I looked around me. People were beginning to get settled and the kitchen was full of people making tea. Things seemed calmer.

Until a loud panicked voice sounded in the doorway. “Where’s Pat Doherty? My dad.” A large woman with reddish hair and freckles appeared, her face flushed and anxious. “Where’s my dad? He can’t walk properly. Did you get him out?”

“He’s fine,” McFadden called over from where he was helping Stan with his belongings. “He wasn’t there. He’d gone to Mass.”

The woman patted her chest in relief and slumped down into the nearest seat.

I turned my attention back to Phyllis. “Is there anything else we need?”

“Bedding,” she said without hesitation. “Can you get out to Malin and pick some up from home? I’ll get some from the flat, but I know I haven’t enough. How is the road out that way?”

McFadden was still nearby and within earshot. “It’s okay so far, but if you get out you mightn’t get back, or you might get trapped here for the night. The Malin bridge should be fine but there’s flooding at McSheffrey’s. It’s tidal but you never know …”

“Right, I’ll go while I can.” I remembered what it had been like earlier on.

I made my way out to the car, where the light was strange and dark; rain was coming again within the next few minutes. Where the hell was it all coming from? I wondered. More to the point, when was it going to stop? I shuddered, with a sudden sense there was something otherworldly about what was happening, a harsh reminder of the belittling power of nature.

Tony from the Oak appeared, carrying a large cardboard box, as I opened the car door. “I hear Stan’s flooded,” he said anxiously.

I nodded towards the hall. “He was, but he’s okay. He’s in there.”

“Good.” He looked relieved. “He can stay with us. I’m going to do food for people down here tonight. I’ll do a big pot of something with rice.”

“That’s great. It looked as if the supermarket was flooded too so …”

He nodded. “I have plenty of tins. Should only be for a night or two, hopefully just tonight.”

Before I could get into the Mini, a large black car drove in through the gates of the hall, causing us both to look up. It was the Lexus I’d been a passenger in earlier on. Though Derek had offered his services, I hadn’t really taken him seriously, so I was surprised to see both him and Bob’s wife emerge from the car.