I feel dizzy with everything that's happened, and I'm glad I learned riddles at school so that I can ask something. I help up the woman who was swallowed by a snake, and then a little boat is mooring up on the beach, a boy - no, a girl, a short-haired girl - jumping out, and there's the palest girl I've ever seen behind her.

"Are you alright, what happened, what did it want?"

"Riddles," I say faintly. I look at Tess, and reach out and put a hand on her shoulder.