As the sun faded, it became colder up there on the clifftop. I fetched my blanket from the cottage and wrapped it around my shoulders and over my head to make a sort of tent.

What do I do if they don’t come back tonight? my mind whispered anxiously. What do I do if they never come back? Will I wait here for ever?

What was the alternative? I couldn’t face the idea of going back to sit in the empty kitchen by myself. It was better to wait here on the cliffs with the stones. I felt closer to Pa and Mags somehow.

Another cluster of boats. Then a long gap and a boat on its own, but it wasn’t Faith or the lifeboat either; it was a little dinghy.

I gazed at it as the world darkened around me. Its sail was ragged with bullet holes and it felt like a terrible omen. There were no more boats on the horizon.

I pulled the blanket tightly around me and lay down on the cold grass. I should try to get a little sleep, I thought. But then I looked up at the thousands of stars in the vast sky above and shuddered. I closed my eyes tightly. I don’t think I can.

But I must have, because when I opened my eyes again, I was stiff with cold, and the light had changed from black to a cool milky grey. A few pale stars still freckled the sky, but it was almost morning.

Had there been a shooting star? I couldn’t remember if I’d seen it as I was falling asleep or if I’d dreamt it. I felt hollow and lost, haunted by the hours of dark, silent loneliness since Pa and Mags had left. I pressed my hands together, trying to squeeze some warmth into my freezing fingers. A strange, low mist crept across the sea.

They aren’t coming home. They would be back by now if they were coming.

Then, without any warning, the idea was there in my head and I knew exactly what I had to do. I had to sing. Fear shivered through me as I turned towards the Daughters of Stone.

The fishermen’s daughters sang a song of love and loyalty and sacrifice to bring their fathers safely home. This was the moment that I had always known about in my bones, ever since Pa first told me the legend. This was the moment in which I would finally become part of this ancient story. The sky wrapped around me, grey as fate, enveloping me, together with the stones and the cold-smoking sea.