They huddled in closer to one another, protecting the weakest amongst them, whichever one that was. Such was their herd mentality that they all behaved the same and looked equally as feeble. Mary’s abrupt departure had obviously taken its effect on them.

Ben didn’t have time for this. He barged into their circle like a comet, obstructing one of the women, sending the others splintering away. She stretched her shawl tight around her skull, staring down at his boots, hoping perhaps that some miraculous means of escape would sprout by his feet. He hated bullying his way into their lives. But if they would only talk to him, they would see that he meant them no harm.

‘Would you like to go next?’ Ben asked, stooping low to peer under her hood.

He was surprised to discover that she was probably younger than Chloe. Her eyes were striking; glossy copper laced with reams of golden thread that snared the sunlight. The woman’s youth presented him with a possible advantage. A community’s elders generally safeguarded their oral history, but maybe what Ben needed now was a little innocence and hopefully a little more honesty.

‘Please,’ he whispered, to which she bowed twitchily, her hands tugging her hood even lower as she stole those first steps towards the stable.

Ben propped the board in place, scattering the last remaining woodlice; those too at home in the stable’s doorway to ever consider moving elsewhere. The woman stood by the chairs, peering around as though the building was somehow strange to her, like a fledgling fresh from the nest seeing the world for the first time.

He invited her to take a seat. She accepted with another timid flurry of nods.

‘You can take off your hood, if you like?’ Ben said to her, gesturing to it with a wave of his hand, trying to keep it casual and friendly. He was determined not to repeat that woeful opening act with Mary in the leading role.

She slipped the shawl back onto her shoulders, scattering Ben’s mental notes like a sudden gust of wind. The cloth that she held so eagerly had concealed the woman’s disfigurement. Her chin and mouth, and the eyes and nose, were without fault, in that they appeared unaffected by the common blood shared between the others. But her skull shrank back above the eyes as though her forehead had never fully formed. Behind her cheeks it caved inward. No ears had grown, but she could obviously still hear. Her head was hairless save for a few lank wisps already faded to grey. Despite her obvious trepidation, the woman’s lips attempted a smile; one that wilted before it could ever fully bloom.

‘Now,’ Ben began, keeping his surprise in check, not wanting to upset her, ‘before we begin, can you please tell me your name?’ His words barely kept their balance on his tongue.