‘You might be away for a few days, too.’

‘I hadn’t thought of that,’ said Helena. ‘But I suppose that’s true.’

‘If you started really early tomorrow morning, didn’t get lost and you and Jago had your conversation really quickly, you could get back in a day, but honestly? I think you guys need time to talk this through properly.’

Helena nodded. ‘I’ll have to tell Mum, then.’ She looked at James. ‘Do you know why he rushed off so suddenly? Was it his past coming back to haunt him, as they say?’

‘I really can’t say. I promised I wouldn’t.’

Helena sighed. ‘OK. I’ll see if my mother is around.’

Helena called her mother and discovered she was out but able to answer her mobile.

‘Darling!’ said Gilly, sounding happy. ‘Why don’t I come and see you? I’d love to see where you and Jago live!’

‘Oh, Mum, I need to borrow something. And tell you something. When will you be home?’ Helena wanted to cry all over again and hoped she’d get through the process of putting her mother in the picture without actually sobbing.

‘Oh. OK. Well, I’ll be back in an hour. Everything all right?’

‘Not really, but I’ll explain when I see you. Now I must call Amy; she left her laptop here this morning and she’ll probably need it.’

Having brushed off her mother with a kind of lie that happened to be true, Helena did call Amy.

‘So I’m going round to Mum’s in a minute to borrow her mapbook and then tomorrow, bright and early, I’m going on a road trip.’

‘It sounds fun in a way. I mean, finding your way to a hidden location and reuniting yourself with your lover.’

‘If that’s what it was I’d agree with you. It’s a mission, anyway.’

‘Although it’s Wales, the Wye Valley, so not miles and miles away.’

‘Actually, that’s what I thought but James put it into my head that it might not be easy to find. Hence the physical map, so I can see all the little tiny roads. I’m not going until tomorrow, anyway.’

‘And you’ll be OK on your own?’

‘Of course!’ Helena sounded brighter than she felt.

Gilly put a meringue on Helena’s plate. ‘You can tell I bought these. I just felt I wanted you to eat something.’

‘Did you buy them before or after I called you, Mum?’ asked Helena, recognising her mother’s compulsion to feed her family if she was worried about them.

‘Not the point. Just have a bit of sugar – I know! It’s poison! – a sip of tea, and then tell me everything you think I need to know.’

‘You’ll have guessed it’s about Jago.’ She sighed.

Her mother nodded and broke off a bit of her own meringue with her fork.