She pulled the painter rope attached to the bow, the boat nudged against the pontoon and she stepped on board. Over the secured rigging and round to the door of the cabin. The door was slid back, the two of them must be up and about inside.

Ellie started down the stairs.

‘Morning,’ she said. A flash of memory came to her, shouting into Logan’s room as he lay under his covers, motionless. Time to get up for school and all that.

Ellie reached the bottom of the stairs and stopped.

Three people were staring at her.

Sam, Libby and Jack.

‘Hello, Ellie,’ Jack said. He had his hands out in supplication, almost pleading.

Ellie looked from him to Libby, who was cowering on the edge of the bench. Sam was standing between Jack and Libby. The four of them now in the cabin made it cramped, the air thick.

‘Get out,’ Ellie said.

Jack shook his head. ‘I just want to talk to my kids.’

He put one hand to his stomach, pulled his face into a grimace.

‘They don’t want to talk to you,’ Ellie said. ‘Get off my boat.’

‘They’re my kids,’ Jack said. ‘Of course they want to talk to me. This is all a misunderstanding.’

Sam had his hands tense at his sides. ‘You heard her, get the fuck out of here.’

Jack raised his eyebrows. ‘Don’t talk to me like that, please.’ His voice was level, quiet.

‘I can’t believe you’re here,’ Sam said. ‘I can’t believe you have the nerve to look either of us in the eye after what you did.’

‘I haven’t done anything,’ Jack said. ‘Ask Libby.’

He turned to her. She was like a turtle trying to duck inside its shell, her legs pulled up tight, shoulders hunched, head turned to the side.

‘She’s scared to death of you,’ Sam said. ‘Leave us alone.’

‘I can’t do that,’ Jack said. ‘You’re my kids.’

‘We don’t want anything to do with you,’ Sam said.

Jack turned to Ellie, pleading. ‘Can’t you speak to them?’

Ellie took a step forward. ‘Why should I?’

‘This is all a mistake.’ Jack’s voice wavered now, breaking up. It looked like he might start crying. He took a step towards Libby. ‘Lib, come home with your dad, please. It’ll all be fine, I promise.’

Sam moved closer to Jack. ‘Get the hell out of here.’

‘How did you find us?’ Libby said.

The sound of her voice made everyone pause.

Jack looked round the cabin, like a quiz show contestant searching for the right answer.

‘I’m a police officer, honey,’ he said. ‘It’s my job to find out things. I discovered Ellie had a boat. As soon as it was light I came down, on the off chance. I got lucky.’

‘Unlucky for us,’ Sam said.

Jack reached out to him but Sam batted the hand away. ‘Sam, I know you’ve had problems.’

Sam shook his head. ‘Don’t turn this round, this isn’t about me.’

Jack was still talking. ‘I know you’ve heard voices, been depressed, tried to kill yourself.’

Libby sat forward. ‘What?’

‘Three times, Lib, that we know of.’

‘You mean apart from the bridge?’ Libby said.

Jack looked puzzled. ‘What happened on the bridge?’ He turned to Ellie, a look coming across his face. ‘That’s where you met him. He was going to jump. I bet it was the morning he stabbed me.’

‘I can’t believe I didn’t finish the job,’ Sam said through his teeth.

Jack was still staring at Ellie. ‘You see how unstable he is? How he talks?’ He turned to Sam. ‘Son, it’s OK, we can get you help. I haven’t told the police about the stabbing, I said I couldn’t remember.’

Sam shook his head. ‘That’s only so they don’t find out why I did it.’

‘That’s not true, nothing happened.’ Jack looked at his daughter. ‘Tell them, Lib.’

She didn’t speak. She cowered back, trying to squeeze her body into the crevice at the side of the cabin.

Jack took a step forward. He could almost reach out and touch her. Sam intervened, put a hand on his dad’s chest. Jack looked at the hand, then at Sam’s face.

‘Don’t,’ he said.

‘Or what?’

Jack’s eyes were welling up. ‘I just want my family back.’ A crack in his voice.

‘It’s too late for that,’ Sam said. ‘We’re going to the police, right now. That’s why Ellie’s here, she’s taking Libby to tell them everything you’ve done to her.’

Jack reached out to the girl. ‘Libby, honey, don’t do that. Don’t lie to them.’

Sam pushed Jack in the chest and he rocked back on his heels. ‘Fuck off.’

Jack still had his eyes on his daughter, crouched in the corner.

‘If you tell them those lies, I’ll have to tell them about your brother trying to kill me,’ Jack said. ‘It’ll all come out.’

‘Shut up,’ Libby said, shaking.

‘He’ll probably go to prison,’ Jack said. ‘Is that what you want?’

‘That’s enough,’ Ellie said.

Sam looked at his sister. ‘Don’t listen to him, Lib. He’s just trying to save his own skin.’

‘I’m not, honey, honestly,’ Jack said. ‘Come home and we can put all this behind us.’

He inched closer to Libby. Sam pushed at him but Jack didn’t budge. Ellie stepped closer, took hold of Jack’s arm but he didn’t respond, didn’t even seem to notice.

‘Your brother won’t survive in prison,’ Jack said.

‘Shut the fuck up,’ Sam said.

‘He’s already tried to kill himself all those times,’ Jack said. ‘He won’t get the right treatment in prison, the right medication. He’ll either kill himself or someone else will do it.’

Libby’s face was scrunched up, tears on her cheeks.

‘I don’t believe you,’ she said. ‘I don’t believe you.’

‘You heard her,’ Ellie said. ‘Leave. Now.’

Jack turned. He looked for all the world as if he was sorry, a lost little boy looking for his parents.

‘I can’t leave without Libby,’ he said.

‘You’ll have to,’ Sam said, his hand still on Jack’s chest.

Jack reached past Sam and grabbed Libby’s wrist. She tried to wriggle free but he held on easily. Sam pushed at his arm as Ellie had her hands on his shoulders trying to pull him away.

‘Get your hands off me,’ Libby shouted, the sound echoing round the cabin.

‘Come on.’ Jack yanked at her arm and Libby was lifted off her backside, sliding on to the floor then staggering to her feet. Ellie thought she saw something glint on the bench behind her. Libby was feeling at her back, fingers grasping air then scrabbling across the top of the bench.

Jack gave her wrist a heave and Libby lurched forward. Sam pushed Jack who stumbled but then righted himself, Ellie still tugging at his back, trying to pull him away. Libby took a step back, picked up the scissors she’d been searching for on the bench, and gripped them tight in her fist. She lifted them above her shoulder and plunged them down into Jack’s stomach just below his ribcage.

‘No,’ Ellie shouted, reaching for the scissors.

‘Get off,’ Libby screamed, pulling the scissors out then thrusting them back in again. She repeated the movement, in and out, in and out. Ellie grabbed for the scissors and felt a slice of pain up the palm of her hand. Jack fell backwards making Ellie lose her balance. She pushed a hand out to catch herself from falling. Jack went forward again, but he fell right into Libby’s fist gripping the scissors.

‘Keep your hands to yourself,’ Libby said, pushing the scissors into Jack’s stomach one more time.

Sam hauled her back. ‘No, Lib.’

The scissors clattered to the floor. Jack roared and threw Ellie off his back, launching himself at Libby. His hands went round her throat and he squeezed, Libby’s neck straining as she tried to take in air. Sam pushed at his dad’s face and neck, trying to prise him off, then shoved at his arms, but he couldn’t release Jack’s grip. He reached to the floor and picked up the scissors then plunged them into the flesh of Jack’s neck just above his collarbone. Jack staggered backwards, grasping at the handle of the scissors, blood spraying between his fingers. He couldn’t get a purchase on them, kept fumbling at it, his throat gurgling, eyes wild, snot dripping from his nose. He stumbled to the doorway of the cabin, his palms slapping on the banisters, then began hauling himself up the stairs, moaning and grunting.