Elsa said, “We imagined you lying there in your kingfisher dress, and we imagined that you were happy, before the knowledge of those men and the terrible things they did. We didn’t know then, and we still don’t know, what that must have been like for you. All we knew was that it must have been truly awful. And we chose this island because we wanted a happier place to come if we wanted to feel close to you.”

How pale Licia looked here in the shade of the tree, as if she rarely saw daylight.

I looked at Elsa. I could see the cleverness in her bringing us here. Perhaps it would spur Licia to speak.

“So, here comes the weird part,” said Vee. “We communicated with you through this tree, Licia.”

Licia laughed. “You did not.”

Vee was laughing too. “You didn’t hear us?”

“No.”

“We said some pretty great things,” said Vee, eyes shining. “Mum was going to listen to you more. I was going to stop being a shitty sister, which I still kind of intend to do—I’m sorry too, by the way—and Dad talked about how much he missed your breakfast times together. It was super-spiritual. Pretty amazing, when you think the rest of us really don’t do God.”

“You could ‘do God,’ you know, Vee. It’s not like you need any special skills.”

“Yeah, don’t get your hopes up,” said Vee. “I’m kind of an empiricist.”

“I don’t know what that means.” But Licia was smiling happily at Vee.

“You don’t have to know, Licia,” said Vee. She slid an arm around her sister.

I could hear Franklin cooing to himself just beyond the canopy. He must have slipped out. “I’ll go get him,” I said.

“Stay,” said Elsa.” She parted the canopy and stepped out. Vee and Licia stood, arms around each other, eyes shining, saying nothing.

I crouched down. The trunk of the willow had grown around the little band. Only the word home was visible now. “I planned to take this with us,” I said, “only I don’t think we can. And look . . .”

Someone had hung a handwoven woolen band around the trunk, a few centimeters lower down. On one side, black on white, the word CHERISH. On the other side, PROTECT.

Licia smiled. “Someone watching over our tree.”

“Okay, that’s it,” said Vee. “I’m getting out before I cry.”

Then Licia was kneeling beside me. She looked at the band, ran her thumb along its edges.

“I didn’t know, Dad,” she said, her voice like breath.

“What didn’t you know, love?” I whispered.

“No one told me you would miss me so much.”