She swept the bar and polished the tables ready for the usual influx of customers later in the day. The workmen at the building site usually came for a drink when they had finished their shifts, and the aroma of cheese and onion pies and rabbit stew wafted through the building. It was late afternoon and getting dark outside when she realised that the scuttle was empty, and Nate had gone to the village on an errand for their mother. Judy picked up the brass scuttle and went outside to fill it with coal. She was on her way back to the kitchen when she heard footsteps behind her and something was clamped over her nose and mouth. She struggled and lost consciousness.

Judy opened her eyes and licked her dry lips. Her head ached and her whole body was being rocked from side to side with the motion of the fast-moving carriage. She attempted to sit up but a sudden bout of dizziness made her subside onto the stale-smelling leather squabs. It was dark inside and out, and she could hear the thunder of the horses’ hoofs as they pounded on the road surface. Although she called out, her dry throat turned her voice into little more than a croak and she realised that she could not make herself heard. Moreover, her wrists and ankles were bound and movement of any kind was restricted. She closed her eyes, saving her strength for what might come when the journey ended. Who had abducted her and the reason for such a crime was a mystery, but she was too angry to be scared. The journey seemed to last an eternity and she fell asleep only to awaken when the vehicle came to a halt. The door was wrenched open.

‘I’m sorry about this, Judy, but there was no other way.’

‘Jay? Is that you?’

A hand pulled her to a sitting position. ‘I’ll untie your ankles if you promise to do as I say. You can’t run away because we’re in the middle of nowhere and it’s pitch-dark. Do as I tell you and all will be well.’

‘I won’t run, but I want an explanation.’

‘All in good time.’ Jay cut the rope binding her ankles and he lifted her to the ground. ‘As I said before, don’t even think about trying to get away.’

It was a moonless night and a bitter east wind whipped at Judy’s hair, dragging it free from the pins that had kept it neatly in place. She was wearing a linsey-woolsey dress, but the chill cut into her bones like knives. Jay dragged her across rough ground and she stumbled over stones and ruts in the lane. She could hear the sound of waves crashing on the shore and she could smell the sea, but she had no idea where they were. Eventually she saw a pinprick of light, which grew nearer and nearer until she could just make out the shape of a house, standing on its own.