Except it was beautiful.

It was visible from the airfield, right across the other side of the island. It was almost certainly visible from everywhere, possibly including space.

Billy and Effie McGlone, who ran the airfield, rushed out to meet them as the plane taxied to a standstill.

“We’ve had everyone on the line!” they exclaimed breathlessly. “Pilots and everyone on the radio are going absolutely ballistic.”

“What on earth is it?” asked the bird-watchers.

“Apparently,” said Mrs. McGlone. “Apparently it’s our Christmas decorations.”

Chapter 45

T here was absolutely no chance Mrs. Laird could have gotten Ash and Ib to bed even if there wasn’t a large commotion about the town and various people walking the streets at unfortunate hours to see what on earth was going on up the hill.

Even without that, they weren’t so relaxed they could deal with their father going off the island, particularly as he only ever did so if it absolutely couldn’t be helped.

Ash’s eyes were looking particularly wide as he ran into his dad’s arms. It hurt Saif to look at him. So like her. So like Amena. Ib too. And as if being away for just a day had made him see them anew, he noticed once again how much they had both filled out. Ib had taken a stretch; he was going to be tall like him. Ash, possibly not. Saif knew infant malnutrition could lead to growth issues. But Ib was looking tall and strong. Amena would never see him look like this, never see him so big.

How could she bear it? How could she not be desperate to see them? Or perhaps she was. But there she was, married to another man. Pregnant. His head told him of course that she might clearly have no choice.

But . . . the smile.

Of course smiles could be forced. Of course.

And then again, what if she truly believed they were dead? What if she had spent two years as wretched as he had? What if she’d known the boys were lost, assumed the worst? What if she had grabbed at any brass ring of happiness, at any morsel?

After all, wasn’t that exactly what he’d done with Lorna?

But he had his children; and if he had not, he wouldn’t have been able to . . .

Well. Would he?

But it wasn’t the same.

Wasn’t it?

He buried his tortured face in the hair of his youngest boy.

“Abba! Abba! There is a spaceship and we must go see it, ” Ash said with some urgency. Agot was—madly, in Saif’s opinion—allowed to use her father’ s mobile phone and had apparently woken the entire house, ordering them all down there even though it was 9:30 on a school night and 5 degrees below zero.

Ash was already pulling on his fur-lined boots.

“Off we go to see the spaceship,” he said, in a way that showed he was pretending to be very confident about something happening in the hope that that would help it happen.