Solma slams the door behind her. Bell is so infuriating. Four days they’ve been stuck in this accursed village and she’s still adamant that no-one is to try to unravel Norsen’s secret, whatever it is. Never mind that the Whisperer children have thrown up numerous times, that Ana fainted on the planting fields yesterday and that Cobra and Mamba have got so little sleep that they’ve both, on separate occasions, plopped face first into their dinner. But it doesn’t matter how much Solma argues with her, Bell’s word is always final.
Solma stalks along the gravel track, heading towards the village square, then changes her mind and doubles back, slipping behind a cluster of houses. She walks beyond the path where ferns sprout, unmanaged, along the line of the outer fence. She pauses a few feet f
