‘Well, son, what do you think? Is it worth a shot? It would bring us together again. Maybe heal some of the hurt of the last five years. D’you think they’d be willing to sell? After all, there won’t be any profit from the estate or house for some considerable time.’ He’d looked heavenwards. ‘I think the main man would be behind us on this, don’t you?’

Greg

August came and went, minus the heather’s fragrant blooms. September swiftly followed, when the hills rang with the roars of rutting stags and the vegetation that had survived the fire began to change the colour of the hills and woods.

The surviving birches around Ard Choille turned yellow and leaves fell to the ground like showers of gold medallions. Surprisingly, the rowans produced the best crop of blood-red berries that he’d seen in years, even the ancient ones he’d thought were past fruiting.

With no visitors to attend to, he and Colin carried on with all the other tasks of the estate. Their wages were deposited in their bank accounts, but there was no further contact from either Stratton or Chalmers.

As long as both he and Colin were paid, Greg didn’t care. Plus he’d begun to nourish hopes that Malcolm’s idea of a community buy-out might actually be a possibility.

On one of his many walks with the dogs, he eventually found the courage to visit Forrigan. On the neighbouring hill to Beanach, it had been the unlucky victim of the fire. Burning round behind both hills, its wind-borne sparks had caught hold on the Forrigan roof, and as the team focused so much energy and work on Ard Choille, Forrigan became a victim of that particular war.

As he got closer, he could see that the rafters had been the first casualty, and as the flames had gained entrance, the attic bedrooms had paid the price. The helicopter had deposited a load of water on the abandoned house, in the hope of further protecting its nearest neighbour, Beanach.

He was grateful for that, but sad too at the destruction of a cottage that had stood there almost as long as Beanach had.

When he finally made himself go inside, he discovered the staircase gone, so there was no opportunity for him to go upstairs and look in Ailsa’s bedroom as Joanne had done. Something that had made him angry with her at the time.

That memory made him as despondent as observing the gutted building.

Checking the time, he called the dogs and began to make his way back to Beanach and the Land Rover, intent on heading into Blackrig to be updated by Kath, who would shortly be back from visiting Caroline in Inverness prison.

Caroline had been charged with culpable homicide and held on remand, and they were expecting the date of the trial to be announced soon.