Never mind that she had told Karl to go to hell. It hurt too much. She hadn’t given him time to explain himself and that gnawed at her. Should she give him the benefit of the doubt? Except there was no doubt in this case. That picture said all there was to say.

‘I would never give him a second chance,’ she said to Frikk as they walked down to the beach. The dog looked unimpressed. ‘I just want to know how he could be such a bastard.’

The dog suddenly stopped and started barking his head off. He was a few steps ahead of her. Ninni hastened up to him.

‘What? Why are you barking, you silly dog?’

Frikk barked again. Only it was more of a growl than a bark, and she realised he was warning her.

‘What’s going on?’ Ninni stepped towards the tall grass and peered carefully down. ‘Is it a squirrel? Or a mouse?’

A steel-grey snake squirmed past them and disappeared underneath a small rock.

Ninni looked at the dog. ‘That’s a slow-worm, not a cobra, and it’s not dangerous at all. Leave the poor creature alone.’

Frikk kept his ears perked, staring in the direction of the worm in case she needed defending.

‘Come on, we have things to do today.’ Ninni ran across the hillside until she stood on the edge. She held out her arms and yelled into the wind. Frikk grinned with his tongue hanging out.

The sun was baking, so hot it was almost unnatural. Ninni didn’t hesitate when she came down to the beach, but jumped straight into the cool water. It was so clear she could see the bottom. Small crabs darted across the pebbles, hiding in the flowing seaweed. A shoal of young fish swam away when she tried to touch one of them.

She spluttered when Frikk jumped in after her, splashing and panting like a maniac. He was grinning and getting water in his mouth, then sneezing.

‘You are a mess,’ Ninni said, grabbing hold of his collar. ‘Go on land and wait for me.’

The dog paddled towards land and climbed up on the slippery stones, then settled nicely on the pier, watching her swim.

When she climbed out of the water she thought she saw movement from Agnar’s house, but when she looked again there was nothing there. Just the sun on the windowpane, she thought, shrugging. As far as she knew, there were no ghosts in Agnar’s house.

She lay down next to Frikk and rested her chin on her hands. The wood was warm and comfortable, reminding her of all the summers when it seemed that was all she was doing.

A plastic bottle floated past, catching her attention. ‘Oh, the bastards,’ she said.

Ninni stretched out her arm and caught the bottle. Just an ordinary fizzy water bottle, thrown overboard by some useless bastard who couldn’t be bothered to bring it to shore and throw it in the bin like a normal person.