Ava felt a wash of comfort at his words. After all, she reasoned, Tommy had been here more than she had as Dougie had grown into a man.

‘Now, I have a proposal to make and I hope you’ll think on it, for your sake and the boy’s.’

As his words flowed over Ava, it was as though a light had come on at the end of a long dark tunnel. Tommy was proposing that she keep the farm, with his help. He and Dougie would work it together. They could share labour to cut costs. He could rent some of the land if that helped.

‘Dougie loves the farming life. He’s a born farmer. I’ve seen it. He just needs a peedie hand to get over this patch. Then it can stay in your family, as your mum and dad would want.’

Tommy was looking at her, trying to judge her response.

‘You wouldn’t need to stay on here. You could come and go as before. I would keep in touch, speak to you about any decision that needed to be made.’

Ava found herself at a loss for words.

Realizing this, Tommy put his hand on hers. ‘Think on it, Ava. That’s all I ask. We can talk again when the boy gets back. See what he thinks.’

Ava watched his pickup climb the track to the main road. Was this a way to solve her problem? Dougie wanted her to stay, he’d made that plain enough, but maybe he would go for Tommy’s suggestion.

But then Dougie wasn’t here . . . and what if he never came home again?

37

When he’d eventually surfaced, he’d found Finn anxiously licking his face. Assuring the dog he was okay, Dougie had dragged himself into a sitting position and gingerly examined his head. It was then he’d seen her. She was sitting with her back against the wall, shining his head torch on him. At that point Finn had gone over and nuzzled her hand, indicating he at least liked her.

For some time following, the girl hadn’t spoken except to apologize for hitting him and to say that she had not killed those people in the arena.

Dougie believed her.

Eventually he’d opened his backpack and offered up some food. Passing the kitchens on the way down, he’d noted the smell of rotting food. No doubt she’d kept going on anything tinned she could find.

The bannocks loaded with Orkney cheese proved a hit, even to the point of her fetching the bottle of Polish vodka and two shot glasses.

After that, things had got a little easier, as she decided he wasn’t to be feared. Finn helped with that, of course, staying close and allowing himself to be petted.

They’d talked far into the night about how she’d come to be on board the Orlova.