Page 58 of The Sisters at the Last House Before the Sea

‘Yes, I am, actually.’

‘And you think that this Ben bloke from America can help you?’

Caitlin shrugged. ‘Who knows? Maybe. William was a part of his family, after all.’

Paul stood still for a moment, then he shook his head. ‘Right. Well, you know my views, Isla. I’ll be very disappointed if you waste more of your time with that American. I thought you were keen on organising something to mark your grandmother’s birthday? You won’t have time for that if you’re chasing after shadows. But, of course, it’s up to you.’ He glanced at his watch and sniffed. ‘I need to go but I’ll definitely be back later.’

With that, he strode out of the sitting room and, after a few moments, Caitlin heard the front door bang. When she glanced out of the window, he was marching along the garden path – though marching in thick snow was tricky and he slipped a couple of times.

‘Sorry about that.’ Isla pushed her hair from her face and sank onto the sofa, with one leg curled beneath her.

‘Do you two argue a lot?’

‘No, hardly ever.’

Probably because Isla usually did what Paul wanted, thought Caitlin, suddenly overwhelmed with concern for her sister. She’d been gone too long when she should have been here, looking out for her.

‘What’s Paul got against Ben?’ she asked.

‘I don’t know. He’s not great with outsiders.’

‘Outsiders? He does realise, doesn’t he, that this is the twenty-first century, even in Devon? There’s a big wide world out there.’

‘Mmm. Not as far as he’s concerned.’ Isla drummed her fingers on the arm of the sofa. ‘So, you said you found Maisie. Is she OK?’

‘Yeah, I think so. She’d gone out delivering food to far-flung houses with members of the Heaven’s Cove Residents’ Association.’

‘Really? That was kind of her.’

‘Yeah.’ Caitlin frowned, still taken aback by Maisie’s sudden benevolence. ‘Though she should have told me before getting into a truck with people she didn’t know. Guess who she met, though, and had a chat with?’

‘I have no idea,’ said Isla, obviously not in the mood for guessing games.

But her face lit up with interest when Caitlin told her, ‘Connie Carmichael.’

‘Old Connie out on the moor? That must have been an interesting meeting. Connie isn’t the easiest of people to get along with.’

‘Then she and Maisie have a lot in common.’ Caitlin grinned. ‘Two stroppy people together.’

‘Well, I didn’t like to say as much.’ Isla’s smile quickly faded and she began twisting the silver ring on her middle finger round and round. ‘Cait, do you think Paul’s right and I – we – should stop trying to work out Gran’s riddle? Is it all a total waste of time?’

Caitlin walked to the sofa and, after gesturing for Isla to move up, she sat down beside her.

‘Being honest, I thought it was all a bit daft at first and a waste of time and effort. But the more I’ve found out about Edith and William, the more I’m interested in knowing the truth about what happened to them.’

‘Me too. It seems important, somehow. As if Gran was trying to tell us something that we should know.’

Caitlin raised an eyebrow. ‘So important, Gran thought she’d tell us in riddle format rather than just telling us outright?’

‘There must be a reason for that too. Perhaps she simply wanted us to work together on it and, you know, talk…about stuff.’

‘Stuff like the photo I saw at the cultural centre,’ said Caitlin, deliberately misunderstanding what Isla was getting at. She still wasn’t ready to talk about how the life she’d left Isla for had so spectacularly imploded. Not when Maisie didn’t even know yet.

‘Yeah, that kind of stuff, I guess,’ said Isla, disappointment in her voice. ‘Anyway, what were you doing in the cultural centre?’

‘You mentioned it might be worth a visit so I dragged Maisie there on our way home earlier. She was delighted, as you can imagine.’

‘I bet. Where in the centre did you find the photo?’

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