Then I serve Paulo some tea. I know his name is Paulo because Aunt Verity showed me pictures of him once and told me his name. I don’t like Paulo very much; he has a very cross face. But I mustn’t leave Paulo out of the picnic, because that would be unkind.

‘Would you like a fairy cake?’ I ask Ralfie, my third puppet, and he nods his head, and smiles. I named him Ralfie after a dog I saw on the beach once. Woof, woof, woof. He was a fluffy brown dog that jumped up at me and made me laugh. Puppet Ralfie has freckles across his nose and cheeks, and red hair made of wool, and he’s dressed in a black and white checked suit. I serve him his cake onto the plate, and he gobbles it down. ‘It’s fun being outside inside, isn’t it?’ I say to him.

I turn. ‘What about you, Rosie? Would you like a cake?’

I love being up here in the attic with my friends, outside inside.

Chapter 33

Halloween Weekend 2019

Alice

‘Lori’s disappeared,’ Alice cries, arms flailing, cheeks flushed as she dashes up the steps from the ladies’ and into reception, Faith right behind her.

Leon and Christine jump to their feet, eyes wide.

‘We can’t go on like this,’ Faith cries. ‘Christ! We have to do something.’

‘I agree.’ Leon massages his temples as he paces the chessboard floor tiles. ‘But what the hell can we do, but wait?’

‘The police should be here soon,’ Alice says, but she doesn’t believe her words, not anymore. Surely they would be here by now, if they were coming.

Christine takes off her glasses, rubs her watery eyes. ‘What are we going to do if they don’t?’ she says.

Faith flops down on the sofa, looks up, as though the ornate ceiling has the answers. ‘I keep going over and over the call I made at the cottage. Whoever answered the phone said, “Hello.”’ Her eyes dip, land on Alice’s face where they lock. ‘I mean, wouldn’t they have asked which service I require? That’s what they say, isn’t it? The emergency services. I’ve seen it on TV; they ask what service you require?’

Alice nods slowly. ‘I guess so.’

‘So, now I’m wondering if the call ever went through to the mainland. What if I didn’t speak to the emergency services at all?’

Alice’s eyes widen. ‘Why wouldn’t it have gone through, Faith?’

Faith bites down on her lip. ‘I know it sounds far-fetched, but hear me out. It was a man who answered, so what if it was Cameron Patterson? What if he pretended to be the emergency services?’

‘That makes no sense, Faith.’ Alice shakes her head, doesn’t want to believe her.