‘She’s exhausted, stressed.’ He says this solely to reassure Kieron but then there’s a pang of guilt in his chest as he realizes it’s true. Him and Kieron aren’t the only ones going through something. ‘Back in a sec.’ He tentatively walks into his parents’ bedroom.

‘Mum? Can I make you a cup of tea or something?’ he offers.

‘No thanks, Connor.’ She doesn’t even give him her Mr Potato Head smile.

‘Let Mum rest, I’ll go to the chippy,’ Dad says.

Connor waits for mum to say all the grease is bad for them but instead she says, ‘None for me,’ as she slips off her shoes and lays down. Dad pulls the covers over her and Connor is wrapped in the warmth of the memory of Dad sitting on the edge of his bed, reading him Paddington until he fell asleep. He wonders if mum feels the same sense of safety that he used to. The overwhelming security of being loved. He wishes he could recapture those feelings, stretches for them sometimes, but they are out of his reach. He wants to tell Mum that he loves her but he can’t say the words, instead he tells her goodnight. Even though it’s only 4.30 he doesn’t think he’ll see her again today, she’s already half asleep.

By eight o’clock, him, Dad and Kieron have eaten fish, chips and mushy peas and yawned through a couple of episodes of The Simpsons. The past few days has caught up with them all.

‘I’ve got to go and check on a horse,’ Dad says. ‘Don’t disturb your mum. She needs to catch up on her rest after days of kipping on a camp bed. You two look shattered as well. Early night?’

It is stupidly early but if Connor goes to bed Kieron will too, besides he’s barely slept since Tyler vanished. It’s embarrassing going to bed this early but by 8.15 he is tucked up, surrendering to sleep.

Connor jolts upright from another nightmare, heart hammering, sheets drenched with sweat. He’s clawing at his chest, remembering the cold, putrid water filling his lungs before his hands had grappled for Hailey.

He covers his face, not wanting to remember his dare again, but he can’t help it. Tyler going missing has brought everything he was trying to forget back, with frightening clarity.

‘No way.’ Connor had stared at the lake. The moon reflecting a lonely circle on the far side of the black water. Something to aim for, if he was going to swim across, which he absolutely wasn’t.

‘Chicken.’ Tyler had tucked his elbows into his waist and flapped his arm like a bird.