Dan pushed himself to his feet. “Jackie, don’t be unreasonable. I wasn’t thinking of going today.”

Jackie walked towards the door and opened it. “Well, I would if I were you, Dan. For all our sakes, I think you should.” She walked out of the kitchen, and a moment later the front door slammed behind her.

“Oh, for God’s sakes,” Dan murmured under his breath.

“Don’t worry about it,” Josh said quietly. “She’s just a bit cranky at the minute.” He got up from the table, picked up Nina’s cereal bowl and Dan’s mug, and walked over to the sink. “So, what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.”

Josh picked up the telephone and pushed in a quick-dial code. He held the receiver out to his father. “Have a word with Battersea Gran and explain the situation. Knowing her, she’ll be more than happy to help out, especially if she knows about your friend’s circumstances.”

“What about the girls?” Dan asked, taking the receiver from Josh.

“They’ll be fine, Dad. They’re a unit on their own. Just leave a note for them. They’ll understand.”

An hour later, Dan had a large suitcase in the boot of the car and the dogs sitting looking rather puzzled on the backseat. He was pretty sure Biggles was thinking that his misdemeanor that morning had been the final straw, and that now he was being returned to the dog home. Dan walked back into the house, licking the envelope in which he had put the note for the girls. He placed it on the hall table, next to the one that bore Jackie’s name, and then went to the bottom of the stairs.

“Josh?”

“Hang on, I’ll be down in a minute,” Josh’s voice rang out from his bedroom.

“I’m heading off, Josh.”

“I heard you. Just give me a minute.”

Dan leaned against the banister rail. He heard Josh’s footsteps coming along the passageway. He appeared at the top of the stairs, fully dressed in a pair of his bum-showing jeans and a blue parka, a beanie pulled hard onto his black, curly head. On his back was an overstuffed rucksack with a white T-shirt streaming out its side.

Dan looked questioningly at him. “Where are you off to?” he asked as Josh came down the stairs.

“Scotland,” Josh replied with a broad grin on his face.

Dan couldn’t help but laugh. “Josh, you can’t come.”

“Why not?”

“Because . . . it’s totally different up there. You wouldn’t enjoy it. There aren’t any nightclubs or venues or things like that. I don’t even know if there’s a Tesco’s.”