Dance was mourning the introduction of the new automatic telephone system. Just a few years ago he would have known the direction of all the calls.

Robert did not have the opportunity to answer. Annie appeared in the shadow of the door which led from the post office into their kitchen.

“Did you say that the child has been found?” she asked.

Elspeth did not give Robert the chance to tell his story. “At the bottom of Ellie’s Head,” she said quickly, and again he thought how strange she was. “ Isn’t it a coincidence? At this time of the year. You don’t think she meant …”

“No,” said her mother firmly. “It will have been an accident. Poor Agnes. I will go to Sandwick later and see if there’s anything I can do. She was so fond of the girl.”

She disappeared back in to the shadow and into the kitchen.

Reluctantly Robert left the post office. He stood for a moment out in the road, not quite sure what he should do next. He would have liked to go to watch the Stennet men fetch the body up the cliff but he did not think that they would like it. A sudden gust of wind caught his cap and blew it from his head. He limped after it, swearing. She’s right, he thought. It was this time of year. And it was a day like this. He could not remember exactly how many years ago it was. Sixty maybe. Perhaps more than that. He had only been a boy. That started with a gusty little wind from the north, then in the afternoon it started to blow.

He decided that he did not want to watch the men on Ellie’s Head. He was an old man now. He would go and sit in front of his fire, and later perhaps he would have a dram.

In the afternoon the wind increased, so that there were doubts about whether the plane from Baltasay, chartered by the police, would be able to get in. After Sarah’s arrival at Sandwick, George Palmer-Jones returned to the school house. He walked up the island against the blustery north wind, and enjoyed the vigorous mindless movement. Jim had asked him if he would come up to the airstrip to meet the police, but he had refused.

“It won’t be a pleasant walk in this weather,” he had said, “ and I don’t want to put Alec to any trouble by asking for a lift. I’ll be in the school house if they want to see me.”