Shocked, he stood up from the deckchair he had slept in when he couldn’t get himself to sleep inside the house. He was stiff and cold, and felt like the biggest idiot on the planet. No one could ever know that he had been too spooked to sleep inside.

He pulled the blanket over his shoulders and peered over the fence. It took him a second to realise the noise came from one of the boathouses on the beach.

Jack shaded his eyes. He recognised the dog and knew it was Ninni splashing around in the water. What was she doing? Was she in trouble?

He walked towards the gate in the fence, not very keen to jump into the water after her, but if she really was in trouble then he had no choice.

Before he managed to open the gate she came up from the water, calling the dog to follow her. She was wearing nothing but a bra and a flimsy pair of knickers, obviously not expecting anyone to see her. Jack couldn’t look away. Especially when she stretched her arms in the air and he was sure his heart stopped.

He couldn’t take his eyes off her. She jumped out into the water again, splashing about with the dog swimming around her like a barking seal. Finally she pulled herself up into a yellow plastic boat and dragged the dog after her.

She pulled on a sweater, then started the engine of the boat.

Jack stood there until the boat disappeared around a headland. He let his breath out slowly.

I’m now reduced to a Peeping Tom, he thought, grinning at the image. But she was worth it. Mad woman, though. The water was probably freezing this far north. He shook his head. Who in their right mind would go swimming this early? He thought about Vikings and trolls, and all the other things about Norway he had no idea about. Perhaps the women were all mad from the cold weather? Or perhaps they all went mad as soon as the sun warmed their brains? Hopefully she would do this every morning. It would be worth getting up early for.

Jack looked at his watch. It was far too early to call an estate agent who could take a look at the property and tell him what it was worth. The lawyer had given him loads of paperwork, and the name of someone who’d shown interest in buying, but he wasn’t going to be stupid. He would get a second opinion, to be sure.

Jack yawned and stretched his back. He couldn’t sleep another night in the chair without doing some serious damage. Sooner or later he would have to sleep inside. Or perhaps he could get a tent and sleep in the garden.

He chuckled. The first thing he had to do was go shopping. Ninni had said the shop opened at ten. In the meantime, he could have another look around the house, take a look upstairs to see if there was a decent bedroom he could use. In case the garden tent didn’t work out.