The next day Anna drove along the coast to Fraserburgh with a list of items she wanted to find for the Fishergirl’s Luck. Chief among them was a rug to hide the bald patches in the carpet. She also wanted a new muslin curtain for the bedroom and had borrowed Frank’s tape measure to take down the size. A kettle, that was essential – she’d have plenty more to buy for the kitchen before she put it up for rent, but for now, something she could make tea in while she worked on the place would be enough. She also needed a way to make the old armchairs a bit less garish… the list had lengthened exponentially as she’d added to it the evening before.

As Anna wound her way out of the village her phone found its first hint of reception in several days and beeped at her. She pulled into a lay-by and listened to the message Cathy had left the day before.

I know you’re probably busy and out of signal in the back of beyond, said the woman who had been her closest friend for too many years to count, but do give me a ring when you re-enter civilization, won’t you? Just so I know you’re alive.

Smiling, Anna held the phone to her ear as it rang out.

‘My goodness,’ said Cathy’s familiar voice, ‘if it isn’t Kensington’s answer to Scott of the Antarctic. I was beginning to think you’d discovered that the Earth is flat after all, and fallen off the edge.’

‘Close, but not quite,’ Anna laughed. ‘I’m fine. Sorry – this is the first time I’ve had a signal.’

‘I thought as much. Glad to hear you, though. So – how is it all? Or is it too soon to tell? Tell me about Crovie. How have your first couple of nights in the cottage been?’

Anna detailed the events that had happened since she’d arrived in the village, correcting her friend’s pronunciation from Crovie to Crivvie. It felt good to offload on someone who knew her almost as well as Anna knew herself. Anna had met Cathy in secondary school and they had been friends ever since. In fact, Cathy was really the only friend that had survived throughout the Geoff years. Any others Anna had had slowly faded from her life through lack of the nurturing that all friendships require. Anna knew she was to blame for that as much as anyone, just as she knew she had Cathy’s determination to thank for the fact that they were still close.

‘Anyway, long story short, I’m an idiot and I knew at once that this was a ridiculous misadventure,’ Anna told her, as Cathy listened with quiet attention.