‘This is your daddy’s home. Which means it’s yours too. All this is yours, isn’t that wonderful?’ He stared at her. ‘You can play in this garden – there’s not another island in the archipelago with a garden like this, did you know that? Not a single one. You’re going to have so much fun. And you can climb on the rocks, find the hidden beach –’
‘The hidden beach is here?’ he gasped.
‘I want to go to the hidden beach!’ Elise interjected, but Bell silenced her with a reproving look that seemed to work for once. The girls instinctively understood that nothing today was quite as it seemed. This wasn’t just any boat ride, any island, any garden . . .
Hanna nodded slowly. ‘Pappa pretended he forgot, because this island is privately owned, so you wouldn’t have been allowed over to play. But now you can.’
‘How will I find it?’
She smiled. ‘Trust me, you will. The Soviets accidentally dropped a bomb here on their way to a missile test site during the Second World War and – pow! – the hidden beach was created. It’s completely invisible from the sea. That’s why no one else knows about it. Only the people lucky enough to get to stay here.’
His interest was piqued – that was worthy of a Bond lair – and Hanna’s face brightened momentarily in response to his expression. ‘The fun is in finding it.’
Bell wasn’t so sure. How could a beach be hidden? They weren’t like socks kicked under the bed.
‘Trust me, you’ll love it here,’ Hanna went on, her voice thickening suddenly. ‘You were always supposed to play in this garden, darling. When you were a baby, I would think about how exciting it would be for you when you were a big boy of ten, able to go exploring. You’re so lucky.’
Had it not been for the way her voice splintered on the last word, her proclamations might have been convincing. Instead, Linus threw his arms around her neck. ‘I don’t want to be lucky. I want to be with you.’
There was an anguished silence as they gripped each other with tightly squeezed shut eyes. ‘And you will be, darling. Very, very soon. I promise.’
Bell saw the tears begin to stream, and watched as Hanna quickly pulled down her sunglasses from the top of her head as she pulled back from him. She tried to gather herself, glancing up at the house again and falling still as she saw someone standing there, watching them. Bell followed her gaze. A white-haired man was standing there, Linus’s suitcase positioned by his legs.
She watched Hanna turn back to her son again. There was something different in her expression now. ‘In the meantime, you’ve got Bell. She’ll be with you all the time. You won’t ever be alone here. Bell will look after you, as she always does.’
Linus nodded, his green eyes flashing between their two faces, but it was to his mother’s that his gaze returned. ‘You promise you’ll come back?’
‘Nothing can stop me.’ She forced a smile that fooled no one. ‘Now go up to the house and Måns will look after you.’
‘Who’s Måns?’
‘A very kind man who’ll help take care of you.’
‘Aren’t you coming?’ This time, it was Linus’s voice that shook.
‘It’s better if I leave you here today. But I’ll visit, I promise. I’m just across the water, remember that.’ Hanna rose to standing again. ‘Now off you go. Be a good boy for Mamma. And your father.’
Linus stared up at her, his shoulders heaving like an ocean swell, unformed emotions rolling through him like a storm. ‘. . . What if he screams again?’
Hanna’s mouth parted at the question, but no words came.
‘Then we’ll scream back,’ Bell said firmly, taking his hand in hers again and giving him one of her signature wry looks.
Linus looked shocked. ‘We can’t do that.’ He looked at his mother. ‘Can we?’
‘You won’t need to. Your father was sick then, but he’s much better now. You’ll see.’
Bell tugged his arm affectionately, pulling him away. ‘Come on. I want to see what our rooms are like.’
‘Do you?’
No. ‘Absolutely,’ she said, sticking her chin in the air. ‘I hope I’ve got a revolving bed.’
He nodded, as though that seemed like a good thing to have. ‘I want an observatory in mine.’
‘You might well have one,’ she sighed. ‘Have you seen the size of this place?’