A bronze plaque on the back reads, ‘For our daughter, Jill. You will always be in our hearts.’ I run my finger over the engraving, fresh tears already flowing as I imagine Ruth writing the words, searching for the right ones that say everything she wanted to in such a small space. I remember how hard it was when we did it for Mum. Bonnie and I had argued over them and eventually settled on something that didn’t do justice to how I felt.

But to write them for their own daughter must have been unbearable. Torn apart with grief at the loss of their only child – I can’t imagine what Bob and Ruth went through, losing Jill at such a young age.

I sit on Jill’s bench and look out to sea, saying a silent prayer for my old friend. A lump lodges in my throat, making it ache, as the memories of us playing together run through my head like an old black-and-white movie. I can see us standing on the clifftop, a few feet further back from where I am now. She clutches tightly on to my hand and I count down from ten. ‘Six steps forward,’ I tell her, ‘that’s all we have to do today.’ I feel her hand tighten but she is giggling. And I am too until we both laugh so much we fall on to our bottoms and lie on the ground instead, looking up at the sky.

We didn’t know then what the future had in store for us. I’d had no idea that by the end of that summer I would leave the island. Jill had had no idea that she only had another seven years to live.

But what I do know is that, despite Annie’s warning, I cannot leave Evergreen without seeing Bob and Ruth.

Evergreen Island

13 July 1993

It was only a matter of hours until Danny stormed back from the sleep-out, his eyes wet and red, Maria’s fears confirmed. He brushed past her as he ran up the stairs. She called after him but already his bedroom door was shut.

Minutes later Stella arrived, panting, and when she came into the kitchen she dropped her bag and bent over, clutching her knees as she took deep breaths.

‘What happened?’ Maria filled a glass of water for Stella and pulled out a stool. Perching on the edge of it, she took hold of her daughter’s arms. ‘Did someone say something? And why are you so out of breath?’ Her questions kept coming as she waited for Stella to straighten up and take a sip of water.

‘I ran all the way back,’ she said. ‘I couldn’t catch up with him. He wouldn’t stop.’

Maria might be cross with Danny later for letting his little sister run all the way without looking after her, but for now she just needed to hear what had happened.