‘AGH!’ Mags roared, exasperated. Then she flung the kitchen door open and stormed away. The wind slammed the door shut behind her.

Pa collapsed into a chair and closed his eyes.

I stood there for a moment, my feet freezing on the flagstones, just looking at my Pa. After seeing the newspaper headline yesterday, he had spent most of the afternoon and evening frantically polishing every bit of glass and metal in the lantern room, but he didn’t whistle as he usually did when he did that sort of thing. After dinner, he had just sat there in his chair, exhausted, staring into space.

That was when I had gone up to the service room and found the hidden letter.

Pa sat in front of me now, his arms limp in his lap. His eyes were still closed, but I knew he wasn’t asleep. It was as if something that had been pulled tight inside him for months and months had finally snapped.

‘Would you like a cup of tea, Pa?’ I said.

He nodded, but his eyes remained shut.

Chapter 23

23

Usually I would have left my sister alone for a while – she needed to cool down – but too much was at stake now. Too much had spiralled out of control already, sucked down into this terrible whirlpool. I had to try to forget about my suspicions, and all that stupid business with Michael Baron and Spooky Joe, and the note that was screwed up into a ball in the pocket of my coat. None of that mattered right now. Besides, how could Mags be the spy? Here she was, determined to sail across the Channel all on her own to rescue British soldiers. What sort of traitor would volunteer to do that? The only thing I really understood in that moment was the sickening fear that had wrapped its tentacles around me. My family was in terrible trouble, and if we didn’t help each other, we would all be lost.

‘Mags,’ I said, when I found her, sitting behind the lighthouse amongst the standing stones. ‘Please don’t be angry with Pa – he’s so worried about Mutti.’ My sister was right by the edge of the cliff, plucking at a tuft of grass. I sat down next to her. ‘He’s so worried, Mags, I don’t think he can bear to be worried about you too.’

‘I know,’ she said.

We sat there in silence for a while, and I sifted through the events of the past few days, trying to make sense of it all, but everything was too stirred up and muddied with fear. Mags held up her hand, letting some scraps of grass fall from her fingers. The wind blew them away from us, out over the cliff towards the cool, grey sea. Towards France.