After Lewis had refused to open the envelope addressed to Charles Hargrove, Emily had eaten her food in silence. It had been perhaps half an hour after they had finished eating that he had told her to get some rest and that he would keep lookout first.

Quietly she had accepted his decision. Not daring to broach the earlier topic again she had headed into the cave with the oil lamp. Leaving him sat beside the fire at the mouth of the cave she had made a makeshift bed from the fur coats on the stone floor, making sure to leave enough spare in case he decided to sleep as well. It was far from comfortable but, in the end, she had been consumed by an uneasy sleep.

Vaguely she became aware of the darkness that surrounded her becoming lighter. Trying to take a step forward she pushed at the darkness, the tips of her fingers brushing against something solid. As the darkness began to lift, she found that the palm of her hand was pressed against the trunk of a giant fir tree.

‘Come on,’ she heard Lewis say. Turning she saw him stood beside her, looking out over a deep, snow-covered valley. In the distance she could just about make out a jumble of small buildings covered in a thin blanket of snow.

As they stepped out from under the fir tree and into the weak sunlight the scene faded into darkness around her before returning moments later.

Looking around, Emily guessed that they were still in the same area when she saw the rising hills. In front of her Lewis was striding towards the door of one of the small houses, ignoring a voice that was calling to him from behind them.

Hurrying forwards, she caught up with him just as he pushed the door open. Stepping inside he found the room empty all except for a man in his late forties who was sporting a black eye.

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Before either of them could say anything about it a huge shadow appeared in the doorway behind the man. As he stepped forwards in to the light Emily saw a dark scab on the side of his head. It was the man that she had come to know as Commander Redmond over the last few days.

In a flash she felt the surprisingly real feel of Lewis’ hand grabbing hers and pulling her towards the door that they had just walked through. Looking back at the advancing form of Commander Redmond she felt Lewis’ arm against her stomach as he stopped her. Turning around she found them surrounded by a dozen guards.

Neither of them had a chance to react before Emily felt herself being pulled away from Lewis and bundled to the ground by Commander Redmond, his huge form making it difficult to breath.

As he held her to the ground, she saw Lewis grappling with the pair of guards who had tried to grab him. Pushing one of the guards aside he straightened up. ‘You!’ he shouted as he lunged forwards.

Twisting as much as she could beneath Commander Redmond’s heavy frame, she saw him lunge at one of the guards who had assembled outside the house. With an audible crunch his fist connected with the guard’s jaw. As the guard stumbled backwards holding his face, she realised that it was Lewis’ friend Arron.

It took perhaps a handful of seconds between the time Lewis fist connected with Arron’s and five of the guards bundling on top of him in a tangle of bodies.

When the pile of flailing limbs finally came to a stop, she saw Lewis looking at her from underneath the guards, the side of his head pressed to the ground.

‘I’ll make you pay for your little trick at that cabin,’ Commander Redmond growled in her ear as he pulled her to her feet roughly.

For whatever reason in this vision, she didn’t care what he was saying as she watched the other guards haul Lewis to his feet. As the darkness slowly began to seep into her vision, she felt Commander Redmond shake her roughly as Lewis opened his mouth. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said quietly. In all the commotion she was sure that she was the only one who heard him as Commander Redmond shook her roughly again as he forced her forwards.