‘No, no, no, no, that’s not… It’s not like I have to… That’s not what I’m…’ He pinched at the whiskery region of his mouth. ‘You’re a sensible one, a smart one, I reckon, despite your death wish around the water, and those girls that Leah thinks need protecting, well… I can see her trying to talk to them, you know, go up to those stones once their curfew’s up. Without telling me. And after everything she said at that meeting and everything that’s happened in between…’

Viola didn’t really know what had happened in between. She had not seen Michael or the girls for some time now; she had been living on an island within this island. Viola had drawn some conclusions from the alarming splash of red paint across the front of Leah Cedars’ cottage. Punishment for her sins, was the phrase that came distastefully to mind. The men of the Council had been correct on one point – Leah Cedars didn’t know what she was talking about in that meeting room. She could not have meant what she said about taking the girls under her wing, or was at least being disingenuous. The Eldest Girls had made it clear that woman was not on their side.

‘What it is, you see,’ Saul stumbled on, ‘is that, I think Leah – and you, naturally – you both need protecting.’

Viola nodded stiffly and looked warily at the radio in her lap. More protection, more safety.

Saul took a steadying breath, came to the point. ‘Those girls have proved themselves to be, not witches but capable of… willing to… I mean, we can’t be sure what they’ll do next.’

An urge for violence rose within Viola, a desire to throw the radio back at him, let it strike him across the temple, bring blood. Maybe the man wasn’t kind, after all.

She would have done it too, hurled that radio at him, if a memory of Seb hadn’t come, bright and immediate as a message from the past – they are on the PlayStation, Seb coaching her through a new game, telling her to collect everything she finds as she goes – wood, medicine, an axe, a radio… ‘What will I ever use it for?’ Viola is asking. ‘Who knows!’ Seb says, wide-eyed before the screen, his tongue working at one corner of his mouth. ‘Whatever the game throws at you next.’

So, she let Saul teach her how to press the button and speak into the thing, and told him thank you, pocketing the radio as she left.