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that you?”
    â€œNo. What – do you think I brought a bucket of seaweed with me to tip over your garden?”
    â€œSorry; no, of course not. I just wondered where it came from. Come in. It’s cold, isn’t it? I was just getting some food for us.”
    Josh followed her into the kitchen, where George was reading the newspaper, an enormous mug of tea in one hand.
    â€œMorning,” he said. “Hope you’ve got your thermal underwear on. Mind you, the cycling will warm you up.”
    Callie was putting packages of what Josh hoped was food into a small rucsac, while the kitten chased dust balls across the kitchen floor.
    â€œHello Josh, dear,” said Rose, absently going through the kitchen without stopping. “Ten minutes, George.”
    â€œYes, my dear.”
    ***
    â€œCome on Luath. Out we go.” Rose opened the front door and the dog bounded into the garden, tongue lolling. Rose shut the door behind her and took a crunching step along the path. She stopped, looking down, and her hand went to her mouth.
    â€œOh no,” she whispered. “Oh please, not yet.” The dog pushed his head against her leg. “Oh Luath, you felt it come, didn’t you?” She stroked him absently. “What are we to do? What are we to do?”

    ***
    It wasn’t very hilly between the village and the coast, for a good job. Josh was used to cycling of course, but not really to cycling so far in one go.
    At least he wasn’t cold, although the frost seemed to get heavier the further they went from Pitmillie.
    They came into Crail and turned along the road to Balcomie. A little later they passed Balcomie Castle sitting in the middle of its farm, and then there was only the golf course between them and the sea.
    Now that they were here, Josh wasn’t sure that he wanted to be. The whole episode with the face behind the ice seemed almost like a dream. He wished he could convince himself that was what it had been, but he couldn’t. He knew that he had to go back to the cave before the thing would resolve itself, but he was happy to put it off when Callie suggested they go for a walk in the little wood on the hill.
    â€œThere’s normally lots of birds in here,” she said. “I don’t know why it’s so quiet in here today. Of course, they’ve done really badly raising young in the past few years.” She seemed to assume he would know what she was talking about, so he nodded in agreement.
    It was definitely colder here than in the village. There was even a skin of ice on the little pond they passed on their way back down to the beach.
    â€œHow about some food?” he said. “I’m starving. Must be all that cycling.”
    Callie shrugged. “Okay.” She doubled back along a narrow path that ended at a bench that gave a view down the hill to the chilly sea. She took off her back pack, sat down and started rummage. “Cheese all right?” She passed him a roll crammed with salad and a thick slab of cheese. “There’s coffee in the flask. Help yourself.”
    â€œThanks.” He munched his way slowly through the roll. He wasn’t actually that hungry. It was just a way to put off going back to the cave.
    The coffee was no longer very hot, but it washed down the cheese roll well enough. He turned down the offer of a flapjack for the time being.
    â€œLet’s go and look at that cave again, see what’s happened to all the ice.”
    â€œRighto,” she said, round a mouthful of roll. “Just let me finish this.”
    They walked along the path at the edge of the golf course this time instead of on the beach. There were a few birds here, down by the shore, standing on rocks or pecking at things in the sand. Josh wondered what they were. He was pretty sure Callie would know, but he didn’t want to ask her. He was getting fed up of being the one who didn’t know stuff.
    They rounded a corner and