The beams of the headlights showed a bend in the road, towards the left. He drove to it, stopped and switched off the lights. And then he saw it too, faint, distant but unmistakable.

‘There! Do you see it?’

‘Yes. That’s what I saw. It must be a house.’

‘All right. Keep your eyes on it. I’ve got to concentrate on the road. Tell me if it disappears again.’

‘I still have it, Paul. Go ahead.’

The car nosed forward. The ground was rising again, but not steeply. The narrow road turned again.

‘I’ve lost it!’ Her voice was brittle, more high-pitched than usual.

‘It’s all right. I think the trees are hiding it.’

Another bend negotiated and he heaved a sigh of relief as the light reappeared. Brighter now. The girl leaned forward.

‘It must be a house – a big one.’

It dawned on him that they were approaching it along a driveway between wooded grounds. The beams from the car’s headlights swung across an open area of unknown extent masked by myriads of tumbling driving snowflakes. Passing over a building of substantial size, they lit up vehicles standing in front of the house. Their heavy mantles of snow effectively disguised their outlines though one, far larger than the other, seemed to be some kind of van.

The main light came from a slit between curtains at a window. Paul drew up the car as near as possible to what seemed to be the main door, revealed by the car’s lights. In their beams he had clearly made out broad steps between stone pillars. He put the car in neutral, but kept the engine running.

‘At least there’s someone at home,’ Carol said. ‘Could it be a hotel?’

‘I don’t know. At any rate we’ll find out where we are.’ He hesitated. ‘Look, darling. If it is a hotel or even a boarding house and there’s accommodation, shall we stay here the night?’

‘Find out first.’ In the faint greenish light from the dashboard he saw her frown. ‘Find out, Paul.’

‘All right. I won’t be long.’

Opening the door he slid outside, closed it quickly and trudged through the snow, its icy bite sinking into his ankles. He gasped as the wind slashed a flurry of ice at his back. Once up the snow-covered steps under the stone lintel supported by the pillars he found it less open. He searched for a bell-push, pressed it and heard nothing. He tried to control his shaking frame and only made it worse. The wind howled and a branch from a tree crashed down. He thumped the door. Dammit! I know there’s someone in. Are they stone deaf? Surely they wouldn’t refuse to open the door on a night like this. . . .