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white moon’s glow. Julius stared up at the vast dome of the night sky. His grandfather’s face was sharp in his mind—the expression of contempt and betrayal stabbed at the deepest parts of him.
    You must go back, Higgins.
    Just as he was about to turn away there was a sound. Julius held his breath and listened. It was a rhythmic splashing coming from the river below. He peered through the mist and strained his ears. There it was again. An unmistakable rhythmic splashing, as if someone were wading through the water using their arms as paddles .
    It must be river men searching for corpses.
    Julius leaned over the wall to get a closer look. For a moment he thought he could see movement below. Then a heart stopping sound came from out of the mist. It was the most pitiable noise he had ever heard, a cross between a baby’s cry and wounded dog’s wail. He jumped back from the wall.
    He waited a moment, then looked again, down and to the right. A black shape emerged and cried out again as two arms reached out imploringly towards the mud-encrusted embankment wall and groped their way along the stones to the rusty iron rungs of the ladder.
    Julius retreated. The creature groaned with the effort of heaving its sodden body up the ladder.
    It clambered over the wall and Julius turned and ran for the nearest doorway, where the shadows would hide him. The creature cried out mournfully and looked around in quick movements of fear and confusion. Julius stepped back and collided with a bucket of rotting fish. The rats balancing on the edge of the bucket scattered. They screeched in fright and the bucket tipped over spilling a stew of fish guts, bones and river water on the cobbles. Julius let out a cry before he could stop himself.
    The creature stopped wailing and looked in Julius’s direction. Julius held his breath. He prayed to be mistaken for a pile of debris. The rats scurried away, and with a squelching sound the creature stepped forward. Water dripped from its dark clothes like water from a dying fountain.
    â€˜Get back!’ yelled Julius.
    â€˜Aaaarch graach jahaar,’ said the creature, holding its arms out.
    â€˜Get back, I said,’ yelled Julius again, trying to scramble to his feet, but his boots were too thick with fish slime to get a purchase.
    By now the creature was near enough for Julius to see him. He wore a dark coat with tails that hung nearly to his ankles and sleeves that were too short for his long thin arms. His collar sat high around his cheeks, which were as grey as a cadaver’s.
    Julius backed up until he hit the wall. He looked to his left and right. How far could he run before he slipped and broke his kneecaps?
    The creature came closer, stretching out a hand towards him, close enough for Julius to see his face. His eyes were large and staring, with black pupils and red whites, the nose just a sliver of gristle with nostrils. River water dripped from its tip. Grey-black lips opened to show two rows of pointed teeth, and black oily hair stuck to his forehead.
    â€˜Aaaarch graach jahaar,’ said the creature again.
    Julius pressed himself back into the wall.
    â€˜What do you want?’
    â€˜He wants to know where he is,’ said a familiar voice.
    Julius and the creature both looked around. There stood Professor Fox, his light grey frockcoat and top hat illuminated by the moonlight. He tipped his hat. Julius remained as still as the stone wall behind him. The professor replaced his hat, patted it firmly on his head, then took his pocketwatch out and unclipped it from the chain. ‘Do not be afraid, young Master Higgins. Our distraught friend here means you no harm. We’ll soon have him back home where he belongs.’
    â€˜Aaaarch graach jahaar,’ said the creature again, but more calmly this time.
    â€˜Drachk da chraack,’ replied the professor.
    The creature stepped towards the professor, who held out his pocketwatch and spun it in the air