She pulled the shabby little volume of spells out from under her bed, with a candle, a box of matches and a saucer, a bottle of vinegar, various bits of plants she hoped she’d identified correctly, and some scraps of paper on which she’d written various wishes for the intervention of whatever power she’d hoped to conjure up before she’d gone to walk Coco that afternoon. Whether it had worked or not, she didn’t know. Mrs Stellion hadn’t mentioned the conservatory and Gina had seen nothing of Mrs Thwaite. So far as Gina was concerned, that was a good result to be going on with. Time would reveal whether the short-tempered housekeeper had met her match.

Ellen and Ed took the well-worn path past the hen houses, up through the gate into the field where the girls had lazed on their afternoon off, and on up higher. Ellen remembered about the silly business with the little bottle, but whatever Gina had been up to, nothing had come of it and Ellen’s fear of that mad moment had faded until it was almost forgotten.

‘Such a lovely hot day,’ she said. ‘Like midsummer. The air’s a bit fresher up here, though.’

‘Aye, it is, but look over there.’ Edward pointed to the west. ‘Those clouds mean rain, though I think we’ll be all right for this evening.’

‘Shall we stop here for our tea?’ asked Ellen after a few more minutes. ‘The view’s amazing this high up.’

Edward laughed. ‘Yes, a rare sight to be able to see so far. Look, there’s the Hall over there, and the village street stretching away. Half the year the clouds are down to the ground and all you can see up here through the fog is tragic-looking sheep clinging onto the fell.’

‘Don’t I know it! I was helping with them until a few weeks ago, don’t forget.’

‘It feels as if you’ve been gone for ages,’ said Edward, sitting on the dry cropped grass.

‘Yes, funny, that. I feel the same,’ smiled Ellen.

‘Do you miss it?’

‘Oh, no, not at all. It was nice working with you and your parents, but I think I like gardening better than farm work,’ said Ellen. ‘And I’m learning all kinds of new things. You can understand why I’m keen on that, can’t you, Ed?’ She was anxious not to offend by mistake.

‘Of course.’