Chapter 3
The ferry hugged the western side of the island, passing by the northern cliffs before peeling off into the open ocean. Picton Island receded in the distance, the lighthouse shrinking in size from a pencil to a pin. Ahead, sea and sky merged together, broken up only by long lines of white cirrus clouds. Esme leaned over the side to watch the water swirling by, intoxicated by the salt and spray, savouring the taste of her temporary respite from Mavis.
With a shiver, she suddenly recalled what the police inspector had told her father, a few days after Ariane had vanished.
‘They never find the bodies out there at Spindrift. Currents are too strong.’
Esme knew very little about the circumstances of her mother’s disappearance. What she did know was that her mother had been staying
