Chapter 15Eily slipped in on the far side of the big bed and felt warmth and safety close round her. She said, ‘Thank you, Miss Heron,’ on a soft breath, and heard a laugh from the neighbouring pillow.
‘Oh, drop the Miss Heron! We’ll be cousins when you marry John Higgins.’
Jane lay there thinking how odd it all was. She knew the moment when Eily fell asleep, but she herself was broad awake. If you scare your first sleep away, it doesn’t readily come back. Her mind went over all the things that had happened since they came to the Catherine-Wheel—the old house, the dark passage to the shore, Al Miller’s drunken laugh, Eily, Luke White nursing a bleeding hand, Jeremy kissing her in the little room half way down the stairs. They came back as thoughts, but the thoughts changed to pictures, a
