‘I will,’ I say, shooing him towards the door. ‘I need to get ready too – I have to take Mina to nursery. I’ll take a slow walk up there, and it’ll do the baby good to get some fresh air.’

‘OK. Great. It’ll do you some good as well.’ Rav frowns. ‘I might be late tonight. I’ll try to be back before Mina goes to bed, but we have a lot to get done today. I love you.’ He leans over to kiss me again, and what he says next makes my blood run cold. ‘I was worried about you, you know. When Leo was crying last night, you were just lying there, with your eyes open, not moving. I didn’t know what to think when I woke up and you weren’t there.’

‘Sorry,’ I say quietly, but he is already rushing down the path, towards the car, his mind already moving past us to the day he has ahead of him. What does he mean, I was lying there with my eyes open? Wasn’t I asleep? And if I was awake, how could I have had a nightmare? An icy finger runs up my spine as I turn his words over in my mind, dread settling on my shoulders. Because if it wasn’t a nightmare, then what was it? The words on my lips last night swim before me, as if written in neon. What did I do?

Chapter Two

I get Mina washed and dressed, and by some miracle manage to get us out of the house only five minutes or so late for nursery. The morning air is already warm, and I lift my face slightly, letting the sun brush over my cheeks. By the time I have handed Mina over to the nursery staff and started the short walk back, I am hot, sweat tickling the nape of my neck and the idea of heading up into the stuffy, humid attic doesn’t feel quite as appealing as it did.

I walk past the village sign that proudly denotes Pluckley as the most haunted village in England, a gossamer thin cobweb hanging from one corner, blowing in the slight early summer breeze. A ripple of unease runs down my spine. I had laughed when Rav told me that Pluckley was known that way, the idea of ghosts seeming ridiculous and fanciful, but this morning I am tired and unsettled by my dream and something prickles on the back of my neck.

‘Allie?’