Lumin jiggles a wire. ‘Nope, not a clue.’

A truck draws up then and a man sticks his head out. ‘Need help, ladies?’ There’s a younger man sitting in the passenger seat. He eyes Lumin hungrily.

‘My car’s broken down,’ Amber says with a sigh. ‘Don’t happen to be a mechanic, do you?’

The man laughs a hearty laugh and jumps out. ‘Not officially, but let’s have a look.’

The young man gets out too, smiling at Lumin. She smiles back, faintly, then turns away, the blue streaks in her hair vivid against the darkening skies.

‘I’m Tim. This is my son, Shane,’ the man says as he examines the engine.

His son nods at Amber then turns his attention back to Lumin.

‘I’m Amber. This is Lumin. And we really need this car to work.’

‘Weird name, Lumin,’ the boy says.

Lumin turns back to him, giving him a glassy stare.

‘It is though, isn’t it?’ the boy says. ‘Bit poncey,’ he adds with a laugh. Lumin and Amber exchange a look.

‘Charming,’ Amber says under her breath.

The boy’s eyes narrow. Then he notices Amber’s hand. ‘Gross. What happened to your fingers?’

Amber quickly shoves her hand into her pocket, her cheeks flushing. Yes, she knew people could be cruel. People could be stupid. Still, it didn’t stop it hurting.

‘You’re gross,’ Lumin hisses.

The boy laughs. ‘Firecracker. I like it.’

‘That’s enough, Shane,’ his father says as he looks up from the bonnet. ‘I apologise for my son, he’s a bit of a caveman.’

‘Clearly,’ Lumin says, looking the boy up and down in disgust. The boy blushes and stomps back to the truck.

‘Nothing I can do for you, I’m afraid,’ his father says, wiping his hands on his jeans. ‘You need to get this to a mechanic. I have a friend I can call?’

‘No thanks,’ Amber says quickly, not wanting to spend another minute in the company of the man’s son. ‘I have breakdown cover.’

The man shakes his head. ‘That could take hours.’

‘We’re fine, really,’ Amber says, slamming the bonnet down.

The man shrugs. ‘Fine. Just be careful, snow’s due to get heavier. There’s a B&B up the road on a farm, about a ten-minute walk that way,’ he says, pointing down the road. He gives Amber a kind smile then nods at Lumin. ‘Take care.’ Then he jumps in the truck and they drive off.

Amber looks up at the snowy skies in exasperation. The man was right, it did look like it was going to really come down soon. It suddenly all dawns on Amber what a fool she’s been. ‘This was a mistake. I was bloody stupid to think I could do this.’