‘I think it’s good,’ Viv said, stroking her niece’s back. ‘Get it all out.’

‘I just feel so useless,’ Amber says through her tears.

‘Like you did with Katy,’ Rita says softly.

Amber looks up into her mother’s eyes and nods.

‘I felt the same with you,’ Rita says, taking Amber’s injured hand in hers and stroking the stubs. ‘Watching you in so much pain. I felt so guilty.’

‘It wasn’t your fault. I shouldn’t have run out. Anyway,’ Amber says, pulling her hand away, ‘I survived.’

‘I know. But it still hurts to see you like this,’ Rita says.

‘What can I do?’ Amber asks the two women, looking at both of their familiar loving faces in turn, trying to find the answers there. Her eyes stray to the photos on the walls of the different countries her mum and aunt have visited in their later years. When people commented they were ‘too old for all that’, they’d retort: ‘We’re Caulfields. Nothing stops the Caulfields.’

Amber suddenly stands up, determination raging through her. ‘How long will it take to drive to the Highlands from here?’

‘Hours and hours,’ Viv says.

‘Why?’ Rita asks.

Amber gets her phone out, typing in Winterton Chine to Audhild Falls. ‘Ten hours,’ she murmurs. ‘I can do that, with breaks of course. No biggie.’

Rita looks at Amber in alarm. ‘That’s a massive drive, Amber! You can’t undertake a road trip like that on a whim.’

‘It’s not a whim,’ Amber replies, pacing up and down the room in excitement. ‘Lumin seems so sure she knows the place.’

‘What do you expect to do when you’re there?’ Viv asks. ‘Knock on each door and ask them if they know her?’

‘If that’s what it takes. Look,’ Amber says with a sigh, ‘just being there can trigger memories. It has to be worth it.’

The two women go quiet.

‘You really want to do this, don’t you?’ Rita asks eventually.

Amber nods.

‘Well then, we better get packing,’ Rita says resolutely, standing up.

‘Woah, wait a minute,’ Amber says, making her mum sit down again. ‘You are not coming with me.’ As much as she loves her mum and aunt, the idea of a ten-hour road trip with them sends shivers down her spine.

‘We can’t let you go alone,’ Viv says. ‘Especially with the snow coming. And you can’t take your car, it broke down only a few weeks ago! In fact, can’t you fly to Scotland?’

‘I got it fixed! Anyway, I won’t be alone. I’m taking Lumin with me, and she can’t fly without photographic identity.’

Their mouths drop open. ‘You can’t take her!’ Rita says.

‘Why not?’