‘Were they good friends? He and Mary?’

She shrugged. I felt a tug of exasperation. ‘And Hettie? What of her character?’ I pressed.

She scowled, moved to rest her weight on the other foot. ‘She was just Hettie.’

‘She was very pretty.’

Greer flushed, ‘If you like that sort of thing.’ She moved to the door.

‘And was she good to the children? Leaving them when she did was unkind.’

She tipped her chin higher and her eyes narrowed a fraction. ‘That’s mainlanders for you,’ she said, and leaving the barb in my skin, she left.

That night, as with most, I became aware of Greer’s step upon the corridor. My eyes had begun to droop but the anticipation of her melody brought me fully awake. I found myself studying the rhythm of her pace, the slow swell of the tune and how as she drew near it seemed to pick itself out of the air and hang in the silence as if it were the only thing to inhabit it. Her step paused outside the room and her voice fell to quietness. My breath rasped in my ears and my neck prickled. I turned on the pillow so that I faced the door even though the room was fully dark. I waited. I waited longer; time did not seem to obey the usual rules. And then a noise came from the attic – a dragging and rattling.

I could not identify it and yet it was somehow familiar. It tapped at some memory I could not place. Then the sound changed as whatever moved met a thinner surface with an echoing space beneath. And somewhere, far off, a whistle hissed over the sound of waves.

8

The days began to run into each other and although there were things that caused me uneasiness, much brought pleasure too. I went often to Mrs Argylle who never failed to welcome me with warmth and renewed interest. Gradually, the faces of the other islanders became familar and I was able to put names to them. It was one evening, after church, that the woman who had paused to stare at me during that first service fell in beside me on the way back to Iskar.

‘I’m Ailsa,’ she said by way of introduction. ‘You are Mary’s new nanny.’

‘I am.’

She nodded towards Iskar, ‘And how do you find your job?’

Mary was ahead with Miss Gillies. ‘I’m liking it,’ I said. At that moment the clouds drew together and it began to rain heavily. People parted company and increased their pace towards home, pulling up hoods and scarves. Ailsa raised her collar, wiping drops from her face.

I thought she had gone when she caught my sleeve and leaned towards me. ‘I live in the cottage off near that sheep fold.’ She pointed beyond the main street to one set apart. ‘Come visit me.’