The north side of the island runs down away from the cliffs and delves back down into the woods. It’s sparser than the forest behind the cottage, which is mainly pine; instead it’s filled with ash and rowan and the trees aren’t densely packed together but spread out. It’s beautiful, peaceful even, like a dell, and completely out of the wind. If only there wasn’t this low-level sense of danger thrumming like a discordant note through my body I might actually be able to enjoy it, but I can’t stop looking over my shoulder, half-expecting someone to be following us, and I can’t escape the sensation of being watched either. And neither, it seems, can Liam. I catch him jerking his head left and right, turning full circles as we walk, as though he expects someone to leap out from behind a tree and attack us.

He walks with his phone in his hand, checking it constantly to see if we’ve magically walked into an area with signal, but I barely bother looking at mine, knowing the chances are impossible; we’re so far from any kind of civilization, and reception was spotty even on the mainland.

We continue on through the woodland, clambering down over boulders in a few places and into steep gullies. We cross a stream and then follow it all the way to the water’s edge. On this part of the island, there’s no beach; just large rocks jutting into the loch. We head back inland when they become too difficult to climb over and Liam, who has said very little up until this point, leads us into the clearing where the castle sits.

‘It makes sense,’ Liam says when we come upon it.

‘What does?’ I reply.

He nods at the castle. ‘It’s the only place you could shelter on the whole island.’

‘You’re not thinking of going in there?’ I ask him, but I already know the answer.

Liam starts towards the castle. I trot after him and catch his sleeve. ‘I don’t think it’s a good idea.’

‘Why not?’ Liam retorts, ignoring my hand on his arm.

‘Because …’ I trail off, gazing up at the charred ruin before us. ‘How would we get in anyway?’ I ask. ‘The downstairs is boarded up.’

‘Let’s find out,’ Liam says, pulling his arm from my grip and striding on.

‘I don’t think we should,’ I mumble to his retreating form. ‘It’s not safe.’

‘I’m not waiting around for this bastard to stop playing games,’ Liam calls over his shoulder.

‘Maybe whoever it is isn’t playing games?’ I offer, catching him up. ‘What if they’re just curious about us? No one’s been here for months. They probably just wanted to find out who was staying. We should just leave them alone. And hopefully they’ll do the same.’