And yes, it would be good to see Jasper again too.

But then Amber thinks of the arctic tern. Why should she have to rely on him? She’d relied on him when he’d told her Katy would be fine and she wasn’t. She’d relied on her mother and aunt all her life to get her through. Couldn’t she do something on her own for once, be tenacious like that little bird?

She didn’t need Jasper. She didn’t need anyone.

She caught sight of her reflection in the mirror: the fierce look on her face, her red hair alight in the growing darkness of the room. She felt like Joan of Arc. Or Amber of the Lake District.

She smiled to herself. ‘No, it’s fine. I can do this on my own. But thank you.’

‘Dinner!’ the hotel’s owner calls upstairs.

‘Look, I’d better go,’ Amber says to Jasper. ‘I’ll try to call or text or something when I’m there. Take care, all right?’

She hears him sigh. ‘You take care too, Amber.’ Then he is gone.

‘I liked the sound of that conversation,’ Lumin says, checking her hair in the mirror then smiling up at Amber. ‘No giving up, right?’

Amber smiles. ‘Hell yeah!’ she says, echoing the words she’d read in the notepad.

Dinner is served in a small dining room with three square tables, overlooking a pretty garden that leans down towards a valley. Lumin and Amber are treated to a delicious three-course meal of paté on sourdough, a rich homemade vegetable lasagna, then the most delicious chocolate steam pudding Amber has ever tasted. They lap the food up in no time and the hotel’s owner takes their clean plates with a jolly laugh.

‘You two must have been hungry,’ she says.

‘Starving,’ Lumin admits.

‘Thank you, it was delicious,’ Amber adds.

‘Not a problem at all. I had a call from your mechanic just now.’

Amber leans forward. ‘Yes?’

The woman smiles. ‘Your car’s fine. Just needed new oil.’

Amber rolls her eyes. ‘Stupid me.’

‘The guy who checked it on the road was clearly stupid too,’ Lumin says. ‘He didn’t notice.’

The woman laughs. ‘It did make me laugh. Anyway, he’ll drop the car off in the morning and you can continue your journey. How does that sound?’

Lumin bites her lip and looks at Amber. ‘Are you sure it’s okay?’

Amber smiles at her. ‘Never give up, remember?’

‘So, anything else for you ladies?’ the woman asks. ‘I can do some cheese and crackers for you.’

Lumin yawns. ‘I think I might head to bed actually.’

‘Yep, me too. But thank you.’