I nod, but I don’t believe it. And I’m not sure he does either, because why would he lock the doors if it was nothing? And the shape of the shadow that passed in front of the fire seemed far too big to be an animal. Still, I don’t want to push it.

‘Shall we go upstairs to bed?’ Liam asks, his tone light but forced.

I nod, though I’m not sure I’ll be able to get a wink of sleep. Seeing that I’m troubled, Liam puts his hand on my shoulder to reassure me. ‘It’s all that talk of ghosts,’ he says. ‘It must have got to us. Don’t worry though, I’m here. I’ll never let anything happen to you, you know that.’

I give him a grateful smile.

Liam checks once again that the front door is locked, and then we head upstairs. We shut the bedroom door and undress quickly. I pull on a nightdress and Liam gets into bed in his boxers.

We lie in bed together in silence, my head on his chest. I can feel the tension in his body, the muscles rigid, his heart pounding. Finally, when Liam thinks I’m sleeping, he eases his arm from under me and slips out of bed.

I lie awake with my eyes shut, listening to Liam in the bathroom as he moves about, my ears pricked. I can hear an owl hooting in the distance, and something scuttling across the roof; a squirrel or a rat maybe. I’m not afraid of animals though, not even the Pitbulls and the Rottweilers that I used to sometimes have to deal with at work. You could always put a muzzle on them after all. And most animals are predictable and easy to read.

I hear Liam turn on the shower and listen to the water run. My heart is hammering as though I’ve just run a race. I feel a nervous anticipation that I can’t quite put a finger on. The shower cuts out and a few moments later Liam comes back into the bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist.

He climbs into bed and rolls against my back, putting his arm around me, welding us together. I steady my breathing and listen to the owl hoot. Liam falls asleep almost instantly, but I lie awake for the longest time, unable to sleep. Suddenly, a faint scraping sound, like something scratching glass, makes me freeze. My heart starts to hammer wildly, and I look over at Liam, but he’s still sleeping soundly beside me.