Dr Gaskell had slipped so far down in his leather chair that if he’d sat there for very much longer, he’d have ended up on the floor. But now he straightened up. ‘Are there any golf courses out here?’ he asked, and was given a scolding look by Matron for his trouble. He had agreed to accompany her for the forty-eight hours she reckoned it would take to end her biggest administrative headache, but he didn’t really want it to take any longer.

‘Funny you should ask that,’ said Mr Keene, rising to take his hat off the wooden hat stand, ‘because that is exactly what my client intends to do with the old property he’s bought. He would like to turn it into a hotel and golf course. However, I’m afraid you’re a couple of years too early. Matron, shall we drop by your hotel first?’

Half an hour later, Matron and Dr Gaskell were sitting in Mr Keene’s car, whizzing through the countryside on their way to Tarabeg, about to pay a surprise visit to Rosie.

*

Bee opened the cottage door to the smell of oatcakes cooking on the skillet and placed the basket of herbs she’d been collecting on the floor.

‘I see you’ve started already,’ Captain Bob said, nodding towards the basket.

‘I’m under strict instructions,’ said Bee. ‘I have to collect them while they’re still wet with the dew or they don’t work as well. When are you leaving?’

‘As soon as I’ve eaten these together with a good spread of Nola’s butter.’

‘Make sure you check the weather,’ said Bee, ‘and get back in plenty of time for the dance. We are on the sandwiches, you and I, and I don’t know why but I have this funny feeling it’s going to be eventful.’

Captain Bob placed his flat seaman’s cap on his head with one hand, and with the other popped a hot oatcake into his mouth. ‘Are you hearing things again?’ he asked, grinning.

Bee walked over to the press and took down a cup. ‘Not hearing as such, but, honestly, I was on the clifftop looking for mugwort and I felt very weird indeed. Someone was trying to say something, and if you asked me who, I would have said Sarah, but I couldn’t tell what it was. I just don’t feel good. You know, I’m not sure I like this, taking over from Bridget. Being the seer is a huge responsibility and I’m not seeing well enough to take it on anytime soon.’

Captain Bob did what he always did when he wasn’t sure what words to use. He enfolded her in his arms and gave her a hug. They stood there together until she felt better.

‘Right, Blacksod Bay here I come.’ He tapped the top of his cap and shuffled his coat up his arms.

Bee walked over to the skillet and flipped a hot oatcake onto a plate. ‘I called into Angela’s cottage for Mary Kate to come here for her breakfast. We are off into the village this morning to take the Liverpool ladies to Ellen Carey’s for tea.’