Once I was in the valley, I no longer knew what was up or what was down, and a new terror began to grow. How often had I been told to take a stick? If I sat and shuffled along, I should surely be able to make my way back to the safety of the valley without injury to anything other than my coat. A damp footfall sounded in the grass behind me and I whimpered, imagining Hettie in her dress of dead skin.

There was a breath at my ear and before I could react, the heel of a hand sent me tumbling down the hill. Although I covered my head with my hands, stones tore at my skin and clothes. It is too late. It is too late, I told myself, and I thought of Clara and Papa and part of me welcomed death.

I remembered no more.

I woke in my room to pain and Mrs Lenister’s gentle hands cleaning my wounds. Miss Gillies paced up and down behind her.

‘Elspeth.’ And there was so much relief in her voice that I was momentarily gratified.

‘How is your head?’ Miss Gillies said. ‘You were lucky.’ Her face, pale in the afternoon light, was afraid. ‘They found you in the valley. Goodness knows how long you had been there. Skelthsea is dangerous. The mists come down in an instant. Have you not been told often enough? You must learn to take a stick.’ She was angry now.

‘I was pushed,’ I said. ‘Someone pushed me.’ But even as I said it, I remembered the sound of the lullaby and a renewed horror crept along my skin. A look passed between Miss Gillies and Mrs Lenister, one that told me they did not believe me, and I sank into the pillows and closed my eyes.

‘You’ll be fine, now. Don’t fret,’ Mrs Lenister said and adjusted the covers. ‘Nothing broken, just cuts and bruises. I expect you’ll be proper sore tomorrow.’

Miss Gillies left and Mrs Lenister pulled up a chair.

Her kindly expression made me want to confess everything I had so recently learned. Did she know that the doll’s house lay in the attics? Did she know about the widows’ whistle?

‘Miss Gillies told me about Greer’s mother,’ I said instead.

Mrs Lenister was quiet. ‘That was a long time ago.’

‘Not for Greer, though,’ I said. ‘For her, it must always feel new.’

‘It was a lot for a girl to take in, for sure. It would’ve been better had she not witnessed it.’

‘Greer saw her mother fall?’

Mrs Lenister flushed. ‘I thought Miss Gillies told you. Greer was in the gardens when her body hit the ground.’

‘But why was Greer in the gardens? She must have been too young to work here.’