Anna sat back, looking at the stove, trying to imagine Bren moving around this small space as that immense storm had ripped and battered its cruel way around her. How terrifying it must have been, and yet how safe these walls had proven to be. Immovable, like the house’s first owner. Anna was delighted, too, to have the knowledge of how the bothy had come by its unusual name, straight from the words of the woman who had named it.

I must tell Robert, she thought, and before Anna had registered what she was doing, she had picked up the phone and dialled his number.

The call was answered on the first ring and a harried voice on the other end barked, ‘Yes?’

Anna was taken aback, both at the tone and the timbre. It was a woman’s voice, not either of the MacKenzie boys. ‘I – I’m sorry, perhaps I’ve dialled the wrong number? I was trying to reach the MacKenzie house.’

‘You have. This is Barbara,’ said the voice, still fractious. ‘Is this about Young Robbie? If not, I have to keep the line clear.’

Anna’s heart froze. ‘What? What’s happened?’

‘Who is this?’ Barbara asked.

‘I – sorry,’ Anna said. ‘I’m a friend. My name’s Anna Campbell, I bought the Fishergirl’s Luck from Robert, and—’

‘Oh,’ said the woman on the other end of the line. ‘Yes. Young Robbie was so pleased with the baking the two of you did together.’

‘Is he all right?’ Anna asked. ‘Has something happened?’

‘He hasn’t come back from dolphin patrol,’ Barbara said, her voice laced with tears. ‘I stayed here last night because Old Robbie was with the lifeboat. When I got up this morning he’d snuck out, left a note telling me not to worry. But the dinghy’s gone! I’ve got the lads out looking for him, but – look, I’ve got to go. In case he calls – or they do.’

‘Of course,’ Anna said, her heart beating to a sick rhythm. ‘Call me if there’s anything I can do.’