Marching back up the drive, my head down and lost in thoughts of Caro, and Rupert, and the baby that never was, I am on top of it – of her – before I realize what it is. A bundle of fur curled up at the entrance to the drive. At first I think she is sleeping, although why Lola would be sleeping on the cold block paving instead of her warm bed is a mystery, and it’s only as I scoop her up that I spot the blood on her head, the way she is limp in my arms.

‘Oh no,’ I whisper, tears starting to fall as I begin to process what has happened. My tiny kitten, my little companion, dead. I stumble inside with her in my arms, calling to Anya even though I know she has left for the day. Wrapping Lola’s tiny, cold body in a towel, I rush upstairs for an empty shoebox to bury her in, my feet slowing as I reach the top of the stairs and the scent of nectarines fills my nose. My heart starts to hammer in my chest as I inch forward, pushing open the door to the spare bedroom. The perfume is stronger in here, and my stomach does a slow roll. I think for a horrid moment that I am going to be sick, right there on the carpet, and I suck in a deep, shaky breath, grabbing at the shoebox and hurrying back downstairs. Once Lola is tucked safely in the box, the splash of blood on her fur the only sign that she isn’t just sleeping, I call Rupert.

‘Rupert? Something awful has happened.’ I blurt out the words as soon as he answers.

‘Em? What is it? What’s happened?’

‘It’s…’ My throat is thick, and I have to push the words past the lump there. ‘Lola is dead. I came home and she was curled up at the end of the drive. I think… someone hurt her.’

‘What? Em, are you sure?’ Rupert’s voice is quiet, and I have to strain to hear him.

‘Of course, I’m sure! There’s blood on her head, she was definitely hurt by something. She didn’t die naturally. Rupert, listen, someone called the house this morning. They called me a bitch, they whispered it down the line. What if someone deliberately did this to her?’

As the words leave my mouth I start to shake, and I have to sit down before my legs give way.

‘Emily, please. We live on the main road into the village; the chances are that she was hit by a car. Please don’t freak out about it. I’m sorry, of course I am, I know how much you loved her.’

‘She was hit by a car that just so happened to be outside our house?’ I snap. ‘Can’t you see, someone did this deliberately. To hurt me.’