Prologue

It was a starless, moonless night.

A night dark enough for kidnapping …

A roaring October wind wailed around Gaunthead Towers, wrenching open windows and howling into rooms as the sea crashed on to the cliffs below.

Another kind of howl echoed down the cold stone corridors of the school:

‘PRUDENCE!’

Urgent footsteps rang along one of the corridors. The dormitory door burst open, and frightened children sat up in their beds as a wild-eyed woman hurtled inside.

‘WHERE’S PRUDENCE?’ the woman screamed, charging to the bed at the end of the room.

The bed was empty, the covers pulled back.

‘SHE’S GONE!’ the woman cried, falling to her knees.

The open window banged in the wind and, across the bay, a ship with ragged sails lurched out to sea.

Lightning flashed through the dormitory, illuminating the wall between the window and the empty bed, where a single word was scrawled: