Elowen laughed. ‘Definitely not. They can be very fierce. They were the original inhabitants of Arborven, you know. They lived around the Undrentree, but when us humans first arrived, they agreed to move to the mountains and the Oddment Caves.’

‘Why would they do that?’ Liska wondered. ‘Why would they just give up their home?’

‘They were quite happy to,’ said Elowen. ‘They knew that humans make lots of rubbish, and rubbish attracts rats.’

Liska remembered all the skittering noises she had heard in the caves. She hardly dared ask what the kittimews wanted with rats, but Elowen told them anyway.

‘Yes, they love to eat rats. They consider them a delicacy. Fried, grilled, stewed, roasted, baked, raw. Rat soup, rat curry, rat pie . . . I’m sure the kittimews will be most plump. That’s if they’re still around, of course. I thought we might have seen one by now.’

Liska peered into the whirling strands of mist as they walked. She had lived all her life in the mountains and had never even heard of kittimews, let alone spotted one. She was beginning to think Elowen might have made the whole thing up when they found themselves walking past some dead trees that looked very familiar. Sure enough, they came across the spot where Liska had left her arrow sign, except somebody or something had moved it. The rocks had become eyes; the broken twig, a mouth. It now looked like a smiley face.

‘My arrow!’ she shouted. She didn’t know if she was more cross about having walked in a circle, or that someone had messed around with her sign.

‘Who . . . who did that?’ Lug stammered, his wide, terrified eyes darting around, imagining Thresher the hunter hiding behind every tree.

‘Oh, that will be the kittimews,’ said Elowen, giggling. ‘They do enjoy a bit of mischief!’

‘That’s lovely, but it means we’re lost,’ said Liska. ‘And tired and hungry and achy. I would really like to get off this mountain and having someone messing with my signs isn’t helping!’

She shouted her last words into the mist and thought she might have heard a quiet snickering noise in reply.

‘I think I know where we made a wrong turn,’ said Elowen. ‘Let’s have a rest, then try again.’

They sat at the foot of a dead tree and drank from Liska’s water skin. It was blissful to stretch out their aching legs and rub their sore feet, but when Lug started to close his eyes and doze, Elowen made them get up again.

‘Just a snooze . . .’ Lug moaned. ‘A tiny nap. Forty winks. Please?’

‘We can sleep when we’re off the mountain,’ said Liska. She wanted to find somewhere safe before they made camp, just in case Thresher was on their trail already.