‘We were doing up the house, when we found it – or rather, when I did,’ said Carolyn. ‘That bedroom used to have the most hideous wallpaper, can you imagine? God-awful chipboard covered with these enormous violent pink roses. It looked ridiculous, and I was dealing with that, when I found the panel, and then the void, and the shoe. And I knew what it was, straight away. My Aunt Ida had told me, you see about – traditions, superstitions, little things you could say and do to smooth your way through life, to overcome difficulties.’ She seemed to lose her thread for a moment, smiling slightly, caught in the memories of the past, a happier time. ‘I’d done everything you were supposed to do, I looked after myself, I even planted parsley in some little pots, and it had worked and I was pregnant,’ she said. ‘I was certain of it, although we hadn’t told anyone, and the shoe seemed like it was an omen. So, I took it out of the wall, took it home – to our flat over on the West Cliff. For luck.’ The smile faded. ‘Then everything went wrong.’

‘The testing kit,’ said Kym, ‘the tampon. Gran told me about – that was you?’

‘Oliver said he didn’t mind, but he did. Almost as much as I did. And I knew, you see, I knew what the shoe was – what needed doing.’ She paused, gathering her thoughts. ‘Just putting it back didn’t seem like enough, though. And it was – difficult too, I remember that, because I very much wanted to keep it close by. And I began to think about Dr Bishop and what he’d done. She’d been in service, my Aunt Ida, did you know that? And people talk, stories get handed down—’

‘Did your husband know?’

‘Good Lord, of course not. The house was just wood and stone to him, an investment.’

‘And then?’

‘Afterwards, your grandmother tried to sue us,’ said Carolyn, sharply. ‘All she wanted in the end, was money.’

‘She wanted you to take some responsibility for what you had done,’ said Kym. ‘When you offered to settle out of court, she told you to shove it.’

‘It was an accident, and we didn’t have to offer her anything,’ said Carolyn. ‘We were trying to be kind.’ She looked towards the back door and frowned. ‘Where’s Evie?’

‘Getting help,’ said Kym. ‘Tell me what you did.’

*

The land fell away steeply, the long grass cold against her legs. She should leave, go and wait at the end of the yard like she’d been told to, make sure the gate was open. But she might not get another chance. Taking the shoe from her mother hadn’t been enough, and she wasn’t sure that putting it back would help either, it all seemed too much, too close now.