Picking up the jotter again, I flick through to find a substantial section on window tax, which was apparently introduced in 1748, but my father was disappointed to find that the records contained names only, not addresses. I wonder how he found that out, in the pre-Internet era. Did he have to go to a public records office somewhere? Did he leave Karen and me alone to indulge his passion? I can just imagine my mother’s lack of patience with that.

The sound of Callum’s footsteps drags me out of the blue-inked jotter. “Hey, you, are you already after another biscuit?” I’m reaching for the cupboard but as he comes farther into the kitchen, I realize he’s paper white. “What is it? Callum, what is it?”

“Under . . . under Carrie’s bed,” he says. There’s a catch in his voice. “I was playing a spy game. I was under her bed.” Anxiety is creeping in, too. “Was it okay to be there? I wasnae meaning to be naughty, I swear.”

He’s right beside me now. I kneel down and wrap him in a cuddle. “Of course that’s okay. We’ve told you before that you can go in our rooms so long as you don’t touch our things. What’s under the bed, Callum?” He’s clutching me with a fierceness that worries me more than any words could. “Wait, I can’t hear you properly—” I pull back to look at his pinched face.

“There are bones,” he says tremulously. “Under her bed.”

“Bones?” He nods silently. I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. I close it again. I can’t think what on earth he could have mistaken for bones. Or is this the next step in the escalation of the scare-away-Ailsa campaign? How could I have been so stupid to have only moments ago been fantasizing that the Manse is benign with this child in it? But Callum is waiting for me to speak, to tell him it’s all going to be all right. “Well, I’m sure this is some kind of confusion, but it sounds like I ought to go take a look, don’t you think?” He nods silently, his eyes brimming with words that he can’t find a way to utter. “Why don’t you stay here—”

“No!” He has grabbed my hand with desperate ferocity. “No! Dinnae leave me! Promise you willnae leave me, promise—” He’s almost sobbing. I realize I’ve never seen Callum cry before. I’m utterly out of my depth.