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Hannah looked up to see Satnam passing her table, holding the hand of his son. Hannah smiled and waved. The boy with him jumped up and down. “But I want to go out into the snow!” he exclaimed.

“We need to finish breakfast first,” said Satnam, “and you said you wanted more toast. Let’s get that and then we’ll go out and play. I promise.”

Hannah wished that her only worry was how quickly she could get out into the snow. It did look beautiful now, sparkling in the sunshine. She gazed down towards the loch, which looked black and foreboding in contrast to the brightness of the snow.

By the time Hannah reached the reception desk, she was feeling a little more stable but still felt anxious about the calls she knew she now needed to make. Lottie was there, talking to a young man in overalls and a woolly hat. “Yeah,” he said. “I’ll have a look at the genny and see what I can do. It should have worked when you tried it this morning, so I’ll pop the bonnet and have a peep at the inner workings.”

Lottie furrowed her brow. “Thanks, Danny. If you could. I have no idea how long it’ll take to get power back.”

“Yep,” said Danny, rubbing the back of his neck. “The whole area between my place and here is down at the moment.”

“Morning,” Hannah arranged her face into ‘polite guest’ rather than ‘person who has received a death threat’ mode.

Lottie looked around quickly. “Hey, Hannah, meet Danny, our handyman.”

Danny turned and smiled, his dimples showing. Hannah smiled back and held out her hand. He seemed to falter for a second, as though recognising her, before extending his own to shake hers.

“It’s, er, nice to meet you,” he said uncertainly. Yes, thought Hannah, he’d definitely clocked who she was and didn’t know what to do about that. Well, that wasn’t her problem today. She had bigger fish to fry.

“Likewise,” she said before turning to Lottie.

“Thanks, Danny,” said Lottie. “I’m glad you were able to get over here this morning.”

He chuckled. “It was a long bloody walk, I can tell you,” he confirmed. “But needs must. Makes me wish I lived in Fort William itself.”

He took one more look at Hannah and then disappeared in the direction that, Hannah presumed, would take him to the generator.

Lottie smiled at Hannah. “Sorry about him. How are you holding up?” she asked.

“Yeah, OK.” Hannah gave a small nod.

“In spite of his star-struckness, I’m just pleased Danny got here. The snow seems to bring out the best in people. His place is a good two miles away, so it was quite a trek. I could have done with him doing that earlier in the week, but that’s a story for another day.” Lottie ran a hand over her hair. “OK, so, here we go.”

She led Hannah into a small office located behind the reception area. On the desk there was a computer, which without internet was mostly redundant today, but also an old-fashioned landline.

“Wow,” said Hannah in wonder at the old cream coloured rotary phone. “I didn’t realise people still had these.”

“It’s been here longer than I have.” Lottie picked up a pile of papers and cleared them from the desk to make space for Hannah. “And in fairness, it is power cut proof, so I don’t complain.”

“Nice,” said Hannah. “Perfect for what I need this morning.”

Lottie flashed another of those smiles that sent warmth coursing through Hannah’s veins. “I’ll leave you to it,” she said. “Please shout if there is anything else you need.”

“Thanks,” Hannah replied. “I will.”

Lottie shut the door gently behind her and Hannah picked up a scrap of paper and an old biro from the desk. It reminded her of her days as a local newspaper reporter, when everything relied on what she recorded on her notepad. She still wrote in shorthand from time to time, but she used her notepad less and less, relying on more modern technology.

She picked up the phone and dialled Mark’s number.

“Hello?” a suspicious voice answered.

“Hi, Mark, it’s Hannah,” she said. Suspicious or not, she felt grateful to hear his familiar tones.

“Thank goodness.” The relief was evident in his voice. “I didn’t know what to think when you stopped responding to my messages.”

“I know, I’m so sorry. There’s a power cut up here following the blizzard, and the mobile signal’s non-existent. Would you believe me if I told you I was calling you on a rotary telephone?” Hannah was enjoying the feel of the chunky receiver in her hand.

“Oh, I remember my nan having one of those,” said Mark. “And you see, it’s power cut proof.”