She knew all this because she knew him. She loved him, actually, that was the truth of it. She loved him like he was her own, though he wasn’t. She was the nanny. Just the nanny. And yet she’d always been more than that. They’d demanded more from her and she’d given it because she’d needed a family, a home, when she had been alone and stranded in the world.

She tore through the trees, her palms slapping against bark as she pushed off against them, running blindly, past the birches and pines, the blueberry bushes and the hawthorns that scratched her legs.

She came to the water’s edge, the sea suddenly there like a bear saying ‘boo’, the levels much higher than usual, dredged up by the low pressure of the coming storm. She stared out, screaming their names, but it was hard to see and hear – the water was being whipped up by the wind, the standing waves in the strait making it hard to spot a small rowing boat or a kayak. Please God, not a kayak, not out there, not in these conditions . . . She scanned up and down the shore, stumbling on the rocks as she surveyed the water, straining to hear for cries over the wind, but there was nothing . . .

She decided to keep to the perimeter and walk round. It was the water that was the danger. As long as they didn’t go in the w—

Suddenly she stopped.

She knew exactly where they were.

The others had realized it too, Hanna still sprinting as Bell met her on the rocks, their feet slipping in their panic. The wind was blowing their hair around, blinding them for moments, Hanna’s slight frame sinewy and rigid with tension.

They got to the crater and stared down the sheer drop, Hanna giving a cry as they saw the basin was full of rough, slapping water, no sand visible. No beach.

‘Linus!’ Hanna screamed, her eyes white like a horse’s in battle. ‘Tilde! Elise!’

Max was ahead of them, on the far side, already scrambling down the rill. Emil was maybe a hundred metres behind him – not as fast, not as strong.

‘I can see them!’ Max yelled, his voice faint as the wind conspired against them and threw his words back over him. ‘They’re okay! They’re on a ledge! They’re okay!’

Hanna gasped, her body giving out at the news, adrenaline overwhelming her, and she sank to the ground. Bell rushed over, holding her. ‘It’s okay, Hanna. Max has got them. They’re safe now.’

‘I can’t lose them, Bell.’

‘I know, and you won’t. Max is getting them. It’s all going to be okay.’

‘Oh God, my babies,’ she moaned.

Bell looked down and saw Hanna’s hand curled over her stomach. A mother’s instinct. ‘They’re safe. But this one needs protecting too. You’ve got to look after yourself.’ And she placed her hand over Hanna’s.

Hanna stared back at her, the question pale on her lips. ‘How . . .?’