‘I know you wouldn’t lie. I’m so sorry, Eleanor. I didn’t think it was real. I’m going down there now to look for it, see if I can reason with it.’

‘No. You mustn’t. You can’t because it wasn’t really a man. It had long, black shiny claws and sharp, pointed teeth. You know what it is. I only ever saw it once and it scared me so much. Why did you bring it into our home when I told you not to?’ She shuddered. ‘I can hear the sound of those claws scrabbling across the floor to get to me, echoing in my mind.’ He slid to the floor next to her, taking hold of her hand. James had never known Eleanor to get emotional or spooked, but at this moment in time she was terrified.

‘Tell me everything. I believe you.’

She nodded and dabbed at her eyes with a sodden handkerchief she pulled from her pocket.

‘It looked like that Windigo monster you had in your sideshow the night I met you. It was hiding in the corner and at first I thought it was afraid of me because it was hiding in the shadows, but then it got braver, and when it realised I was on my own it ran after me. I can hear those claws swiping through the air to get to me. I only just managed to get to the top of the steps before it grabbed me and then I slammed the door shut.’

She began to cry again and James held her. His stomach churned at the thought of the thing in the cellar taking his son and almost taking his wife. When she had cried herself out he kissed the top of her head.

‘I’m sorry, Eleanor. I had nowhere to keep it that was safe. For God’s sake, I thought it wasn’t real, that it was man-made. I can’t believe that it’s alive after all this time. How can that be? It doesn’t make any sense. I’m going to get Davey to fetch Farmer Mitchell and as many guns as he owns, and then we will go down into the cellar and hunt for this thing. I promise you I will shoot it dead myself, even if I have to go down into the drains. I don’t care. We can’t tell anyone what you saw; we’ll say it was some kind of giant water rat.’

‘Why, because people will think I’m mad?’

‘No, because no one will want to help unless they don’t know what it is they’re dealing with. People like to know what’s what. It’s easier to believe it’s something we know rather than some kind of monster.’

‘What about you, James? Do you believe me or do you think I imagined it?’

‘I believe every word you said. I told you I will hunt it down and find it if it’s the last thing I ever do. I’m also going to put some more bolts on the cellar door, just to be sure that whatever it is can’t get out.’

‘Thank you for believing me. I’m so scared for Joseph. It must be able to come and go, so it might have taken him somewhere. He must be so terrified on his own.’

James didn’t want to tell her that he didn’t think it had taken Joe because it felt like it. Something like that would need to eat. What would it live off? A piercing pain shot through his heart and he almost doubled over with the severity of it. After a minute he straightened up and realised that what had just hit him had been pure, raw grief for his son.

James got dressed then went outside to the outhouse where his tools were kept. He found what he needed to make the cellar secure and stop whatever it was from escaping. He believed everything Eleanor had said, confirming his worst fears. He knew she felt like she was losing her mind but she would no more lie than she would hurt a hair on their children’s heads. If she said she had seen a monster, then that’s what it was. It must have a way in and out of that cellar. If it came in through the drain, it must lead somewhere. It had to live somewhere. He’d never heard another person speak of such a thing in the area so it was very good at hiding itself. He wondered how long it had been living below the ground like that and what it lived in.

It had been more than a year since he’d moved it in, never checking on it once because he didn’t think he needed to. He imagined it had a huge nest somewhere deep in the earth that was full of human bones and he felt the bile rise in the back of his throat, because at the top of that pile would be his son, Joe. He stormed back into the house where he began banging and screwing an assortment of bolts and padlocks onto the cellar door. If it wanted to come into the house it would make so much noise he would have his shotgun at the ready for it the minute it burst through the door.

Eleanor had washed and dressed Martha and was reading to her in the drawing room. He’d looked in on them on his way in and his heart had filled with sorrow for his son, who should have been sitting next to them. A loud hammering on the front door made him stop what he was doing. Lucy rushed to open it and he saw the two policemen from last night.

‘Good morning, Mr Beckett. Is there any news? Has Joseph turned up with his tail between his legs?’

‘Good morning, officers. I would give everything I own to be able to say yes to that question. Have you any news?’

‘I’m afraid we haven’t, sir. We’ve organised a search party to come and meet us here in half an hour so we can search the gardens and woods again. Two of the local boatmen have kindly offered to check the lake.’

James flinched at the thought of them finding his son floating in the cold water, and he knew it was a very real possibility. He nodded at them both.

‘That’s very kind of them and yourselves to sort this out. I can’t tell you how much I really appreciate it.’

Eleanor walked out holding Martha’s hand. She looked at James, then continued walking to the kitchen, pausing to look at the new locks and bolts that he had fixed to the door. She nodded her head in approval. The men waited for her to reach the kitchen and then the officer who was in charge lowered his voice.

‘Can I ask why all the locks?’

‘My wife is terrified that our daughter might go down there looking for her brother and it’s too dangerous.’

‘Once we have the search party organised we’ll give it one last once-over if that’s okay with you?’

‘It is. I’ve already organised some neighbours to come and help me search the cellar. Davey has been to ask Farmer Mitchell to come over with some guns.’

‘Can I ask you, sir, why you need guns? We’re looking for a missing nine-year-old boy, not hunting.’

‘I want to make sure everyone is safe. This might sound really strange to you but my wife believes some animal came out of the drain in the cellar and may have taken Joe away deep down into the drains somewhere.’

‘And you believe your wife, do you, sir?’

He nodded his head. ‘I do, officer, one hundred per cent, and if you are a wise man then you should believe her as well.’

The two policemen looked at each other as if to say he’d lost his mind, but James didn’t care. He had told them as much as he could and if they didn’t believe him that was their choice. He wouldn’t feel bad if whatever it was helped itself to them after he’d warned them. Davey walked in with Mitchell, who took his cap off and nodded at James.

‘I’m sorry to hear about Master Joe. I’ve brought guns and ammunition.’

‘Thank you, Mitchell, that’s very kind of you.’

‘It’s the least I could do.’

James turned to look at the policemen. ‘Would you mind if we go down and start to search for my son?’

‘Not at all, but be careful with those guns. I don’t want you blowing your limbs off. Sanders will accompany you down there while I wait up here for the others to arrive.’

James noted the look the younger man gave his older colleague. He wasn’t impressed and didn’t want to go down into that cellar either.

‘Would you excuse me while I go and speak to my wife?’

James didn’t give them a chance to reply. He turned and walked to the kitchen where he kissed both Martha and Eleanor on their heads.

‘I want you to stay in here with Martha, Lucy and Mary. I’m going into the cellar with Davey, Mitchell and Sanders the policeman. The other policeman is waiting up here for the rest of the search team to arrive. I want you to shut this door and push a chair under it so you are all safe. If anything should happen, God forbid, you take Martha and you run from this house as far away as possible. I will come and find you as soon as I can but you are not to wait here for me. Do you understand, Eleanor? You and Martha are the most precious things in my life and I will not knowingly put either of you in any danger.’