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just a matter of time.’
    Elan put her hand on his shoulder.
    ‘Hopefully we’ll be luckier tomorrow. I’ll meet you in the same place after school.’
    Jack turned to Nora.
    ‘What am I going to say to Grandad?’
    ‘Don’t worry. I’ll go and see him in the morning and tell him we’re taking you to visit one of my friends. Which is true in a way, except that I haven’t spoken to her for a few hundred years. But we don’t have to tell your grandad that bit.’
    ‘Thanks. I’ll see you after school.’
    Jack waved when he reached the hedge before stepping through the gap and making his way, through the tunnel, to Grandad’s garden. It was as airless in the tunnel as it had been in the car. All Jack could think about was the fun he was going to have later, flying in the cool air, with Camelin. There might even be some supper. The Chinese take-away was always open late. After everything he’d been through he thought he deserved a bit of fun.

NIGHT FLIGHT
    Jack kept watch from his bedroom window. As the light began to fade, a familiar black shape appeared in the sky.
    ‘He’s here,’ Jack told Orin. ‘I won’t be gone long.’
    ‘Ready?’ Camelin croaked as he hopped in through Jack’s window.
    ‘Ready. If we transform under the blanket we won’t light up the whole house.’
    Before leaving, Camelin hopped onto the dressing table and had a good look at himself in the mirror. When he was satisfied he turned and inspected Jack.
    ‘You look a lot better without those two feathers sticking up. That singeing really improved your plumage.’
    Jack looked in the mirror. Maybe Camelin was right, his feathers were nice and flat now and the bald spot didn’t show too much. When he turned around Camelin was already out of the window; seconds later Jack was airborne too.
    ‘Race you to the belfry,’ croaked Camelin.
    Jack let Camelin fly on ahead. He was enjoying the freedom and the stillness of the night. By the time he landed in the bell tower Timmery and Charkle were already flittering around Camelin’s head.
    ‘So kind of you to call, so nice to have visitors; Charkle and I were just going out but we’ll stay and have a chat. We’ve got lots of time.’
    Charkle sighed.
    ‘We’re still looking for my family.’
    ‘I’m sure you’ll find them eventually,’ said Jack.
    ‘You might have lots of time but we haven’t. Jack’s not supposed to be out. I thought I’d take him to the other side of Glasruhen.’
    ‘Oooh! Can we come too? We haven’t checked out any of the roosts on the south side.’
    ‘No you can’t. This is a raven night out. We only called in to say hello and now we’re saying goodbye.’
    Both bats looked disappointed and neither of them spoke. Before Jack could say anything, Camelin hopped onto the ledge.
    ‘Come on Jack, time to fly.’
    Jack didn’t follow Camelin immediately. He didn’t like to leave so abruptly.
    ‘If we see anyone in Glasruhen I’ll ask them about your family. And we’ll come back and have a long chat soon, I promise.’
    Jack took off and had to beat his wings powerfully to catch up with Camelin.
    ‘What’s on the south side?’
    ‘You’ll see.’
    ‘We’re not going to be long are we?’
    ‘Naw, just a quick look, I want to check something out. We’re doing a bit of investigating. If I’m right it’ll save us a lot of time tomorrow night and everyone will be pleased with us. At least, they’ll be pleased with me… we can’t tell Nora you were here.’
    From the air both sides of Glasruhen looked the same to Jack. Camelin circled a few times before he started his descent.
    ‘We’ll try down there first, it looks about right.’
    ‘Right for what?’
    ‘To find what we’re looking for.’
    Before Jack could ask any more, Camelin disappeared into the treetops. Jack followed.
    ‘Over here, but don’t make a noise. I don’t want anyone to know we’re here.’
    ‘Where’s here?’
    ‘Uriel’s well.’
    ‘Didn’t Myryl warn us