We should’ve taken her advice. Now we were alone and vulnerable, in dangerous territory, with a small fortune in the pockets of Aiden’s trousers. I should have gone home at the normal time, left Aiden to it. If he wanted to put himself at risk, then that was his choice. No reason for me to do the same.

But he hadn’t thought that when he dived into the river to save my life. He was there for me. Now I had to be there for him. I didn’t really have a choice. But that didn’t mean I was enjoying it.

‘Let me do the talking, Ash,’ said Aiden.

‘Good luck with that,’ I replied. If my brother could dismiss me with that phrase, I saw no reason not to use it myself. ‘Hate to break it to you, bro, but the days of men being absolutely in charge are over.’

He glanced at me.

‘Hate to break it to you, sis, but everyone’s agreed with that sentiment for generations. Trouble is, nothing’s changed.’ He turned a full circle, checking we weren’t being followed. ‘And things definitely need to change. So, yes. You’re right. Talk whenever you want.’

‘Wow. I’m so grateful you’ve given me permission.’

He laughed. Funnily enough, I didn’t feel like laughing. I was too busy checking out my surroundings and jumping at every imagined threat.

‘Right again, Ash,’ he said. ‘Sorry. I’m being sexist. Forgive me and keep on pointing it out to me. Men either forget all the time, or don’t care. I’m the forgetting kind.’

I wanted to continue the conversation. I wanted to point out that saying it’s a woman’s responsibility to remind men how to behave properly was sexist in itself. And this was the closest we’d come to a proper talk in … I couldn’t remember how long. But the strange entrance to Victoria Park loomed before us and there was a tension in the air that made my words dry up. I checked inside the arch just in case there was a girl waiting, but it was deserted. The whole park seemed deserted. Aiden and I walked in about twenty metres and looked up into the branches of the nearest trees. Nothing there either.

‘She won’t come,’ I said.

‘She will,’ said Aiden. ‘I mean, I’m not trying to silence your views, but …’

‘Oh, shut up,’ I said.

‘Bit harsh.’

We waited for ten minutes and I was on the point of saying we should go back when Aiden nudged me. At the far end of the park, a group of kids came through a gap in the trees and headed straight towards us. They fanned out as they reached the open, eight or nine in a row, a small girl in the centre.