Ann sat down on her bed, undid her shoelaces and kicked her shoes off. She lay down and tried to think what Ursula would do, or Finlay, or Father, but she couldn’t decide. Should she go and ask Isobel again? She had rushed off so quickly.

She eased herself back up and looked inside the jewellery box. Most of the items were from Louise. She didn’t even know for sure what was in the box. Father had thought she might like them all nearby so she could feel closer to her mother after she had died and hadn’t realised that this was the last thing she wanted, so the box had stayed mostly shut. The only necklace she really liked hadn’t been Louise’s at all. It was made from steel, each bead faceted like a diamond. And it wasn’t kept in the box, it was in a little brass-coloured tin which said ‘Ucal Bronchial Lozenges’ on the outside, filled with bran. The bran, Isobel had told her, was to keep the steel beads dry and to stop them from rusting. It had been a gift from her grandmother when she was born and she kept it in the little bedside cabinet, underneath her handkerchiefs.

She opened the drawer. The metal tin wasn’t there.

Ann knew then that she needed to wait for everyone to come home; this was not something she could sort out by herself. She lay back down on the bed, her stomach churning and stabbing and butterflies dancing inside her with the worry of it all.

*

Ann heard them come in, first Father, then Finlay, and finally Ursula, whose meeting had lasted much longer than she had planned. By the time everyone had come home, Ann had been to the toilet and seen the blood on her underwear. She had wiped herself and changed into clean things, and waited for Ursula to come and find her.

The air race and the jewellery box all seemed much less important now.

Chapter 25

July 1911

Two Saturdays after the jewellery-box incident, Finlay took Ann for ice cream in Portobello, as he had promised. They went on the tram and Ann counted the steps as they climbed up to the top deck because she couldn’t help herself.

‘Italian ice cream is the absolute best,’ said Finlay after finding them a seat in the café and ordering from the waiter. ‘One day I want to go to Italy and try it in the place it really comes from.’

‘This Italian ice cream comes from here,’ she replied.

It was eventually brought to their table in tall glasses. Finlay took a scoop of it with the long spoon and savoured the white deliciousness.

‘And pizza,’ Ann said. ‘I want to taste real pizza, not just the kind Isobel has started to make.’

‘And pizza,’ he agreed.