‘Ah,’ Moira said with a sigh. ‘She was a bonnie wee thing. She was the youngest—a wee surprise for my ma and dad,’ she said with a twinkle in her eye. ‘She was like a doll, so tiny and with those big blue eyes—just like yours. She was much younger than the rest of us, so she was spoilt rotten by everyone. She managed to twist all the menfolk around her little finger—our father and my brothers, they all adored her. I did too. And then, once Ma passed …’ Her words seemed to peter out. ‘I became more of a mother to her than a sister.’

‘What happened, Moira?’ Elle asked gently. ‘Why did she leave here and never come back?’ She wondered if Gran would be upset with her prying.

For a long while Moira didn’t speak, and Elle thought maybe she’d drifted off into that confused state once more. She hesitated before bringing up the name—she didn’t know how Moira would react, but she was desperate not to lose the story. ‘Moira, who was Duncan Campbell?’ She wasn’t sure, but she suspected he somehow fitted into the story.

Immediately a change came over the older woman’s face and she fixed her watery eyes upon Elle firmly. ‘You are not to go near that Duncan Campbell, do you hear me, Iona?’

For a brief moment disappointment flared—she’d lost Moira to her memories again, but then she realised, Moira thought Elle was Gran. Elle was in two minds as to whether she should correct her and leave her to rest, or go along with her confusion and see what happened. Before she could make a decision either way, Moira continued.

‘You don’t need to look so shocked—I know all about him. Lucky for you, Father doesn’t, though.’ She tsked with a slight shake of her head. ‘You’re fifteen years old, Iona. He’s nineteen—a grown man almost.’

So, Gran had a boyfriend not long before she’d left Scotland. A spark of excitement ignited inside Elle. ‘Is that why Iona didn’t want to move to Australia? She didn’t want to leave Duncan?’ Elle tried gently to bring Moira back to the present, but suddenly the woman’s expression melted from the stern disapproval of moments before to something that looked almost like heartbreak.

‘My poor wee sister,’ she said reaching out a hand to touch Elle’s face softly. ‘So much pain, so much loss.’

Leave her be. Gran’s voice gave Elle a start.

Gran, please tell me what happened. What’s she talking about?

‘I warned you that Duncan Campbell was no good, didn’t I?’ Moira said, her voice shaking, cutting into her conversation with Gran. ‘He left you to die in that horrible place.’

‘What horrible place?’ Elle felt herself going rigid and dread began to pool inside her stomach.