A crowd of people trooped into the Oak pub across the way, unusual for this early on a Friday since Tony would only just have opened up. There were about ten of them, all wearing waterproof jackets and hoods. I rubbed the condensation from the windscreen for a clearer look. By his gait, and his blue jacket, I thought one of them was Derek, the cyclist I’d met the day before outside Phyllis’s. He was with another much larger man and a very thin woman, possibly the couple who’d been waiting for him in the Lexus. Behind them were two younger women in leggings and brightly colored jackets in purple and red; one had a toddler in her arms.

I assumed they were all part of the charity cycle, although the couple with Derek didn’t look fit enough. I wondered why you would bother coming along if you weren’t participating? But also, I checked my watch and it was a quarter to nine. Weren’t they due to leave Malin Head at eight o’clock?

Frustrated, since the rain showed no signs of abating, I caught sight of something in the mirror, something red on the floor behind the passenger seat. I reached back to get it, pleased to find it was an umbrella. It must have slid out from under the back seat. It wasn’t mine so I supposed it must belong to the Usurper, but I was grateful to have it in the circumstances.

I climbed out of the car and put the umbrella up, glad to have something to shield me from the driving rain but taken aback by the force of it. I’d become used to heavy rain in Florida, but this was unusual for Inishowen. Our rain was generally soft and constant; a drizzle; down for the day. This was almost tropical, falling straight like stair rods, making it difficult to keep the umbrella upright. The rain bounced off the footpath – my feet were wet just from standing on the street for a few seconds. I needed to get a move on.

The umbrella’s discovery turned out to be not as serendipitous as I thought; it was a cheap specimen given away by some business or other and within seconds I realized that it was in danger of blowing inside out. A sudden blast nearly blew me off my feet, outside the newsagent’s, the rain sharp and stinging on my face. It was a real struggle to stay standing and avoid embarking on a Mary Poppins style flight above town.

Finally, I regained control of the umbrella, and ducked into the newsagent’s doorway, closing it up and shaking it out on the step. Breathing heavily, I turned towards the counter.

Stoop was grinning at me over the chocolate bars he was restocking. “I thought I’d have to come out and pull you in out of that.”