“Ah . . .” said JC.

“What?” said Happy, suspiciously. “That was your I’ve just remembered something, and you’re really not going to like it voice. Ah what?”

“If either of you had taken the time to read the briefing files thoroughly, you’d know there are reports of Iron Age settlements all through this area,” said JC, keeping a careful eye on the shopping carts as they slowed smoothly to a halt. They still looked like they were watching. “Even some Neolithic sites. Stone Age human settlements, thousands of years old. Back when we were still learning how to be people. Primitive people, with primitive but still-powerful beliefs. Melody, can your instruments confirm whether there is any such evidence here, right under our feet?”

“Easy-peasy,” said Melody, her fingers moving rapidly over the keyboards. “Yes . . . Yes! Definite traces of some kind of ancient settlement; and not that far down, either. The evidence suggests it was recently disturbed, then covered over again.”

“Of course,” said JC. “It’s all coming clear now.”

“Is it?” said Happy. “If it did, it missed me completely. Spell it out, for the hard of thinking among us.”

“The building contractors must have found the ancient site when they were laying the foundations for this new car park,” JC said patiently. “Unknowingly, they uncovered a seat of power that hadn’t been disturbed for thousands of years.”

“Is it just me,” said Melody, “or are those cars . . . a bit closer than they used to be?”

“The cars aren’t the problem,” said JC, staring out into the dark. “They’re not part of the haunting. That’s simply the ancient Power, stretching its muscles.”

“Power?” said Happy. “What Power?”

Light blazed up all around them, hot and fierce, fire-light thousands of years old.