“The truth...” Lilou said. “They infected the town. Some sort of nerve agent or biological warfare that went wrong. People went mad, the government tried to solve it and cover it up. They put it down to a contagion, closed off the town from the outside world. Then they went about systematically tracking down and killing everyone in the town. After that they flooded the valley and erased Longford from history forever.”

“Or until the dam broke,” Sammi said.

“Right. Thing is, there were three Kin living in the town and integrating with the community. One of them was Mohserran.”

“Your selkie friend,” Angela said.

“Such a gentle soul. I’m not sure what he was doing this far inland, but it could be he used the river to swim back and forth to the sea when he was in his seal form. Or it could be he found love.”

“They’d have been killed too though, right?” Sammi asked.

“That’s what we’re here to find out.”

“It’s what you’re here to find out,” Angela said. “We’re just here because you dragged us. And I don’t like anything about this place, or what it might be doing to Sammi.”

“You always knew there was something,” Sammi said.

“I knew you were different,” Angela said, tears in her eyes. “I guess I’ve been trying to ignore it. Hope it went away.”

There was silence for a while, awkward and loaded.

“I didn’t mean to lie,” Lilou said.

“Doesn’t matter,” Sammi said. “You did it for a reason, right?”

“A good reason,” Lilou said. She was quieter than usual, and wouldn’t catch Sammi’s gaze.

“What reason?” Angela asked.

“To make sure they’re dead,” Lilou said. “The three Kin who were here when the town was gassed and then flooded. Including Mohserran, who really is an old friend. I have to make sure they’re all dead.”

“Why?” Sammi asked, but she thought she knew.

“Because after what was done to them, they’re too dangerous to live.”

“How do you know all this?” Sammi asked. “If they came and killed everyone, how do you know what happened?”

“A human escaped,” Lilou said. “I’ve never met him, but he became something of a friend to the Kin. He protects them, hides them, helps them flee if that’s what’s required. He told the story to an uldra, a sort of fairy, way north of here, in Alaska. That story spread. We don’t trust anything a human tells us, of course, but together with everything we know about this place, it makes some sort of sick sense.” She swept her hand around, indicating their surroundings. “And no one has seen Mohserran or the other two in forty years.”