Five minutes later, Faith lets out a sudden shriek, and Alice bolts to her feet, races over to her. But her friend doesn’t wake, has fallen silent once more. In fact, the whole house is quiet, and a suffocating fear settles around her.

There’s no clock in the room, and without her phone, time seems to have lost all meaning. Surely it will be daylight in a few hours. She leans across to the bookshelf and grabs a book, sits back down, and opens it at the first page. But the words blur in front of her eyes. Her head is too full. It’s impossible to turn off her fear, the sadness.

You kept so many secrets from me, Dad. A tear rolls down her face, and plops onto the page. Didn’t you?

Chapter 34

1994

Tiger

The frothy waves roll towards me like big white wheels. I sit on the sand, legs crossed, halfway to Dunwold and halfway to the island, looking out at the sea on both sides of me. It looks like a giant grey cake with blobs of cream everywhere.

Daddy says I’m a good swimmer. That he is very proud of me. I want to make him proud again, so that he will love me. I’m wearing my swimming goggles. And I’m wearing my red shorts. And I’m wearing my yellow T-shirt.

Aunt Verity doesn’t know I am out here today, but I know Daddy will see me from his window. His desk is there. Facing the sea. He sits at it all the time, writing. I want him to watch me from his window. I want him to watch me swim like a fishy, fish, fish.

The sea creeps across the sand, looking like watery fingers. It starts to rain.

I look up at the cliffs, at Daddy’s cottage, but I can’t see him at the window. I look up at the grey and swirly sky. The clouds are like puffs of smoke.

I wait. I wait for a very long time.

And now the sea is quite deep and I’m standing up, as it swirls around me, making me wobble. The rain is getting heavier, bouncing on my head, making it hurt. I can’t see through my goggles so I pull them off, yelping as the strap gets caught in my hair.

I still can’t see Daddy, so I try to walk back to the island, pushing my hands through the water that’s getting deeper and deeper and deeper. I slip and slide on the sand, and my head goes under the sea. Water shoots up my nose, and when I come back up, I cough and cough and cough.

‘Aunt Verity,’ I scream, scared now. I’ve forgotten how to swim. It’s too hard. ‘Aunt Verity, help!’