I hesitate, not liking the idea one bit. ‘What if he comes back and finds us there?’

‘We’ll have the gun,’ Liam answers with a shrug. ‘Come on.’ He’s already moving off in the direction of the castle, at a halting pace thanks to his limp.

I glance back once more over my shoulder, worried.

‘He’s heading for the cliffs,’ Liam reassures me, gesturing for me to follow. ‘He’s probably looking for us. The last place he’ll look is the castle.’

If he was looking for us, though, wouldn’t he have brought the gun with him? And surely he would have looked inside the chapel – the most obvious place for anyone to hide. Maybe he’s discovered his boat is missing and he’s already been to the cottage and found us gone. There’s a chance that he really thinks we’ve left. In which case, we should keep hiding. If we steal his gun, then he’ll know for sure we’re still here.

I rush to catch Liam up and then I pull him to a stop behind a tree. ‘I don’t think we should take the gun,’ I say.

‘Why not?’ he asks.

‘Because then he’ll know we didn’t escape, that we’re still on the island. Right now, there’s a chance he knows about the boat and thinks we’re gone.’

‘I don’t care,’ Liam says defiantly. ‘We’ll have the gun. I’d like to see him try stalking us then.’ I see then that this is about Liam wanting to get revenge. It’s not about keeping us safe at all. He doesn’t want the gun to defend us, he wants to use it to confront the man.

Before I can argue with him though he’s off again. I sigh and chase after him, knowing that I won’t be able to convince him to give up the idea.

Despite his injury he keeps up a pace, never once complaining even though it’s obvious he’s in pain and can’t put weight on his injured foot. We arrive at the clearing in front of the castle out of breath and sweating and rush towards the cellar entrance with its frightening message warning us not to trespass. I try not to focus on it, even though the letters have now dried to a dull brown colour, confirming my earlier suspicion that it was written in blood.