Vaisey said, “Gazelles in trousers? But gazelles have got four legs, haven’t they? So that’s two pairs of trousers really …”

Jo put her hand over Vaisey’s mouth.

Flossie said, “Well, what did Phil say when he last spoke to you?”

Jo said, “He said, ‘See you later.’”

Uh-oh. What did that mean? When was later? Was later today? Or was that too early for later?

I found myself rambling out loud.

“I didn’t know that being a girl was such hard work. Did you? I sort of thought you went along looking like a boy for a bit then your corkers started growing, and that was it. I tried to ask Mum once about girl stuff. And she said, ‘Just be yourself’ and went off to the Netherlands to paint bikes.”

Vaisey said, “I know. I didn’t know whether to bring my plectrum or not. And anyway what does giving someone a plectrum mean? It might not mean what a girl thinks it means. It might not be nice. A boy might mean, here’s a plectrum, now go and get your own guitar and play it. It would be good if Honey was here because she knows a lot.”

Jo said, “But we didn’t have a row or anything, I didn’t do any more shouting than normal. Why would he just not phone me?”

I said bitterly, “I don’t know. Why do boys be nice to you and then, er, not be?”

Vaisey said cheerfully, “Maybe Phil, well, he’s quite physical, isn’t he? Maybe he broke his hand when he was helping the police … and couldn’t write or phone with it.”

Flossie looked at her. “He would have to have broken both hands, wouldn’t he?”

Vaisey shook her curls. “Yes, that will be it, he kept on helping the police after he’d broken one hand and then the other one … broke.”

Flossie said, “That’s a bit unrealistic, Vaisey. Maybe, maybe he got sudden eczema of the head and was …”

I said, “Too shy to say?”

Flossie nodded.

I said, “Or, it may have been … boils. Adolescent boils.”

I have just realized I’ve still got my dance tights on. They don’t exactly hide my knees. And what would I do if Charlie was there? Should I ignore him? Perhaps he would ignore me? I must ignore him first. Just in case.

I’m a nervous wreck now.

When we got to our special tree it was all quiet. And a bit eerie. The forest was very still and there was no scuttling or snuffling going on. It was too damp to sit down so we had to eat our lunch standing up.

In between munching, I said, “Apparently if you want to get a boy to like you, you go sort of mysterious and icy and cool. That’s what my cousin said and she has loads of boyfriends and snogging-type experiences.”

Vaisey said, “So how do you do that? Be mysterious and icy and cool? Like a human icicle? Because I could try it out on Jack. If I ever see him again. Maybe Cain has told him not to see me after the last time, you know, with a gig coming up and everything.”