“Stay still, dammit!!” F hissed. “They appear to respond to movement.”

“But I’m sinking!” howled J.

“Quiet! They hear you!”

“Why did you bring me here?”

“I reckoned the peat would mask our stench.”

“Impossible!”

Hot breath tickles the back of J’s neck. A mangy black hulk has taken position above him; a gory claw hovers over his throat.

[Boom!] Illumination freezes the scene for an instant. [Boom!]

“I hear a blunderbuss! We are delivered!”

“I’m going under! Tell the master—”

Gentry in hunting kit appear at the edge of the frame.

“We warned you to avoid the Moores!”

[Boom!]