But Dad wasn’t in the mood for explanations. In fact, he was furious. Predictably Will was thrown out at once, giving me a hopeless look as he left. The door closed on him and his father, and I groaned in frustration. Time was running out and now I’d lost the one person on the island who was trying to help me get Rosie back. I could have strangled my dad, especially when he absolutely refused to listen to a word I said.

“Will’s been helping me look into the lighthouse’s history,” I said for the hundredth time. “That’s all.”

“I had no idea you were such a history buff, Jess,” Dad said in a sarcastic tone. I guessed it did sound pretty flimsy, especially since I couldn’t tell him the real reason I wanted to learn more about the 263lighthouse in the middle of the night – at least not in a way that he would believe. “No wonder you wanted Kate and me out of the way.”

Kate tried to stick up for me, but I could tell that her heart wasn’t really in it, and when Dad finally stopped raging at me and I returned to my room, I paused at the top of the stairs and heard Kate say to Dad that perhaps we should all leave Bird Rock.

“It just isn’t working here for the children,” she said.

Dad sighed. “Maybe you’re right. I’ll radio for a boat first thing in the morning. We can be back on the mainland by the afternoon.”

A sense of sick panic filled me. I couldn’t leave Bird Rock. Not without Rosie. I suddenly had an image of my life continuing as normal in London, except for the gigantic hole where Rosie should have been. I’d need to save the money to get back to Bird Rock by myself, somehow organize a boat to get here, and, realistically, it could be years before I returned, and would I even still remember Rosie by then? I was running out of time – I had to do something.

I waited until I could hear no more movement from downstairs, then, treading quietly, I went down to the kitchen, unplugged the radio and slipped it 264into my bag. With the radio gone, Dad wouldn’t be able to call for a boat. I turned towards the door, and that’s when I saw the hands – pale white hands pressed up against the door’s glass panel.