Hayley pecked her cheek and by that time Ryan was holding up his arms. Emotion surged through her. How dare Tom take her children away from her! She was the one who’d had them, not him. She loved them and they loved her.

‘Why is Jane lying down with her eyes closed?’ Hayley asked.

‘Because we’re going to play hide and seek. Shh. Let’s creep away. Don’t make any noise or she’ll hear where we go.’ Holding a child by each hand, she led the way towards the rear of the big house, not sure what she’d find there, but knowing there was no way she could get two small children up the tree and back over the wall.

And luck was still running her way, because there, behind the house, was a big delivery van with its doors open, showing stacks of boxes inside.

‘We’ll hide in the van,’ Gail whispered and ran across to it, scooping up each child in turn and making them crouch down behind a pile of boxes. She knelt down with them, putting one finger to her lips. ‘Isn’t this fun?’

Hayley looked at her as if unsure.

A man came out and closed the van’s rear doors, then got into the driver’s seat and started up the engine. Gail watched him through a small glass window, feeling gleeful. It was so easy. She was really looking forward to ringing Tom and telling him she had the children, giving him orders about what to do.

‘What the hell—!’

The van stopped and the man opened the rear doors to lift out a box. He was staring at them as if they were aliens with two heads.

‘Sorry,’ she said, standing up. ‘Me and the kids wanted to see if we could do it, get into a van and sneak a lift. We’ve not hurt anything.’

‘I should call the police.’

Her heart began to thud at the mere thought, but she kept a smile on her face. ‘They’d just tell you not to waste their time. We’ve not stolen or damaged anything. You can check.’

‘If I wasn’t in a hurry, I’d call them anyway.’ He stared round at the boxes and parcels suspiciously, blocking her way out until he’d checked them.

‘Want to wee-wee,’ Ryan said suddenly, clutching himself.

‘He’d better not do it here!’ The man hauled Gail out of the van by the arm, then lifted the two children down. ‘Now get the hell out of my sight before I change my mind.’

She went and helped Ryan to wee in a park near some shops, then decided to phone Tom straight away. She made her voice harsh, knowing the children were frightened of her when she spoke like that. ‘Go and sit on that bench, you two. Stay there and do not make any noise.’

They did as she’d told them, huddling up to one another in a way that always made her feel like a monster.

She dialled Tom’s mobile, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for him to answer.