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up with jealousy that she’s practically human. It’s only a matter of time before mortality sets in. It happens to a lot of demons. Ah, here we are . . .’ Janus said, swinging open a rough plank door to reveal a small room with a table, wash-basin and jug.
    On the bed sat a pale young girl, rubbing her hands and fingers as if she were trying to get warm. She jumped up, startled.
    ‘Sally, what’re you doing in here?’ Janus frowned.
    The girl folded her arms defiantly. She was about Edgy’s age and quite pretty, he thought, though very pale. Edgy would have called her long, wavy hair blonde but actually it was white. Her dress, which was tied up with a ribbon around her thin waist, was white. Her boots and stockings were white too. Everything about her was white but not a clean-laundry kind of white. It was more of a bleached, faded white.
    ‘Just resting,’ she sniffed, sounding quite cheeky to Edgy’s mind. ‘I do rest sometimes, you know.’
    ‘Well, you can’t rest in here, young lady. This is Edgy Taylor. It’s his room now,’ Janus said with raised eyebrows.
    Sally’s eyes widened and Edgy couldn’t help noticing the dark circles underneath, as if she hadn’t slept for a week. She stamped her foot.
    ‘It’s my room – it has been since 1735,’ she yelled, stamping again. ‘Why can’t he go somewhere else?’
    ‘You know full well that we’re short on beds, Sally, and you don’t actually need yours.’
    ‘It’s not fair,’ she snapped and punched her hands down at her sides. ‘Just because I’m dead –’
    ‘Dead? Is she a ghost, Mr Janus?’ Edgy whispered, hugging Henry, unable to take his eyes off her. Now he came to think of it, she didn’t look quite right. A bit too thin and gaunt.
    ‘I am here, you know,’ Sally said with a gasp. ‘And, no, I’m not a ghost. I’m a revenant – there is a difference!’
    ‘Well, whatever you like to call yourself, go and haunt some other chamber,’ Janus snapped back at her.
    With a squeal of outrage, Sally flew into the passage and Janus shut the door on her. Edgy could hear her yelling and raging outside as Janus scratched his head.
    ‘Sorry about that, Edgy,’ he smiled. ‘I’d forgotten about Sally.’
    ‘But she said she was dead,’ Edgy whispered, looking sidelong at the door, trying to ignore the curses being hurled at its other side.
    ‘She’s right, really – she’s a revenant. A returned one. Not a spirit or phantom as we might imagine but one who has died . . . and then come back.’
    ‘She can’t walk through walls or anything then?’ Edgy asked, eyeing the door again.
    Janus shook his head and sat on the bed. ‘She’s flesh and blood . . . kind of. Sally was brought back over a hundred years ago by Glassten Lustenbrück during his investigations into the afterlife. A very clever man – I still have his notes, some of his experiments were quite ground-breaking.’
    ‘Don’t suppose Sally was particularly impressed,’ Edgy murmured, feeling sorry for the girl.
    ‘What?’ Janus muttered. ‘No, I suppose not. I’d not really thought of it that way.’ He sat in silence for a moment, as if ruminating on the idea, then shook himself and jumped up. ‘Anyway, it sounds as if she’s gone for now. If she bothers you again, just let Trimdon know. Try and get some sleep – you’ll need all your strength tomorrow. Oh, and I got you this.’
    He pulled a small book from his pocket and presented it to Edgy. He took a deep breath. Nobody had ever given him anything apart from harsh words and cruel blows. Now here he was – clean, clothed, fed and being given a gift.
    ‘That’s all right, sir,’ he said quietly. ‘You’ve been too kind already.’
    ‘Nonsense, my boy.’ Janus beamed at him, placing the book on the bed. ‘I’ll leave it here. You get some sleep and we’ll talk in the morning.’
    Janus left, closing the door gently behind him.
    Edgy picked the book up and shivered. It felt warm in