“Well, not entirely. But nobody really likes police, do they?”

When he grinned knowingly at her then, she raised her eyebrows. “How did you know I was police?”

“Apologies,” he said, “Didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. Just saying. What are you here for, anyway? Can’t be anything big; I’d have heard about it.”

“I’m here to find my daughter.”

And she realized, then, that she’d stopped thinking and speaking of Ruby as her sister altogether. She was a mother, and her child needed her. Perhaps for the first time, she knew she would be there, no matter what; she was the only person who could do it. And it felt completely right.

CHAPTER

53

I am a man upon the land

And I am a silkie in the sea

And when I’m far and far frae land,

My dwelling is in Sule Skerrie

—“The Great Silkie of Sule Skerrie.” Scottish: Traditional

NOW

Ruby

Friday, December 28

THE SUN WAS bright as she hiked across the machair to the beach, with Leonie tied to her back once again in the makeshift sling, and Sam’s violin strapped across her front. Ruby heard the sea before she saw it, the hiss and tumble of the waves against the sand, and the screeching of the seabirds above them. As the horizon came in sight, she spied the old cottage they had visited that morning, hunched and lonely on the headland.

Constance had entered the sea in a very different spot, so many miles away at Cleethorpes, on a freezing winter’s night. Did she ever meet her family? If only Ruby could have caught a glimpse of them as they left. The way Constance expressed herself in fanciful tales of ancient lore, stolen skins and an island where seals danced on the beach as humans—the metaphors were so tantalizing, and being here made Ruby see how you could grow up believing the stories were true. In the moment of helping Constance escape, Ruby had been convinced she was sending her into the arms of her family. But in recent days she’d become less and less certain that she hadn’t simply helped a madwoman to her death. Coming to Barra had been a decision taken in desperation; she’d seriously doubted that Constance would be here, but it seemed as good a place as any to hide from Gregor. But the conch, that beautiful shining shell. That had been the proof that she’d needed to carry on. There was a colony, a secret island clan. They existed, and Constance was among them. Ruby was so close now, to what she’d come to do, to return the baby to her mother and her people so that they could live freely in the traditional way, away from prying eyes.