Jay noticed Jem dragging her heels. ‘You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.’ Jem’s face was very white in the moonlight. ‘I thought you wanted me to come.’ ‘I do. And I think you want to know the truth, but you mustn’t come if it worries or scares you.’ ‘I’ll come.’ Jem’s voice was low. ‘It doesn’t matter if I’m scared.’ She glanced up at Jay. ‘I feel I have to keep an eye on you, anyway.’ Jay laughed. ‘It’ll be fine.’ The expedition had begun with another sortie to the hill-top. Here, Jay examined the position of the moon and the few constellations she could recognise, and even made a rough map of what she could see below. The house of Lorrance looked chalky and insubstantial against the shadowy, blue backdrop of its cup of forest. No lights burned in the house that she could see. Perhaps the owner lived in the other side of the house, where the windows faced the trees. ‘The river cuts through Lorrance’s land back there,’ Jay said, ‘perhaps we should follow it.’ Now, Jem directed them towards the willowy banks, where the slow-moving flow slunk through the night.
