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CHAPTER FIFTY

Glasgow

May 2024

CLEM

The phone on Clem’s lap starts to buzz. She ignores it until she spots the word “Josie” on the screen. Freya, she thinks, her skin turning cold. Something has happened to Freya.

“Hiya,” Josie says when she answers. “Just a quick one—what’s with this old book? Is it a toy?”

“What book?”

“This old book she’s playing with. She pulled it out of her changing bag. Did you put it in there by accident?”

Clem’s mouth falls open. “Describe it to me.”

“Well, it’s blank, for a start. Just these old black pages. Looks like it belongs in a museum. Weirdest toy I’ve ever seen!”

···

She drives to Josie’s, where Freya is playing happily with Sam, her mouth smeared with tomato sauce and her hands sticky.

“This little madam has only eaten half her dinner so she might be hungry later,” Josie says, stuffing the changing bag with Freya’s bottles and bibs. “And we had a bit of a nappy explosion so she’s wearing Sam’s clothes.”

Clem looks Freya over and sees she’s wearing a T-shirt with a dinosaur print and denim dungarees.

“You mentioned a book?” she asks Josie, trying to sound casual.

“Yeah, I thought it was odd that you put it in her changing bag. Definitely not mine. And she was playing with it.”

Clem’s heart lurches. She watches, holding her composure, as Josie fetches an old book covered in bark from a sideboard lined with framed family photographs.

“Look,” Josie says, surveying the cover made of bark with revulsion. “It’s even got things growing out of it.”

She reaches down with finger and thumb to a small green shoot poking out of one of the folds, plucking it out. “Moss and everything. Is it yours?”

Clem nods, mouth dry. “Yes. Yes, it is.”

“Well, let me know if you need me to look after her tomorrow. I’m taking Sam to soft-play.”

“Thanks.”

She hugs Josie, puts Freya in her car seat.

Then she pulls out her phone and finds the driving route for Orkney. Seven hours. If she leaves now, she can be there by midnight.