‘Isn’t bacon a type of meat?’

Xena laughed again. I was apparently a source of considerable amusement for her and it was getting irritating. ‘Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. OH, YEAH! Only the best meat in the whole freakin’ world.’

‘You people eat meat?’ I thought back to Charlotte. She brought beef sandwiches to school, but she didn’t eat them. I think they were fake beef anyway. Like that chicken substitute her mother served us at her house. I suspected Charlotte only did it to impress. If that was the case, I didn’t know anyone who ate meat. Until now.

‘What else are you gonna do with it?’ said Xena. ‘Do they teach you nothing at that fancy school? Come on, girl. Let’s go in. I’ll introduce you to Nonna.’

Ziggy opened a padlock on the front gate and we all trooped through. The house seemed normal, though it could’ve done with a good coat of paint and some of the wood on the window frames was rotting and flaking. But the smell was making my eyes water, so I couldn’t take in too many details. Xena led me up the porch steps, through the open front door, into a long, dark corridor and then into what was obviously a kitchen. An old, large woman was at a central bench doing something with flour. She looked up, saw us and smiled.

‘Who have we here?’ she said. Her accent was strange. I couldn’t place it.

‘This here’s Ashleigh,’ said Xena. ‘Sister of the boy we picked up last night. And this here’s Nonna.’

‘Pleased to meet you,’ I said.

‘And pleased to meet you, Ashleigh,’ said Nonna. She came over and gave me a big hug, which took me by surprise. A cloud of flour exploded behind my back and when she pulled away I sneezed. Nonna laughed. ‘Are you looking to stay with us?’

‘Just one night. If that’s all right,’ I said.

‘Of course. We’ve no spare beds but if you don’t mind the floor, I’m sure we can find a blanket or two for you.’

‘Thank you.’

She picked up a huge ball of dough and started kneading it on the floury counter. ‘What do you say to pizza for dinner?’ she asked. ‘With tomatoes straight off the vine, onions, home-made goat’s cheese and stacks of ham.’

I looked to Xena for help, but she just laughed at me.

‘I don’t know what ham is,’ I admitted. ‘But, yes. Please. Thank you.’

‘Ham’s a rare vegetable,’ said Xena. ‘You’ll love it.’ But she could hardly stop laughing. Nonna frowned and wagged a finger in her direction.

‘That is very wrong of you, Lauren, and you know it.’ She turned to me. ‘Ham is a cut of meat from a pig, Ashleigh.’