They watched as Tiny walked back up the enclosure, tossing his head and snorting happily.

‘He looks pleased with himself,’ Flora murmured.

‘He should be. He’s had a long mating season,’ she quipped.

‘Men! Man or beast, they’re all the same,’ Flora said in that knowing way of hers that seemed to belong to women of great beauty. She gave a garrulous laugh, pressing her head to Effie’s like they had always done as girls; but Flora had long outgrown her childish ways. She was engaged to be married to James Callaghan, a rich textile merchant from Glasgow. He had come over the previous spring to try and strike a deal with the villagers to buy their tweed direct, but the quantities he wanted were too great for the St Kildans to meet. They had to fulfil their quota obligations for their rent first. But he’d not come away empty-handed. One glance at Flora and he had sailed over as many times as the seas would allow that summer. He was building a grand home in Blythswood Square and he promised her that as soon as it was completed, they would be married and live there.

In many ways, Flora had already left. She had always been a restless spirit, this rock in the ocean too small to contain her passionate life force, and Effie had grown up somehow knowing that her best friend was destined for a bigger stage. Ironically, it was her engagement and the confirmation of a future on the mainland that meant she now embraced life on their wild isle with an unnerving grace and good humour that had been lacking before. She constantly sang and did her chores with a smile, and when it was asked who would spend a summer in isolation with the grazing animals in Glen Bay, she had willingly agreed to join Mhairi McKinnon there. Effie simply couldn’t imagine this place without her.

‘Will you stay for dinner?’ Effie asked her. ‘They’ll be pleased to see you. Your pa had to skipper the boat back to Boreray so he’s worn out. David and Donnie are still over there and your ma’s upset by the fall.’

‘If they see me, they’ll make me stay,’ Flora said. ‘But Mhairi’s got the jitters. She made me promise to come straight back.’

Effie scowled impatiently. ‘I don’t understand why if Mhairi’s got the jitters, she didn’t come over here herself instead of sending you?’

But Flora didn’t hear. She was staring down at the village. Specifically, at Lorna standing talking to Mary round the back of her cottage. The nurse was holding her hand consolingly as she spoke. Was it bad news she was giving? Was that why they’d come round the back, so Donald couldn’t hear?

Both women frowned. ‘That doesn’t look promising,’ Flora murmured.

‘No,’ Effie agreed.