‘It’s really important that they all stick together, isn’t it, Daddy?’

‘Sure is,’ he said, shoving her knitted hat back on her head. ‘It wouldn’t do to lose your family out there on the marshes, would it?’

‘No,’ she said seriously. ‘They have to stick together to keep safe, just like us.’

She was right in more ways than one. Had I stuck with my family I would have been a damn sight safer than I had been when Jonathan had drawn me away. From now on I was going to make keeping my parents close a priority.

‘Are you coming back again tomorrow?’ the girl asked me.

‘No,’ I said, ‘not tomorrow, but I will one day.’

‘I can’t imagine you’ll have all that much time for ornithological endeavours in Abu Dhabi,’ said Beamish once we had walked back to the truck and Dolly was tucked into the passenger seat with warm blankets and a flask. ‘But Dolly’s pleased you came tonight.’

Wasn’t he?

‘She used to visit here with her father when she was younger, you know,’ he carried on.

I hadn’t known that.

‘So, when I saw she’d included a coastal trip on the Wish List if felt as important as the ice skating to me.’

I looked at my friend through the truck window. She was staring into the darkness and I felt a sudden and uneasy prickling at the back of my neck. I didn’t know what it was, but it was there nonetheless.

She had said she was fine to do the walk, but I could see the distance and slippery conditions underfoot had taken it out of her. I was going to have to put my foot down when it came to rushing about in the run-up to Christmas and felt even happier that I wasn’t going to be leaving Wynbridge before the big day now. There was something amiss, something niggling at the back of my mind about my friend but I couldn’t pin down what it was.

‘I see,’ I said, turning to help Beamish stow our muddy wellies away in the boot. ‘And I could tell she loved it, as did I.’

Beamish nodded but didn’t comment.

‘I really meant what I said about coming back to see it again,’ I told him.

‘Of course.’

‘And as far as finding time to go birdwatching in the sun is concerned,’ I continued, drawing in the biggest breath, ‘that won’t be happening now.’

‘The birdwatching?’

‘Any of it.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I’m not going,’ I told him. ‘I’ve changed my mind.’

‘Oh,’ he said, ‘right.’

‘I’m staying with Dolly for Christmas and then I’ll have a think about what I’m going to do and where I’m going to live in the new year.’

‘You’re not going back to your flat then?’

‘No,’ I swallowed. ‘I’m not going back.’