After Tim McCallum’s funeral, rumours began circulating in the village. Someone said Hamish MacKay must have done some wrong and been punished. Others felt he thought too highly of himself – he’d started learning French – while others still brought up that old quarrel between Hamish and his old man. People also saw fit to speculate as to why he and his blone had no wee ones, and why Hamish’s hair had turned white after the first strike.

Mary and Hamish carried on with their lives as best they could. Hamish bought a new, smaller trawler and named it Silver Darling. His white hair and eyebrows grew back.

None of the village men dared go out to sea with Hamish any more. He and Mary had to manage by themselves.

The third time lightning struck Hamish MacKay was in 1995 when he was mending the garden shed behind the cottage. This time the bang was so loud that Mary rushed out to the back, hearing it. She saw the neighbour’s horse first. It was running in fright, pulling a cart behind it. One of the wheels sank into a ditch and made the cart tilt. The cart got stuck and the horse reared and was propelled on to its side by the impact of this abrupt stop. From the garden, Mary could see the whites of the animal’s eyes, glinting in the dusk. The neighbour was somewhere in the background, running and calling for his horse, but that Mary didn’t see.

Hamish MacKay was standing at the edge of the garden. The same smell of burning wafted around him. His hair was scorched again. It had burnt part of his scalp. His eyebrows and eyelashes had disappeared, too. The nails had come off his fingers.

Mary tried to talk to her husband, but he didn’t reply. He just stood there on the spot, swaying, his gaze wandering round the garden. He didn’t seem to recognize his wife. Then he staggered to the water butt and dunked his head in its contents. Immediately afterwards, he passed out.

In the hospital bed, Hamish stared at his wife with vacant, lashless eyes. He wouldn’t let anyone touch him: if someone tried, he would scream instantly. The lightest touch seemed to hurt, as if a layer of skin had been burnt clean off. Mary suspected briefly that Hamish had lost his reason, but examinations revealed that her husband had in fact lost his hearing.

This time, Hamish MacKay was a changed man. The joy drained out of him; with deafness came gloom. Hamish MacKay sank into silence.

The villagers grew afraid of both Hamish and his wife. People shunned them in stormy weather. The gossip had stopped, and so had theories about Hamish’s sins. People just shook their heads and fell silent.