Mina is asleep again, one arm flung over her head. I tiptoe into the room, dodging the plastic bricks that have tumbled to the floor and a naked baby doll, its eyes wide and unblinking. Her breath whistles slightly as she breathes in and out, still stuffy from crying and I lean over and press a tiny kiss against her forehead. Naomi got her to sleep much more quickly than I would have been able to, and a splinter of resentment pricks its way under my skin. Satisfied that she is settled, I creep back out, pausing on the landing to look out of the window. It’s getting late, the sky a dark purple as the last vestiges of sunlight have disappeared over the horizon. The moon is making her way up the clear, velvety sky, tiny pin pricks of stars beginning to show. As soon as the sun disappears, I can’t walk past this window without looking out into the woods as if there is some magnetic pull, my nerve endings on red alert. The trees are silent now, the air still, and I let out a breath I don’t realize I have been holding. The woods are dark and it is as though I am watching a frozen tableau, the scene in front of me paused, until movement catches the corner of my eye. The fox, his bushy tail up, runs from the shadows alongside the oleander tree, something small and furry dangling from his mouth. I let out an involuntary gasp, and he pauses as if he has heard me, dropping whatever creature he has caught, his face turning to the window where I stand. His muzzle is ringed a rusty red, the maroon of slowly drying blood, and I press my hand to my throat, aware that in the dusky light I shouldn’t be able to see him as clearly as I do. A cry comes from the woods, a sharp, piercing shriek. The cry of a terrified child. I close my eyes, exhaling slowly, counting to ten to compose myself before opening my eyes. A face is reflected back at me in the black canvas of the glass, and I stifle a shriek. It’s not my face. It’s hers, I think. Agnes. Her skin is alabaster white, her long hair hanging over her forehead in thick, pale hanks, her mouth downturned. Her eyes are black holes in her face, and I grit my teeth together hard to hold in the scream that burns at the base of my throat, stepping back, away from her furious glare.

‘Allie?’ Rav’s voice makes me jump and I turn to where he stands at the top of the stairs, watching me. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Shit, Rav. You scared me.’ My eyes go back to the glass, but she is gone and my own face stares back at me, pale and wide-eyed.

‘You OK? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’