‘Well, I don’t think he’d like what he finds. Better that he goes to his grave remembering the innocent little girl from twenty years ago.’

Bailey disliked what she was hearing. Unwilling to believe it, she desperately tried to think of some way to connect with the old Jennifer.

Suddenly remembering, she eased the folded scrap of paper out of her jacket pocket, having secreted it there earlier that morning. It was Jennifer’s felt-tip drawing of Mister Snigiss. Bailey opened it up and handed it to her sister.

A faintly quizzical expression crossed Jennifer’s face, to be replaced by a smile of recognition.

‘Well, well…’ she murmured.

‘Dad carries it with him everywhere he goes… Or at least he used to. It’s like his special charm. It symbolises his belief in you, that you’re still alive.’

Bailey paused to contemplate the cruel irony of it. How would her father react on hearing that Jennifer was alive but completely disinclined to see him? It would probably devastate him.

Jennifer scrutinised the piece of paper with the hint of a smile, tracing her fingertip over the wiggly line that was Mister Snigiss’s pet snake. ‘I do have my very own pet snake now, you know. I had to get one, obviously, as Mister Snigiss. I have several in fact. Cobras to be precise. Just like Mister Snigiss had. Magnificent creatures.’ She looked up at Bailey, handing her back the piece of paper. Then, pausing a moment as if thinking something over, she reached inside her collar and unhooked a thin gold chain from around her neck. She handed it to Bailey. ‘Here, I want you to have this.’

Bailey took the necklace. Attached to the chain was a small pendant made of dark green stone, set into a gold mount. Looking closer, she could see that it was carved in the form of a coiled snake.

‘It’s a cobra,’ said Jennifer. ‘It’s an Ancient Egyptian amulet.’

Bailey examined it, turning it over in the palm of her hand. On the back of the amulet, there was some form of inscription – a series of tiny Egyptian hieroglyphs cut into the green stone.

‘You always loved Ancient Egypt,’ she murmured.

‘They used to worship snakes, you know. Especially cobras. Held them in very high regard.’

‘Is it genuine?’ asked Bailey.

‘Oh yes. It’s Middle Kingdom. About three and a half thousand years old. It’s a protective amulet. It’ll keep you safe.’

As she stared down at the amulet, Bailey felt completely disoriented by everything that had happened this morning, and she was finding it hard to get a grip on things.

‘First you threaten me, now you want to protect me.’

Jennifer shrugged off the contradiction. ‘Keep it to remember me by because you won’t be seeing me again.’

Bailey looked up sharply. Jennifer bore a grave expression.

She spoke in her hard, steely voice. ‘Don’t ever try and find me again, Bailey. And remember my warning. It’s a dark and very dangerous world that I live in, and you don’t want to go there.’