She drained the last of her drink, eager to get to the bottom of the mystery. ‘Sorry, I’ve got to dash. See you tonight,’ she said to Freya as she ran for the door.

As soon as she was outside, she called her mum’s mobile but she didn’t answer. She tried the landline next but it kept ringing on and on, and she was about to give up when she finally heard someone pick it up and then the breathless sound of her dad on the other end.

‘Dad, it’s me.’

‘Oh hi, love, sorry, I’ve just got in.’

‘Is Mum there?’

‘No, she’s at the pool, she’s got coaching all afternoon. Anything I can help with?’

She loved her dad but it was probably wiser to wait and speak with her mum. But curiosity got the better of her and she couldn’t resist bringing it up. ‘Something weird just happened.’

‘What happened? Are you okay?’

‘I’m absolutely fine, Dad, don’t worry. I just bumped into someone from the past and he said something a bit strange.’

‘Who was it?’

‘It was Freddy, you know the boy who used to live next door to us in Pemberton Road?’

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

‘Dad, are you still there?’ she asked.

‘I’m here.’

‘Anyway, he was asking if you and Mum were still together and talking about something that had happened and then when he realised I was confused, he kind of legged it.’

More silence.

‘Dad?’

‘You stay away from that boy, Katie, you hear me? He’s bad news. His whole family is bad news.’

Katie was alarmed by her dad’s reaction. She’d never heard him talk like that before. ‘Dad, you’re scaring me now, what’s going on?’

She heard him sighing. ‘I’m sorry, love, I didn’t mean to scare you, I’m just shocked that’s all. We haven’t seen or spoken to that family in over ten years.’

‘But we were friends with them, weren’t we?’

‘We were once, a long time ago. Not anymore.’

‘What happened?’

‘Perhaps you should speak to Mum.’

‘Why can’t you tell me, Dad?’

‘I just think it’s better if you speak to Mum. I’ll get her to call you as soon as she gets back.’

Katie was even more worried now. ‘Okay,’ she said.

‘Seriously though, Katie, stay away from him, okay? You’re in Oxford to start your exciting new life, don’t go digging up skeletons from the past. It will only cause trouble.’

‘Except that I’m studying archaeology, Dad, so that’s literally what I’m here to do.’

He didn’t even laugh. Something was very wrong. ‘You know what I mean.’

‘Not really, no. You’re talking in riddles.’

‘I’m sorry, love, I’ll get Mum to call you.’ She heard the click as he rang off.

She stared at her phone, completely dumbfounded. What did she do now? On impulse she called her brother but, unsurprisingly, he didn’t answer. He never did. She had no choice; she’d just have to get on with her afternoon and wait for her mum to call back. But as she started heading back towards her college, trying to focus on the thrill of her new surroundings, all she could think about was the boy who had appeared out of nowhere and opened up a rusty door to the past, which she had a nasty feeling she wouldn’t be able to close again.