She sat down and glanced out of the kitchen window, looking out over the Dales and watching Danny and Archie going down the road from Crummock on their way to Bill Brown’s funeral. She breathed in deeply, trying to control her thoughts as she watched the horse and buggy carrying father and son disappear over the hill on their way down into Austwick, and then on to the sleepy hamlet of Rathmell. Today Danny would see her rival, for the first time in nearly twenty-five years. Yet she could not suppress the jealousy and hatred she felt for the woman who had nearly stolen her man from her, albeit briefly, all those years ago. She held back the tears that were threatening to fall and looked out to the fells in the distance. ‘God help you, Amy Brown, if you look at my man the way I know you did all those years ago. He’s mine now. We have a family and a home, and I would fight you with every breath of my body this time, if you tempt my man again,’ she whispered to herself. Then she let her tears fall, as she remembered the hurt she had once felt – a hurt that had nearly destroyed them.

‘I knew there’d be a lot of people here. Bill was highly thought of.’ Archie sat next to Danny in the pew that was one back from the last row, in the small chapel in the centre of Rathmell. ‘He was well respected, had damn good sheep in his day,’ whispered Archie, as they stood when the vicar could be heard entering the chapel, followed by the coffin and the mourners.

‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes . . .’ The vicar walked slowly in front of the grieving family and stood before the coffin, which the pall-bearers rested next to the altar in the small chapel.

Danny caught his breath and looked at the grey-haired, weeping woman who stood behind it. That couldn’t be Amy – not his Amy. Then four dark-haired men joined her in the front pew, after following the path of the coffin. Danny looked at the onetime love of his life and couldn’t believe his eyes. Where was Amy’s thick auburn hair and the spring in her step, and the smile he had loved so much? He knew it was her father’s funeral, but he’d expected Amy to look just as beautiful as he’d remembered her to be. Instead, she was an old woman. Her once-vibrant hair had turned grey and was pinned up in a bun under her black mourning hat, and her face was tanned and covered with lines, showing the hard life she had endured since her marriage.