Her raincoat held over her head, Gilly followed her, apparently trying to disguise her reluctance to let her daughter drive off into the storm to an unknown destination. Helena knew exactly how she felt.

‘I’ll be OK, Mum,’ she said, when she was sitting in her car, Google Maps on her phone, the map open on the seat beside her and a list of places to aim for on the dashboard. She also had a packet of sandwiches and a tin of shortbread.

‘I know you will,’ said Gilly, sounding very confident but not fooling her daughter. ‘And I know it might be difficult to keep in touch, but if you can, do. You’ve got your phone charger?’

‘Yes. It’s plugged in right now. Google Maps eats battery.’

‘Off you go then!’ Gilly stepped back from the car and started to wave.

The weather was completely in tune with Helena’s mood. It was dreary, persistently grey and visibility was affected. She didn’t really know what she was going to find when she reached Jago – if indeed she did reach him. Would he be pleased to see her? Probably not or he’d have asked her to go with him. Still, she had to find out his side of the story. If he was as bad as the internet made him out to be she had a fallback position – she would go to the little cottage she and Amy always rented for World of Wool and hope it was available. It was midweek and in a less touristy part of Wales, so she was in with a chance. Then she’d have to start putting her life back together.

She switched on the radio for any traffic news and for cheering music and discovered that the Severn Bridge was closed. This didn’t make it impossible to get where she was aiming, but it did make it more complicated. She pulled in and had a good look at the mapbook and Google Maps. The bridge being closed would make her journey a bit longer. Then she sat off again.

The weather got worse as Helena drove, and while she was on the motorway the sound of the rain on the roof was deafening, relieved only by the brief spells spent driving under bridges. She slowed right down, wishing her fellow drivers would do the same.

Following the directions on her phone she turned off the motorway and started climbing into the Welsh hills. The rain seemed to come down harder and in places the road turned into shallow streams. Still her road led her upwards – which surely was a good thing?