Nell got Maude up the steps, into the house and onto the sofa in the living room. ‘Are you OK here for a minute?’ she asked, her mind already running ahead to how they were going to manage showers and getting out of the house, how they were going to manage the stupid bloody ladder into the attic, what she was going to say to Chris.

‘Yes.’ Maude sank back into the cushions. From the kitchen there was a brisk double knock at the door. When Nell went through, she discovered Carolyn, hovering on the step. ‘I’m all parked up,’ she said. ‘I just wanted to make sure – there’s nothing else I can do?’

‘You’ve already done more than enough.’

‘Hardly.’

‘Really, Carolyn. I’m so grateful.’

‘Is she all right, the poor thing?’ Carolyn strode through the kitchen, across the hall and into the living room, and Nell could hear her addressing Maude in cheery tones. She closed the door and looked at the clock on the microwave; it was past one in the morning. She pulled Maude’s phone out of her bag and slipped outside, she tried three times, but each time the call just went straight to voicemail.

He was probably asleep.

He’d call back when he could.

And there was nothing to worry about. There was no real damage, and even Nell’s suggestion that Maude stay off her feet for a while had been dismissed by the doctor. ‘She’ll judge for herself what feels right,’ he’d said, ‘there’s no need to take any excessive precautions.’

Nell thought again of Maude stepping back in the dark, the shard of glass – slicing deep into the pale arch of her foot. She felt sick when she thought of the damage that might have been caused.

Standing at the sink, filling the glass, holding it out, and Maude trying to bargain with her.

Had she taken it? Had she?

Maude standing at the foot of the stairs, holding the glass, not holding the glass.

Nell couldn’t remember.

*

It didn’t really take two of them to get Maude back up into her room, and Nell wondered if Maude might kick up a fuss, but she seemed to welcome the attention, letting Carolyn climb up the ladder first, then she’d followed – clutching the sketch-book she had retrieved from the hall – taking the hand Carolyn offered, leaning on her as she limped across the room.

‘All right?’ Carolyn hovered over her as Maude lowered herself gently onto her bunk.

‘Yes, thank you.’

Carolyn straightened and looked around the room. ‘I can see why you like it up here,’ she said. ‘Very private.’