‘You’re not wrong there.’ On cue a small animal darted across their path – and Amelia leapt inches from the ground, and grabbed her chest. ‘What the hell was that?’

Lark laughed. ‘A cat, I think. Or maybe a fox.’

Well at least she’d made her sister laugh; even if it was at her own expense.

They continued through the darkness.

‘I’m guessing you know already, I’m not going to university next year,’ Lark said.

‘Yeah, Dad told me. Will it be a gap year? Do you hope to go one day?’

‘Maybe.’ She shrugged. ‘Truth is, I’m feeling pretty naff right now.’

Amelia touched her arm. ‘We’ll get through this, Lark.’

‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘I guess so. Anyway, I’m doing some café work for now. I just feel in limbo somehow. I know it sounds awful, but I feel as if I want Mum to die so I can get the whole grieving thing over with and get on with my life.’

Amelia’s eyes widened, shocked at her sister’s harsh words.

Lark came to a stop, looking ahead. ‘Don’t get me wrong, Amelia, I don’t want Mum to die. I’d give anything to reverse the bloody cancer, for them to find a miracle cure. But it isn’t going to happen, is it? And waiting around to lose her is fucking killing me. God I sound crazy, wrong, weird … sorry.’

‘I understand.’ Amelia sort of did. They were in a bubble, limbo, knowing the worst was going to happen, knowing they couldn’t stop it. ‘But it will be far worse when she’s gone, Lark. We need to make the most of the time we have left.’

‘Are you two coming?’ Finn called to Amelia and Lark, shining his torch towards them standing in the middle of the path. ‘You need to keep up. It’s easy to get lost around here.’

Amelia grabbed Lark’s hand and they hurried towards him.

‘There was an abbey on this land long before Drummondale House was built,’ Finn said as they reached the group. ‘A grey lady roams the wood, and some have seen the apparition of a monk.’

‘This is so boring,’ Lark whispered from behind her hand. ‘I sometimes feel I don’t know Mum at all.’

‘It’s not my thing either, really.’ Amelia felt a brief connection with her sister. Though she wasn’t bored, more apprehensive and on full alert.

They walked in a huddle, before reaching the far end of the wood where they gathered on the cliff edge. The moon gave the sea that stretched out in front of them a metallic, mesmerising glow. Amelia leaned forward, and glanced down at the rough waves crashing against jagged rocks below.