‘No?’ The light was still glowing in the caravan. ‘What makes you say that?’
‘She cut our hair,’ Sophie said. ‘Nicely. I think she’s a hairdresser.’
Nathan looked at Sophie’s hair. It was a shoulder-length bob, with crisp edges all the way around. Nathan did not claim to be an expert; his own routine involved waiting until his hair grew too thick and shaggy to cope with, then shaving it all off over his bathroom sink. But even to him, the cut looked pretty professional.
Nathan eyed the caravan again. Behind the thin curtain, he could see someone moving in the glow of the lamplight. The faint sound of voices drifted over. They were still arguing. A hairdresser, not a teacher, Nathan wondered. It wasn’t uncommon for travellers to embroider their resumes. In fact, it was unusual for them not to. But it always posed the obvious question: If they weren’t who they claimed to be, then who were they?
‘We came back from a ride one day and they were both here,’ Sophie said. ‘Daddy didn’t even tell us they were coming. I think that’s why Mum was annoyed.’
‘Why was I annoyed?’ There was a gentle screech from the screen door and Ilse appeared.
‘About Simon and Katy coming here,’ Sophie said.
‘Oh.’ Ilse frowned. ‘No. It was a surprise, that’s all. Don’t go around saying that please, Sophie. They’ll feel unwelcome.’
‘How’s Lo?’ Nathan asked.
‘Asleep in your mum’s room.’ Ilse beckoned to her daughter. ‘Your turn now.’
‘But –’
‘Sophie. Please. Not tonight.’
Grudgingly, Sophie stood up. ‘Good night.’ She looked at her mother, belligerent. ‘Are you coming to tuck me in?’
‘In a minute,’ Ilse said. ‘Go and get ready.’
The screen door slammed. Even lit from behind, Ilse looked exhausted as she came out and leaned against the railing. She opened her mouth but said nothing, as though unsure where to start.
‘What do you make of what Lo said earlier?’ asked Nathan, by way of an opening.
‘I don’t even know what to think. Cameron never said anything to me. Obviously.’ There was a sour note in her voice as she stared out into the darkness. ‘Not to mention that whole thing with that woman trying to contact him.’
‘Cam told you about Jenna, though?’
‘Of course.’ Ilse’s face clouded. ‘He said she was a girl he met at a party once whose boyfriend got jealous. He made it sound funny. Like a misunderstanding.’
Nathan didn’t say anything. It had been a lot of things, but funny wasn’t one of them.
‘He’d been so stressed lately. He was –’ Ilse stared into the dark. ‘Something had changed these past few weeks. Probably around the time she tried to get in touch, I realise now.’
‘It would have been a bit of a shock, I suppose.’
‘Yes. I imagine it was.’
Ilse looked at Nathan. He could hear the gentle rush of the night wind. A small voice floated out from inside the house.
‘Mummy. I’m ready.’
‘In a minute,’ Ilse called, then turned back to Nathan, more urgent now. ‘Listen, no-one actually believed what that girl said about Cameron, did they?’
‘No. Of course not.’ He opened his mouth again, then stopped.
‘What? Tell me.’
‘It’s nothing, really. I was just going to say –’ He wavered. ‘Maybe Steve did, for a while.’
‘Steve Fitzgerald? At the clinic?’
