‘That’s been there a while,’ said Charlie, shaking his head as he secured it to the back of the tractor to take away. ‘It’s falling apart, look.’

The edges which had been buried were rusted and brittle and I wondered if it had been sealed and full when it was first washed up. If the contents matched what was written on the side had leached out into the sand, then I sincerely hoped not.

‘I think we’d better make a move,’ said Sam, as the sea inched ever closer.

I noticed his limp was even more pronounced and his mouth was set in a grim line.

‘Thanks for coming to help,’ he said, addressing Charlie and giving a nod in Joe’s direction. ‘We certainly couldn’t have shifted it on our own.’

‘No problem,’ said Joe, looking at the sand, ‘I’m glad we could help.’

‘Shit,’ I said, jumping out of the way as a freezing wave covered my feet.

I had been so distracted by the guys’ awkward exchange, that I hadn’t noticed just how quickly the tide was now chasing us, but at least I had been on the spot to witness the monumental moment. I wished Hope had been there too, but for some reason she hadn’t come back.

‘Why don’t you hop on the back of the tractor,’ Joe suggested to Sam, ‘and I’ll walk back up with Tess.’

‘Good idea,’ said Charlie, before Sam had a chance to object.

‘You must be needed back at the pub by now,’ said Joe, looking at his watch, ‘and Charlie can have you there in no time on this thing.’

It was thoughtful of him to give Sam a reason for taking up his offer that meant it didn’t look like he was having to give in because he couldn’t manage the walk and I was relieved to see Sam step up to where Charlie directed, telling him to hang on as he turned the engine over again.

‘I’ll have a pint ready for you when you get back,’ Sam said to Joe.

‘Thanks,’ Joe replied. ‘But can you make it a half? I’m off the beer a bit these days.’

They exchanged the briefest of looks and then Charlie was away, leaving the smell of fuel in the tractor’s wake as he headed for the slipway which would get him back on to the path.

‘Thank you for coming,’ I said to Joe as the noise of the engine faded away.

‘And thank you,’ he said, as we hastily left the beach to the incoming tide.

‘For what?’ I asked. ‘Accusing you of something you hadn’t done?’

‘Sort of,’ he smiled wryly. ‘You might have got it all wrong, Tess, but I didn’t exactly go out of my way to make sure you hadn’t.’

That was true.