The man’s years manifested in that second, and there was nothing childlike about him.

It’s a common enough superstition, John. You’ll find it in most parts of the country, if you ask around for it.

It wasn’t as though the Tír Mallachts would know any different. But John rejected the lie.

You made a big mistake coming here.

Luckily, Chloe was still passed out and hadn’t heard that closing line.

Ben listened to his own steps crunch towards the door. John had already shifted the board aside with his little marsupial hands and stormed out. A long sigh of frustration was heard and Ben pictured himself alone in that grimy stable. He would never forget that feeling.

‘Hang in there, Benny Boy,’ he said, looking at the recorder on the dashboard.

It had shifted out of reach and become wedged under the windscreen. He would have to wait out the silence until his past self recruited another villager for interrogation. Ben’s footsteps faded into the distance. If only he had had the good mind to pause the tape after John left. It’s not as though anyone would have seen him.

He pushed his shoulders back into his seat to ease the aching, glancing enviously over at Chloe, out cold. Lucky for some. Ben thrummed his fingers on the wheel, listening out for his return to the stable.

And then he heard it, something that nearly made him swerve into the other lane.

‘What is that?’ he whispered, now staring at his recorder instead of the road ahead, trying to visualise what the hell he was hearing.

Someone was breathing over his jacket. It was a slow, heavy snarl. So loud that whoever it was must have had their face right down by the recorder. But Ben had hidden it so well.

He listened to every hoarse breath, imagining the empty stable, where there was nowhere for anyone to hide. It was a dog. It had to be. Ben counted himself lucky that it hadn’t chewed his recorder to bits. But then the breathing grew fainter, as the one responsible stood to their feet and slowly walked away.

Ben heard his own voice approaching.

If you would like to take a seat over there, Nora, I’ll just close the door behind us.

There was only the sound of the woman padding across the bark and Ben putting the board back in place. He took his seat beside her and the interview began. There had been no one else in the room. There couldn’t have been. His skin ran cold as if its every inch were wrapped in frozen lace.

Chloe was stirring beside him. Ben’s hands were tensed around the wheel. What had he just heard? If there had been someone or something in the stable, he would have seen them.