‘You’re back then,’ Thomas says, opening his eyes. He’s sprawled on the sofa, his hair loose to his shoulders, giving him a hippy air. He pulls himself to a sitting position, his socked feet sticking out from under the blanket that covers him from the neck downwards. I blink, feeling sure I see his toe move again, and open my mouth to speak. But I know my eyes must be deceiving me once more, blurring due to sheer cold outside. Anyway, he would have said if there were any signs of improvement, wouldn’t he?

‘Where have you been?’ he says. ‘You’ve been ages.’

‘Down to Michael Collis’s farmhouse,’ Dad says. ‘We saw his daughter.’

‘Julia?’ Thomas says.

‘That’s right.’ I rub my hands together. ‘I suggested she came back with us, but she wouldn’t.’

‘She’s on her own down there?’

‘No, Finn stayed.’

Maddie appears at the top of the stairs, holding her Kindle. ‘You’re back then,’ she says, making her way down. And suddenly the room feels too full, too claustrophobic – though better we’re all together, I tell myself, safety in numbers.

‘I’ll put the kettle on, shall I?’ I say, disappearing into the kitchen.

‘Finn got through to the police,’ I hear Dad telling Thomas and Maddie, as I pull mugs from the cupboard. And as I cock my ear to listen, my concentration dips, and I catch my thumb on a sharp knife that stands blade up on the dryer next to the sink. I put down the mug. Blood oozes through my flesh, and I shove my thumb into my mouth – it tastes metallic. With my free hand I lift the knife, run it under the hot tap for some time, before putting it in one of the empty slots in the knife rack.

‘And we saw a terrifying mask.’ It’s Rosamund, her voice high-pitched. ‘It was on a statue, at the ruins.’

I pad across the kitchen and stand in the doorway, my thumb still wedged in my mouth, like a child. Thomas is on the sofa, now sitting upright next to Maddie. Rosamund is in the armchair looking exhausted.

I pull my thumb from my mouth. ‘Where’s Dad?’

‘Gone to the loo, I think,’ Thomas offers, and everyone turns to look my way.

I take a breath. ‘I saw someone at the farmhouse,’ I say, a wobble in my voice. ‘Behind the garden wall – they looked right at me through the window.’

‘A man?’ Maddie’s eyes widen.

I cough, clearing my throat. ‘I think so,’ I go on, as the kettle rumbles behind me. ‘Though I can’t be sure. They were wearing a mask.’ My stomach tips as I recall the eerie sight. ‘The same mask we saw on the statue.’

‘This is far too freaky,’ Thomas says, running his hand over his beard.