‘Of course.’ She peered into the mirror. ‘In fact, I can see it poking up above the plants in the back.’

‘Good, I want to show Jack next door. Will he be at his house today?’

‘No idea, but Granny’ll know.’

Jamie’s face no longer wore the forlorn look of earlier. Hopefully things were going to turn out fine, she thought, as she turned left along Magdalen Yard Road. She parked the car and followed Jamie’s gaze towards the Tay, the water shimmering in the mid-morning sun. On her other side was the home where she had spent the first twenty years of her life, the sweeping driveway leading up to a solid Victorian structure. She chuckled as she thought of a stranger’s first impression of the pediment and pillars, perhaps of a household of stately grandeur. Inside the cold stone exterior, however, was the homespun shambles she knew and loved.

* * *

‘So, this is where we thought you could sleep, Jamie. Right at the top of the house,’ Dorothy said. ‘That suit you all right?’

Jamie tore across the polished floor and straight to the window. ‘Cool, thanks, Granny. I can see right to the end of the bridge!’

‘When we heard you and your mum were coming to stay, Pa said you had to have this room,’ said Dorothy, ruffling her grandson’s hair. ‘He was converting it into another room for all his drawings, but he can carry on using the study.’

‘Thanks.’ Jamie turned back from the window and beamed. ‘It’s huge!’

‘About the size of our entire Glenisla cottage!’ Fiona laughed.

‘Oh, and when Pa gets back, he’s going to set up his old Scalextric set and lay it out for you over there. Remember he had to keep taking up the track when he had it out on the kitchen floor.’

Jamie rushed round the large attic bedroom, opening and shutting drawers and cupboards. ‘They’re all empty.’

‘Just waiting for you to unpack, sweetheart,’ Dorothy said, drawing him into her droopy cardigan. Jamie allowed her a brief hug then extracted himself and started unzipping his bag.

‘Lunch in a bit, Jamie. I’m just going to show your mum into her old bedroom.’

Fiona shook her head and laughed. ‘I’m going to be a little girl again.’

‘Oh, I forgot to say. Pa’s left you a present, Jamie.’ Dorothy looked around. ‘Now, where did he put it? Ah, yes, he said the clue was “snakes”.’

Jamie frowned and looked around, then his eyes lit up and he ran over to the bed and fell to the floor. He lifted up the edge of the duvet and pulled out a package.

‘Snakes?’ Fiona turned back to her mother.

‘Remember Jamie used to be frightened of snakes? Dad said he used to do a weird snake dance for Jamie at bedtime to get rid of any hiding under the bed. Your father’s more than a little crazy.’