Eliza watched the footage, wiping her tears away, annoyed. Jasmine, slight but so fierce. Cierra, looking nervous in her blue wig. Georgia and her intelligent eyes.

Tom made them each a whisky and Coke, pressing one into each woman’s hands. He settled in between them again, pulling them both tight. Eliza pulled away. Sarge tried to climb up, but Tom pointed towards the door and said, ‘Outside.’ The dog obeyed, tail wagging feebly.

Tom looked back to the TV.

They watched footage of the search efforts, the reporters under umbrellas informing the viewers it was now over twenty-four hours since the girls first went missing. The broadcast changed to aerial shots of the Tiers, zooming in on the cliffs and the impenetrable summits.

Tom muted the TV. ‘If anyone’s to blame, it’s me,’ he said. ‘I should’ve been back there with them.’

‘Neither of you is to blame,’ said Monica. ‘Don’t be stupid . . .’

‘But if I had been back there . . .’ began Tom. He breathed heavily, staring at Eliza, putting his hand on her thigh.

Even now? He was insatiable. He’d never made a secret of his attraction to Eliza, not even in front of Monica, admitting that the idea of twins excited him. She couldn’t believe that he would try to make a move right now, with all that was going on, and after she had rejected his forthright advances so many times. She supposed maybe the trauma was messing with him just like it was messing with her.

She stood up and excused herself. Monica sent her a look of sympathy, but Eliza couldn’t look at her in that moment – she went to the bathroom and locked the door. Monica had no right to show pity. Eliza loved her, would always love her, but she had to take responsibility eventually. When Tom had expressed a desire to sleep with her, not that long after Wren was born, Monica had given him permission: she always let Tom have what he wanted.

When Eliza had refused him, he was disappointed, but took it in his stride. It wasn’t long before he turned his eyes to the older girls at school. He was not so confident that he flirted with them right in front of Eliza, but it was clear enough what was going on. She knew she should intervene – she understood that it was the right thing to do, and her obligation as a teacher – but she was too protective of Monica, of Wren. She didn’t feel good about it, but it was a moral compromise. Staying silent was selfish, but she had experienced the suffering a broken family could cause and, for Wren’s sake, she could not bring herself to do anything that might jeopardise Tom’s job or reputation.

Of course, Tom paid particular attention to girls who returned his interest. As Denni had.