Finley pauses his game and turns to me. ‘Yes. Dad told him it was for you, and Leo put it into his bag. In the main zip compartment. I watched him do it.’

‘Oh. Well, it’s not there now.’

‘Weird,’ he says, and his eyes narrow. ‘And you couldn’t even find his bag before, either.’

The fact he has pointed this out makes me think about it too. That bag was nowhere to be seen, then twenty minutes later was in the middle of a pile of shoes. Like someone had put it there during the time it took for me to take the boys to school.

Yet, a letter for me is no longer in the bag.

Barb was with Nick when he handed the letter to Leo. She would’ve known he put it in the bag. So, maybe she also took it out again.

Earlier, I was concerned maybe Carl had lost the key to my house. Maybe he actually gave it to Barb.

Has she been in here, messing around with things?

‘Did Nanna take it, perhaps, for safekeeping?’ I ask Finley, in case it jogs his memory.

‘I didn’t see her take it, no. Leo had his bag with him the whole time.’

‘Oh well – I’m sure it’ll turn up. Just like Leo’s bag did.’

‘Perhaps it’s already magically back inside the rucksack now,’ he says brightly. ‘You should check.’

‘Yes. Will do. Right, now you only have thirty-five minutes.’ I laugh as I close his door and hear him muttering to himself about that being unfair.

I do check the bag again when I get downstairs. I upturn it, shake it, and unzip each pocket again. Definitely not there.

Someone has taken it.

Chapter Twenty-One

It’s not easy keeping things from others.

Secrets.

They’ll destroy you eventually. Even if they stay secret, you just dwell on them, worry about making a mistake, worry about slipping up – saying something you shouldn’t. Right up to the day you die.

And if they don’t stay a secret – well, then you’re forced to deal with the fallout.

Or, run from it.

Burying your head in the sand – that’s a common coping mechanism. After a while, when you realise you’ve not been found out, you become smug. If that’s the right word; overconfident, maybe.

Then, after the weeks and months pass, the possibility the lies will never resurface seems greater.

It was unexpected that this village – its villagers – would be what turned. Which is naive of me, given the circumstances.

I suppose you can never be sure where the knife to the back will come from. Keeping friends close, but enemies closer might have worked for a while, but everyone has a price.

And regardless, for me, it turned out my loyalties had been completely misplaced from day one.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Amber