Zennor linked arms with him. ‘Aww, that’s lovely of you, Ben.’

It was too dark to see if Ben blushed, but he muttered something inaudible in reply.

Sam wiped rain from her eyes. ‘It is, and now, I think we should all go home to bed,’ said Sam. ‘Come on.’

They all trooped off together, but they hadn’t even reached the edge of the field when torchlight flickered in the gloom.

‘Ho there!’

Sam squeezed her eyes shut to avoid a beam to rival Wembley’s floodlights. She peered through her lashes, wincing at the shadowy figure behind the glare. ‘What are you silly buggers doing out here?’

The beam dropped. It was Troy, clutching an industrial-sized torch in one hand while he held onto his hat with the other.

‘Same as you,’ said Gabe. ‘Checking the marquee’s still standing. You can go back to bed. It is.’

Troy cackled as he reached them. ‘We’re a daft lot. Bit of rain and a breeze never hurt nobody. I’d never have bothered turning out myself but Evie was giving me earache until I did. Me with my shoulder still recovering too. She’d never have shut up unless I came out and put her mind at rest.’

Zennor laughed and Sam heard Ben chuckle softly.

‘Yeah. We’ll believe you,’ said Gabe. ‘There’s no need for Evie – or you – to worry. We’ve all given the marquee the once over and the contractors will be here at dawn to make sure it’s OK so you can go home to your bed.’

Troy swept the torchlight over the marquee as if he still wasn’t convinced, then huffed. ‘S’pose it’ll be all right. For now,’ he added ominously.

‘It’ll be fine,’ said Sam. ‘C’mon, let’s get out of this rain.’

Zennor touched Troy’s arm. ‘Shall we keep you company on the way home?’

‘May as well,’ said Troy.

Sam made to move, but Gabe caught her arm lightly with his hand. ‘We’ll be along in a minute,’ he said. ‘Sam wants to have a quick look at the generators.’

‘They won’t have blown away. They weigh a ton,’ said Troy, flickering his torch over Gabe and Sam like a border guard catching escapees.

Gabe’s hand tapped the small of her back. What was he up to? ‘Even so, better safe than sorry, eh?’

Sam stared at him but didn’t say anything. What was this ‘we’ about?

‘Can we please get back to bed?’ Zennor sounded desperate and cold. ‘See you in the morning. Oh wait, it already is the morning. Don’t stay out too late, you two.’ Her voice was laden with irony. Sam cringed. People were jumping to conclusions.

‘Let’s go,’ Zennor said to Troy. Ben led the way, his head torch nodding ahead of the unlikely trio before vanishing through the gate to the field.