‘I’ve lost Louis,’ she said tearfully. ‘I don’t know where he went. I took him outside and he must have run away.’ She burst into tears then. ‘Just like Mumma.’

‘Do you think you dropped him outside?’

She nodded.

‘Well, I can go outside and have a look. He can’t have gone far.’

This appeased her. I dabbed her tears with a hankie and told her I’d go and look later on.

‘You look very sad,’ she said, once she’d settled back down.

‘Well, that might be because I was very worried about you,’ I said. ‘You gave me a fright. Do you want to tell me what you were doing running off like that? Hmmm?’

‘I think … I think I was having bad dreams again,’ she said.

‘About what?’

‘About Mumma going for a swim.’

She had mentioned this swimming business before. It had to be significant. Maren had said that Aurelia killed herself by drowning. As far as I knew nobody had told Gaia this – the party line was that Mummy had gone to heaven – but there had to be a connection. She was processing it. ‘OK. And why do you think Mumma went for a swim?’

She thought about it. ‘I don’t know. She saw something out the window.’

‘What did she see?’

‘I didn’t have my glasses on.’

Déjà vu. She’d said this before, I was sure. ‘And then she went out for a swim?’

She nodded.

‘There was an elk print in the house, so I think she went outside to give him a bowl of porridge. And maybe he went into the water and she followed.’

She was getting more animated and trying to sit up, so I told her to lie back down and keep warm. ‘You need to rest, Gaia.’

She looked sad all of a sudden. ‘Where’s Dora?’

‘Dora’s in her den, in the playroom,’ I said. ‘Shall I go get her?’

She gave a small nod. ‘Remember not to let Dad know she’s here, OK?’