‘Alice, can I ask you something about Moira? Earlier she said something—she thought I was Gran, and she was talking about something in their past.’

She saw Alice’s cheery smile falter slightly, and her eyes lost their crinkle. ‘She’s been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She has her good days, though—like today. This is the best I’ve seen her in a long while. She’s been looking forward to meeting you. But there’re other days when she’s confused, mostly when she gets tired, and relives the old days.’

‘Do you know what happened between the two of them?’ Elle asked, deciding to risk it.

Alice looked at her quickly before starting to wipe down the bench. ‘Not really … Occasionally she comes out with strange things—bits and pieces—and I’m fairly sure she’s talking about Iona, but she doesn’t talk about their past whenever I’ve tried to bring it up on a good day.’

‘It’s sad that they never had a chance to fix things between them.’

‘Yes, it is,’ Alice agreed with a brief, cheerless smile. ‘Still. Here we are, a new generation, and I for one am very glad that I’ve had a chance to meet one of our Australian cousins.’

‘Me too.’ Elle smiled back. Their meeting had been so much better than she’d anticipated. She hadn’t expected to fit in with a bunch of strangers so easily—and that’s exactly what had happened. She felt comfortable around them, like she’d known them a lot longer than a few hours.

But now more than ever, Elle knew that whatever had driven the two older sisters apart all those years ago needed to be resolved. She wasn’t sure for whose benefit exactly. Maybe Gran needed some closure. Maybe that was the whole reason behind her lingering around and her insistence to be brought back here. Or maybe it was for Moira. Or maybe it was just because Elle hated an unsolved mystery and couldn’t let it go. Who knew, but one thing was certain, she needed to get to the bottom of it.

The following morning was crisp as Elle stepped outside the hotel after breakfast. The air smelled clean and fresh. She spent some time taking photos of the stone bridge just outside the gates of Durn House, along with the pretty stream, and though she was itching to sit and draw, she knew it was time to call home.

Glancing at her watch, she dug out her phone. Both her parents should be home from work by now.

‘Hi, Dad,’ she said when he answered, and felt a little tug of homesickness at the familiar voice.

‘Carol!’ her father called out after barely greeting his daughter. ‘It’s Elle on the phone.’