The crew were at work when we got to the top of the stairs. “Say,” Eli said as I emerged into the hallway. “Is this place haunted or what?”

“Come again?” I asked, wishing I’d looked before climbing out from the dungeon. He seemed determined to track me down. All I wanted to do was spend time with Tilly, make up for the year we’d been apart.

“I could have sworn I heard screaming coming from below the floorboards.” He looked past me. “Tilly, there you are. I need you to call the back up crew, get them to prep Jurgen’s room for him. He’ll be here in the morning and it’s got to be perfect.”

That was the last time I saw Tilly that day. Everytime I went to look for her, she was just out of reach. She ended up on the boat that evening with Eli, heading back to Doon village to meet Jurgen, their precious director who had insisted on waiting for the right light before he even set foot on the island.

Eli reappeared just before midnight. He was alone. “Join me for a drink,” he said as soon as I opened the door.

“I was just heading to bed,” I replied. “Maybe tomorrow.”

“I’m not taking no for an answer,” he said, grabbing my shoulder and slapping me in the chest. “This way.”

He walked into the smoking room and grabbed the bottle of whiskey from the side, pouring a generous measure into a glass. “You got any ice?”

“Afraid not.”

“Never mind. I’ll get some brought in tomorrow. This’ll do for now. Cheers.”

He held a glass out to me, tapping his against mine before sinking into the nearest chair. “Bet you’re pretty excited about meeting Jurgen Harbor.”

“Ecstatic.” If he noticed the sarcasm dripping from my words, he chose not to comment.

“He’s a great guy. Gonna make a billion with this one, I can just tell.”

“Uhuh.”

Course, Tilly’s a great gal too. What do you reckon?”

“She’s very nice.”

“Nice? God, you Brits are all the same. She’s a hot piece of ass is what she is.”

I sat upright, my fist gripping my glass tighter. I said nothing in response but if he said anything else about her like that, he’d regret it.

He sipped at his drink before continuing. “I gotta tell you, I’d love to tap that. If it wasn’t for her boyfriend I’d be all over her like honey on pancakes. I get the feeling she’d taste like honey too, what do you reckon?”

I had stopped listening after the word boyfriend. “She’s got a boyfriend?”

“Sure, didn’t she tell you? Oh, shoot. You look disappointed, son.”

“I’m going to bed,” I said, putting my glass down before getting to my feet. I walked away, ignoring what he was saying, my mind lost in thought. She had a boyfriend.

No, she didn’t mention him. She didn’t mention him when we were sitting in the smoking room together. She didn’t mention him when we were kissing in the dungeon and she sure as hell didn’t mention him when she was on all fours with her ass pointing towards me.

She was cheating on him with me. I’d been an idiot for a second time. She was probably with him last time she was here. No wonder she just wanted one night with me. No wonder she left without saying goodbye.

The next morning I knew exactly what to do. I got up first thing and headed downstairs looking for Eli. He was yelling at someone in the hallway. “Jurgen will be here any minute and you bring me this shit now. Just get it sorted.”

The man he was talking to walked away with a scowl on his face. Eli turned around and saw me. “Robert,” he said. “All go today man, you’re gonna see some shit go down.”

“About that,” I said. “I’ve changed my mind. You can’t film here anymore.”

Eli smiled. “You’re kidding, right? I’m all for a joke but not today, I’ve got too much to do.”

“I’m not kidding. I want you all to leave. I withdraw my consent.”

“You can’t do that.”

“I can.”

“No, you can’t. Jacob!” A man in a suit appeared from the dining room. I recognised a lawyer before he even spoke. “Tell Mr King here what that contract of his means.”

“The one he signed of his own free will?”

“That one.”

“It says he can’t withdraw consent once shooting has begun and if he interferes with the production in anyway, he not only forfeits his fee but also is potentially liable for the costs of extending the shooting period.”

“In other words,” Eli said, slipping his arm around my shoulder. “You’re fucked. Now maybe you want to just go for a little walk and leave us to our jobs and then you get your nice juicy check and everyone’s happy, all right?”

I shoved his arm away and marched over to the door without looking back. It was like my parents throwing me out all over again. I couldn’t even shut down the production. They were going to shoot the damn thing and I’d been conned into it by Tilly.

I stormed over to the boat shed and began untying Nipper. I should have known better than to fall for her. Look what happened when I let my guard down. I get taken advantage of by her and by the entire film crew.

I sailed out onto the loch. I couldn’t be anywhere near the castle. I could see Hedley’s boat landing at the jetty. A man in a long black cloak was stepping off, framing the sky with his hands. Tilly was standing next to him. She looked my way and waved. I tacked the boat away from her, cutting through the water, sailing towards Doon village.

I got there in time to see Hedley returning on his boat. I waited on the end of the jetty for him to arrive. “Got any coffee on the go?” I asked.

“Aye, might have,” he replied, walking past me to the cafe door. “Come on in.”

A couple of minutes later we were sitting together by the window and I was ranting about what had just happened. “She lied to me,” I snapped. “They all lied to me.”

Hedley had remained silent throughout, sipping at his coffee, his eyes going from the loch outside to me and back again. “You know,” he began when I finally fell silent. “You’re not the first in your family to fall for an American.” His accent had died down as he was careful with his words, not wanting to be misunderstood.

“What?”

“You won’t remember but your great grandma came over from California. I was only little when I met her and she was a great towering woman, shock of blonde hair that blew in the wind, I remember that about her. Beautiful she was. John fell for her when she came over here to paint the mountains.”

“I never knew.”

“They never said. She lost her accent pretty quickly and even little me knew that when a wedding dress has to be let out there might be more than just love that led you up the aisle. That was your grandmother she was carrying, first King to have blood from both sides of the Atlantic.”

“I never met her.”

“She died when you were only a baby and she was ancient enough then. I remember her holding you in her arms and smiling like she saw something of the California sun in your eyes. She said as much and it was only a couple of days later she was gone.”

“How old are you, Hedley?”

“Old enough to know you might want to calm down before you make any rash decisions.”

“I’m not making a rash decisions.”

He picked up his mug, getting to his feet. “Want any more?”

“Have you still got the guest room?”

“Aye.”

“Mind if I stay in it this week? I’m not sure I want to go back there until they’re gone.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

He headed to the kitchen and I looked out at the loch. She was over there. Spoken for, a boyfriend back at home. What was I to her? A joke? Something to pass the time? I should confront her but to do that I’d need to see them filming. By now they’d all have heard about what happened, that I no longer wanted them there. I was trapped by the contract she made me sign.

No. I had signed it. I had chosen not to see the truth, that letting your guard down was bad, falling for someone just meant getting hurt. I had no one to blame but myself for this and that was the thing that hurt the most. I was the architect of my own misery.