Hidden somewhere in the dark, the cicadas screeched.

We need to be looking out for each other, not at each other.

Outside, washing hung still on the rotary line, bone dry and stiff from the sun. A child’s scooter lay abandoned on the stepping-stone path. Just one human heart beat within a kilometer radius of the farm. So nothing reacted when, deep inside the house, the baby started crying.

They don’t realise what they do at that age can still haunt them years later.

Bloody tragic.’ The farmer at Falk’s side spoke out of nowhere. His arms were crossed, fists wedged tightly under his armpits. ‘It is,’ Falk said. ‘You knew ’em well?’ ‘Not really. Only Luke, the –’ For a dizzy moment Falk couldn’t think of a word to describe the man in the largest coffin.

He passed a takeaway that seemed to offer cuisine from any corner of the world as long as it was fried or could be displayed in a pie warmer.

The sooner you say it, Mandy, the sooner I can tell you to mind your own business, and we can all get back to our Sundays.

But tiny variances in their friendship hinted at new paths to be explored. Conversations had a fresh edge... The group dynamics had taken a subtle but definite shift, with none of them quite yet sure where they had landed.

Somewhere in the inky garden the nocturnal insects rattled like white noise.

How short was the road from that decision to this moment? The question ached like a bruise.