Liam lets me go. ‘We could try lighting a fire on the cliffs,’ he says. ‘Use it to signal the mainland.’

‘How would anyone see it? We’re so far away.’

‘At night they might,’ he argues. ‘Or in the day, they might be able to see the smoke.’

‘There’s no fuel,’ I counter. ‘Everything’s soaked through. What would we burn?’

He’s losing patience with me. ‘There are things in the castle that are dry. And there’s furniture here we could use, too. I could chop up the other chairs. And the table. We could light it on the cliffs.’ He’s got the idea now, it’s taken hold, and I can see he’s not going to let it go.

‘But what if the man sees it too?’ I ask, worried. ‘What if he sees the fire and comes looking for us? He’s got a gun.’ I press my knuckles to my lips pushing back the panic.

Liam scowls. ‘I’ll take our chances.’

I don’t know if I want to though. I shake my head at him. ‘I think we should find a place to hide,’ I suggest. ‘Somewhere on the island where he can’t find us. We could lie low until the boatman comes on Friday.’

‘Where are we going to hide?’ Liam asks, looking at me like I’m mad.

‘The chapel?’ I suggest. ‘If the man can’t find us, he might think we’ve found some way to get off the island. He might not even know yet that we stole his boat. So he might think we did get away.’

Liam chews it over. ‘You think we should hole up in the chapel and wait it out?’ he asks. ‘Without anything to eat? Without water?’

I shrug. ‘We might be able to find some food. Forage for things,’ I say. ‘I saw some blackberries.’ I shrug. ‘It might be safer than staying here. And definitely safer than lighting a giant bonfire.’

‘I’m not scared of this bastard,’ Liam mutters. ‘If he didn’t have a gun …’ he trails off.

I can tell he absolutely hates the fact that he doesn’t have the upper hand in a situation where he would normally. He’s angry, but he’s actually more afraid, and I don’t know how that makes me feel because normally he’s so in charge; so in control and so confident. But the fact is, this guy has a gun and Liam doesn’t.

‘Let’s do it,’ Liam says to me, making a decision.

Chapter Twenty-Three

I dart upstairs and start to gather up clothes and my washbag. I layer on sweaters, wishing my jacket wasn’t covered in bird filth, but I take it anyway as it’s going to be cold in the chapel.