“Do you have any idea how much I love you?” he whispers.
I smile, coyly. “You might have to show me.”
He nibbles on my shoulders. “I will—tonight.”
“Dad!” shouts Callum from outside, panic in his voice. “You need to come now!”
Theo’s face darkens and he rushes over to the window. “What’s the matter?”
“Archie’s had an accident!”
My stomach falls away.
Theo excuses himself from his meeting and springs into action. “Where is he?” he shouts, as he flies downstairs.
Callum’s face has gone the color of watery porridge and he’s yanking frantically at his fringe. “At the castle.”
Theo’s forehead creases. “The castle? But you’re not supposed to go up there on your own.”
“Sorry,” Callum burbles, as he and Theo rush towards the hill. “Please don’t be mad at us.”
I rush after them, trailing a few paces behind.
“Never mind that,” commands Theo, “just tell me what happened.”
Callum’s panting. “Archie was looking for the dungeon and started poking at this little hole with a stick,” he garbles. “And then the ground just caved in and he fell through.”
Theo bolts up the steps, two at a time. “Bloody hell, into what?”
“I don’t know, but it looks deep.”
“Bloodyhell!”
When we reach the top of the hill, we pass the equipment from the dig, which the team stack and cover with a plastic sheet each day when they leave. A few meters to the left, Mabel is crouching in the undergrowth, over a hole. She, too, is whey-faced.
“Dad!” she bleats. “He’s down here!”
Theo rushes over and kneels down.
“Can you get him out?” Mabel asks, her chin trembling.
“Look, let’s all just try to stay calm.” Theo activates the torch function on his phone and shines it into the hole. “Archie?”
“Dad,” comes a muffled response.
I stand behind Theo and try to peer over his shoulders into the hole.
“Dad, my ankle’s killing!” Archie shouts. “Please get me out!”
I can just about make out his little, whimpering face, his glasses gone, his eyes blinking in the light. Fear slices through me, chased by a rush of love.
“I need a ladder,” Theo says. “Does anyone know where there’s a ladder?”
“I do!” I yelp. “I’ll go and get it!”
I dash down the hill so quickly that I trip over a tree root and almost tumble down the steps. I grab onto the handrail and take care as I continue down. When I arrive at the garage, Giuseppe is throwing pieces of the old wardrobe into the skip.
“Everything is alright?” he asks.
