‘Of course it’s all right.’ Nell straightened up cautiously and looked around. Sleeps ten, the online ad had said, which had struck her as optimistic, even given the size of the place, but she had forgotten the attic. The beds here were no more than bunks, really, thin mattresses on wooden frames, two set at each side of the room, underneath the sharply pitched eaves, and separated by a narrow red rug. On the far wall, an old brick chimney snaked up to the ceiling, clinging to the white-wash. ‘Do you like it?’ she asked, keeping her tone carefully neutral. ‘Up here, I mean?’

Maude abandoned the bag on the rug and turned to look at Nell, stepping back a little, out of reach. ‘It’s OK.’ She looked hot and grubby, her hair coming loose from its ponytail; a little rounder in the face these days, a little taller too.

‘There’s a bedroom downstairs, next to the living room, you know.’

‘That’s for kids.’

‘Or the one next to the bathroom. That’s practically en-suite, if you think about it.’

‘I like it up here.’

‘It isn’t too – gloomy?’ The air was stale, still. She would be much better off downstairs, surely, closer to Nell and her father.

Maude didn’t bother to answer, she went to one of the dormer windows, and after struggling with the catch for a moment, opened it as far as she could. ‘I can see the roof,’ she said, stretching up on tip-toe.

‘Can you?’ Nell stood behind her. Here, on this side, the back of the house, there was no view to speak of, just the dull grey slates and the looming cliff. Nell lay her hand on Maude’s shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. ‘Well. You don’t have to decide right now, if you don’t want to.’

Maude didn’t answer. She turned and wriggled free, working her way around the room, opening the rest of the windows one by one, before facing Nell once again. ‘It’s OK,’ she said, ‘This will do.’

There was another pause. ‘Are you—?’ Nell began, but down-stairs, the front door opened and closed, and distantly she could hear Chris calling out. Maude picked up her suitcase and set it on one of the beds, unzipping it. ‘Go on,’ she said, without looking up.

‘Right,’ said Nell, ‘don’t forget to ring your mum, once you’re sorted.’

Maude pulled a book from the suitcase and set it carefully to one side. ‘I won’t,’ she said.

Behind her, one of the windows shuddered, rattling in its frame as a breeze caught it; the room seemed to shift, to expand and settle again.

Chapter 2

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