Inside the shop she could just see the shopkeeper and the male police officer talking to each other. Like the windows, the glass door was plastered with posters and stickers, so only a sliver of the faces could be seen, quick glimpses of hands gesticulating. When the officer who had put her in the car reached the shop door and opened it, there was a clear view of Leonie, sitting on the counter, eating pieces of chocolate from a nest of gold foil that had been placed next to her. A chocolate decoration. Someone must have opened it for her. Leonie was completely absorbed by the process, taking her time choosing a piece and grasping it delicately in her fingers, opening her mouth comically wide to get it in and, even before it was finished, returning her attention to the next selection. Ruby closed her eyes in relief. There were dirty streaks on the little face where she’d been crying, but Leonie was fine. That was really all that mattered. It was going to be okay.

The shop door closed, obscuring most of her view. She could see part of the back of the police woman as she talked to the other officer, then a slice of the male officer’s face as he lifted his radio and spoke into it. His eyes slid toward Ruby then, though she didn’t think he’d be able to see her: the light was in her favor. She smoothed her skirt and applied some lip balm, tried to control her breathing. This was the big test. She never imagined it would come so soon into the journey. Ruby wasn’t sure she was ready.

She took a long, slow breath. I am all that girl has in the world. I have to do this. I have to try. Outside there was a distant sound coming from the waves, loud and long and echoing round the bay. This time she knew what it was. The seals calling. She wondered what exactly they were saying. The lullaby came to mind, the one she’d learned from Constance that she often sang to Leonie: Ionn da, ionn do, ionn da, od-ar da. Constance had said it was called “The Seal Woman’s Joy.” The title seemed wrong, now, and in Ruby’s head the words sang out in a minor key.

Two cars pulled up: another police car, which parked by the sea wall opposite, and a big black utility vehicle that stopped right behind the car in which she was imprisoned. In the side mirror she saw a woman in a trouser suit exit the black car and go into the shop. After a while this woman came out again, holding Leonie’s small hand in hers, leading her away.