They tucked him in darkness. They shrouded his body, pinched him inside and lost him forever. Dad had no idea what he was facing here, so he did what any decent man would have done in the same situation. He raised his torch. He kept the sharp-edged plank ready. He called out for his son. ‘Are you there, Ben?’ Then he yelled it: ‘Ben! Son! Can you hear me?’ And, to make the owner of Glebe House show himself: ‘Cullayn! You coward! Is it only children you hunt, then?’ Dad hated naming the owner out loud that way. He sensed that an admission of his power was just what Cullayn wanted – proof that Dad acknowledged him at last. But Dad realised that he had to let the owner know he took his threat seriously if he was to bring him out into the open. ‘Give me my boy back or I’ll destroy the East Wing,’ he said calmly. ‘I’ll bring it down. Brick by brick I’ll do it. Are you listening to me, Cullayn? I’ll destroy your home. I’ll hire fifty men and demolish it in a day.’ For a second a booted step thundered menacingly through the East Wing.
