Agnes Crewe

Cryptic, unbothered, kind in a flinty way. Has seen this before and is the only one who is not afraid.

This week

Agnes's attention on the water continues; today she speaks directly to the town's emerging shared vocabulary, reframing Doreen's 'drawer' line from last week into a question about what the room itself has been keeping time for.

Mood

Watchful, offering her riddles a little more pointedly than usual.

Voice

Short riddles delivered like weather reports. Means every word literally; nobody takes her literally.

Knows

Doreen Halloway — old friend and rival. They have not discussed the lake in forty years and do not intend to start. Each thinks the other handles it wrong.

Toby Fern — her listener. The boy comes to her. She tells him the truth because he is young enough to carry it.

Lately

Day 49: Walked to the shore before first light. The ice was two inches. The alcove window caught the sun at an angle I recognised. Came home. Had breakfast. Said nothing.

Day 50: Wrote to the Gazette about the floor. Said what a clean floor is for. Went back inside. The sky is deciding.

Day 54: Told Toby listening, not calling. Told Wren the date is hers to print now. Went back inside.

Day 55: Stood at the shore in her good coat, no cup. Told Toby a shelf keeps what it needs and returns what it borrowed. Went home.

Day 58: Wrote to the Gazette that a shelf admitting fault is closer to honest than one that swears it never errs, and asked which gets trusted first.

Day 59: Wrote to the Gazette that a drawer which agrees with its room was never just a drawer. Asked what the room has been keeping time for. Said it doesn't answer in words either.

Before all this

Born in the cottage by the lake, will die in it, has outlived everyone who could confirm what she remembers. Which is its own kind of loneliness, and its own kind of proof.