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crept above the lip of the world, flowing over empty streets and sleeping houses and one creature of yellowed bones wearing torn trousers and a fancy waistcoat, its red eyes blinking warily in the light.
    When it was fully day, Skerridge got moving.

5
Dandy Boneman
    y now the sun was up and a cool breeze blew white clouds across the blue expanse like ships fleeing before a gale. Nin squinted up at them.
    ‘They’ve got sails. A bit ragged, like, but still sails. And portholes!’
    They settled on the outskirts of the copse, where Jonas arranged some stones in a ring and began building a fire in the centre. He lit it with the help of a box, dug out from his bulging pockets, then crouched next to the flames, feeding them with twigs and chunks of branch. Nin watched him, glad he was there. She didn’t like to think how she would be feeling if she was all alone right now, homeless, with no one to help. Soon she would have to decide what to do next, but for now, sticking with Jonas seemed like a good idea.
    ‘Right, I want you to sit here and warm up. I’ll fetch some water from the stream and see about making you a hot drink …’
    ‘What of ?’
    ‘Water and honey. ’Cept the honey and my brewingcan are in my pack, which is down by the stream where I left it when I went to watch for you. Get used to it,’ he added, seeing the look on her face. ‘No cups of tea or bottles of fizzy pop here. Drift honey is probably more nourishing than your average dinner, though. It’ll warm you up.’
    Nin was about to tell him that she wasn’t cold, then realised she was shivering. Must be shock, she thought, it’s not every day you get your life stolen. She giggled, feeling light-headed.
    ‘I need the bathroom.’
    Jonas pointed to a bush. ‘I’ll be back in ten minutes.’
    In fact, he was back in five. Nin was huddled over the fire, trying block out the memory of her mother’s voice demanding to know who she was. She stared up at Jonas miserably.
    ‘It’ll get better,’ he said, ‘believe me. You might not want it to, you might want to hang on to feeling bad because it ties you to what you’ve lost, but it will get better anyway. You won’t be able to help it. And one day it’ll slip so far into the past …’
    ‘NO!’
    ‘OK.’ Jonas gave her a warm smile and set about putting a large can of water on to the fire to heat up. ‘I’ve only got one mug, we’ll have to share.’
    Nin gazed over the landscape. It was beautiful, no doubt about that. The colours were vivid, without being harsh, and the air was so clear it filled her head with light. Without the ever-present trace of car fumes, shecould smell grass, cool water and the smoke from the fire which had an odd scent, like roast apples. Soon the musky-sweet smell of honey drifted into the air too.
    ‘Would you like some cakes to go with that?’ asked a voice behind her. ‘I’ll do you a deal.’
    Jonas, who had been paying attention to the fire, sprang to his feet. Nin looked round, startled.
    A man was standing a little way up from them, on the slope of the hill. He had been walking in the shadow of the trees and now he stepped into the light. He was short and wiry with a pointed, foxy face and ginger hair twisted into tangled ringlets. He wore a long coat of green silk over a yellow top and leather trousers with knee-high, brown boots. All this Nin saw in a flash, but what really got her attention was the thing in his hand.
    It was taller than a man and the top end was fashioned into a snarling dragon’s head engraved with complicated symbols. The whole thing gave off a silver haze that evaporated in the sunlight. It looked like it was made of bone and she wondered briefly what kind of animal had bones that big. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jonas give the thing the sort of look you might give to a Samurai sword in the hands of a lunatic. Then she caught sight of the objects lined up behind the stranger and forgot all about the bone.
    Jonas