As soon as the young man was out of hearing range, Duckling’s grandpa turned to Otte. ‘Now you must change your mind. I cannot say for sure that all these guards and Snuffigators are looking for us, but the risk is too great, and you are too valuable. You will creep in with the rest of us, and I will have no argument about it.’

A stubborn expression crossed Otte’s face, and despite Grandpa’s words, he began to protest.

Beside Duckling, Pummel slid his hand into the pocket of his breeches, and took out the leather pouch containing the raashk.

To Duckling’s eyes, that strange object looked like a tooth with a hole drilled in the middle. According to Sooli, it was an idle-cat tooth – huge and ancient. (Those fierce creatures had been extinct in Neuhalt for at least three hundred years.) But when Pummel put his eye to the hole, the world about him faded. Walls became no thicker than smoke, and he could walk through them. He could see ghosts, too, and walk through them, though he’d only done that once, and apparently it felt so horrible that he hoped never to do it again.

However, there were things that the raashk could not do. While Grandpa tried to convince Otte that he must not walk openly into the Strong-hold, Pummel whispered to Duckling and the cat, ‘The guards and Snuffigators – are they very close to each other around the gate?’

‘Verrry,’ said the cat, too quietly for the drivers of the carts to hear.

‘They’re making sure no one gets through unchecked,’ said Duckling. ‘There was a double line of them in places.’

Sooli, who was listening, said with a worried expression, ‘Then how will we get past them?’

‘The raashk,’ said Duckling. ‘Like Pummel told us earlier. We make a Snare and sneak in, as invisible as you please.’

‘That was when I thought there were only a few guards,’ said Pummel. ‘I thought we could creep between them. But the raashk won’t take us through living people.’

‘Then we make them jump aside for a moment or two,’ said Duckling. ‘I reckon I could do that.’ She thought about it, and pulled a face. ‘But I’d need to be able to see them, which I can’t do from inside a Snare.’

‘What about the outer wall?’ asked Sooli. ‘The raashk would take us through it, would it not?’ In her arms, the chicken made a dismayed sound.

Pummel shook his head. ‘I tried the wall once before. The curse was so tangled up in its stones that not even the raashk could get us through.’

They looked at the ugly fog that only they could see, and quickly looked away again.

‘Sooli, when we were in the salt mines,’ said Duckling, ‘when you saved us from Boz and Rusty – how did you make yourself invisible?’

‘I wrapped the shadows around myself,’ said Sooli.

‘And you could still see us? Yes, of course you could. Do you reckon we could learn how to do it?’

‘It would take too long,’ said Sooli. ‘It takes months of practice.’ Her forehead wrinkled. ‘But perhaps I could put a do-not-see on all of us.’

The cat pricked her ears and purred. The chicken bobbed her head, as if she approved.

‘It is like a misdirection,’ continued Sooli. ‘It makes people’s eyes slide away from something, so they do not notice it. I have only ever done it on small things, like a tunnel entrance. But the great Bayams of olden times could hide a dozen or more people in a do-not-see.’

She stroked the chicken’s black feathers. ‘And we have one of the great Bayams with us. With her help, Duckling summoned the Grandfather Wind, which has not been done for five hundred years. So I should be able to do it, I think.’

‘We could try,’ said Duckling. ‘And I could make the guards jump out of the way so we can get past.’

By then, Grandpa had argued Otte to a standstill. The younger boy did not look at all happy, but Arms-mistress Krieg wore a relieved expression.

‘It is no disgrace to be cautious, Young Ser,’ she said. ‘If I had ever walked headlong into danger, I would be dead a dozen times over.’

At that, Otte smiled reluctantly. ‘You do not walk headlong into danger, Arms-mistress. You run.’

Grandpa rubbed his hands together. ‘It is agreed then. Pummel will use the raashk to take all of us into the Strong-hold.’

‘No,’ said Pummel. ‘I can’t, not with so many guards on the gate. Sooli is going to make us invisible. Explain it to them, Sooli.’

Grandpa’s eyes gleamed, as if he had just spotted a diamond necklace and was trying to work out how he could steal it. ‘You can make us invisible, young lady? What a splendid talent. How will you do it?’

‘I will show you,’ replied Sooli. ‘But not here.’ She nodded towards the carts, which were still moving very slowly up the hill.

‘Ah yes,’ murmured Grandpa. ‘So many eyes. Let me see what I can do …’

Duckling’s grandpa could use his voice so cleverly that he sounded as if he was whispering, when really he was making sure everyone nearby could hear him. That’s what he did now.

‘I am not as young as I used to be,’ he said, mopping his forehead with his sleeve. ‘No, do not make a fuss, my friends, I just need to sit down for a little while. Over there, in the shade, perhaps? The sun is very warm for this time of year.’ And he pointed to a small cluster of trees that clung to the rock.

The nearest drivers looked at them, then looked away, uninterested. Grandpa led the way to the trees, leaning heavily on Arms-mistress Krieg. But as soon as they were hidden from the carts, he straightened up and nodded to Sooli. ‘Show us what you can do, young lady.’

Sooli passed the chicken to Pummel and waved them all into a tight circle. Then, with great concentration, she picked something out of the air and began to move her hands in complicated patterns.

‘What’s she doing?’ whispered Duckling.

Even without looking through the raashk, Pummel could see things that Duckling couldn’t. He squinted at Sooli’s hands. ‘She’s weaving silver threads. Making them into something like a cat’s cradle.’

Sooli tied a knot, dusted her hands and blew towards each of them in turn. ‘Now she’s dropped it over our heads,’ whispered Pummel.

The chicken squawked. The cat purred. But Arms-mistress Krieg screwed up her eyes and said, ‘I can still see you all.’

‘That is because you are inside the do-not-see,’ said Sooli. ‘It will be different for those outside.’ Then she added, so quietly that only Duckling heard her, ‘At least, I hope it will.’