‘Miss Glenys has told us the story as it appeared to her,’ he said. ‘Don’t forget what we said.’

His son-in-law had reared up, his face reddening, but at his father-in-law’s words he sat back in his chair and grinned resignedly. ‘And here was me thinking I’d got my temper under control at last,’ he said ruefully. ‘It’s got me into enough trouble in the past, one way or another. If it hadn’t been for my temper Grace and I could have got married from here, helped you run the farm and lived happily ever after, but I couldn’t bear to be told when I did things wrong. I was a young hothead in those days, and I admit now that I behaved very badly.’ He smiled sadly at his children, sitting demurely on the couch beside his mother-in-law. ‘I won’t bore you by telling you about the big row which resulted in my persuading Grace that I could never be a farmer, and that I would only marry her if she would come back to Liverpool with me and agree to my going back to sea. That’s an old, old story, and one I’m deeply ashamed of.’

He was silent for a few minutes, a frown creasing his brow. Then he looked up and let his gaze roam around the assembled company. ‘I’m going to tell things, not as I learned them myself, but as I think they really happened,’ he said.

Jimmy began to say something, but subsided as Mo kicked him sharply in the shins. ‘Shurrup,’ she hissed. ‘You heard what Tai . . . Taid said – let our Dad tell wi’out interruptions.’

‘Thanks, Mo,’ Sam said. ‘I’ll start at the very beginning, which was the day after we docked and I was walking along the quay, on my way back from the post office where I’d just sent off your Christmas parcel. I wasn’t taking much notice of my surroundings, and then someone – or something – hit me hard on the back of the head. I fell forward, and found myself face down in the oily water of the dock and only half conscious. Of course I tried to swim to the surface, but just as I reached it something struck me a stunning blow on the forehead – you can see the scar – and I lost consciousness completely.’

‘Oh, poor Dad,’ Mo whispered. ‘You might have been killed!’