I grinned. “You cannae get rid of me that easy.” And I couldn’t have been happier that I’d found her again.

“Dad, you’ve got to take your trousers off. They’re still wet.”

So they are! They must have got soaked on the boat. I stand up and I can’t seem to get the zip down. She helps me open them up and I step out of them as they fall to the floor. Now she’s pulling my jersey up over my head. Easier just to let her do it. But I can manage the shirt buttons myself. I don’t know why, but my fingers feel so stiff and clumsy these days.

I watch her as she crosses to the wardrobe to get fresh trousers and a neatly pressed white shirt. She’s a lovely-looking girl.

“Here, Dad.” She holds out the shirt towards me. “Do you want to put it on yourself?”

I reach out and stroke her face, and feel such tenderness for her. “I don’t know what I’d have done if they hadn’t taken you to the island, too, Ceit. I really thought I’d lost you for good.”

I see such confusion in her eyes. Doesn’t she realize how I feel about her?

“Well, I’m here now,” she says, and I beam at her. So many memories, so much emotion.

“Remember how we used to haul the seaweed up from the shore?” I say. “In those big panniers on the little horses. To fertilize the feannagan. And I would help you dig yours.”

Why is she frowning? Maybe she doesn’t remember.

“Feannagan?” she says. “Crows?” Switching to English now. “How can you fertilize crows, Dad?”

Silly girl! I can hear myself laughing. “That’s what they called them, of course. Grand tatties they gave us, too.”

She’s shaking her head again. And sighs, “Oh, Dad.”

I want to shake her, dammit! Why doesn’t she remember?

“Dad, I came to tell you that I have to go to Glasgow to sit some exams. So I won’t be here for a couple of days. But Fionnlagh’ll come and see you. And Fin.”