She smiled slightly. ‘Just something my intuition tells me, especially about the mother. The way she interacted with her children, the control she exerted. I can’t quite put my finger on it. But I just know. I have a way of knowing things. My mother always said I was psychic.’

I tried not to laugh and imagined Dylan hearing this, trying to suppress his laughter too.

A woman came up to Hekla then and whispered into her ear.

Hekla nodded then smiled at me. ‘I must go. But please, enjoy the art.’ She was about to walk off but paused, turned back and leant close to me again. ‘How many weeks are you?’ she asked.

I laughed. ‘Pardon?’

‘How many weeks pregnant?’

I looked at her in shock. ‘I’m not pregnant!’

‘If you say so,’ she said, tapping the side of her nose.

‘I think it’s the champagne talking,’ I said nervously, gesturing to the glass in her hand. ‘I am definitely not pregnant.’

But as Lyngar and I walked up the street half an hour later, Lyngar regaling me with the history of his relationship with his ‘stalker ex’ as he called her, I put my hand to my stomach, doing the maths in my mind. How long had it been since I’d got my period? More than a month, that was for sure. Maybe more than two months. I’d put on weight too, despite not eating much, appetite all but gone since that conversation with Dylan.

That was when it dawned on me: Hekla was right.

Chapter Seventeen

Amber

Audhild Loch

23 December 2009

As Amber drives to Scotland, she takes in the beautiful scenery unfolding around her. It’s made even more stunning by the snow’s light touch upon the ground and the trees; the winter sun, uninterrupted by clear skies, making it sparkle. She’s relieved it’s no longer snowing. It means their journey will be a lot smoother.

She glances over at Lumin, her pretty face close to the window as she stares at the awe-inspiring scenery. Is this the world that held her close as she grew up? Amber can see her here, especially against the winter backdrop, her cheeks red against her pale skin, face solemn as she sketches her surroundings.

‘It’s so picture-perfect,’ Lumin says. But it’s in a tone that hints at disapproval. ‘I mean, who really lives in a place like this?’

‘Maybe you?’

Lumin smiles and puts her feet up on the dashboard.

‘Feet down,’ Amber says.

‘All right, Mum,’ Lumin replies.

Amber smiles to hide how much it pains her to hear that.