Then Craig sparked to life. He ran at Hannah and knocked her out of the way as he stumbled through the door. Dorothy heard him clumping down the stairs, crashing into the banister with a crack.

Hannah righted herself and looked at the door, then back into the room.

‘Let him go,’ Dorothy said between breaths, her hand shaking at her raw neck.

Hannah looked at the doorway again.

‘I can’t,’ she said.

311

60

HANNAH

She followed him down the stairs, heard him clattering out of the front door then the crunch of his footsteps on gravel, uneven as he staggered forwards. She reached the front door as he disappeared into the street, heading right towards Bruntsfield Links. It was dark on the grass away from the lit pathways, maybe he thought he could disappear.

She ran after him, birds already chirping in the trees above. She turned the corner, went to the edge of the park and paused. The sky was glowing in the east above Arthur’s Seat. Straight ahead the castle was spotlit against the bruised sky. Sodium light spilled from the park’s paths, darkness over the grassy undulations in between.

Hannah looked for movement. He was injured and found out, the police would get him, he couldn’t escape. But that wasn’t enough for her.

Shadows twitched to her right over by James Gillespie’s. It was him, stumbling over the mounds, an animal desperate to escape. She ran towards him, jogging at first then picking up speed. He must’ve sensed something, heard her footfall, because he sped up, zigzagging to the left and down the hill, veering towards the road then away again.

She was gaining on him. Her feet solid beneath her, her gaze steady, like a lioness on the plains with a gazelle in her sights. He was clutching his ribs and chin. Hannah tried to remember what his injuries were, but it all happened so fast. There was a lot of blood, and she wondered whether she should go back and help Mum and Gran. But Gran was conscious, she could call an ambulance.312

He picked up speed and staggered into the glare of a streetlight, then went across Whitehouse Loan, glancing round and seeing her. He ran into the larger part of Bruntsfield Links where the pitch and putt was. It was almost like he was running towards Hannah’s home. But he was just running away from everything he’d done, every lie he’d told, every action that hurt the ones he loved, if he ever loved anyone.