As she walked through the garden it seemed even lovelier than usual. Rosa delighted in every plant and flower, every butterfly and frog. The snow and ice shone silver in the moonlight and she was just as enchanted by it all as the first time she’d seen it. A black apple tree soon noticed her and came sidling over on its tentacle-like roots to see what she was doing. Rosa feared it might try to prevent her from going further, but perhaps it remembered her from earlier visits, for it only reached a spindly branch out in a friendly sort of way.

Finally, Rosa arrived at the grove of plum trees, shining and beautiful in the dark, casting their violet glow upon the supper booths and the ruffles and lace of the canopy of parasols. And here she paused, the sack trembling slightly in her hands. Would she regret this later? Now that the ravens were released from the aviary, would this moment be the destiny she would find, if she were to eat another plum? The thought made her feel suddenly exhausted. Even if you managed to avoid one mistake, there would always be a hundred more ready to take its place.

But she had come all this way and there was no further time for hesitation. Another two black apple trees had appeared at the edges of the grove and there seemed a more watchful air to them now. Time raced on, and Rosa couldn’t risk being interrupted. She opened up the sack and reached up for a nearby plum, sparkling at her in the moonlight. Her gloved hand closed around it and she plucked it from the branch.

The effect was immediate. Everything seemed to happen at once. The nearest black apple tree whipped out a branch and wrapped it so tightly around her arm that its rough bark cut her skin and blood trailed down towards her elbow. Rosa cried out, but refused to let go of the plum. The clockwork dragon flew at once to her defence and a plume of white-hot flames blasted past so close that she felt the heat on her face.

‘No!’ she cried. ‘Don’t!’

But it was too late. The tree caught fire immediately, releasing its hold on Rosa and recoiling with a scream. It was a dreadful sound. Rosa had not known that a tree could make such a noise. It quickly brought the other black apple trees to them. They came scuttling from every corner of the garden, dragging their crooked bodies over to converge on the grove.