We walked through the wood.

I felt a bit weird after seeing the “boyfriend” thing on the magic ball, but I decided to just ignore it. It probably didn’t have anything to do with me; she’d just been trying it out.

“So, where exactly is your house?” I asked. I didn’t want to go there, but it would be nice to get a glimpse of it, at least.

“It’s over there,” she said, waving her hand vaguely. “We can’t go near it though. You wouldn’t want to be seen by anyone, would you?”

I was about to protest that my parents and I were totally allowed to be at the cottage and weren’t hiding, then closed my mouth. I was worried if I said too much she’d start asking questions.

We came out of the forest, and the frozen ground was so hard it hurt the soles of my feet through my thin sneakers.

“It must be amazing having all this space around you,” I said as we puffed along. “You can walk the length of our back garden in ten steps.”

I wondered if I’d ever see our old house or garden again. It hadn’t really felt like home since Gary had moved in. I guessed I wouldn’t miss it too much. I thought of Mum and Gary there together. Without me. I pushed the image out of my mind.

Kitty stayed silent and I stopped to take a look behind us. There were the dark woods, and then to the left of that I could just make out the top of a roof.

“Is that the house?” I asked, stretching my neck to try to see more. But Kitty was hurrying in the other direction.

“Look! There’s the ice house.”

Cut into the side of a hill was a small oval hole containing an iron door, and as we got closer I could see the blackness behind the bars. I shuddered.

“It looks like a dungeon,” I said. “That is so creepy.”

Kitty crouched down and peered inside. “There’s a bit of a drop as you go in and then there’s a brick room.”

I looked at the outside. It really was a brilliant design. Being built into a small hill meant the whole of the ice house was underground, where it would be coolest.

“Go on then,” Kitty said to me. “Open it.”

I rattled the iron door, then pulled it gently toward me. It opened easily.

We stood there for a moment, staring into the dark, gaping hole. I could hear a steady drip, drip, drip coming from inside, and there was a strong stench of damp. Kitty leaned in.

“Helllloooooooooo!!!!!” she called, and her voice echoed over and over, tumbling into the darkness. I swallowed as she stared at me, her eyes wide.

“It looks horrible. I can’t imagine James and Charlotte playing in there, can you?” I said. “Maybe I was wrong about the ice house? Maybe there’s another kind of frozen place. Somewhere in the kitchen in your house?”

Kitty scowled at me. “Of course it’s in here. What else could a frozen place be with the letters I and H? And remember, it probably looked better when they were little. They lit it up with lanterns and all that.”

As I looked into the darkness it made me think of Gary, and my heart began to race like it does after I’ve been playing soccer.

“I thought this might help,” I said, taking my blue flashlight out of my coat pocket. Kitty grinned as if I’d found the treasure already.

“You are a star! Why didn’t I think of bringing a flashlight? That is brilliant.”

I flicked the switch, then pressed my way through the flashing modes until I got to the steady ON setting.

“It’s not exactly the best flashlight in the world, is it?” she said as I shined the feeble light into the darkness.

“Sorry,” I said.

There was a reason the flashlight was so dim. Mum had bought it for me after Gary had smashed my light jar, and she said I could put it on when I was in bed if I got really scared. Because the bulb was blue, it didn’t shine brightly, so Gary wouldn’t spot it under the door. I felt another pang of needing my mum. Badly. I really didn’t want to be here, facing a hole of darkness. I was going to have to admit to Kitty that there was no way I was going to go in.

“Okay, who’s going first?” she said, kneeling beside the door.

“I—I … I’m not sure … that I can …” I said. The entrance was like a large, gaping mouth ready to swallow me up. It made me think of Gary. And of what he did … to our house. I began to shake, hoping that Kitty just thought it was from the cold.

“Fine. I’ll go,” said Kitty, letting out an almighty huff while simultaneously rolling her eyes. She ducked beneath the low doorway, and I heard her drop down into the chamber.

“Hold on—you haven’t got the flashlight!” I said, my voice echoing as I edged closer. I couldn’t believe she was so brave she’d just jump into the darkness like that. I waved the flashlight around the best I could.

“It’s horrible,” Kitty said, her voice really quiet. “I can’t see a thing, it’s so dark and slippery.” Her voice kept fading as she walked around. “It’s quite big, I think. I can’t see much at the moment. I’ve got to let my eyes adjust to the dark.”

The blue flashlight darted this way and that, but it wasn’t bright enough to light anything up.

I listened to her feet scuffing along the brick floor, and then it went quiet.

“Kitty? Are you okay?”

I leaned in a little bit, but I couldn’t see a thing.

“Kitty!”

“I’m fine! Point the flashlight over here! There’s another chamber toward the back. I’m going to see if there’s anything through there.”

There was a light blue glow where Kitty was standing, but the flashlight began to flicker. I slapped it against my palm.

“Come back now, Kitty! The batteries are dying!”

I heard some shuffling, and then it went quiet. Water dripped like the ticking of a clock as I listened to the silence.

“Kitty, are you okay?”

“Nate!”

She sounded so far away.

“Kitty? Where are you?”

I banged the flashlight again, and it spluttered into life, then quickly faded. I turned it off and on, but it was dead.

“Kitty, the flashlight isn’t working. You’ve got to try to find a way out!”

“Nate, help me!”

I ducked down, ready to drop through the gap and into the ice house, but then I stopped. It was so dark. So terrifyingly dark. I couldn’t do it.

“Kitty? I can’t. I can’t come in. Just follow my voice, okay? Can you hear me? Kitty!”

“Nate! I’m in the other chamber, and I can’t find the door. You’ve got to help me!”

My heart was pounding. I was faced with a sheet of blackness, and I just couldn’t go in.

“Please, Nate, I can’t see a thing,” said Kitty. I could hear her desperately scrabbling around.

“I—I … I can’t,” I said quietly. I stood up, shivering in the freezing cold.

I ran back to the cottage, not stopping even when I skidded and stumbled to the ground. I couldn’t go in there. I just couldn’t. And if Kitty wanted to go poking around in some scary ice house, then that was her choice. Surely someone in her home would realize she was missing. Maybe I should go tell them? But I didn’t want to be seen. When I got to the cottage Sam was standing in the middle of the living room.

“You’re doing the best thing by staying here, you know, Nate,” he said. “All of this ‘knight in shining armor stuff’ just isn’t you. No, it’s far better to be here. In the warmth. In the light.”

I paced up and down beside him. “You’re right. She’s nothing to do with me. I’ve got my own problems!”

My head was fuzzy. I sat down on the sofa, and Sam sat down next to me. “Why don’t you get the fire going? I mean, it’s not like you’re going to go and help her.”

It didn’t feel nice when he said that.

“I mean, so what if she’s alone and trapped in the dark? What’s it to you?”

I froze for a moment. “But no one knows she’s there. I can’t go to the house. What if she can’t find her way out?”

Sam shrugged his shoulders. “Well, then you’re the only one who can help her, aren’t you?”

I looked at Sam and he winked. He’d been trying to get me to do something—and it had worked.

“Under the sink!” I shouted. “I bet there’re some batteries there. That’s where Mum used to keep them at home.”

I jumped up and Sam clapped his hands together. “That’s a brilliant idea!”

The cupboard under the sink stank of moldy, damp rags. There was a plastic tub full of old scrub brushes and a bag of clothespins and that was it.

“Okay, so that’s no good. Now what?” said Sam. He was bouncing around the kitchen like a boxer warming up in the ring. “Come on! You can do this!” He threw a few punches at a shadow on the wall.

“Can you just keep still? I’m trying to think.”

I tried to remember if I’d come across anything when I was looking around the cottage for clues to the treasure hunt.

“The alarm clock!” I shouted.

I sprinted upstairs and into my mum’s room and grabbed the small white alarm clock on her bedside cabinet. I flicked the back open, and two batteries fell out onto the bed. I quickly unscrewed the bottom of the flashlight and tipped the batteries into my hand, but they were smaller. The ones in Mum’s alarm clock were too big to fit. I sat there for a moment, thinking. And then I ran back downstairs.

“Sam, you’ve got to help me! Do you have any ideas?”

“You’re asking me a question?” he said.

I stared at him. “What? Yes. Yes, I’m asking you a question. Can you help me? Please.”

“Well, I can’t believe you’re asking me a question,” he said, emphasizing the words. He was behaving really oddly, and then I realized he was giving me a clue.

I turned away and spotted the Ask Me a Question magic ball on the table.

“Of course!” I said, and I grabbed it and ran to the kitchen. I found a small blunt knife in the drawer and used it to undo the tiny screws. I took the back off the ball and carefully eased out the two batteries, then put them in the flashlight. I twisted the cap back on—and nothing.

“Try them the other way around,” said Sam, appearing beside me. I did what he said, quickly screwing the end back on, and then pressed the rubber button. The flashlight gave off a blue glow, and this time it was a little brighter. I was ready.

I ran to the kitchen door and stopped. Sam’s yellow color brought warmth to my face.

“You can do this, you know,” he said. I smiled at him, then stepped out into the freezing air.