Archie cleared his throat nervously, but Vic managed her first little smile at the realisation the students had no idea who she was. After everything she’d been through in the last couple days, or years, or well, her entire adult life, she wanted to hold onto as many natural interactions as she could.

Shooting Archie a conspiratorial expression, she said, “I’ll be back in a while, Mr. McKay. If that’s all right with you, of course.”

Archie straightened his shoulders. “Very well.”

Then she nodded for the students to follow her.

“Thank you,” another student said as he held the door. “We really appreciate this.”

“You may want to reserve your thanks.” Vic lead them across the still-empty courtyard. “I assume the cast and crew are out at the stables today, but I can at least give you a peek at one of the indoor sets.”

“That’s fine,” another student said, a young woman this time. “We’re techies. We’re more excited about the equipment than the actors.”

“Speak for yourself, Helena,” the first young man teased. “I may be at uni to study the cameras, but I wouldn’t mind studying Sophia LeBlanc while I’m at it.”

Helena elbowed him in the ribs, but Vic felt the blow, and her breath caught at the idea of running into Sophia. Intellectually she knew the prospect fell in the realm of probability, but she wasn’t ready yet. She didn’t trust herself not to show her raw emotions plainly on her face, or worse, crumple and grovel in front of everyone.

“Has it been exciting having them all here, Miss?” another girl asked.

“That’s a bit of an understatement.”

“How big is the crew?”

“Roughly a hundred people on site. Another hundred around the area doing things like scouting, props, transportation and the like.”

“Wow,” a fair-haired boy who hadn’t spoken yet marvelled. “Two hundred odd jobs all around the movies . . . in Northland.”

The way he said the last word caught her ear as they entered the castle and started up the main stairs. “Is that a bit of Geordie I hear in your accent?”

He blushed. “Aye, Miss. Born and raised in Tynemouth. I only left to go to uni.”

“You’ll be coming back after graduation, then?”

He shook his head, a hint of sadness in his eyes. “Not likely. I’ll probably have to stay south.”

“You might be able to head north,” Helena offered. “We sometimes can find work in Edinburgh.”

He shrugged. “That’d be a little closer to home at least.”

“Oliver’s a mama’s boy,” one of the other guys teased.

She pushed open the large double doors to the formal living room, and all the banter fell silent. Awe filled every face around her as their eyes went wide, and a couple jaws dropped.

Then everyone spoke at once as they sprinted to various parts of the room to examine the equipment.