To the sounds of a tap running and the buzzing of an electric toothbrush, Jess is left alone to mull over whether she’s been heard or she needs to press her instructions further. She opts for a reinforcement of her message from the door of her daughter’s bedroom. ‘You stay in school. You only leave with Penny. Or me. No one else. Your dad’s having problems. He has to stay away from us for a bit till he’s sorted himself out. Yeah? We’ve been through it before, Izz. I know you understand.’

Izzy doesn’t reply.

Jess sighs and stares at the spectacle of herself in her daughter’s oval wall-mirror. After two sleepless nights and the endless frustrations of her days with Flo, what she sees startles her. She swipes her hair back, sits on the bed and rubs at her scar. Then clenches and unclenches her hands until the toilet flushes. Jess stares at the back of her red hands. They look so old. Too old for a woman of her age.

Izzy comes in, leaps onto the bed and winds behind Jess as she moves up to the pillow.

‘Can I ask you something, Izz? About last night? Mmm?’

‘Yeah.’

‘What does Flo say to you? What you two always whispering about?’

‘Just things.’

‘What things?’

‘About the garden. House. It don’t make much sense.’

‘You remember anything from last night? Mmm? The sleepwalking?’

Izzy shakes her head but is fascinated with herself. ‘What did I do?’

‘Never mind.’

‘I want to know!’

‘You was walking about. Nothing else. But did you know Flo was outside? So how did she get outside?’

‘She walked?’

‘You seen her walk?’

Jess can’t see the mischievous smile on her daughter’s face, until she turns her upper body to interrogate the sudden silence behind her head. ‘Have you seen her walk?’

‘No. But I seen her float.’

‘I’m being serious, Izz. What else does Flo say to you?’

‘She calls me Charlotte.’

Jess nods and tries to suppress her alarm. ‘Half hour with the pad. Then off to sleep.’

Izzy’s face cracks into a big smile. ‘Can I come with you to Flo’s tomorrow?’

‘No chance. School. You’re lucky they had you back. Penny’s picking you up too. Penny, not your dad, yeah?’

‘Can I come see Flo after school?’

Jess closes her eyes with frustration. ‘Jams on. Now. Final request or the pad’s leaving with me.’

* * *

Not long after Jess has managed to fall asleep in her bedroom, the space barely lit by the ambient glow in the hall, her lips move and mutter at the onset of a dream. A dream heralded by the bony piping of a single distant note. A dream in which two figures walk between the trees surrounding the grove, towards the still, black water of the pond. A man and a child.