I walk her to the front door and watch her walk away up the path towards the village, towards the train station. The baby shouts, awake again, and I turn to listen, then when I look back she is gone, the street empty. As I close the door, I hear it again, a low scratch coming from the chimney, before a door upstairs closes with a bang as if a window has been left open.

Chapter Thirteen

The slam of the door frightens the baby, his shouts getting louder as I hurry along the hallway, unease prickling under my skin. My phone buzzes on the table with a text message from Rav as I scoop up the baby, the smell rising from his Babygro telling me it’s time to change him. Wearily I head for the stairs, ignoring the text, and lay the baby on the changing table. As soon as he is clean and dry his cries stop, and I stand over him for a moment, just watching as his tiny fists pump the air, his legs kicking. He gazes up at me, trying to focus on my face before his eyes move past me to a spot over my shoulder. There is a thud in my chest as my heart does a double beat. I can feel it again, the cold draught across the back of my neck, that needle-like sensation of eyes on me. Breath on the back of my neck. I squeeze my eyes closed, suddenly so sure that there is someone behind me, close enough to touch, peering over my shoulder at the baby. I gently lay a hand on his chest and whip my head round, only to see an empty room. There is no one there. I let out the breath I am holding and look towards the window, but it is shut.