So basically the entire garden.

Kate gasped as Tilly stepped over the edge of the raised garden bed, a warning ready on the tip of her tongue as Tilly’s toe just scraped the rim. She stumbled. Quickly, Kate reached out to steady her, but Tilly paid no mind, heading for the strawberries, her frustration growing.

Kate followed. “Hey, Til, hey…” Gently, she grabbed for Tilly’s hand and stilled her. Goosebumps erupted on Tilly’s skin as Kate rubbed at her arms. “Hey, calm down, okay? We’re going to find it,” she said with all the conviction she could muster. “We will.”

Tilly’s eyes wouldn’t meet hers. Unfocused, her gaze travelled the garden. “We don’t even know that it’s here…” Her voice trembled. “Oh God, I wish I’d lost the ring instead.”

Kate chewed her lip, a surge of bliss seizing her.

Tilly looked up. “I didn’t…I didn’t mean that,” she whispered.

Kate nodded. She broke the eye contact and bent low to roll her pyjama pants to her thighs, just as Tilly had. “It’s somewhere on this island and we’re going to find it. I’ll start in the strawberry bed and then the tomatoes. You go and start in the veggie patch, okay?”

Tilly nodded. “If God wants me to find it, I’ll find it…”

Kate nodded tersely. Lately, she’d found herself thinking the same about Tilly.

They seemed to hunt for hours, and Kate was glad that Lockie was inside the convent and not hovering, kicking up the dirt as he moseyed about. The wind picked up, whipping Kate’s T-shirt about her sides, licking at her pyjama pants, the red-chequered fabric already putrid with soil. As Kate came to the end of the orchard—much smaller than the veggie patch—she chanced a glance at Tilly. She was barely halfway through the second row of spinach. A shiver chasing down her spine, Kate adjusted her glasses. No way in hell was she going to leave Tilly alone out here in the cold, but Kate didn’t know if moving over to join Tilly was the best idea. Knowing Kate had had zero luck across the garden would only upset her. Perhaps starting over in the fruit trees was the way to go. She’d be more thorough this time around.

Moving back to the first raised garden bed, Kate paused by the gate. She watched as Tilly rubbed at her bare arms.

Dropping her torch between the tomato stakes, Kate hurried inside. She took Tilly’s cardigan from the back of the lounge and went back out. Gently, she drummed her fingers across Tilly’s shoulders. “Put this on.”

Tilly looked up, her expression clouded with frustration. “Thanks,” she murmured, slipping her arms into the sleeves before returning to her quest with renewed vigour.

Barefoot and toes stiffening in the cold, Kate stepped into the raised tomato bed. Crouching between the bushes, she sighed. She flicked on the torch, danced the pathetic glow from stake to stake, and like lightning, the glint of gold caught her eye. Kate’s eyes snapped up. There, hooked around a splintered tomato stake, was Tilly’s necklace.