Stride’s own face was hidden by the shadows of the candle, expressionless, moving with the flickering light in unnatural ways. Cooper felt too warm in the claustrophobic interior of the van. He was uncomfortably hemmed in by the rugs and blankets and the smell of unwashed bodies, too tightly embraced by the metal walls. He longed for escape.

‘Whose face?’ he said.

But Stride seemed to have departed. Though his body still sprawled against the cushions, his mind had left, perhaps to drift over the moor with the kestrel. He had sunk into a state of exhaustion, and when he spoke again it was no more than a whisper, addressed only to himself.

‘I can still see her face.’

Owen and Cal seemed at ease with each other. Cooper wondered what they had talked about while he was away, whether they had simply exchanged comfortable insults as they drank their beer. Owen drained his can and they all went outside, leaving Stride alone. Cal was still looking at Cooper suspiciously.

‘Do you really not have a life to go back to, Cal?’ said Cooper.

‘Oh, yeah. If I wanted to. There are the aged parents, if I want to spend the rest of my life being lectured at. There was a girlfriend as well. But, well . . . sometimes you’re better off on your own, you know?’

‘But you’re not on your own now.’

‘Me and Stride? Stride says it was karma, us meeting like that. You know, the idea of fate repaying you for what you’ve done in a previous life?’

‘He seems to be quite knowledgeable about esoteric practices.’

‘He knows sod all about it,’ said Cal.

‘Oh?’

‘He’s picked up a few phrases from books here and there, that’s all. But it keeps him content in himself. That’s what religion is for, isn’t it? Whatever he believes in, it works for him.’

‘Like the auric egg.’

‘Yeah, well. If he actually believes it keeps negative mind energies away, then it probably does.’

Cooper considered this. It seemed as useful as any advice a psychiatrist could have given.

‘How well do you really know Stride?’

‘He’s my brother.’

‘You met him only a few months ago, at the summer solstice.’

‘That doesn’t make any difference. He’s my brother.’

‘I bet you don’t know anything about him. Where is he from?’

‘What does it matter? Who cares what he did or where he came from in another life? This is our life. This is what matters now.’

‘Do you go up on the moor sometimes?’ asked Cooper.

‘Of course.’

‘To the stone circle?’

‘Stride likes to talk to the Virgins. Nothing wrong with that. He’s not doing any harm.’

‘Do you go with him? Or does he go on his own?’

Cal clamped his mouth shut. ‘I think I’ve talked to you enough.’

‘Does he go out on his own at night?’