‘But that makes no sense,’ said Viola. She wasn’t angry anymore, nor confused, because this was clearly madness; it wasn’t real.

‘You don’t understand,’ Anna cut in with her voice of all reasonableness. ‘Everything’s been worked out, it’s –’

‘No!’ Viola yelled, ‘No!’

There came that hum again, that singing of the earth, the sensation of it vibrating through them – an undiscovered chord. All four girls stood and listened as the tremor receded.

Then Viola asked calmly, ‘What’s the difference between speaking out over there and speaking out here?’ Jade-Marie inhaled, her response ready, but Viola wouldn’t hear it. ‘You think things will be different if you cross a huge stretch of sea? Well, believe me, they won’t be.’ Viola knew this. They knew this. ‘You’re worried about the payback if you tell, just think what will happen to the people you leave behind if you speak out somewhere else. How will they suffer for you doing this? Will there be more losses?’

Britta folded her arms. ‘Now you’re just being dramatic.’

‘Am I?’ Viola told them a story then, one that they had told her. ‘Ten men head out in the middle of the night on a fishing boat meant for five … That’s even stranger when you consider that most of the men on board are not fishermen.’

‘Shh!’ Jade-Marie covered her ears and closed her eyes, unable to bear it.

Viola continued, ‘In the weeks before they leave, these men talk about revolt, even murder, but no, they decide to do things the right way, get proper justice. Others had gone over to the mainland and been ignored, but no one could ignore the voices of ten men who had crossed an unforgiving ocean to reveal the truth, could they?’

‘Okay,’ said Britta, ‘you can stop now.’

Viola refused; she would make them see. ‘They didn’t even tell their wives about their mercy mission, for the women’s own safety. Just left them to their doubts. Left them forever it turned out. Because that boat never reached the mainland and it never came back. The storms got them. Or… what if that boat was scuppered on purpose?’

‘The inscription on the cross at the harbour says it was an accident,’ whispered Jade-Marie, tears falling.

‘Yeah,’ said Viola, ‘but you don’t believe that, do you?’

Their silence was answer enough.

‘It’s all we have, Viola,’ Anna said – a gentle lament. ‘It’s all there is. We can’t rely on nails in hearts, we need something more… something…’ She tailed off; she hung her head.