George looked questioningly at Peter, who shook his head.

“I was going to ask her to meet me outside,” he said. “ Then the fog came down and I thought it wouldn’t be fair, so I waited until I knew it would be quieter here, and built up my courage to come in.”

“Do you know who brought the message?” George asked.

“No.” Ella seemed not to sense that it was important. “Sally just said it was one of the birdwatchers. Because the message came from Peter, I presumed that Rob had been in. Did you see Mrs. Black?”

“Yes. I suppose Molly and Adam are out on the marsh?”

“I think so. I gave Molly your message. Adam sat out on the bank for a long while talking to the other lads, then they both went off towards the village.”

“What about Rob Earl or Tina? Have you seen them?”

“That Tina was in earlier. She was looking for you too. She said something about arrangements for going ringing tomorrow. She hasn’t been gone long. She went out soon after Sally and Barnaby. I haven’t seen Rob at all.”

George turned, without a word, and went out. Peter hesitated for a moment, then followed him. Ella shook her head and hoped that Barnaby would not catch a cold.

Sally found her way to the north hide quite easily despite the mist. There was a solid boardwalk, and it was easy to push the chair along it. The mist made the encounter more exciting. Far away there was the heart-rending call of a fog horn and the hollow sound of the pushchair on the boardwalk echoed around the marsh. She had thought that he would be in the hide to meet her and when it was empty she was a little disappointed, but she sat to wait. She opened the flaps, but could see nothing outside except for a small pool of water. The noise of the fog horn was repeated very close to her by the boom of a bittern, and the sound shocked her. The fog seemed to be growing thicker and as she sat waiting, with nothing to do, she began to feel uneasy. Barnaby was unusually quiet and would not respond to her games. She longed to hear footsteps along the boardwalk, for Peter to climb the ramp into the hide, and yet she became more and more convinced that he would not come.

It never occurred to her to go back to the Windmill. She did not think that she might see Peter another time. More than anything in the world she wanted to see him now. Perhaps she had made a mistake, and this was not the north hide. Perhaps Peter was waiting for her in the other hide, thinking that she did not care and had refused to meet him. She imagined his distress at her callousness, and it became suddenly so real, so intense that she felt that she must find him and comfort him. She was convinced that he was waiting for her in the other hide and that he needed her. Although she had only a limited idea of the position of the hides, she pushed the chair down the ramp and on to the boardwalk. She realized immediately that the fog was much thicker than it had been on her arrival.