Rhona started leaving nearly every night after Aonghas was asleep, like she had the night The Silence had begun. There would be the swoosh of the shawl as it was tugged from the peg; the thump of the door closing; then another hour or so before she came back. The return was always even quieter than the leaving: only the sea-smell gave Rhona away completely. One night, Catriona decided to follow her mother. She waited a few minutes after hearing...
