Awkwardly, I manoeuvre the pram through the doorway to see a large table in the centre of the café, taken up by other mothers from the baby and toddler group, Miranda included. She waves her fingers at me, a blush creeping up her neck. She is wearing what looks like a maxi dress, tie-dyed green and orange and the tips of her hair are now pink. I think of Naomi describing her perfectly and wonder if Naomi has seen her around the village.

‘There’s a seat next to me,’ Miranda says quietly, tapping the chair beside her as Tara and Karen are squealing and air kissing the other women. Straightening my skirt and fussing with the nappy bag, tucking it out of the way, I take the seat next to Miranda, peering down the table and raising a smile at the other mothers.

‘Thanks,’ I say. ‘I’ve been meaning to catch you.’

‘You have?’ Surprise flashes across Miranda’s face.

‘Yes. I wanted to thank you for speaking to Mrs Sparks – I went to see her.’ I lower my voice. ‘She told me about the cottage. About it being “active”.’

‘Oh? She did?’

‘She didn’t go into detail though. I wondered if you knew any more … if you’d spoken to her about it for your research?’

‘Um, not yet, no. I’m planning on seeing her sometime next week.’

I peer down the table, and once satisfied everyone is preoccupied, I open my mouth to ask Miranda about the bones, my heart banging in my chest at the thought of it, but Miranda carries on before I have a chance to get the words out.

‘Do you have any comfrey in your garden?’ Miranda’s voice is muted, and I have to strain to hear her over the chatter of the other women.

‘What? Comfrey? No, I don’t think so.’

‘It helps with sprains. Or arnica. You could put arnica on it too.’ Miranda’s blue eyes are fixed on mine and I shift in my seat slightly. ‘Sorry, I wasn’t being rude.’ She reaches for the slab of cake on the plate in front of her and the tension is broken. ‘I just saw you had your ankle strapped up – comfrey is good to help with repairing damaged tissue.’

‘Oh, I didn’t know that. Thank you.’

‘How did you get on with the book?’ Miranda flushes an even deeper pink. ‘I’m not asking as the author, I just wondered if you found what you were looking for?’