‘Away ye go, we’re just good pals the now. I’ll have to go back soon to finish off his girl’s wedding dress. We all have to pull together to get Gus back on his feet. Now the worst of his fever is over, the hard work really starts: all that physiotherapy. Don’t they have long words for everything? His muscles are wasted. He has to build them up to take his weight again and we’ll just have to let the nurses get on with it. His legs may have to be braced in calipers for a while.’

‘No bairn of mine’s going to be put in leg irons!’

‘If it gets him back on his feet quicker, then surely it’s for the best? Drew says it’ll straighten his legs and help him take the weight.’

‘He doesn’t have to put them on now, does he?’

‘Oh, Paw! If only I could wear them for him, I would. We’re going to have to grit our faces and watch and worry. Do what is best for Gus and help him bear it.’

Angus moved forward out of the shadows and faced his daughter.

‘I’m proud of you, hen. I know it’s been a long time coming but I’ve watched you keep us all afloat, paddling the canoe like fury, baling out the water, buoying up Peg’s sinking spirits. I don’t know how we’d have coped without you. You’ve got so much of Jeanie in you… not just yer looks but that steely-eyed look she had when she was determined to go her own gait: stubborn but with a golden heart. You have that same golden heart. “That’s what matters most… the colour of yer heart,” she used to say. Now away afore I start greetin’ like a bairn. Away inside and see if there’s any food on the table. I’m starving!’

Netta pressed her hand into his. ‘Thanks.’

The praise of her own father rang strangely in her ears, once yearned for, now welcome for it marked her transition in his eyes from troublesome child to valued grown-up. How Gus’s illness was changing everything at Brigg Farm!

*

Gus opened the parcel with dull glassy eyes. The banner fell over the bed like a tablecloth. ‘Polly made this for you and I added some bits. Lift it up, see, here’s a rainbow made out of ribbons. There’s you in the hospital bed at one end and here’s the farm and Brucie waiting for you at the other. That’s Jamie and there’s Maisie. Peg is standing by the door with Father. She made it out of materials like a picture. I sewed on the sea and the golden sands with sequins as shells. One day we’ll all go back to Carrick and play there again. Would you like that?’