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at him.
    The lamp man came back. ‘It’s all down,’ he said. ‘Just before halfway.’
    ‘Any way through?’ said the man on the horse.
    The other shook his head. ‘No. It’s solid.’
    Despite herself, Katta couldn’t help but look at the man on the horse, trying to see what he would do next. For a few moments he didn’t speak. She could see him turning it all over in his mind.
    ‘We’ll try the other way,’ he said.
    The men nodded and went back towards the horses.
    Katta bit her lip. He had believed her. She could feel hope rising inside her. He was going to leave them there.
    ‘Where are you from?’ the tall man asked.
    ‘Cottage in the wood,’ she said, jerking her head. That might have been enough, but she wanted to make it sound convincing, so she said, ‘It’s just over there.’
    As soon as she pointed, she knew she had made a mistake. He must know these woods far better than she did. He’d been about to turn his horse away, but when she said that, he reined it in again and stopped.
    ‘Where?’ he said.
    She pointed again, trying not to seem as vague as she had the first time. He gave a sharp whistle and the other men stopped too.
    ‘There’s no cottage out that way,’ he said. ‘Not for a long mile.’
    ‘It’s very small,’ she said, but she knew it was too late. He’d already stopped believing her.
    He got down from his horse and went over to where Mathias lay on the ground. He pulled open the coat and saw the blood-soaked shirt. ‘Anyone know who she is?’ he said.
    The men came back. They all looked at Katta.
    ‘She’s the girl from the inn,’ said one hesitantly. ‘The one who bangs her head about.’
    They had all gathered round her now.
    ‘That’s a blade did that,’ the tall man said to her. ‘What were you doing in there?’
    This time there was menace in his voice. She knew she would have to watch each word.
    ‘Hiding,’ she said. ‘They wanted the boy.’
    ‘Who did? Tahlmann?’
    It was the name of the innkeeper.
    ‘No. Someone else. I hid him from them.’
    The man’s face gave nothing away. ‘But you camethrough the tunnel?’ he said.
    ‘No,’ she lied. ‘We just found it here.’
    ‘Why did they want the boy?’
    ‘I don’t know. They dropped him out of a window.’
    The tall man looked at her for a moment, then laughed out loud. ‘What a lot of lies you can tell,’ he said.
    ‘But it’s true,’ she said. ‘The dwarf dropped him out of the window. He chased us, but the roof came down on him.’
    And she realized that she had done it again.
    ‘But you didn’t come through the tunnel, did you?’ said the man. ‘You found this end. That’s what you said. The tunnel was already down.’
    She opened her mouth, but no words would come. The man turned away from her.
    ‘Pick up the boy,’ he said to the others. ‘Put him on my horse.’
    He got back onto the big animal and they handed Mathias up, set him in the saddle in front of the tall man.
    ‘You walk,’ he said to Katta. ‘If you try to run, I’ll finish the boy. Do you understand?’
    She looked up at him and nodded.
    ‘Cover it up,’ he said to the others. ‘There’s no digging it out now.’
    The men put back the branches that Katta had moved, and swept leaves across the place. You wouldn’t have known it was there. Then, following the man on the big horse, they led the ponies back along the track through the wood to the road. After a few words, they parted company. The men and the ponies went one way and the tall man, with Mathias lolling in the saddle and Katta walking beside his horse, went the other – back into the wood.
    Beneath the tons of fallen earth, something began to move. At first he could only move his fingertips; he had to work them until they made a small space. Then he was able to move his whole hand. In the buried darkness, Valter began to dig his way free. There was nothing that could stop him.
    One thought filled his vicious, empty heart as he clawed his