Danny pulled out his drawing pad and turned to the back page where he started a list. There were three new girls on the island but he didn’t know their names so instead he drew pictures of them. Then he tucked the book under his arm and climbed out of the tree.

PRESENT

Chapter Seven

For a moment I am unable to move as I stand on the end of the jetty. My hands are numb and clenched tightly inside my pockets, my fingers curled too tight. Little things have changed that remind me how many years have passed since I’ve last been home, like the whitewashed planks of wood under my feet and the steel posts lining the jetty with rope knotted around them to act as a railing. It might look attractive, but it’s not the same, and I wish I could rip them away to find what I remember.

Mum’s voice fills my head. It’s too commercial. Look at it all set up for the tourist trade, I’m surprised Annie allowed it.

If she’s still here, Mum. Maybe she’s not. Rachel from the B&B didn’t confirm it.

No. She’ll still be here, Mum says as a cold gust of wind blows, catching me off balance as it hits me face on. Any stronger and it could have taken me into the sea, and I look over my shoulder uneasily as I step away from the edge.

My legs feel like liquid. The other few passengers have disappeared and already the ferry is preparing to leave. I pull a hand out of my pocket and clutch the bag that weighs down on my shoulder, forcing myself to walk forward, my eyes wandering to the trees just off to the right in front of me. Any minute I’ll be able to see through them to my house the other side.

I keep moving to where the jetty ends and the path sweeps past it. In either direction I would pass my garden. To the left the path opens up on to Pinecliff Walk, the main route to the cove at the other end of the island. This way leads past the length of my garden with the white picket fence. To the right, the path winds inland to the village, and then further on to the lakes.

I take neither. Instead I step over the well-trodden ground and creep forward towards the trees until my house starts to come to me in fragments. Jigsaw pieces of brick and glass and roof tile until I’m suddenly at the bottom of our garden.