Tony felt like the ground had dropped from beneath him. He’d forgotten all about what they had planned, so fixated was he on what Karen had done. Now the reality of it broke on him more forcibly than ever.

The man looked across at Tony as moment, as if aware of his gaze, then climbed into the car himself.

Tony stood, watching, his heart hammering against his chest, as the car pulled out and drove off, Alice’s face spectral through the tinted glass of the passenger window as they passed.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Six

They passed through the village below the woods, the car shuddering from the unevenness of the road surface, pockmarked with potholes and dips. To their left was a pharmacy and shop, beyond that a small, whitewashed pub, the red illuminated T sign affixed to the front the only flash of colour on the building.

‘Stop here would you, son?’ Duggan asked. ‘I want to pick up a few tins before we head in.’

Tony could see Barr playing with the idea of ignoring him, showing no visible acknowledgment of having heard the request. Perhaps he was reluctant to stop again, so near to their final destination. Or perhaps he had tired of Duggan’s demands. In the end, though, whichever it had been, he obviously thought better of it and pulled in.

‘We need to be at the woodland soon if we’re going to have any chance of finding it today,’ Barr said.

‘That’s grand. Will you pop the boot for me; I need to get my wallet from my bag.’

Barr reached down and clicked the button. They heard the catch release behind them as the trunk unlocked.

‘I’ll not be a minute,’ Duggan said, getting out and stretching, stiff from sitting so long in one position. He stood a moment, as if deliberately taking his time, his face turned towards the sun. Then he moved around to the back of the car. They could hear him unzip his bag, could hear his movements, then the sharp thud of the door closing, the car dipping lightly with the slam of the trunk.

They watched as he rounded the vehicle and disappeared into the darkness of the pub.

‘I’m going to see where Uncle Sean is,’ Barr said, excusing himself as he climbed out of the car. ‘Encourage Hugh to get a move on, too.’

‘You’ve been in a different world,’ Karen said, when Barr had closed the door.

‘What?’

‘You’ve been somewhere else since we stopped at Monkton.’

Tony nodded. ‘I’ve been remembered things.’

‘I’ve been trying to do the complete opposite,’ Karen said. ‘No good comes of it.’

Tony smiled. ‘Duggan said the past is another country. He’s wrong. The past feels like it was just a split second ago, like it’s just a shadow, or an echo of what’s happening now.’

Karen nodded, but did not comment.