‘What happened is much simpler than you imagine. You’ve been told the truth: Elinor did jump off the edge, although I don’t think she meant to. She was lost and confused and I think she may have just lost her footing: I don’t think she was trying to kill herself. But either way, she didn’t die. I scrambled down the rocks on the side with Dennis and we looked but there was nothing. In the end, I shouted back up and the crowd dispersed. I guess because I was the authority around there everybody assumed I would file some report somewhere and that would be that.’

‘You wouldn’t believe how them folks just went away minding their own business as if nothing ever happened,’ Dennis cut in. ‘Scandalous behaviour.’

‘Yes, thank you, Dennis,’ Rose sighed. ‘Anyway, we found her in the end. By some miracle, she’d missed the rocks and plunged into the water but got herself trapped in the scree. Over time, the water had cut into the rock face and there was a sort of cave underneath; I was about to give up when the ocean just deposited her there. Like Poseidon just coughed her up.’

‘It was Fate, not Poseidon,’ Dennis growled.

‘Well, perhaps. To this day, I don’t know how she survived. She was so little, so fragile. Like I said: a miracle.’

‘A relaxed body sustains less injury in a car crash,’ Priest offered. ‘The same principle applies to falling. Maybe it was because she was so confused, she didn’t even react.’

Rose nodded. ‘That’s very true.’

‘So, what happened next?’

‘Dennis and I took her to the hospital. I tried to radio for help but couldn’t get through to anybody. We sat with her for hours. She never said a word. So what were we supposed to do? I couldn’t very well just give her up to social services – the system would have eaten her alive. Dennis was equally torn. So, we agreed that I would take her. It was meant to be temporary at first – until we could find out what to do next but . . . well, one thing led to another. Dennis and I became close and . . . it didn’t seem right, dumping her again. After a while, we moved away from Tome and settled here. To start a new life, as best we could.’

‘Eventually, we formally adopted Elinor,’ Dennis explained. ‘The process took two years. We had to remain a little unclear about how we ended up with Elinor but . . . well, the important thing is . . .’

Priest held up his hand. ‘Far be it for me to pass comment. What you did was what you thought was right, and that’s what you ought to be judged on.’

‘Well, that’s kind of you to say. She had nothing, that girl, just the clothes on her back and the doll. We gave her something to live for.’

‘Doll?’ Georgie said, interested.