‘Oh, Mette, no … no, I couldn’t stand the other people. You know I’m no good with old people.’

‘But—’

‘Seriously. Save your breath. I mean it.’

Mette makes a ‘we’ll see about that’ kind of noise. She knows Mette has the best intentions, but she hates feeling like this … like she’s become a burden. It’s a sobering thought that Mette thinks of her as old.

She gets up and looks in the mirror, but it’s a mistake. The face staring back at her is old.

Mette tries a different approach.

‘You will want to come home,’ she says. ‘Eventually. I know you will. And you might as well before it’s too late.’

‘I don’t know,’ Helga says. Because she doesn’t. What she does know is that Mette talking about her life as if there’s not much of it left is making her heart flutter unpleasantly.

‘I love you,’ Mette says, with sudden affection in her voice. ‘I only want what’s right for you. And besides … I miss you.’

‘I miss you too, darling. But I’m fine, really. You concentrate on that wonderful job of yours. We’ll talk soon.’

Helga puts the phone down, wondering if Mette is right about how she’ll eventually migrate home, like the geese in Jutland. But is Denmark really home? She left a long, long time ago, making the sea her home and then she’d settled temporarily in England. She looks around her shabby cottage, thinking that she’s never thought of this place as permanent. But the thought of shipping back to an end-of-days retirement home, however stylish, fills her with dread.

When she gets down to the beach for their morning swim, she’s pleased to see that Maddy, the woman she challenged the other day, is waiting on the beach, the hood of her parka up and a nervous smile on her face as she chats to Dominica. Claire had excitedly written on the WhatsApp that she’d invited her.

‘You came,’ Helga says with a nod.

‘I nearly didn’t, but I’m here.’

‘That’s all that counts.’

Claire bustles down the beach, her new camouflage coat flapping. ‘Coming, coming,’ she calls.

‘Oh, so you got one, then?’ Dominica says.

‘You were absolutely right.’ Claire grins, clapping her mittens together with delight. ‘I got this on Facebook marketplace for twenty quid.’

‘I thought there was bound to be one going after Christmas.’

‘I’d have never thought of it if you hadn’t said. So, thank you for the tip-off. I love it. And with this weather, I got it in the nick of time. Oh, Maddy, you’ve joined the gang.’ She beams a smile, then goes to hug Maddy, but remembers the social distancing rules just in time.

Helga knows it’s important that they spread out. One dog walker got very annoyed the other day that they appeared to be in a group, but she told him to bugger off, which was most satisfactory. He was even more embarrassed because Claire and Dominica were laughing so much. Helga didn’t care. She’s sick to death of these finger-pointers. People who pretend that they follow the rules to the absolute letter, ignoring all common sense. It was none of his business, but since she only sees the swimming girls, they do count as her bubble. She’s not breaking any rules as far as she’s concerned, not that she could be bothered to explain that to the sanctimonious dog walker.