"Six o'clock," Charlie said to himself as he left Nia's room. Nia was sleeping peacefully with Brian's ear fast in her hand.
He went through to the kitchen and put the kettle on and filled the coffee machine. Outside it was grey and there was a fine dusting of snow filtering down out of the sky.
At home the church bells would be ringing.
With that thought came a sudden chill as of wind-blown mist against his face, the scent of evergreens and, as he had thought, a chime of bells dying away.
He scrambled his phone from his pocket and held it for a moment, his heart beating fast, then dialled his mother's cell number.