preparation for taking in stride four people disappearing into thin air before your very eyes, then you have not had enough experience with the world of the unseen.

“Now what?” said Sina over and over. “Now what?”

But I, for one, was fresh out of bright ideas.

*   *   *