Sally, storm Ophelia, Scotrail

The windows of his house shone in the darkness like squares of melting butter.

Claire heads off first to drop her car at Kirkcaldy. I leave a little later for Edinburgh. The train we were going to catch is cancelled, so I ring Claire to reorganise. No answer. I catch a different train to Stirling, sending texts and messages. No response.

At Stirling I speak to Megan. She hasn't heard from Claire either. There are no accidents reported involving a silver Audi, so Claire's phone must be out of charge. Later, Hamish calls to tell me that Claire's phone is still in the living room at home.

I proceed to Perth where I predict Claire will get off the 12:56 from Kirkcaldy. She doesn't. Instead I bump into Sally, a friend from my Scoraig days, who is heading home to Dunkeld. We cover a lot of ground in a short time - a good meeting.

I've got a couple of hours to kill in Inverness before the last train to Plockton. In the Macallum bar I get a message from Claire - she's almost at Inverness. I meet her off the train and we grab a quick drink before getting on the last train of the day.

At Plockton we're met by our Airbnb host, Fiona, who gives us a lift into the village. She give a couple of German girls working at the hotel a lift too. I squeeze in beside a huge box of CDs - topped by Joni Mitchell's Blue.

The flat is lovely, the fire is blazing, and there's a bottle of red and some Tunnock's tea cakes waiting in the kitchen. We slap together a speedy meal of chorizo tacos and wind down.

I go through the pile of DVDs before realising there is no player.