The Lighthouse Witches(82)

I squeezed my eyes shut. “OK.”

“You’ll need rope. And something to light a fire. And you’ll need this.” She handed me the knife.

“I can’t,” I whispered, putting down the blade.

“Mummy?” Luna called from the other room. “Rowan says she can make me hot chocolate. Am I allowed?”

I must have visibly weakened at the sound of Luna’s voice—identical to the imposter’s voice—because just then Isla took my hand. “It’s best that you do it. Correct?”

It felt as though the room was underwater. Nothing felt real anymore. I managed to nod.

“I’ll come with you,” Isla said with a smile. “Now, you don’t have a moment to waste.”


IV

I went back to the bothy, as Isla instructed. To my relief, the other Luna—the one with the mark—was inside, puzzled and upset at my leaving her behind.

“I’m taking you out now,” I told her, offering a thin smile. “We’re going to spend some time together. Jump in the car.”

The imposter wiped her eyes and threw me a cross look before getting into the car. Then I told Luna to get out of the car.

“Stay in the bothy,” I told her firmly. There was no way I could take her with us. “Do not answer the door under any circumstances. OK? It doesn’t matter who calls. Do not open the door.”

She nodded. Her eyes drifted to the other girl in the car.

“Where are you taking her?”

“I’m taking her back to her parents,” I said, lowering my eyes. “She’s obviously got lost. They’ll be worried . . .”

“Is she a wildling?” Luna asked fearfully.

I tried not to meet her gaze.

“She is, isn’t she?” Luna said, her eyes wide. “You don’t have to take her away, Mummy. Saffy told me what to do if I saw someone who looked like me . . .”

I told her she was to stay inside and not answer the door, and for this she could have as many Pop-Tarts as she wanted. She pleaded with me not to take the wildling away. She wanted to take the girl’s hands, that’s what Saffy had told her, but out of the window I spotted Isla’s car parking up in front of mine, and I knew I needed to go.

Inside the car, the wildling sat calmly in the passenger seat. “Where are we going, Mummy?” she asked, and my stomach clenched.

“We’re just going for a drive,” I said in that same light tone that I’d have used if I were speaking to the real Luna. Isla pulled off and I started my engine, following behind. I could see Mirrin was with her.

Isla drove us out to the large forest on the other side of the island. The wildling kept talking, her voice just like Luna’s. I could feel my mind beginning to tear itself apart, the divide between reality and a nightmare beginning to collapse.

“Are we going hiking?” the wildling asked.

“Just a little walk.” I had to force myself to say it.

Isla parked behind under some trees. She handed me a backpack and we walked into the forest, Isla’s steps quick and swift as she led the way. In the distance I could make out others, and I figured that Isla must have alerted the “wildling committee.” The wildling was a terrible threat, and they’d come to make sure it was taken care of.

My stomach dropping, I took the wildling’s hand. It felt exactly like Luna’s.

“This is it,” Mirrin told me quietly, nodding at a clearing. I saw a group of trees that looked like they’d been burned. The burning trees, I remembered.

The people from the committee drew closer. I saw some of them were wearing balaclavas, and others were carrying rowan branches. Rowan, I thought. For protection.

Isla flashed Luna a smile, then turned to me. “You brought everything?”

I swallowed back a sob. “I think so.”

She took a step closer and placed a hand on my arm. “I know this is hard. But you must do this. If you ever want to see your girls again, you must do this.”

“How do you know?” I said, looking down at Luna. Her tummy was rumbling and she was beginning to whine. Luna always hated walking long distances.

She gripped my hand. “Remember what I said? If you don’t act, you’ll lose everything. I promise you—Saffy and Clover will be found once you do this.”

I took off my backpack and, with trembling hands, pulled out the contents that Isla had packed.

The wildling’s whining was getting louder, more persistent, and Isla saw it was causing me to soften. She sounded so like my daughter. Perhaps she was. Perhaps there was some other explanation for the two Lunas.

But how could there be?

“Mum, I’m hungry,” she said, flopping down to the ground. “Can I please have a sandwich?”

Isla answered for me. “Of course you can,” she told the wildling, throwing her a wide, all-the-teeth smile. “But first, we have to play a game.”

“A game?”

Isla nodded. “You need to follow your mother.”

“What game are we playing?” the wildling asked, her face angled up at me, full of innocence.

I tried to smile, like Isla, but it was so hard to pretend. So difficult, when she looked so like Luna. “It’s kind of like hide-and-seek,” I said. My voice sound far-off, as though it wasn’t mine.