Jonty put the tray carefully down on the table. ‘Now let’s catch up on what’s been happening to us both,’ he said. ‘I like your hair, by the way; it’s really smart.’

‘I like yours too,’ Tess said politely, only realising she was speaking the truth after she had done so. When she had been at the farm Mrs Bell had occasionally attacked her son’s hair with the kitchen scissors, reducing an untidy thatch to something resembling a mouse-nibbled hay crop, but he was obviously getting proper haircuts now he was at the grammar school. ‘I say, this bun’s not half bad. How long have we got before the bus leaves? I take it there’s still a bus stop on the opposite side of the Yarmouth Road, just outside the station? Only I don’t fancy having to lug my suitcase all the way up to Surrey Street!’

Tess and Jonty caught the bus with plenty of time to spare and presently got off about half a mile from the farm, because the bus took the main road through the village. Despite the fact that it was now late afternoon, the sun was still very hot and both she and, she suspected, Jonty were downright relieved when they reached the short drive. Tess paused to look at the house which had been her home for so long. At first glance she could see no changes; there it stood, a tall, red-brick house with the attic windows catching the brilliant rays of the sun. Then she saw that the ivy on the right-hand side of the house, which had begun to creep halfway up the rosy bricks, had been hacked down, and the trees which crowded close on the other side had been pruned so that they no longer cast a comforting area of shade over Mrs Bell’s herb garden.

Tess turned to look doubtfully up into Jonty’s face. ‘It hasn’t changed much, except that the ivy’s gone and the trees ought to look bigger but they look smaller,’ she said. ‘And – and Jonty, something’s just occurred to me. I don’t mean to be horrid, but looking at the house I can’t help remembering how hot my room was in summer . . .’

‘Don’t worry.’ Jonty grinned. ‘Ma didn’t like having to put you and Patty up in the attic: too hot in summer and too cold in winter. You’ll be all right this time – she’ll tell you what’s been happening when we get indoors. Come on, don’t stand there like a donkey. Ma will have the tea on the go and be waiting for us.’

‘Sorry,’ Tess said. They crossed the farmyard and let themselves into the kitchen, a huge room which was, as far as Tess could make out with one rapid glance, unaltered. Mrs Bell came over and gave Tess a peck on the cheek, telling her that she was very welcome. She was a large woman, her thick golden hair streaked with white and held back from her round and rosy face with a number of hair grips.